Antigua appoints new chief financial regulator

26-Oct-2009

The Antigua Ministry of Finance appointed, on 24 August 2009, John Benjamin as administrator and chief executive officer at the Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC). He replaces Leroy King who was indicted for involvement in the alleged fraud perpetrated by Texas financier Allen Stanford.

US prosecutors allege that Stanford and other executives of the now defunct Houston-based Stanford Financial Group orchestrated a massive Ponzi scheme by advising clients to invest more than $7 billion in certificates of deposit from the Stanford International Bank in Antigua. They also allege that King accepted bribes to ignore the fraud and wrote false and misleading letters to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. He awaits extradition to the US.

Benjamin has over 40 years of experience in banking and finance, and was previously managing director at TCI Bank of the Turks and Caicos Islands. His appointment will run for a period of six months