FTX under 'active' civil and criminal investigation: Bahamas AG

The Bahamas Attorney General (AG) and Minister of Legal Affairs Ryan Pinder has confirmed that the collapsed crypto speech FTX is the absorption of an "active and ongoing" probe by authorities from the Caribbean nation.

In a nationalist statement that was delivered unrecorded connected the Facebook leafage of the Office of the Prime Minister connected Nov. 27, Pinder explained the "affairs of FTX Digital Markets" are nether scrutiny from some "civil and transgression authorities" and Bahamian authorities are moving with "a fig of specialists and experts and volition proceed to bash truthful arsenic the request arises."

"The Securities Commission, our fiscal quality unit, and the fiscal crimes portion of the Royal Bahamas Police Force volition proceed to analyse the facts and circumstances regarding FTX's insolvency situation and immoderate imaginable violations of Bahamian law," helium added.

Pinder besides revealed the applicable Bahamian authorities would effort to clasp to relationship immoderate companies oregon individuals recovered to person committed immoderate wrongdoing during the investigation, portion they volition cooperate with different regulatory agencies and instrumentality enforcement bodies astir the world.

"These events punctual america of the lessons learned from securities and different fiscal regularisation astir the request for beardown cross-border cooperation. The nationalist worldwide volition beryllium champion served by a beardown planetary regulatory cooperation," helium said.

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas suspended FTX Digital Markets (FDM) licence to behaviour concern and stripped its directors of their powerfulness connected Nov. 10.

On Nov. 12 they ordered the transfer of each FDM integer assets to a integer wallet owned by the committee for "safekeeping."

Pinder mentioned the country's regulatory authority has taken further protective measures approved by the Supreme Court but declined to elaborate further until "we are assured that doing truthful volition not jeopardize immoderate facet of the ongoing investigations."

Pinder besides took the accidental to slam the Nov. 17 exigency motion by FTX Trading Limited, which called retired the "Bahamian government" for "directing unauthorized entree to the Debtors' systems" aft the commencement of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings successful the United States.

He called the allegations "extremely regrettable" for misrepresenting "the timely enactment taken by the Securities Commission," portion besides defending each the steps taken by the country's regulator truthful far.

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The Bahamas has encouraged crypto companies to the land state to assistance its system but it’s since been shaken by FTX’s collapse.

It was besides hard deed by 2019’s Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic starting successful 2020 crushed its heavy tourism-based system to a halt. With FTX gone, truthful person galore jobs successful the tiny nation.

But Pinder outlined his content that contempt the "personal tragedies" associated with the illness of FTX, helium expects "little contagion beyond the integer plus sphere some present successful the Bahamas and astir the world."

He referenced a Nov. 22 Standard & Poor's ratings for The Bahamas that forecasted a unchangeable outlook citing the tourism sector's performance.

"Standards and mediocre has projected a unchangeable outlook for our system resting successful portion connected the presumption that determination volition beryllium nary worldly adverse interaction connected the Bahamas from the worldwide illness of FTX," Pinder said.