- 'Dark day': Victims mourned around the globe on Oct. 7 anniversary
- Mission to probe smashed asteroid launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street slips
- Europe's asteroid mission Hera launches despite hurricane
- Oil prices extend gains on Mideast tensions, Wall Street retreats
- What is microRNA? Nobel-winning discovery explained
- Weather may delay launch of mission to study deflected asteroid
- China to flesh out economic stimulus plans after bumper rally
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on US jobs data
- World marks anniversary of Oct. 7 attack on Israel
- Asian markets track Wall St rally on jobs data
- Cancer, cardiovascular drugs tipped for Nobel as prize week opens
- Tunisia incumbent Saied set to win presidential vote: exit polls
- 'Difficult day': Oct 7 commemorations begin with festival memorial
- Commemorations begin for anniversary of attack on Israel
- Tunisia voting ends as Saied eyes re-election with critics behind bars
- Drowned by hurricane, remote N.Carolina towns now struggle for water
- Two elephants die in flash flooding in northern Thailand
- Tunisia votes with Saied set for re-election
- Too hot by day, Dubai's floodlit beaches are packed at night
- A 'forgotten' valley in storm-hit North Carolina, desperate for help
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Oil extends gains, jobs report lifts Wall Street
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- As EU targets Chinese cars, European rivals sputter
- Top EU court finds against FIFA in key transfer market ruling
- Oil extends gains, Hong Kong stocks resume rally
- 'A man provides': Ukrainian miners send families away as Russia advances
- EU states greenlight extra tariffs on EVs from China
- Hong Kong stocks resume rally, oil dips after Middle East-fuelled surge
- Crude stable after Israel-Iran surge, Hong Kong stocks resume gains
- Hera spacecraft to probe asteroid deflected by defence test
- US dockworkers to head back to work after tentative deal
- After Helene's destruction, North Carolina starts to rebuild
- Dockers end three-day strike at Montreal port
- What next for OpenAI after $157 billion bonanza?
- Israel-Hamas war causes 86-percent dive in Gaza GDP: IMF
- Milan's Morata moves house after Inter-fan town mayor 'violates' privacy
- 'Devastating' storm hits Augusta National but Masters will go on
- Relief in Brazil, Asia over delay to EU deforestation rules
- Oil prices jump, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Biden says 'discussing' possible Israeli strikes on Iran oil facilities
- Oil prices rise, stocks fall on Middle East tensions
- Oil rallies, stocks mostly retreat on Middle East tensions
RBGPF | -1.97% | 58.94 | $ | |
RYCEF | -1.45% | 6.88 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ |
FTX had 'complete failure' of controls, new CEO says
Collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX suffered a "complete failure of corporate controls" under founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the company's new chief executive said Thursday, calling the situation "unprecedented."
The scathing condemnation came in a filing in US bankruptcy court from John J. Ray -- an executive with 40 years of experience in corporate restructurings including the infamous implosion of Enron in 2001.
Ray lambasted the failures of oversight, incomplete records, missing and unreliable financial statements and "potentially compromised" leadership at FTX, which declared bankruptcy last week -- a stunning downfall for a firm recently valued at $32 billion.
"Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here," Ray said in the filing.
"From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented," he said.
The downfall of FTX came amid growing doubts over its financial stability, with attention focused on the relationship between the exchange and Alameda Research, a trading house also owned by Bankman-Fried, and reports he shifted funds out of the exchange, even as he tried to fill a $7 billion financing gap.
Binance, the world's biggest cryptocurrency platform, backed out of a buyout deal that could have stemmed the fall amid reports about mismanagement of client funds and potential investigations by regulators.
US officials are now calling for more oversight of the industry, and Congress plans to hold hearings to investigate.
Ray said he has "substantial concerns" about the reliability of financial statements and related entities, and noted that there were "at least $372 million of unauthorized transfers."
Executives at the firm -- many of whom Ray said "were not aware of the shortfalls or potential commingling of digital assets" --"have located and secured only a fraction of the digital assets of the FTX Group that they hope to recover."
The implosion was a spectacular reversal of fortune for the founder and one-time cryptocurrency wunderkind Bankman-Fried.
Ray slammed the former CEO saying he "often communicated by using applications that were set to auto-delete," and making clear he no longer speaks for FTX notwithstanding his frequent public declarations.
Bankman-Fried "continues to make erratic and misleading public statements," Ray said, pointing to comments published by Vox on Thursday in which the disgraced executive said he regretted filing for bankruptcy.
"F*** regulators they make everything worse," Bankman-Fried said in a direct message on Twitter to the Vox reporter.
He later tweeted that he was "venting" and his comments were meant to remain private.
X.Cheung--CPN