Following Bankman-Fried’s announcement that he is closing Alameda Research, the Bahamas Securities Commission has now frozen the assets of FTX Digital Markets “and related parties.”
An asset freeze was reportedly “the prudent course of action” to preserve assets and stabilize the company.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Sam Bankman-Fried for potential securities law violations.
As the Bahamas securities regulator seeks to place the beleaguered crypto exchange into receivership, an attorney has been appointed as a provisional liquidator.
In a sign of how pressures are mounting across his businesses, FTX US has said it may halt trading on its platform in the coming days.
“The commission is aware of public statements implying that the assets of clients were mishandled, mismanaged, and/or transferred to Alameda Research.” According to the information provided by the commission, “any such actions would have been contrary to normal governance, without client consent, and potentially illegal,” it stated.
Customers and investors have approached prominent American litigator David Boies about filing a lawsuit. Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried is said to have hired Martin Flumenbaum, a partner at Paul Weiss.