The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRESS Secretary Clint Watson yesterday defended government’s response to FTX’s collapse, insisting that officials are communicating with the public as they get new information in relation to the embattled cryptocurrency exchange.

Mr Watson was asked about the Davis administration’s public relations plan regarding FTX in the wake of criticisms about the government taking too long to respond to the ongoing saga or not being as forthcoming with information.

“It’s exactly what we’re doing, we’re communicating it as we get information,” he replied yesterday.

“Sometimes because information doesn’t come to you as you would like, it doesn’t mean that it’s not coming.

“We want to make sure that whenever we speak on matters, we’re speaking with intelligence and the right people are speaking and every time it’s the government that needs to speak there are regulators that you want to allow to be able to speak to their industry and their sector.

“The prime minister speaks when there is a need for him to speak and not just because people want a story or people want comments.

“We always maintain that we are a government of transparency and that’s why we’re addressing your questions today and that’s why we’re giving you as many answers as we possibly can.

“We want to be prudent with anything that we say publicly because at the end of the day, the government has a responsibility to govern, lead and to protect its country and so we’re doing that and make no mistake about it, as information needs to be disseminated, it will be.”

Mr Watson was speaking at the Office of the Prime Minister’s weekly press briefing yesterday where reporters fielded questions about FTX’s collapse.

However, the press secretary declined to comment on most questions related to cryptocurrency exchange because of ongoing investigations.

In his first public remarks on FTX, Prime Minister Phillip “Brave” Davis told the House of Assembly on Wednesday he had ordered that local investigations be of the highest order and given precedence.

He also revealed that investigations will be a coordinated effort with “duly appointed authorities” in other jurisdictions and also, he said he had every confidence The Bahamas will emerge from proceedings related to FTX with an enhanced reputation as a solid digital assets jurisdiction.

The prime minister advised that government officials have not identified any deficiencies in the nation’s regulatory framework that could have prevented FTX’s implosion and further cautioned “those who care about our country’s reputation” to tread carefully when speaking about matters related to FTX.

Free National Movement Leader and Marco City MP Michael Pintard, however, has since criticised Mr Davis’ remarks, saying he was stunned “at the brevity and to a large extent, the hollowness” of his comments on FTX’s collapse.

Mr Pintard added: “We are facing a substantial risk to our financial services sector and one would’ve expected that since the international community’s eyes are trained on the Commonwealth of The Bahamas that on this occasion that this Davis- Cooper administration would’ve thought it necessary to break its silence much earlier with a far more comprehensive statement given the gravity of this.”