FTX’s US bank connection raises more questions for the Securities Commission

In March, FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, invested $11.5 million in FBH, the parent company of Farmington State Bank, a small Washington State bank with just three employees.

The low-profile acquisition is now raising questions around how the investment by crypto firms FTX and Alameda – who injected double the bank’s $5 million net worth- received approval by US regulators.

There is also another local connection to Farmington State Bank (which now goes by ‘Moonstone Bank’) and its parent company FBH: Bahamas-based Deltec Bank.

Recent US bankruptcy filings revealed that FTX and Alameda banked with Deltec Bank.

Deltec’s chairman, Jean Chalopin (a co-creator of the Inspector Gadget cartoon), is also the chairman of FBH.

According to the New York Times, “Deltec’s best-known client is Tether, a crypto company with $65 billion in assets offering a stablecoin that is pegged to the dollar.

“Tether has long faced concerns about its finances, in part because of its reclusive owners and offshore bank accounts. Through Alameda, FTX was one of Tether’s largest trading partners, raising concerns that the stablecoin could have yet-undiscovered ties to FTX’s fraudulent operations.”

Deltec, which is under the Central Bank of The Bahamas oversight, is also in the digital asset business through its Delchain product. And Delchain registered with the SCB through the DARE act earlier this year.

The latest reporting from The Times raises alarming questions.

For US regulators, how integrated into the larger financial system is FTX, which is headquartered in The Bahamas?

For the Bahamas Securities Commission (SCB), what is the connection between Deltec, Delchain, Tether, and FTX? And, in the wake of the collapse of FTX, is the SCB bringing more oversight to bear on all its DARE registrants?

In another underreported connection, Chalopin once bragged that he was the “original one” to push the SCB in the direction of creating the DARE Act, which ultimately brought FTX to our shores:

You can read more about FTX, Alameda, Tether, and the Deltec Bank connection at the New York Times.


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