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Stanford Colombian Unit to Halt Trading Activities
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(February 18, 2009 - Wednesday) - http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=acDRaVAgRrjg&refer=news
By James Attwood
Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Stanford International Bank Ltd’s Colombian brokerage unit will cease operations on the country’s securities exchange after the firm was accused of fraud in the U.S.
Stanford SA Comisionista de Bolsa only will be able to complete pending market operations and arrangements, Colombia’s financial regulator wrote in an e-mailed statement today.
“This is a precautionary measure by the brokerage that seeks to protect investors and market stability, but it doesn’t mean that the firm disappears,” Alvaro Camaro, the brokerage’s chief executive officer, said in a telephone interview today.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday accused R. Allen Stanford of running a “massive, ongoing fraud” through his Houston-based Stanford Group. Co., while selling $8 billion in certificates issued by an affiliated bank in Antigua. Stanford also has offices in Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru and Panama.
Colombia’s regulator said in its statement that it’s undertaking a “strict tracking” of the Bogota-based firm’s activities. On Feb. 16, the company boosted its capital by $3 million, according to the regulator’s statement.
Camaro declined to comment when asked if the brokerage will resume stock-exchange activities.
To contact the reporter on this story: James Attwood in Santiago at jattwood3@bloomberg.net
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