Elizabeth Warren Demands U.S. CFTC Chair Explain His Chats With SBF

Warren and Grassley requested a detailed report from Behnam about his interactions with Sam Bankman-Fried. Over a span of 14 months, CFTC officials held approximately 10 meetings and engaged in numerous email exchanges with Bankman-Fried and his team. In 2022, Behnam informed lawmakers that he had also corresponded frequently with the FTX founder, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for orchestrating a massive fraud at the company.

Behnam and his agency had a compelling reason to frequently engage with FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. They were advocating for the LedgerX division, which they had previously spun off after its collapse and were seeking to restore to its original name. Their goal was to enable this division to directly manage margined derivatives trading for customers without requiring an intermediary firm. Unfortunately, their attempt did not succeed, and it was a subject of debate during a CFTC roundtable discussion where Bankman-Fried was the prominent figure amidst industry opponents.

During a Senate hearing in 2022 following the collapse of FTX, Grassley and another senator requested details about Behnam’s and his team’s interactions with Bankman-Fried through meetings and text messages. Subsequently, Sen. Hawley (R-Mo.) sought access to records documenting communications between FTX, regulatory bodies such as the CFTC, other government institutions, and the White House.

Starting from April 12, Warren and Grassley have requested for access to all written exchanges, along with the meeting minutes and chronology of past engagements.

Spokespeople for the CFTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, has also faced questions about the SEC’s dealings with SBF during the months leading up to the company’s unexpected downfall.