NASSAU, Bahamas — In his first public comments on the collapse of Bahamas-headquartered FTX, Prime Minister Philip E. Davis today said he has given directions that the investigations into FTX “are to be of the highest order and given precedence, given the amounts involved and because committed and rigorous oversight is of national importance,” The Nassau Guardian reported on Wednesday, November 16.
“We will be coordinating these efforts with duly appointed authorities in other jurisdictions,” he said in the House of Assembly.
“A key priority for us, of course, is the full and absolute protection of the rights and remedies of The Bahamas and our citizens, to minimize losses and to mitigate the overall impact caused by any misconduct.”
FTX, which was the third largest crypto exchange in the world, is based in The Bahamas and broke ground on its $60 million headquarters in western New Providence in April.
The Securities Commission of The Bahamas (SCB) froze FTX’s assets last week and applied to the Supreme Court to appoint joint provisional liquidators.
The SCB explained that it became aware of public statements suggesting that FTX mishandled client assets and “mismanaged and/or transferred (assets) to Alameda Research”, which is FTX’s supposed “sister” company in the United States.
The prime minister said, “Based on the analysis and understanding of the FTX liquidity crisis to date, we have not identified any deficiencies in our regulatory framework that could have avoided this.
“In fact, it was because The Bahamas already had in place a regulatory framework for digital assets and digital asset businesses, that the regulator was able to take immediate steps in order to protect the interests of clients, creditors, and other stakeholders globally.” See article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/pm-says-ftx-investigation-will-be-of-the-highest-order/
