The United States House Financial Services Committee has announced it will be holding a hearing to investigate the events around the collapse of crypto exchange FTX.
House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters said Nov. 28 that lawmakers will explore the collapse of FTX at the Dec. 13 inquiry, expected to be the first in a series of hearings about the bankruptcy of a major crypto exchange. This one was first announced on Nov. 16 but not scheduled until now.
Following the fall of FTX, the urgent need for legislation has never been greater. @FSCDems anticipated this need & have already been working for several months under the leadership of Chairwoman Waters, w/ RM McHenry, to craft bipartisan legislation.
— U.S. House Committee on Financial Services (@FSCDems) November 16, 2022
The House committee said in its previous announcement that it expected to hear from individuals and companies involved in the events that led to FTX filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research and Binance. Though Bankman-Fried was reportedly still based in the Bahamas at the time of publication, New York Times journalist Andrew Sorkin said on Nov. 24 that the former CEO intended to speak at a conference in New York City on Nov. 30.
The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has also scheduled a hearing on “Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse” for Dec. 1, with Commodity Futures Trading Commission Cchair Rostin Behnam scheduled to appear as a witness. It’s unclear if Bankman-Fried will also speak to the committee should he remain in the country following his New York trip.
Related: BlockFi files for bankruptcy, cites FTX collapse for its troubles
FTX has been a target for lawmakers and regulators around the world following the firm filing for bankruptcy in the District of Delaware on Nov. 11. The Australian government says its Treasury department plans on implementing regulations aimed at improving investor protection next year, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore has faced scrutiny for not warning investors about FTX.
