Mr. John J Ray III, CEO of FTX and representative of the Chapter 11 Debtors in the U.S., made a statement on December 12th and 13th, 2022 in court filings, claiming that the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) had instructed FTX to mint $300 million in new FTT tokens in 2022. These statements were made without evidence before the United States House Financial Services Committee and received widespread international media coverage. The Chapter 11 Debtors also alleged that digital assets controlled by the SCB in trust for the benefit of FTX customers and creditors were stolen, without providing any substantiating evidence.On January 2, 2023, the SCB released a statement denying these allegations and claiming that they were promoting mistrust in public institutions in the Bahamas. The SCB also addressed how it took possession of digital assets under the custody of FTX Digital Markets Ltd (FTXDM) and accused Mr. John of not contacting the SCB to address his concerns. The SCB sent a letter to Mr. John on December 7th, 2022 offering cooperation with the Chapter 11 Debtors, but has not received a response. The SCB is concerned that the Chapter 11 Debtors are hindering the investigation into FTX by denying access to FTX’s AWS system for the court-appointed joint liquidators. However, the SCB hopes that the Chapter 11 Debtors will act in good faith and in the best interests of creditors and investors.
