Though Sam Bankman-Fried could not attend the congressional hearing virtually due to his recent arrest in the Bahamas, United States lawmakers held no punches criticizing the former FTX CEO and business practices at the firm.
As the sole witness before a hearing of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Dec. 13, FTX CEO John Ray shed light on many of the crypto exchange’s activities prior to his takeover as company head on Nov. 11 and what subsequent investigations had revealed. According to Ray, Alameda Research had been dependent on funds from FTX Trading — the international arm of the FTX Group — with “no internal controls and no separateness whatsoever” between the two firms.