FTX-Funded Charity Effective Ventures Acted ‘Diligently’ Protecting Funds: UK Govt. Probe Conclude

The UK government’s Charity Commission probe has concluded that Effective Ventures Foundation, an FTX-funded charity, acted “diligently and quickly” to protect charity funds in the wake of FTX’s massive collapse.

“The inquiry found that the trustees took appropriate steps to protect the charity’s funds and complied with their legal duties acting diligently and quickly following the collapse of FTX,” a press statement read.

Per the investigation, the charity fund received £3.3 million ($300,000) in donations, which the trustees “ringfenced,” requesting and obtaining a Defence against Money Laundering from the National Crime Agency.

Further, the charity also decided to reach a settlement agreement for the repayment of funds received from FTX in 2022. “The charity made this decision following independent legal advice they had received,” the report added.

During the investigation, two trustees with connections to FTX resigned from their positions at the charity.

However, following the collapse of the FTX exchange, trustees not connected to FTX, “acted quickly to assess the risk to the charity and installed measures to protect charitable assets and continued operations.”

Effective Ventures Agreed to Repay Millions

The Charity Commission in England and Wales announced in Jan 2023 that it initiated investigations on Effective Ventures (EV), owing to the fact that FTX is a “major sponsor.”

Effective Ventures reportedly disclosed its links to FTX as a “severe event,” which may possibly harm other assets. This eventually triggered the regulator to probe the trustees of the charity.

Per reports, the UK charity under investigation told Civil Society early this year that it paid $4.3m (around £3.4m) to the FTX estate.

“This amount is equal to the entire amount which EV UK received from FTX and the FTX Foundation during 2022,” a spokesperson for the charity noted.

The FTX Foundation, which shut down in November 2022 after FTX exchange collapsed, was one of EV UK’s largest founders.

However, in a recent statement, Zachary Robinson, interim CEO of EV US, said that both EV UK and EV US had collectively paid $26.8m to FTX estate. This is 100% of the funds that EV received from FTX, he added.

“This means that EV’s projects can continue to fundraise with confidence that donations won’t be used to cover the cost of this settlement. We strongly condemn fraud and the actions underlying Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction.”