SEC Sues FTX Accountant, Alleging ‘Hundreds’ of Auditor-Independence Violations

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued one of FTX’s accounting firms Friday, alleging it violated auditor-independence rules hundreds of times in its work with dozens of different clients. Prager Metis, which has advertised itself as the first accounting firm to open an office in the metaverse, included so-called indemnification provisions in relation to over 200 audits, reviews and exams, the SEC said. The SEC did not mention collapsed crypto exchange FTX, or any other Prager Metis clients, in the lawsuit, which covered alleged violations between December 2017 and October 2020.