The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

THE Deputy Prime Minister yesterday voiced confidence that the Bahamian financial services will survive the latest “curveball” thrown at it by the FTX crypto exchange’s sudden implosion.

Chester Cooper, also minister of tourism, investments and aviation, told media ahead of the weekly Cabinet meeting that he was “confident” the Securities Commission and Royal Bahamas Police Force can handle the fall-out from a sudden corporate collapse that has sent shockwaves through the global digital assets industry and wider financial markets.

And, seemingly responding to calls for the Government to break its silence on the matter, he added that Prime Minister Philip Davis KC and the “regulators” will be addressing the concerns surrounding FTX and its potential fall-out for The Bahamas’ reputation in the near future although no date was given.

“I am confident about the regulators,” Mr Cooper said. “I’m confident about the laws governing financial services in The Bahamas. We’ve had curveballs thrown at us before in financial services and we’ve persevered. We’ve pivoted in financial services many times, and I expect that we’re going to do likewise in the digital assets business.”

The Royal Bahamas Police Force is working with the Securities Commission to determine if possible “criminal misconduct” was involved in FTX’s collapse into provisional liquidation in The Bahamas and Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US.

Wayne Munroe, minister for national security, said “no one has been detained by the police” in relation to FTX’s collapse. He added that the police must conduct their investigations and take whatever steps are necessary based on the evidence they uncover.

Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s co-founder and now-former chief executive, who remains holed up in The Bahamas, and those executives close to him are said to also be under investigation by the US Justice Department and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) as well as a host of global regulatory bodies.

Mr Cooper, meanwhile, also told once-jailed Billy McFarland, organiser of the infamous Fyre Festival in 2017, that he needed to talk to Bahamian police rather than seek to hold another event on Exuma. Multiple Bahamian vendors have yet to receive a cent of what is owed to them from the fraud-ridden event, and the deputy prime minister added: “I believe there are several complaints with the Royal Bahamas Police Force. I think he should have a conversation with them.”

Mr McFarland, in a voice note circulating on social media yesterday, promised that he will seek to raise funds to repay impacted Bahamian vendors and make them whole. However, he indicated that doing so will take time and many will not be holding their breath that any compensation will come through given the Fyre Festival organiser’s track record.

Mr Cooper also reiterated his previous position on efforts to sell the Grand Lucayan, saying: “I have listened intently to a lot of people speculating. I have listened intently to many members of the former Board speaking to matters which they have no information on.

“Let me just say that we have laid out the circumstances as it relates to the Grand Lucayan. Suffice to say we are in the final stages of selecting the provider for the rebuilding of the Grand Bahama Airport, so I am not going to get into a back and forth with persons who had a mandate to sell the property and didn’t do so.

“They must give account for their stewardship. We will give account for ours. We will do what’s in the best interest of the Bahamian people, we will do what’s in the best interest of Grand Bahama, and suffice to say as we’ve laid out before we are pressing forward. I am confident that we will be able to do a transaction, or a pivot, as it relates to the Grand Lucayan resort that’s going to be in the best interest of the people.”