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The board of directors of Robinhood has approved a plan to buy up to 55 million shares bought by Sam Bankman-Fried last year. The ex-CEO of the now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX originally purchased his stake in May 2022 through Emergent Fidelity Technologies. "Our board authorized us to buy the shares of Robinhood that were originally acquired by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, that FTX subsidiary," Robinhood CFO Jason Warnick told CNBC. According to a Jan. 20 DOJ filing, Bankman-Fried held 55,273,469 Robinhood shares, over 7% of the company's outstanding shares. The shares are also at the heart of a contentious court battle between FTX, Bankman-Fried, crypto lender BlockFi, and a set of international entities.

[1/4] Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, departs from his court hearing at a federal court in New York City's Manhattan, U.S. January 3, 2023. REUTERS/David Dee Delgado/Feb 8 (Reuters) - Failed crypto firm FTX received court approval on Wednesday to issue subpoenas to its founder Sam Bankman-Fried and members of his family as part of the company's investigation into "misappropriated and stolen" funds. FTX said in court papers filed Wednesday that most of the subpoena targets had begun cooperating with its investigation. FTX said that it is still in discussions with Ellison and that Sam Bankman-Fried "remains non-responsive." Mind the Gap has previously said that Sam Bankman-Fried did not make any direct contributions to the organization but did donate to some of its recommended programs.

The law firms that billed FTX are Sullivan & Cromwell, Landis Rath & Cobb, and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan. Landis Rath & Cobb and Sullivan & Cromwell, FTX's primary legal firms, billed the company a combined $10.7 million for over 8,400 hours of work. Landis Rath & Cobb billed $1.16 million for work done between Nov. 11 and Nov. 30. Full compensation for legal and advisor fees will not occur until a final fee application is filed, whenever FTX's bankruptcy saga concludes. Lawyers for Sullivan & Cromwell did $40,000 worth of work just to appear in FTX's first bankruptcy hearing on Nov. 22, based on court filings of hours billed and hourly rates.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. Prosecutors had asked last month to tighten bail, citing Bankman-Fried's efforts to contact both the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate and new FTX Chief Executive John Ray, ostensibly to provide assistance. Bankman-Fried would have also withdrawn his objection to a bail condition preventing him from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets. They cited the cases' substantial overlap, and the risk Bankman-Fried could gather evidence in the civil cases to help his criminal defense.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a proposal to modify Sam Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, despite an agreement between the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder and prosecutors to address potential witness tampering concerns. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan did not provide reasons for the denial, and said a hearing on Bankman-Fried's bail remains scheduled for Feb. 9. Prosecutors had asked last month to tighten his bail conditions, citing Bankman-Fried's efforts to contact both the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate and new FTX Chief Executive John Ray, ostensibly to provide assistance. The proposed conditions would prevent Bankman-Fried from talking with most employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund without lawyers present, or using encrypted messaging apps such as Signal. Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ FTX has chased politicians like Nancy Pelosi to return donations given before the crypto giant's collapse. They now have a deadline of February 28 to pay.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In total, FTX employees donated $90 million to politicians, per The New York Times, and the debtors are trying to claim that back to reimburse customers. After Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX's Bahamas company, Ryan Salame, donated $23 million – making him the 15th top donor in the US, per OpenSecrets. The lawyers handling FTX's bankruptcy first requested the donations be returned in December. But in January, CoinDesk reported that just five of the 196 politicians who received money from FTX said they had successfully returned it. CoinDesk reports that Vance donated the money to a non-profit, but FTX has warned that this "does not prevent the FTX debtors from seeking recovery."

The U.S. Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog has urged U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing FTX's Chapter 11, to appoint an independent examiner to investigate allegations of "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, and mismanagement" that are "too important to be left to an internal investigation." FTX says an examiner would merely duplicate work already being done by FTX, its creditors, and law enforcement agencies. FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his Alameda Research hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. FTX's official creditors committee has sided with FTX, saying the proposed investigation is redundant. State securities regulators in Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin supported the Justice Department's bid, saying a neutral report would benefit creditors and customers.

