Pinder vowed that any companies or individuals that have broken Bahamian law will be held accountable — and said the demise of FTX shows the need for "strong cross-border cooperation."
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FTX is facing an "active and ongoing investigation" in The Bahamas that includes criminal authorities, the country's attorney general has confirmed.
Ryan Pinder stressed that The Bahamas "is a place of laws" — and sought to defend regulators for how they have handled the exchange's implosion.
And he also emphasized that while FTX consisted of more than 100 companies in dozens of jurisdictions worldwide, FTX Digital Markets was the only entity registered in The Bahamas, adding:
"What happened can be more readily understood as a case of a very large business failure as a result of questionable internal management practices and corporate governance."
Pinder argues that the Bahamian Securities Commission "deserves the highest praise for moving so quickly and decisively to suspend FTX Digital Markets' license and appoint provisional liquidators" after market confidence was lost in the company.
"The commission was the first regulator in the world to take significant steps with respect to the FTX group of companies, which has operations and regulated activities throughout the world. This was done for the purpose of protecting the interests of FTX's customers and creditors, as well as the integrity of the Bahamian financial services industry."
He said the strength of the country's legislative framework allowed swift action to be taken — and went on to claim that "no other jurisdiction in the world moved or could have moved this quickly in circumstances such as these."
New FTX CEO Criticized
Pinder went on to urge governments around the world to exercise restraint in their public commentary surrounding the proceedings against FTX — and claimed that new CEO John Ray had made "inaccurate allegations" in Chapter 11 filings last week.
Describing this as "extremely regrettable," the attorney general added:
"It is possible that the prospect of multimillion-dollar legal and consultant fees is driving both their legal strategy and the intemperate statements. In any case, we urge prudence and accuracy in all future filings."
Pinder vowed that any companies or individuals that have broken Bahamian law will be held accountable — and said the demise of FTX shows the need for "strong cross-border cooperation."
"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."
