Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis discussed the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, headquartered in the Caribbean country, at the Consensus conference in Texas on Thursday.
Davis said that despite the stock market crash, he would still take the same actions as the country's ruler, even if he went back to the time before the crash.
Davis said it was easy to comment after the events took place and stated that they would not act differently in the same situation.
Davis spoke of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, whom he said he had seen up to four times during his time in the Bahamas:
“He was passionate about what he did, very intelligent, and very philanthropic in his work. It was a shock for me to learn about the problems the company is facing.”
Davis said authorities in the Bahamas are actively investigating the events leading up to the stock market crash:
“Due to the wide variety of countries in which FTX operates and the size and scope of its business operations, the investigation is complex and ongoing. However, any view that the events leading up to the collapse of FTX were due to a weakness in the legal structure of the Bahamas is not consistent with the facts.”
The new administration of FTX in the US is suing the liquidators of the legal entity in the Bahamas, arguing that this legal entity falsely claimed ownership of the exchange.
They are seeking a declaratory order from the US District of Delaware Bankruptcy Court stating that the Bahamian entity has no property owned by the debtors of FTX.
*Not investment advice.