US House committee sets Dec. 13 date for FTX hearing

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.

In a Nov. 28 announcement, House Financial Services Committee chair Maxine Waters said lawmakers had scheduled a hearing aimed at exploring the collapse of FTX for Dec. 13. The hearing, expected to be “Part I” in perhaps a series of hearings around the impact of a major crypto exchange declaring bankruptcy, was first announced on Nov. 16 but not scheduled.

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.

: https://t.co/RyttaaSqX7

— 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 bankruptcy under Chapter 11 in the District of Delaware, 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 the former CEO intended to give an interview in New York City on Nov. 30 during a conference.

The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has also scheduled a hearing on “Lessons Learned from the FTX Collapse” for Dec. 1, in which Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Rostin Behnam will 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 itinerary.

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 on Nov. 11. The Australian government reportedly said its Treasury department planned on implementing regulations aimed at improving investor protection in 2023, while the Monetary Authority of Singapore has faced scrutiny for not warning investors about FTX.