Deltec Bank and Trust has reportedly sold its lines of business to Britannia Bank and Trust; both banks have served Tether and operate in the Bahamas. 

According to the Nassau Guardian’s interview with Britannia’s chairman Julian Francis, it is not acquiring Deltec, just Deltec Bank’s business lines.

Deltec Bank CEO Odetta Morton repeatedly noted that she believes this “will result in an optimal path for continuing to deliver best-in-class service, technology, and access to global markets.”

Read more: Executive texts claim Deltec moved customer funds from FTX to Alameda

At one point, Deltec Bank was one of the most important banks in the crypto ecosystem, providing Tether a link to the banking system after most banks refused to do business. It also provided a convenient service to many other cryptocurrency entities.

Indeed, it was Deltec executives and leaders who collaborated with FTX and Alameda Research in the purchase of Farmington State Bank, later Moonstone, in Washington state.

It was also alleged that Deltec provided Alameda Research with large lines of credit to facilitate its tether arbitrage.

Tether has also banked with Britannia for years, and both DigiFinex shareholders and Britannia Financial Group are major Conservative donors in the UK. 

The founding chairman of Britannia Financial Group, Julio Herrerra Velutini, was charged with bribery in Puerto Rico, and he has subsequently stepped down from the businesses. 

It is not clear now why Deltec Bank and Trust found it advantageous to sell these business lines, but to preserve the entity.

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Tether has found a new Bahamas-based banking partner — the third Bahamas-based bank that the $82 billion stablecoin has relied on for housing its assets, reports Bloomberg.

The little-known Britannia Bank & Trust, which is part of the Britannia Financial group, joins Deltec Bank & Trust and Capital Union Bank on the company’s list of banking partners that are based in the island nation.

While it’s unclear exactly why Tether has leaned so heavily on The Bahamas to provide its banking services, it could have something to do with the cryptocurrency-friendly DARE Act regulating the cryptocurrency industry in the country or the personal connection between Deltec CEO Jean Chalopin and Tether’s executive leadership (Giancarlo Devasini, CFO of Tether, owns a house next door to Chalopin).

Tether and Britannia

While on the surface Tether teaming up with Britannia makes sense because the stablecoin provider has almost exclusively banked with Caribbean banks, a more meaningful connection appears to be between Digifinex investor Christopher Harborne (aka Chakrit Sakunkrit) and Britannia’s billionaire founders.

Harborne, who Protos previously reported as a major shareholder in Tether and number one donor to the UK Independence Party (UKIP), shifted his allegiance in 2022 to the Conservative Party, donating over $20 million.

Interestingly, Britannia Financial Group is also a major Conservative donor, giving the party almost $800,000 since 2019.

This means that, at least politically, Tether’s banking partners and shareholders are in agreement.

Read more: Tether CTO evasive as usual in odd Camila Russo interview

Former Britannia chairman’s odd financial history

The billionaire founding chairman of Britannia Financial Group, Venezuelan-Italian Julio Herrera, has an interesting financial history — of particular infamy is his recent attempt to bribe the governor of Puerto Rico. There have been no updates on the case since Herrera pled not guilty to the charges in August of 2022.

Herrera and his son have stepped down from Britannia Financial Group — along with almost every other UK company they were associated with — and fired the group of auditors they shared with Tether, BDO. The 27-year-old Herrera Junior was expected to retain control.

The family takes pride in its “14th-century conquests” and estates across the globe, incorporating as House of Herrera, and starting a high-fashion line featuring $660 “Boobie Jumpers.”

The family also remains one of the largest landowners in Venezuela and operates one of the most important Spanish-language newspapers in America, Diario Las Américas. According to their own lore, they controlled 70% of the Venezuelan Central Bank until 1989.

It’s unknown how much of Tether’s $100 million in liquid cash or billions in other assets are being kept at Britannia Bank & Trust, but it’s unlikely to be all of it.

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The post Scoop: Tether’s political ties with new banking partner Britannia appeared first on Protos.