The Bahamas Securities Commission and the Financial Crimes Investigation unit are investigating crypto exchange FTX.
The Royal Bahamas Police, the national law enforcement agency of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, has reported that Bahamas law enforcement launched an investigation into the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.
According to a Reuters report published on November 13th, law enforcement in the Bahamas is looking into whether or not “criminal misconduct occurred” while the crypto exchange was operating.
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In light of the collapse of FTX globally and the provisional liquidation of FTX Digital Markets Ltd, a team of financial investigators from the Financial Crimes Investigation Branch is working closely with the Bahamas Securities Commission to investigate if any criminal misconduct occurred.
The investigation comes a few days after, on November 10th, FTX shared a tweet claiming that “Bahamian HQ's regulation and regulators” instructed FTX “to facilitate withdrawals of Bahamian funds.” On November 12th, the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) shared a tweet responding to FTX’s claims, noting:
The Commission wishes to advise that it has not directed, authorized, or suggested to FTX Digital Markets, Ltd. the prioritization of withdrawals for Bahamian clients.
It is not the first investigation launched by authorities regarding troubled FTX. On November 9th, Bloomberg shared a news report claiming that US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) launched a joint investigation on whether FTX “mishandled customer funds.”
On top of that, the same day, the Wall Street Journal reported that the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating FTX for involvement in a possible fraud case.
In the light of various investigations, around 130 companies in FTX Group, including FTX, FTX US, and Alameda Research, have started bankruptcy proceedings in the United States. Nevertheless, following the announcement about filing for bankruptcy, FTX announced that its CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is resigning, with John Ray assigned as the new Chief Executive Officer of FTX.
