Aussie regulator flagged concerns about FTX months before collapse: Report

Australia’s financial regulator raised concerns about FTX Australia not long after it began operations in March 2022, according to documents.

Australia’s financial regulator reportedly raised concerns over FTX’s local Australian subsidiary as much as eight months before the exchange met its untimely end in November.

According to documents obtained by Guardian Australia, officers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) were concerned about the way in which FTX Australia was operating as it was able to obtain a license in the country through a company takeover.

As per a previous report from Cointelegraph, FTX acquired its Australian financial services license (AFSL) by taking over financial institution IFS Markets in December 2021 before opening up for business months later in March 2022.

This is allowed FTX Australia to effectively sidestep the same level of scrutiny that is usually applied to new AFSL licensees, according to its ASIC chief Joe Longo.

As per newly obtained documents, the regulator reportedly issued a Sect 912C notice to FTX the same month it began operating, which required the crypto exchange to provide documents about its operations for ASIC to assess if it met AFSL license conditions.

With the notice, ASIC can direct the licensee to provide documents specifying what financial services they provide, the financial services business carried on by the licensee and to determine if the licensee satisfies the "fit and proper person test."

A briefing document obtained by the outlet has also confirmed that in the months between the initial concern and FTX collapsing on Nov. 11, the regulator had put the exchange under “surveillance activity” and a total of three notices were issued to FTX.

The document schedule also reveals that the regulator was still concerned about FTXs operations as late as October 2022.

Cointelegraph reached out to ASIC for a comment but did not receive a response before publication.

FTX Australia was one of more than 130 FTX-linked companies that halted operations after its parent company FTX went into bankruptcy proceedings on Nov. 11, 2022.

The Australian subsidiary of FTX had its financial license suspended on Nov. 16, 2022, and has gone into voluntary administration.

It's estimated around 30,000 Australian customers and 132 companies are owed money or crypto from the exchange.

from https://ift.tt/gV72mWp
https://ift.tt/jFp5kWs

Comments

Coinbase reportedly hits pre-IPO valuation of $100 billion in private auction

The major exchange is inching closer to a public offering. Prominent Bitcoin ( BTC ) and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase could be headed for an IPO valuation of $100 billion, after shares reportedly sold for up to $375 each in a private auction. Shares in Coinbase Global Inc. reportedly traded for a price between $350 and $375 per unit on the Nasdaq private auction market last week, giving the company a pre-IPO valuation of between $90–$100 billion, according to a report by Bloomberg. Trading reportedly ended with the share price at $350. A Coinbase series E funding round in 2018 first saw the stock valued at a potential $8 billion. That valuation increased as shares were then privately traded at a price of $200 on a private forum created by Coinbase in January. The company was deemed to hold a valuation of roughly $50 billion at the time. The price of privately traded shares is partly used to set a reference price for the stock when companies finally go public on the Nasdaq pla...

Korean crypto ‘Jedi Master’ plans to launch second VC blockchain fund

Blockchain VC investment firm Hashed is seeking $173 million for a second fund. One of South Korea’s leading blockchain evangelists is embarking on another huge blockchain fundraise following the success of his first. Simon Seojoon Kim is planning to raise $173 million for a second blockchain fund following the success of the initial one which netted $120 million from investors in December 2020 . Specifics regarding the new fund and its potential investors are thin on the ground however. Kim, dubbed “the Jedi Master of cryptocurrency” by Sean Park, a senior partner at Hong Kong-based Boston Consulting Group, co-founded the blockchain and crypto venture capital firm Hashed in 2018. The firm invests in crypto startups to enable them to grow through staff expansion, partnerships and marketing. It has attracted big-name financiers such as Naver, South Korea’s third-largest company by market value, which invested $12 million in the first Hashed blockchain fund. The Seoul-based compan...

Chinese banks tell staff to recruit up to 300 new digital yuan users each

Six of China’s top banks have tasked their employees with promoting digital yuan wallets to between 200 to 300 people a year. Chinese banks have begun a hard sell of digital yuan wallets, asking staff to recruit hundreds of new users each year. According to a translation of a June 6 article from Shenlian Caijing, employees of top banks such as the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and the Bank of Communications, along with four other state-owned banks, have been instructed to promote digital yuan wallets to an average of 200 to 300 people a year. To entice new users, employees are able to offer an odd variety of small gifts, such as “laundry detergent, data cables, card holders, Chinese knots, umbrellas, and tissues.” The banks have included the task of promoting the central bank digital currency (CBDC) on employee evaluations, with the number of CBDC wallet recruits determining each branch's end of year bonuses. Essentially the banks have deployed an incentive scheme ...

Crypto Coin Search

Search This Blog