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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2022
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‘FTX Bahamas chief confessed to fraud’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE head of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary sparked an “urgent” police probe into possible criminal misconduct when he confessed to local regulators about the misuse of multi-billion dollar client funds. Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, in a November 10, 2022, affidavit said the admissions by Ryan Salame during the final hours of the crypto currency exchange’s implosion sealed the decision to
• Admitted client funds misuse to Securities Commission • Regulator requested ‘urgent’ police probe on same day • Revelations increase BankmanFried’s legal jeopardy place FTX Digital Markets in provisional liquidation under the Supreme Court’s supervision. The freshly-unsealed affidavit revealed that the outcome of the previous day’s conference call with Mr Salame, which was also attended by Allyson
Commission ‘cannot condone’ FTXs $100m Bahamas payout By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A DELAWARE bankruptcy judge was yesterday told that the Securities Commission’s vehement rejection of Sam BankmanFried’s Bahamian creditor preferential payout plan proves there was no “collusion” with the FTX founder. Christina Rolle, the regulator’s executive director, asserted in a November 10, 2022, affidavit that the digital assets regulator “cannot condone” the now-jailed FTX chief’s plan to prioritise Bahamian withdrawals over all other clients as set out in his November 9, 2022, e-mail to attorney general Ryan Pinder KC.
This stance, and Ms Rolle’s assessment that such payments would be fraudulent preferences subject to “claw back” in any court-supervised liquidation, were held up before Judge John Dorsey as evidence to refute claims that the Securities Commission, Bahamian government and joint provisional liquidators were all working together “in cahoots” with Mr Bankman-Fried to frustrate the US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection process. However, John Bromley, the attorney representing the 134 FTX entities in bankruptcy protection and John Ray, their outspoken chief executive, again repeated the
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Cable unveils its first dividend in five years By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net CABLE Bahamas’ top executive yesterday voiced optimism that it has “set the foundation” to become a dividend-paying stock once again with the unveiling of a first capital return to shareholders for five years. Franklyn Butler, the BISX-listed communications provider’s president
and chief executive, told Tribune Business that it “wouldn’t start paying a dividend if we didn’t feel we could maintain it” after declaring a collective $2.5m payout to investors on New Year’s Eve. The six cents per share dividend, payable to ordinary shareholders on record as at December 19, 2022, will be a welcome
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Maynard-Gibson KC, the former attorney general, in her capacity as FTX Digital Markets’ local attorney, “exacerbated the need for the intervention” of the Supreme Court given revelations that will place Sam Bankman-Fried and
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RBC’s 3-day digital woes an ‘absolute catastrophe’ By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
CHRISTINA ROLLE his inner circle in further legal peril. Mr Salame, FTX Digital Markets’ president and chief executive, effectively provided more evidence to support the multiple US fraud-related charges against Mr Bankman-Fried by confirming that monies belonging to clients of the crypto exchange had been misappropriated without their permission to cover massive losses incurred by Alameda Research, the
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ROYAL Bank of Canada (RBC) yesterday pledged it is “working diligently” to restore its digital banking platform with businesses branding the three-day woe as “an absolute catastrophe” for commerce. Multiple Bahamian companies told Tribune Business that the “crazy” situation had left them unable to make or receive payments, and conduct transactions vital to the smooth functioning of business, after they were “locked out” of their accounts when RBC’s online and mobile banking platform went down. “Business has not been conducted for three days now due to RBC
Online Banking being out of order,” one irate businessman, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. “This the equivalent to Bahamas Power & Light (BPL) being out of fuel for three days, and the generator can’t run. It’s an absolute catastrophe. Please let us know why this is happening when everything now is done now online.” RBC’s problems come at a time when the Central Bank, and the entire commercial banking sector, are driving Bahamian businesses and consumers to increasingly conduct business electronically via the Internet and mobile phones. The industry regulator is pushing to eliminate cheques by year-end 2024, and
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