FTX says Wall Street heavyweights are among its creditors


Bloomberg 3 hrs ago

A 116-page document filed on Wednesday detailing FTX's creditors contains thousands of entries, and names of individuals are redacted. But the globe-spanning list identifies heavyweights across Wall Street as having some kind of connection with Sam Bankman-Fried's once-giant exchange.

The disclosure doesn't reveal the nature or size of the debts, if any, and inclusion on the list doesn't mean a firm is highly exposed to FTX.

The list "is intended to be very broad for service purposes and includes parties who may appear in the debtors books and records for any number of reasons," lawyers for FTX wrote in a statement filed in bankruptcy court on Thursday.

Deutsche Bank AG, HSBC Bank and MUFG Bank are also on the list.

"Goldman Sachs has not filed a claim against the debtors," a spokesperson for the bank said. "This type of creditor matrix is prepared by the debtors for the purpose of providing notice to interested parties in a bankruptcy proceeding and is not necessarily evidence of a creditor relationship."

A representative for Deutsche Bank said the firm had no credit exposure to FTX. Representatives for JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and MUFG declined to comment. HSBC didn't have an immediate comment.

Prior to its filing for bankruptcy in November last year, FTX was one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. Once valued at $32-billion, the exchange and Bankman-Fried were known for their willingness to spend lavishly on advertising deals, business partnerships and political donations.

Other than the banks, named creditors include US governmental departments, both national and international securities regulators, other large crypto firms, media outlets, big tech companies and a global array of law firms and accountants.

Endorsements nixed

With the fallout spreading, a federal judge has now approved FTX Group's request to formally terminate endorsement deals with supermodel Gisele Bundchen, basketball star Stephen Curry's SC30 and baseball phenomenon Shohei Ohtani, court papers show.

Bundchen has partnership, endorsement and charitable giving agreements with an FTX affiliate dating to May 2021, according to bankruptcy court papers. Curry's SC30 and Ohtani have endorsement deals from later the same year.

US Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey's Thursday order permits FTX to nix the deals. As is standard in US insolvency, the crypto exchange's Chapter 11 filing gave FTX wide latitude to reject contracts that it no longer needs or can't afford.

Representatives for Bundchen, Curry and Ohtani didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bundchen, Curry and Ohtani are among celebrity endorsers targeted by investors in a lawsuit over their promotion of FTX. Others include Tom Brady and Shaquille O'Neal. *BM/DM*