Who?

SHAAAAA - D

ponzi

The Feds have been seen entering their office this morning. 

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators are charging R. Allen Stanford and three of his companies with a "massive" fraud that centered around high-interest-rate CDs.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint, filed in federal court in Dallas, alleges that Stanford International Bank sold about $8 billion of so-called certificates of deposit to investors by promising "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates."

The rates allegedly allowed the bank to achieve double-digit returns on its investments for the past 15 years. U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor entered a temporary restraining order and froze Stanford's assets.

The SEC's outgoing enforcement chief Linda Chatman Thomsen says Stanford and his family and friends "perpetrated a massive fraud based on false promises and fabricated historical return data to prey on investors."

The Feds have been seen entering their office this morning. 

Yeah, but I hear they’re offering 300% upfront!

[quote=EASY/E]

Good Place to Work or Giant Antigua based Ponzi ? 

Will be any acat blackouts with the company being in the shape it’s in?  I feel for the brokers and clients dealing with this mess.  Quite a call a month ago by Easy/E. Something about the firm always struck me as a little odd.

So what I want to know is this:



All the assets have been seized or are frozen or whatever - they are untouchable.



So when the reps leave and go to another B/D, how do they transfer their clients’ accounts?



Does anybody know how this works?

http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081214/REG/312159993

I dont believe they can move the book. Probably not for some time. And we think we have problems!!??I bet many of those FA’s will lose most of their books by the time this mess gets cleaned up. Clients will be running for the hills.

The general tone on CNBC is that there will be more of these type of deals coming to light. I guess the common theme between Madoff and Stanford was they were “returning” too good to be true numbers. I guess I feel good that my firm is paying 1/2 on money market and under 2% for a multi year cd.  Too sucky to be artificial.

I wonder if FINRA will allow the FAs to change broker/dealers right now? Or will they be stuck until this whole mess is cleared up?

Amazing.  I have been suspecting this outfit was a fraud for years.   I have a lot of friends and ex co workers that work for them.  I must say I was a bit envious of their situation for the past year or so to the point that I interviewed with them on Jan 26 when I started this post.

Here I was suffering through this market and they were getting paid 1% per year to sell 7% fixed CD’s.  

Thank God that I went with my instinct and let that ship sail.  What a mess I would be in now.

Stanford FAs are going to have a very hard time moving or getting in ‘the door’ elsewhere in my opinion.

Most of them are solid folks. Many brought over huge loyal books and spent years in the major wirehouses.  I know some guys there in NC and feel terrible about their situation. Reputations are clearly hurt by association and not because of any acts on the part of FAs.  They have been told by ‘counsel’ not to talk to anyone I guess.

Yesterday I got my usual ‘headhunter calls’ and asked one of the better known recruiters in the business what he’s hearing about Stanford. Word is that the wires and boutiques won’t take the ‘liability’, but at least in Texas, there’s a regional firm as well as an indy he’s in touch with that’s interested in talking to Stanford FAs in TX who were NOT heavily invested in their toxic CD business.

PM me and I’ll pass along contact info.

Well good. I hope that works for everyone. It is really terrible that a couple bad apples are going to affect the good reps that were there. Hopefully FINRA and the other regulators can see that and let people move their books elsewhere.

The Scum Bag got caught.

Ponzi