The Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder defended the actions of the country’s regulators following FTX’s insolvency.
In a speech on Sunday, Pinder said that FTX remains the subject of an active, ongoing investigation conducted by Bahamian regulators. Both civil and criminal authorities are looking into the exchange’s affairs, said Pinder.
“There are a number of protective measures that the regulator has taken under the authority conferred by the Supreme Court of The Bahamas. For the time being, we will not set out those measures in any further detail, until we are confident that doing so will not jeopardize any aspect of the ongoing investigation,” he said.
Pinder also addressed the claims made by FTX’s newly appointed CEO John Ray III, reiterating that the latter “misrepresented” the Bahamian regulators actions in the latest Chapter 11 filings in New York last week.
The court filing in question was filed on Nov. 17, where the FTX debtors made a case that the Bahamas government was responsible for directing unauthorized access to FTX’s systems.
Pinder argued that these painted a false picture of “the timely action taken by the Securities Commission” and used “inaccurate allegations” in the filing.
The Attorney General praised the speed at which The Bahamas Securities Commission moved to place FTX under provisional liquidation following the news of its insolvency.
He said that the Securities Commission went on to secure the FTX’s assets and hold it on behalf of investors and creditors after it determined that provisional liquidation would not suffice given the nature of digital assets and the risks associated with hacking.
“Any attempt to lay the entirety of this debacle at the feet of the Bahamas, because FTX is headquartered here, would be a gross oversimplification of reality,” he said.
