bankman fried

The Lawyers Sam Bankman-Fried Once Trusted Are Drawing Criticism

Just before FTX collapsed in November, one of its outside lawyers at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell emailed a colleague at another firm, insisting that the cryptocurrency exchange’s finances were stable.

Rumors of FTX’s demise were “silliness,” the lawyer, Andrew Dietderich, wrote. “FTX is rock solid, doesn’t use customer funds or take credit risk at all,” he said.

Four days later, FTX filed for bankruptcy. Mr. Dietderich quickly arranged for Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange’s founder, to step down so that a new chief executive, John Jay Ray III, a specialist in corporate turnarounds, could lead the company. When Mr. Ray needed lawyers to manage the bankruptcy, a lucrative assignment, he asked a judge to appoint the same ones who had helped get him the job: Sullivan & Cromwell.

Now, with Mr. Bankman-Fried set to go on trial next month on fraud charges stemming from FTX’s failure, Sullivan & Cromwell’s tangled history with the exchange is drawing scrutiny — especially from Mr. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers and family.

For months, Mr. Bankman-Fried has attacked Sullivan & Cromwell in court papers and on social media, arguing that the firm’s lawyers set him up as the fall guy for FTX’s implosion while downplaying their

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September 24, 2023 by ATTORNEY

FTX bankruptcy ‘on track to be very expensive’ as fees top $200mn

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Lawyers, advisers and other professionals working on the FTX bankruptcy have racked up $200mn in fees as they attempt to restructure the “smouldering heap of wreckage” left behind by the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse in November, an independent auditor found.

In a 47-page filing on Tuesday, a court-appointed fee examiner said she believed the amounts invoiced by hundreds of lawyers from firms including Sullivan & Cromwell and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, alongside other financial and tax advisers, were not “wholly unreasonable”.

“FTX is hardly the first business organisation felled by a knave,” Katherine Stadler wrote, in an apparent reference to the company’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was charged by federal prosecutors last December over his exchange’s spectacular implosion.

“What makes these cases extraordinary, however, is the largely unregulated financial system in which the debtors (and other similar financial technology companies) operate, combined with their global scope, the complete absence of corporate records, and the non-existence of even the most basic corporate governance,” she added.

Stadler’s report, which focused on the fees requested for the first 90

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June 25, 2023 by ATTORNEY

Millions Spent on FTX Lawyers and Calls for Staff Bonuses, as SBF Hints He May Want Trial Delayed
Millions Spent on FTX Lawyers and Calls for Staff Bonuses, as SBF Hints He May Want Trial Delayed

Millions Spent on FTX Lawyers and Calls for Staff Bonuses, as SBF Hints He May Want Trial Delayed

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial might not be due to begin until later this year, but there’s no shortage of daily drama in the courtroom.

New details have emerged about how much money has been spent on legal services following FTX’s dramatic bankruptcy — as well as plans to pay millions of dollars in bonuses to key staff.

And if all that wasn’t enough, SBF’s legal team has indicated that October 2023 may be too soon for the trial to begin in Manhattan if the 30-year-old is to have enough time to prepare.

Let’s go through all of these developments in turn.

READ MORE: Everything We Know About the FTX Saga So Far

Documents filed in bankruptcy court show just how expensive bankruptcy proceedings can be.

Ever since FTX went under in November, law firms have been instructed to go through the exchange’s books with a fine tooth comb — all in the hope of uncovering the missing billions that are owed to customers. Meanwhile, new management has been brought

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March 13, 2023 by ATTORNEY

FTX Bankruptcy Judge Agrees Independent Examiner Would Mean More Risk

Appointing an independent examiner in the FTX bankruptcy proceedings “would create an increased risk of further loss through inadvertent disclosures or hacking,” Judge John Dorsery said in a hearing on Wednesday.

Dorsey, who’s overseeing the crypto exchange’s Chapter 11 case in Delaware, denied a motion from the U.S. Trustee to appoint an examiner. He cited concerns about security and cost, echoing arguments made independent-examiner-assets-risk” data-ylk=”slk:last week” class=”link “last week by attorneys representing FTX, the creditor committee, and the joint provisional liquidators.

When a bankruptcy judge appoints an independent examiner, debtors have to pay the bill. That means FTX would have had to pay for an investigation that Dorsey estimated could have cost more than $100 million.

“It is important to keep in mind that while we talk about the cost of an investigation being borne by the debtors, we are actually talking about the cost being borne by the creditors,” Dorsey said during the hearing. “Every dollar spent in these cases on administrative expenses is $1 less to the creditors.”

FTX Bankruptcy Lawyers Say Independent Examiner Would Put Assets at Risk

To bolster its argument against an examiner, the FTX legal team had newly appointed FTX CEO

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February 20, 2023 by ATTORNEY

FTX Bankruptcy Lawyers Say Independent Examiner Would Put Assets at Risk

The judge overseeing the FTX bankruptcy proceeding still hasn’t decided whether he will appoint an independent examiner after a 4-hour hearing that included testimony from FTX CEO John Ray III.

Judge John Doresey, who’s overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings, said Monday he’s asked the attorneys representing FTX, the unsecured creditor committee, U.S. Trustee and the Joint Public Liquidators of the Bahamas to discuss “a consensual resolution.” The next FTX court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, but there’s no sign yet the judge will make a ruling then.

Ray was appointed when crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy and founder Sam Bankman-Fried stepped down on November 11. The company, once an influential giant in the industry, is accused of having commingled client funds with those of its sister company, Alameda Research—a crypto trading firm also founded by Bankman-Fried.

Ray said during his testimony on Monday that he and his team have been fielding daily requests from state and federal investigators. Ray also testified that he did not find examiner’s reports helpful in two prior bankruptcies he’s overseen, Enron and Residential Capital, adding that “the reports were somewhat ambivalent in the conclusionary sense.”

The FTX legal team has been arguing that the cost

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February 13, 2023 by ATTORNEY
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