Singapore’s Temasek cut salaries for staff behind $275M FTX investment

1 year ago 102

Monday crypto news confirmed Singapore’s Temasek Holdings had concluded an internal review of its $275M investment loss at now-insolvent FTX exchange. The staff accountable for the investment took full responsibility and had their salaries cut. Also, the senior management team endured the same pay cuts.

Temasek has made a statement on the FTX fraud
Admits damage to their reputation
Compensation of employees reduced

While FTX creditors lose their life savings, mental health and some reported suicides – not exactly fair pic.twitter.com/VOCkf8AfSG

— Sunil (FTX 2.0 Champion) (@sunil_trades) May 29, 2023

That comes nearly half a year after Temasek kick-started a review of the FTX bet that saw the state-owned investment fund writing off $275M. Lim Boon Heng, Temasek chair, posted a blog highlighting the matter (on Monday).

He stated that the senior management and investment staff liable for the FTX investment took full responsibility for the decision and had their pay slashed. Moreover, the internal review didn’t discover misconduct by the involved staff in recommending the bet.

Temasek didn’t disclose the amount of the pay cut. Meanwhile, the company had revealed that FTX investment accounted for 0.09% of its 403B Singapore dollar portfolio ($304B) as of 31 March 2022. Also, it said it currently doesn’t have crypto on its portfolio.

The firm confirmed that it took due diligence to review FTX’s financial docs, evaluated regulatory risks within crypto service providers, and took nine months to seek lawful advice (from Feb to Oct 2021).

Furthermore, it interacted with individuals knowledgeable of FTX undertakings, including industry participants, other investors, and employees.

Temasek to prioritize caution in the crypto world after FTX terror

As mentioned, Temasek confirmed that it did a detailed analysis before investing in the fallen exchange. However, the released statement indicated that FTX conducted internal fraudulent activities and concealed everything from investors (including Temasek).

Post-FTX debacle, Temasek revealed its intention to revise its investment appraisal process, especially when interacting with rapidly growing companies. Moreover, it emphasized that it has no plans to invest in cryptocurrency and will prioritize caution whenever considering investing in blockchain technology. FTX was the only crypto-exposure that Temasek tried.

FTX Token

FTX’s native token FTT crashed massively following the companies debacle. While writing this news, the alt traded at $1.0281. Coinmarketcap data shows the altcoin continues to ride bearish waves.