Some former FTX customers have asked to have their names removed from court filings. wall street journal December 29th report.
In legal filings from the previous day, the customer requested a court order to remove his name and other identifying information from public records.
Those customers suggested that if their personal information were disclosed, they would be less able to sell their assets and would suffer maximizing recovery in the ongoing FTX bankruptcy case. They also suggested that publishing their names puts them at risk of being targeted for identity theft and online fraud.
The filing claims that “the potential risks arising from disclosing the names of FTX customers … far outweigh the potential benefits of disclosure.”
FTX lawyers appeared in favor of keeping customer information private as recently as November. However, according to the WSJ, bankruptcy proceedings typically require transparency, and no exception was given to FTX.
U.S. Department of Justice attorneys are seeking to reveal FTX customer data in public documents. In addition, various media organizations such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The New York Times and Financial Times have also joined the lawsuit for exposing their customers’ names and information.
Bankrupt lender Celsius was embroiled in a similar controversy this fall. His 14,000-page court filing, filed on October 5, included the names of thousands of Celsius customers and the amounts those customers owed. The incident received a lot of attention on social media and raised concerns about customer privacy.
FTX doesn’t seem to attract the interest of such a large group. This week’s complaints come from just 15 creditors with claims worth $1.9 billion.
A judge in the FTX bankruptcy case has yet to make a decision on whether to redact names and information.
