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FTX’s bankruptcy triggers global squabbles over ownership and control of crypto firm’s assets

Laws meant to protect customers when things go wrong — and the bankruptcy regime in particular — are deeply tied up with national boundaries, and cross-border cooperation is never a guarantee.

The collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX has opened a hornet’s nest of squabbles between foreign governments and its new US chief executive, John J Ray III.

In Cyprus, the country’s securities regulator is complaining that Ray’s decision to place FTX in bankruptcy has stymied investigations and is preventing European customers from getting their money back. Officials in the Bahamas, where FTX moved its headquarters last year, are accusing Ray of making false statements and suggesting that his team is motivated by the prospects of earning hefty legal fees. In Turkey, authorities have seized the assets of FTX’s local subsidiary, an affront to Ray’s efforts to sweep FTX’s assets into the Chapter 11 process in Delaware.

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