☆ It's time to chill with al the recession talk
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN —In 2021, a bunch of economists and policy makers underestimated the inflation that was taking root around the world. In 2022, as inflation hit 40-year-highs and the Fed ramped up interest rates, many of those commentators went full-on gloomy — predicting a recession was all but inevitable. And that makes it hard, if not impossible, to imagine a recession anytime soon. “Any concern the economy is in recession or close to a recession should be completely dashed by these numbers,” Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told CNN on Friday. “The economy is further away from recession than ever,” wrote Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at Fwdbonds.

☆ State Street reports 9.32% stake in embattled crypto bank Silvergate
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. custodian bank State Street Corp (STT.N) on Thursday reported a 9.32% passive stake in cryptocurrency-focused lender Silvergate Capital Corp (SI.N) as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing. The disclosure comes as Silvergate seeks to ease investor concerns over its future, after reporting a $1 billion loss for the fourth quarter because FTX's bankruptcy shook confidence in the crypto sector. Earlier this week, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators sent a letter to Silvergate asking for details on its dealings with FTX and affiliate Alameda. Passive shareholders do not seek to influence a company's management or its course of business. Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

NEW YORK, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried is in talks with U.S. prosecutors to resolve a dispute over the FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder's bail conditions, his lawyer said on Thursday. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest at his parents' California home. Once worth an estimated $26 billion, Bankman-Fried was arrested in December after FTX collapsed. Bankman-Fried has acknowledged risk management failures, but said FTX collapsed because of a liquidity crunch and that he did not steal funds. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Daniel WallisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ U.S. prosecutors probe Silvergate's dealings with FTX, Alameda - Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors in the Justice Department's fraud unit are looking into Silvergate Capital Corp's (SI.N) dealings with bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and Alameda Research, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The criminal investigation is examining Silvergate's hosting of accounts tied to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's businesses, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter. The Department of Justice and Silvergate Capital did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Earlier this week, a group of bipartisan U.S. senators sent a letter to Silvergate asking for details of its risk management practices and its dealings with FTX. Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika SyamnathOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Companies Ledgerx LLC FollowNEW YORK, Feb 1 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Wednesday temporarily barred FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting current or former employees of the cryptocurrency exchange or his Alameda Research hedge fund, and from using encrypted messaging tools including Signal. He was arrested in December on charges of looting billions of FTX customer funds, and lying to investors and lenders. Prosecutors last week cited a Signal message Bankman-Fried sent on Jan. 15 to the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate, referred to in court papers as "Witness-1." The order does not apply to Bankman-Fried's immediate family members, and he may communicate with FTX or Alameda employees if lawyers are present. At next week's hearing, Kaplan will also consider a request by Bankman-Fried's lawyers to allow him to access and transfer cryptocurrency.

☆ FTX sues Voyager Digital to claw back $446 million in 2022 loan payments
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | Industry Insight | Upcoming Sec Climate Disclosure Rules Bring Urgency To Esg Data Strategy Planning | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 30(Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX sued crypto lender Voyager Digital on Monday, seeking to claw back $445.8 million in loan repayments that FTX made before collapsing into bankruptcy in November 2022. FTX and Voyager both filed for bankruptcy amid a 2022 collapse in cryptocurrency markets, but Voyager’s bankruptcy preceded FTX’s filing by four months. After Voyager filed in July, it demanded repayment of all outstanding loans to FTX and its affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research. FTX said in a court filing that on Alameda’s behalf, it paid Voyager $248.8 million in September and $193.9 million in October. In its Monday court filing, FTX acknowledged the allegations that Alameda raided FTX customer assets to cover its risky borrowing and lending.

