Important Announcement Concerning Stanford Receivership

The Joint Liquidators (JLs) Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson of the Stanford International Bank, Ltd. (SIB) and the U.S. Receiver for Stanford Financial Group and all related entities (Receiver), have entered into a Settlement Agreement and Cross-Border Protocol (Settlement Agreement) with one another, the U.S. Examiner, John Little, the Official Stanford Investors Committee (OSIC), the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).  The Advisory Creditors Committee of the Liquidation of SIB has also voted to give its approval to the Settlement Agreement. 

Among many other benefits, the Settlement Agreement resolves litigation over approximately $300 million in assets frozen in Canada, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and creates a unified plan among the JLs, the Receiver, and the DOJ to expedite the handling and distribution of those assets to creditor-victims. 

The Settlement Agreement will only become effective after it has been approved by courts in the US, Antigua, and the U.K.  On March 12, 2013, the Receiver, SEC, Examiner, and Official Stanford Investors Committee filed a Joint Motion to Approve the Settlement Agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Responses to the Joint Motion must be filed no later than  March 28, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. central and the Court will hold a hearing on the Joint Motion on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. central    The text of the Court's Order setting the response deadline and hearing is set forth  below.   Anyone considering filing a response to the Joint Motion or appearing in the U.S. District Court in relation to the motion should consult with their own legal counsel.

After all three courts have approved the Settlement Agreement, it will become effective and pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement the parties will pursue the release of funds via appropriate legal processes in the respective countries, including Canada and Switzerland.  The Settlement Agreement has several benefits, including that it:

• creates a plan for the distribution of almost 90% of the frozen assets from the U.K., Canada, and Switzerland pursuant to which distributions will be made as soon as the necessary approvals are obtained from the pertinent authorities in those countries;
• allocates $36 million of the funds in the U.K. to the JLs’ estate in order to pursue additional funds for the estate, to be released over time under the supervision of the Central Criminal Court in London, which the JLs expect to significantly enhance amounts available for distribution because those funds will be used to further additional asset recovery efforts.  The remaining $44 million of the funds in the U.K. will be distributed to creditor-victims by the JLs;
• allocates in Canada all $23 million to the DOJ to be transferred to the Receiver to be distributed to creditor-victims;
• allocates in Switzerland $132.5 million to be forfeited to the DOJ and transferred to the Receiver to be distributed to creditor-victims and $60.5 million to be transferred to the JLs for distribution to victims;
•   provides that distribution of the frozen funds shall be made to creditor-victims of SIB and not to other claimants such as the Internal Revenue Service or the Antiguan government;

• provides a framework for the sharing of information among the JLs, the Receiver, and OSIC to achieve efficiencies, minimize burdens, and maximize recoveries in Stanford-related litigation;
• facilitates cooperation and coordination of efforts with respect to litigation and recovery and monetization of Stanford assets;
• provides for coordination of claims and distribution processes between the JLs and the Receiver; and
• terminates the substantial expense of competing legal claims to, and proceedings relating to, the frozen assets in Canada, the U.K., Switzerland, and the US.

The Settlement Agreement is a product of the parties’ common goal of optimizing and enlarging the overall recovery for creditor-victims as quickly and cost-effectively as possible.  The parties to the Agreement all believe that the Agreement is in the best interests of the victims of the Stanford fraud.   

Further information, including a copy of the Agreement, the Joint Motion to Approve the Agreement, and a Q&A about the Agreement, are available on the U.S. Receiver’s website at http://stanfordfinancialreceivership.com.  Further information is also available on the JLs’ official website at http://www.sibliquidation.com, and on the Examiner’s website http://www.lpf-law.com/.   

Text of March 18, 2013 Order of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas:

The Court will hold a hearing on the Receiver's motion for approval of interim distribution plan [1766] and the SEC, Receiver, Examiner, and Official Stanford Investors Committee's joint motion to approve settlement agreement and cross-border protocol (the "Joint Motion") [Doc. 1793 in  SEC v. Stanford, 09-CV-298, Doc. 189 in In re Stanford International Bank, 09-CV-721] on Thursday, April 11, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom 1505. The time for parties to these actions to respond to the Receiver's motion for approval of interim distribution plan has lapsed, see N.D. TEX. R. CIV. P. 7.1(e), and the Court will not entertain any further responses or objections from those parties. Parties who wish to file a response to the Joint Motion must do so no later than March 28, 2013 at 5:00.  Nonparties, including but not limited to investors or other potential claimants, may file written comments or objections to either motion, also no later than March 28, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.  The Receiver may file a reply to those responses, comments, or objections no later than April 5, 2013 at 5:00 PM. During the hearing, the Court will not entertain comments, objections, or argument from parties or nonparties that failed to file written responses, comments, or objections. 

For a full and open debate on the Stanford Receivership visit:

http://sivg.org.ag/

The Stanford International Victims Group Forum