New Revelation: Australian Regulators Probed FTX Crypto Exchange Before Its Collapse – Here's Why
It has emerged that the once-thriving FTX exchange had been subject to open inquiries from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) since March 2022.
With over 30,000 Australian investors seeking to reclaim their individual deposits of up to $1M (AUD). Questions are surfacing about ASIC’s role in investigating market misconduct at FTX ahead of the firms’ implosion on November 12.
Emails shown by the Guardian confirm FTX was under active surveillance amid ongoing inquiries into the exchange's activities.
The documents reveal serious concerns about asset pricing and compliance with the Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) that enabled dealings with Australian clients.
Investigations began in March 2022 after FTX promoted margin loan trading with up to 20x leverage for the Australian market.
Unable to access expected key documents associated with an ASFL, investigators held a teleconference with FTX on March 30.
During the call, FTX highlighted compliance with international financial regimes – going so far as to boast possessing 31 financial service licenses.
The March meeting ended with reassurances from FTX that they would work with regulators [on fighting crypto scams], and further assist Australian police investigations into crypto-related crime.
In April, the ASIC issued an 'S912C Notice' to access information and documents pertinent to compliance with ASFL license requirements.
During the next 6 months, ASIC sent 3 notices to FTX. And banded around two emails entitled ‘FTX Australia Pty LTD - Summary of Current Concerns’ ahead of the exchange collapse.
Major questions emerge from the revelations about the ASIC investigation. Chiefly, could financial regulators have done more, or acted sooner, to
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