In a scandal-plagued era such as ours, scarred by murderous wars, occupations and corruption that would make a Roman emperor blush, accused crooks have names; even juiced ones like R. Allen Stanford.

Last year, when a federal court in Texas handed down indictments charging Stanford International Bank (SIB) and its officers with “orchestrating a fraudulent, multibillion dollar investment scheme,” I wondered: was there more to the story?

Indeed there was.

Once described by fawning media as a “flamboyant Texan” and “philanthropist,” Stanford was founder and sole shareholder of a global banking empire once conservatively valued at $50 billion.

According to the federal indictment, “Sir Allen,” as he was dubbed by a corrupt former minister of Antigua, ran a massive Ponzi scheme camouflaged as a bank that sold some $7 billion in self-styled “certificates of deposit” and $1.2 billion in mutual funds.

Source: www.pacificfreepress.com

Several Swiss-based foreign exchange trading platforms have shut up shop since tough new rules introduced in 2009 obliged them to get a banking licence and sought to bring them under regulatory scrutiny.

Only two companies have as yet received a banking licence from Swiss regulator FINMA since the rules were introduced, down sharply from the end of 2008 when more than 20 forex platforms served international traders in the $2 trillion-a-day market.

“We made a conscious effort to cut the number of bucket shops in Switzerland,” said FINMA spokesman Alain Bichsel.

“The forex business was in too much of a grey area, there were always client complaints, and the risk for the client was higher because these businesses were unlicenced.”

Following the new requirements there are now only two officially sanctioned independent platforms — providers that were not add-ons to an existing banking business — in Switzerland, with a third licence pending.

Neuchatel-based MIG Bank, which sponsors the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One team, and Dukascopy, based in Geneva, have both received licences, while Geneva’s ACM is still waiting.

“The (new) measures have given more transparency to the market and greatly reduced the chance of market failures. The security of clients is hugely improved, and that was the target of the regulations,” said Bichsel.

Client complaints included those that providers cancelled trades, failed to return client assets on request and changed the prices of securities after trade execution.

Source: www.forexpros.com

FINANCIAL regulators in the Isle of Man have revealed they have been working for years to help uncover an alleged fraud by high-profile US traders.
Allegations by US federal finance watchdog the Securities and Exchange Commission of a £350 million insider-trading scam by Texan billionaires have made headlines on both sides of the Atlantic.

The SEC has accused tycoons Charles and Sam Wyly of using a string of phoney trusts in the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands to conceal share trades in four public companies of which they were directors.

John Aspden, chief executive of the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission, said that the case related mainly to events that took place in the early and mid-90s.

Mr Aspden said the FSC had been working with American investigators since then to help them gather evidence of the Wylys’ activities in the Island.

Source: http://www.iomtoday.co.im