☆ U.S. says FTX founder Bankman-Fried needs limits on communications, asset access
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

They argued those assets were "vulnerable to exploitation and in need of protection from the defendant." Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, who represent Bankman-Fried, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In Monday's letter, prosecutors called the message an effort to "improperly influence" the general counsel, no matter how benign it might seem. Bankman-Fried's lawyers have said their client was trying simply to provide assistance to the general counsel, and has not been not using the auto-delete feature. They also proposed that Bankman-Fried not be allowed to talk with select colleagues, including former Alameda chief Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Zixiao "Gary" Wang and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh.

☆ A judge ordered the unsealing of Sam Bankman-Fried's 2 anonymous bail sponsors — but says they have a week to appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A federal judge agreed to unseal the names of Samuel Bankman-Fried's two anonymous bail sponsors. The judge pointed out that the sponsors waded into a highly public criminal case. "The non-parental bail sureties have entered voluntarily into a highly publicized criminal proceeding by signing the individual bonds," Kaplan wrote in his ruling on Monday. According to the rules of their bail agreement, one of those additional sponsors couldn't be a family member, according to court filings. A group of media organizations, including Insider, argued that the public had a right to know who was bankrolling Bankman-Fried's bail.

☆ Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried tried to obscure his crimes with Robinhood’s stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Kara Scannell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Federal prosecutors said FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s efforts to control about $500 million worth of Robinhood shares last year indicates steps the former crypto entrepreneur has taken to “obscure” his alleged crimes. In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan involving Bankman-Fried’s bail, prosecutors argued he should still be prevented from moving FTX assets. Prosecutors want to limit who Bankman-Fried can be in touch with from FTX and its sister hedge fund Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers asked for the limitations of his contact with FTX assets be lifted since prosecutors have not proven he was behind a mysterious transfer. Correction: A previous version of this article provided the wrong date for the judge to unpause his Monday ruling.

☆ FTX was under surveillance by Australian regulators over 6 months before its collapse, documents reportedly show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX was surveilled by Australian financial regulators as early as March 2022, per the Guardian. FTX Australia obtained a regulatory license after acquiring a company that already had one. That article reported that the crypto exchange would lend customers as much as 20 times their investment to buy crypto assets. Almost 30,000 investors in Australia lost money to the crypto exchange, the Australian Financial Review previously reported. The regulator confirmed to the Guardian that it had made inquiries with FTX Australia since March 2022, and investigations were ongoing.

Bankman-Fried, 30, has been free on $250 million bond since pleading not guilty to charges of fraud in the looting of billions of dollars from the now-bankrupt FTX. But in a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan, Bankman-Fried's lawyers said prosecutors sprung the "overbroad" bail conditions without revealing that both sides had been discussing bail over the last week. "Rather than wait for any response from the defense, the government sandbagged the process, filing this letter at 6:00 p.m. on Friday evening," Bankman-Fried's lawyers wrote. They said a Signal ban isn't necessary because Bankman-Fried is not using the auto-delete feature, and concern he might is "unfounded." The lawyers also asked to remove a bail condition preventing Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX, Alameda or cryptocurrency assets, saying there was "no evidence" he was responsible for earlier alleged unauthorized transactions.

☆ U.S. seeks tighter bail for FTX founder Bankman-Fried to prevent tampering
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Citing Bankman-Fried's "recent attempts to contact prospective witnesses," prosecutors asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to ban Bankman-Fried from communicating with current or former employees of FTX or his Alameda Research hedge fund, other than family, unless a lawyer is present. They also asked that Bankman-Fried not use Signal or other encrypted call and messaging applications, though he could still communicate through text messages, email and the phone. In Friday's letter, prosecutors cited a Signal message on Jan. 15 from Bankman-Fried to "Witness-1," the general counsel of the FTX U.S. affiliate. Bankman-Fried expressed interest in having a "constructive relationship" or "at least vet things with each other." In seeking to keep Bankman-Fried off Signal, prosecutors said he had in 2021 directed that many Signal and Slack communications be autodeleted within 30 days.

