(Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was arrested on Monday in The Bahamas after being criminally charged by U.S. prosecutors.
FTX and its units had already attracted scrutiny from regulators around the world.
Here’s a roundup of what global authorities are doing about FTX:
BAHAMAS
Police in The Bahamas arrested Bankman-Fried on Dec. 12, after the Caribbean nation received formal notification from the United States of criminal charges against him.
FTX’s group headquarters is in the Bahamas. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas in November froze the assets of FTX Digital Markets, the group’s local unit, and also appointed a provisional liquidator for the unit.
UNITED STATES
FTX is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Justice Department, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, according to a source familiar with the investigations.
The SEC on Dec. 12 said it had authorized charges against Bankman-Fried relating to violations of securities laws.
Separately, U.S. prosecutor Damian Williams said he expected to move to unseal an indictment against Bankman-Fried on Dec. 13.
EUROPE/CYPRUS
Cyprus’s Securities and Exchange Commission asked FTX EU to suspend its operations on Nov. 9.
FTX announced in September it had received approval from the Cypriot regulator to operate as a Cyprus Investment Firm, allowing the company to fully own a local investment firm it had previously acquired.
This allowed FTX EU to serve the European Economic Area.
(Reporting by Alun John; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Sam Holmes)
