Home / World Business
Fri, Feb 20, 2009 - Page 10 News List

Stanford investors left empty-handed

FROZEN OUT Customers were told no money could be released for now, while Colombia and Ecuador suspended the activities of Stanford’s local brokerages

AP , ST. JOHN’S, ANTIGUA

SEC spokesman John Nester said the agency does not know where Stanford is. He does not currently face any charges requiring his presence in court.

Governments across Latin America and the Caribbean took a variety of actions to protect investors who’d deposited money with Stanford-linked institutions.

Colombia and Ecuador suspended the activities of Stanford’s local brokerages on Wednesday, and Panamanian regulators occupied Stanford bank branches hit by a run on deposits.

In Venezuela, banking regulator Edgar Hernandez said the government was considering a request for help from Stanford Bank SA in Caracas after a US$26.5 million run on deposits removed about 12 percent of its holdings.

In Mexico, where the Stanford Fondos unit manages about US$50 million for 3,400 clients, a note posted on a shuttered office door in the capital’s wealthy Polanco neighborhood announced that all accounts “are temporarily frozen.”

This story has been viewed 1559 times.
TOP top