Wednesday 31 March 2010

Antiguans Were Allowed To Invest in SIB

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) John Benjamin has refused to discuss the contents of a recent report on its practices.

Senator Joanne Massiah said last week that an investigation had resulted in a report being passed to Cabinet.

Benjamin, when asked whether he had already seen the report, said "I have heard of it."

He added, “I will not discuss the report,” then admitted that he was aware of the Freedom of Information act.

No member of Cabinet has revealed the contents either, although Caribarena.com understands that there are details of some serious allegations.

Caribarena.com has also been reliably informed that a number of Antiguans and Barbudans were allowed to invest in the Stanford International Bank (SIB), although by law, nationals are not allowed to invest in offshore banks in their personal capacities.

An Antiguan national who wishes to invest in an offshore bank can do so by registering an International Business Corporation (IBC) outside the local jurisdiction.

This was designed so that offshore banks cannot compete with domestic banks.

The FSRC is responsible for regulating offshore banks like SIB.

Its former head, Leroy King, is accused of conspiring with R Allen Stanford, the sole owner of SIB, to defraud investors.

King is awaiting an extradition hearing after he was indicted with Stanford in what has been described as a massive Ponzi scheme.

No comments:

Post a Comment