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Media Giants Ask Court to Release Details of 9M FTX Customers
Four top media firms including Bloomberg L.P. have rejected the latest move by FTX debtors and creditors to extend a 90-day redaction window that granted them permission to hide details of customer-creditors of the bankrupt crypto exchange in certain filings.
Bloomberg, Others Criticize FTX Secrecy
The media giants, which also includes Dow Jones, The New York Times and The Financial Times, in a court filing on Thursday asked the US Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to reject their move and sanction the release of the details of nine million FTX customers-creditors.
On January 20, the court had given the FTX debtors a 90-day window to redact the names of all customers and the addresses and email address of customers who are not natural persons. The court also gave permission to hide the names and addresses of 'any creditors or equity holders' who are natural persons and are protected by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the law that protects the privacy and personal data of EU citizens.
However, in March, the Ad Hoc Committee of Non-US Creditors of FTX filed a motion to redact the names of its members in certain filings, a proposition the media giants rejected in April, noting that the request was “substantially identical” to those initiated by the FTX debtors.
Furthermore, on April 20, FTX debtors and creditors filed a motion to extend the redaction period for an additional 90 days. They also asked the court to permanently seal the names of FTX’s individual customer-creditors in accordance with US and non-US privacy laws.
However, Bloomberg and the other media organizations in the court filing argued that the FTX debtors and creditors provided no evidence to support their argument for redaction. They also contended that that there is no basis to claim that the names of FTX’s customer-creditors constitute confidential commercial information.
Furthermore, they also maintained that existing record does not establish that disclosing the names will subject them to an “undue risk” of identity theft or other unlawful injury. Additionally, they claim that there is no legal basis for hiding the names of individual creditors pursuant to foreign data privacy laws.
According to the court filing, the hearing date for the case is May 17, 2023.
FTX Continues Asset Recovery Efforts
FTX, which was founded by Samuel Bankman-Fried, collapsed in November following a withdrawal frenzy and discovery of intermingling of funds between the exchange and sister crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research. The failed exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last year and has been making efforts to recover its assets.
Finance Magnates reported that the exchange, which is fighting to revive its business, has been able to recover $7.3 billion in liquid digital assets and cash.
JUST IN: Bankrupt FTX has recovered $7.3 billion in assets and is considering relaunching the exchange in Q2.
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 12, 2023Meanwhile, in a new court filing processed on Wednesday, FTX is also seeking to recoup about $4 billion from bankrupt crypto lender Genesis, claiming that the latter was “largely repaid” about $8 billion in loans given to Alameda Research. FTX claims that Genesis received "avoidable transfers" in the 90-day period before the exchange filed for bankruptcy protection.
The exchange further noted that Genesis “was one of the main feeder funds for FTX” and was “instrumental to its fraudulent business model.”
FTX moves to claw back $3.9 billion from Genesis.1. $2.1 billion loan repayments/collateral pledge2. $1.8 billion FTX exchange withdrawals pic.twitter.com/1SsW8yoPck
— FTX 2.0 shareholder (in spe) (@AFTXcreditor) May 3, 2023FCA on whistleblower; Equinix's Q1 results; read today's news nuggets here.
This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.
