‘FTX collapse nothing to do with The Bahamas’

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis has once again insisted that the collapse of FTX has nothing to do with The Bahamas, saying “you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors”.

The collapse of the crypto giant has grabbed local and international headlines, with some scrutiny and criticism being levelled at The Bahamas government and its digital regulatory framework.

“You know, what is sad is that FTX’s liquidation is not the only company, major large company that would’ve went into liquidation in The Bahamas,” Mr Davis told reporters Friday. “We had Commodore. We had Banco Ambrosiano. We had Nassau Bank and Trust, many of them that had a lot of ricocheting effect.

“It’s like saying that The Bahamas lacks (a) regulatory (regime). It is not the lacking of regulatory regime. It is actually bad actors and bad actors all countries have. What about Enron in the United States? What about those major collapses? And looking at what’s happening in the tech industry. You start seeing some of these same tech giants falling as well.

“So, it has nothing to do with our reputation or what we do. When you have bad actors, you have a regime to be able to identify them and get them out and we have that regime in place and so you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors and we are ferreting out the bad actors.”

Mr Davis also said he believed his administration will soon have some answers related to the FTX debacle “to set the record straight”.

FTX, which is headquartered in The Bahamas, along with its affiliates filed for bankruptcy in the US last month after facing a liquidity crisis and coming under scrutiny following reports that it mismanaged customer assets.

Investigations into the firm’s failure led to last week’s arrest of FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces several fraud charges in the US, including wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to commit fraud and violating campaign finance laws.

The disgraced former billionaire is currently on remand at the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services after being denied bail by Chief Magistrate Joyann-Ferguson Pratt.

A prison official reportedly told the Washington Post that the 30-year-old spends his time behind bars watching movies and reading articles about himself until he can be freed from the facility.

The Tribune can confirm that attorneys representing the embattled former FTX CEO filed for a new bail application in the Supreme Court on Thursday.

And, according to multiple reports, the 30-year-old is expected to appear in court again today to reverse his decision to fight extradition to the United States.

Lawyers did not return calls for comment on the matter up to press time last night.

Comments

K4C says...

you blame the bad actors ?

Does Davis have a mirror ?

Posted 19 December 2022, 7:16 a.m. Suggest removal

ExposedU2C says...

Spot on! His own words deservedly come back at him like a boomerang to whack him but good on his fat head.

Posted 19 December 2022, 1:24 p.m. Suggest removal

Porcupine says...

PM Davis says, “So, it has nothing to do with our reputation or what we do. When you have bad actors, you have a regime to be able to identify them and get them out and we have that regime in place and so you don’t blame the jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors and we are ferreting out the bad actors.”

Why do we attract so many bad actors, welcoming them in like old friends?, I ask.

The true failures in our country have nothing to do with foreign bad actors, and absolutely everything to do with Bahamian bad actors. We ain't doing very well at ferreting them out, are we?
We keep electing them every 5 years, wondering why murder rates are skyrocketing, other crime increasing, poverty increasing, infrastructure crumbling, water going off, traffic fatalities up, and the list goes on, doesn't it?

Isn't it rather clear that the ferreting starts here at home first?

Is this not common sense and rather apparent?

Posted 19 December 2022, 10:03 a.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

The most senior members of the Bahamian governing PLP governing party must know that their attempts at **minting stories** that will forever hide FTX's Sam Banker-Fried's monies, **said be in the tens millions dollars dollars,** never crossed paths with the **16 Sept 2021 Bahamian General Election** - will be impossible remain out of the reach the US Southern District's **team of about 220 assistant U.S. attorneys,** — Yes?

Posted 19 December 2022, 11:56 a.m. Suggest removal

moncurcool says...

> “So, it has nothing to do with our
> reputation or what we do. When you
> have bad actors, you have a regime to
> be able to identify them and get them
> out and we have that regime in place
> and so you don’t blame the
> jurisdiction, you blame the bad actors
> and we are ferreting out the bad
> actors.”

Is this not the most stupidest statement the PM has made? If we have the regime why did the regime not see the problem with FTX and stop it before the bad actors did their stuff?

Davis really needs to just spend some time and thin before he opens his mouth to speak.

Posted 19 December 2022, 12:06 p.m. Suggest removal

ted4bz says...

When you have bad actors, you get them out…” Out of what? You mean you get them out of the trouble they are in so that you keep them (and yourself) out of prison, is that it? You have to read between the lines when they drop their jaws, because these sneaky politicians speak in riddles.

Posted 19 December 2022, 12:07 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Not saying that Sam Bankman-Fried's campaign money never crossed over into the 16 September 2021 Bahamian General Election path of the former governing RedParty.

Can you point me to a time when **any member of the media,** ever posed such Sam Bankerman-Fried money questions to either of the two parties?

Makes total sense when all were looking at a handout from the BoyMan's fake billionaire, - Yes?

Posted 19 December 2022, 12:47 p.m. Suggest removal

ExposedU2C says...

Thanks to you and your kind Davis, The Bahamas has become well known around the world as the Nigeria of the West indian/Caribbean region.

Posted 19 December 2022, 1:27 p.m. Suggest removal

rqd2 says...

The Bahamas better charge SBF and keep him for trial. Once he is extradited he will never help recover money for the Bahamians. Davis wants him gone but a smart politician would charge him and keep him so The Bahamas can recover first. Davis doesn't want Sam talking about the "donations" he had to make.

Posted 19 December 2022, 1:56 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

In wake of FTX’s collapse comes the **delayed** implosion vigor Branville McCartney, doing his damnedest best represent the best interests of the Village Road Law Firm's **High Net Worth Clients,** --- Yes?

Posted 19 December 2022, 2:58 p.m. Suggest removal

rosiepi says...

Today’s lunacy in a Bahamian court room might be business as usual for Bahamians seeking justice but with the world’s media spotlight on how this government conducts it’s ‘business’, Davis hypocrisy is laced with buffoonery…

Posted 19 December 2022, 4:19 p.m. Suggest removal

TalRussell says...

Still untold is the **who and why** the Bahamian government **were willing risk** their 16 Day of September 2021's governing mandate, behind the façade was something completely of Sam Bankman-Fried's making that was **no more than a bunch of romantically involved crypto kids** running **shady operations out in the open under the Bahamian sunlight.**

A good start for New York's Southern District's team of about 220 assistant U.S. attorneys, would be to focus on the source funding 2021 Bahamas new government swearing-in at Baha Mar Resort, — Yes?

Posted 19 December 2022, 6:43 p.m. Suggest removal

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