☆ SBF's lawyer asked the judge to let the disgraced FTX founder access the company's assets and crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Kenneth Niemeyer | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

An attorney for Sam Bankman-Fried asked a federal judge to allow him access to FTX crypto. Bankman-Fried resigned as FTX CEO in November 2022 after the company filed for bankruptcy. On Saturday, an attorney for Bankman-Fried asked a federal judge to lift the financial restrictions on his client, according to court documents viewed by Insider. "The Government admitted to the Court that it had no evidence that Mr. Bankman-Fried was responsible, and Mr. Bankman-Fried has repeatedly denied any involvement in the transfers," Cohen wrote in the letter. SBF's attorney also proposed that he should have unlimited contact with his father, therapist, and any foreign regulator who contacts him.

☆ Department of Justice calls to bar Sam Bankman-Fried from contacting FTX employees after allegations of witness tampering
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The DOJ asked the court to stop him from contacting employees via encrypted apps like Signal. Prosecutors requested that the conditions of Bankman-Fried's bond be changed so he is no longer allowed to contact employees, who the DOJ considers potential witnesses against the former executive, without a lawyer present. While witness tampering is often associated with threats or intimidation, the DOJ's letter notes that conversations can also be deemed as interference in an investigation. "Efforts by the defendant to improve his relationship with potential witnesses that may testify against him may itself constitute witness tampering," the letter states. "Were the defendant to 'vet' his version of relevant events with potential witnesses, that might have the effect of discouraging witnesses from testifying in a manner contrary to the defendant's narrative."

☆ Vanguard's global investment expert explains what traders are doing to kick off 2023 and how markets are reacting to the Federal Reserve's policy tightening.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Today, I'm sharing my conversation with Fiona Greig of Vanguard's Investment Strategy Group. Fiona Greig, global head of investor research and policy for Vanguard VanguardFiona Greig is the global head of investor research and policy for Vanguard's Investment Strategy Group. This suggests a "stay the course" posture, meaning yes there's been volatility, but the longer term outlook they have for the stock market is stable. There's some lower expectations for stock market returns in the short term, but we see pretty clear expectations and optimism for returns in the next 12 months, and even 10 years. The firm's strategists said these companies pay out a healthy dividend and can offset stock market losses in a slow-growth economic landscape.

☆ U.S. securities regulator probes investment advisers over crypto custody -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Chris Prentice | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing registered investment advisers over whether they are meeting rules around custody of client crypto assets, three sources with knowledge of the inquiry told Reuters. SEC enforcement staff are asking investment advisers for details around what the firms did to assess custody for platforms including FTX, one of the sources said. By law, investment advisers cannot have custody of client funds or securities if they do not meet certain requirements to protect the assets. "This is an obvious compliance issue for investment advisers. Under Democratic leadership, the SEC has made crypto a priority area for enforcement, nearly doubling the size of its crypto team last year.

☆ Anthony Scaramucci says he bought Sam Bankman-Fried a suit for their Middle East fundraising tour and that the trip sparked FTX's downfall
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried and Anthony Scaramucci went on a Middle East fundraising tour in October. Scaramucci told Insider he bought SBF a suit so the FTX CEO wouldn't wear a T-shirt with investors. Scaramucci told Insider he bought the then-FTX CEO a suit from Bloomingdale's to help impress investors. "I bought him a suit, frankly, to take him to the Middle East with me and told him he can't dress with a T-shirt in the Middle East," Scaramucci told Insider. "So in some ways, I'm happy that we took that trip because we could still be living in a world of FTX," Scaramucci said.

☆ SBF's mom, Caroline Ellison, and former FTX executives are not cooperating with the investigation into the disgraced crypto exchange, filing says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

SBF, his mom, his brother, and key executives in his crypto empire aren't cooperating in the FTX bankruptcy case, according to a recent court filing. FTX lawyers said several key insiders have not responded or declined to give requested information related to the collapsed exchange. But discussions with Bankman-Fried's father and another FTX executive have been making progress, the filing said. In particular, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have declined to give FTX's lawyers requested information. However, discussions with Bankman-Fried's father Joseph Bankman and former FTX COO Zhe Wang have been making progress, the filing said.

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