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Message
re: Stanford Financial Houston office's raided
Posted on 2/20/09 at 10:41 pm to prplhze2000
Posted on 2/20/09 at 10:41 pm to prplhze2000
I've been telling you guys the numbers will easily surpass the $1 billion dollar mark in great Baton Rouge. You will be astounded when you hear the names (prominent developer, oil tycoon's daughter, major law firm head, etc.)
3
Posted on 2/20/09 at 10:53 pm to MrLSU
I won't be. Any of them on the LSU board?
Posted on 2/20/09 at 11:01 pm to MrLSU
quote:
You will be astounded when you hear the names (prominent developer, oil tycoon's daughter, major law firm head, etc.)
Quit messing with us. If you don't want to give names, give initials and let us figure it out. Inquiring minds want to know....
Posted on 2/21/09 at 8:16 am to MrLSU
quote:
I've been telling you guys the numbers will easily surpass the $1 billion dollar mark in great Baton Rouge.
Stanford's Baton Rouge office book was $1 billion. This is a fact.
Some of that was in Lafayette, NOLA, out of state etc. This is a fact.
Let's estimated for arguments sake 80% of that was in BR, which is probably high. That leaves $800m.
Of that $800m some was invested in legit securities- stocks, mutual funds, bonds, reits, etc. The legit securities are guaranteed by SIPC. This is a fact.
The portion at risk is the Antiguan CD's. Your guess is as good as mine as too what % of the book is in these fradulant CD's, but I'd say under 50%(a shoot from the hip guess). Which puts BR's exposure at under $400m.
As some one said earlier. Rumors are getting out of hand.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 9:19 am to Cash
I agree with your view. I hope to god that a small percentage of the book was CDs. With the way the market has been it wouldn't be hard to justify moving more money into high yielding CDs. No way there is a total loss of over a billion in this area.
I've talked with several fas and they all say the Stanford office in br was on the small side. I've heard two specific names that have lost significant amounts but they can afford it.
I've talked with several fas and they all say the Stanford office in br was on the small side. I've heard two specific names that have lost significant amounts but they can afford it.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 10:04 am to Cash
quote:
Although clearly it is not as good of a source as random internet poster claiming to have a friend in banking.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 10:29 am to Checkmateking2
I also have heard of a few. They are pretty prominent Dr.'s in the BR area.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 3:58 pm to Camp Randall
quote:
I hope to god that a small percentage of the book was CDs.
I really don't know. I've never done business with Stanford, nor has anyone in my family. I really don't know how hard they push those CD's.
However, it's not a hard assumption to make that a decent portion of their clients portfolio was in stuff other than Antiguan CD's.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 4:52 pm to Cash
am hearing a group of Jackson, MS doctors are invested in Stanford.
Top story on WSJ website right now. nice.
LINK
In 2007, Stanford Group Co. signed on as official sponsor of Louisiana State University's cheerleading squad, one of many company efforts through the years to solidify ties to this south Louisiana community. Today, there are few cheers for the firm at the center of an alleged $8 billion investment fraud.
The seizure of three of Stanford Financial Group's companies and the freezing of most clients' assets by a federal judge on Monday are threatening the financial security of some local Exxon Mobil Corp. retirees who were actively courted by the firm through the years.
The action also has local professionals trying to access their certificates of deposit from a Caribbean island few of them have visited, and it promises to shrink the flow of philanthropic dollars into local charities that have come to regard Stanford Group as a reliable donor.
"We are definitely going to feel their loss," says Ron Ross, interim executive director at the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. "For years, Stanford has been a significant source of sponsorship dollars, and that's a significant loss for a small nonprofit like the symphony."
Mr. Ross and his staff have tried unsuccessfully to contact Stanford in recent days because the firm still owes $30,000 that it pledged to sponsor a black-tie gala last month before a concert with jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. The symphony is concerned that, if Stanford doesn't pay, it will have to ask donors to dig deeper into their pockets to cover the cost or explore other options.
An attempt to get comment from Jason Green, president of Stanford's Private Client Group in Baton Rouge, was unsuccessful. A woman answering a phone call to his home said, "You know we can't talk about that." Stanford's Baton Rouge office wasn't open earlier this week; a woman answering the door said, "We are not allowed to talk."
On Friday, bank regulators in Antigua and Barbuda seized control of Stanford Financial Group's offshore banking operations. The twin-island nation's Financial Services Regulatory Commission said the move affects Stanford International Bank and Stanford Trust Co., and it appointed two receivers to manage these two units of Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford's financial empire.
Separately, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank said five commercial banks in the Eastern Caribbean, together with the Antiguan government, are establishing a new entity that by Monday will take over operations of the local Bank of Antigua, also controlled by Mr. Stanford; its statement didn't say what will happen to the depositors' money.
Also Friday, the court-appointed receiver for Stanford Financial Group issued a statement telling Stanford customers that they won't be allowed to access their accounts or transfer their funds "for the foreseeable future," until the receiver can verify that there aren't legal claims against the funds. The receiver halted the sales of all certificates of deposit by Stanford companies, as well as sales of the Stanford Allocation Strategy mutual fund.
In an unusual statement, the receiver urged politicians who received contributions from Stanford Financial executives to return the money, a move that will likely spotlight Mr. Stanford's Beltway connections. Mr. Stanford, his company and its employees have contributed at least $2 million since 2000 to candidates, including key lawmakers.
One recipient, Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) said he had planned to donate an amount equal to $45,900 in campaign contributions associated with Stanford to a charity that provides clothing to poor people but is "seeking guidance on whether it can be returned to the Stanford company's court-appointed receiver."
A Stanford spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment; previously he has declined to comment.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed civil charges in connection with the alleged fraud against the financier, and federal prosecutors are investigating if he was operating a Ponzi scheme, according to people familiar with the matter.
Stanford Group arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996, according to local press reports at the time, when the company opened its first satellite brokerage office outside Houston. By 2007, the firm had selected Baton Rouge as the hub for its national wealth-management operations. Its Stanford Trust and Stanford Group offices house about 25 employees and stretch across 10,000 square feet atop City Plaza, an eight-story building overlooking downtown and the Mississippi River.
Through the years, Stanford built a name among local investors who often viewed the firm as "upper tier," says 64-year-old retiree Barbara Demarest, who along with her husband, Fred, 66, had "a couple million, all of our money except about two months of living expenses, wrapped up in Stanford." Half of the couple's money is in Antiguan CDs; the other half is in cash and stocks held in Stanford's brokerage arm.
Like some of Stanford's Baton Rouge clients, Mr. Demarest is a retiree of Exxon. The energy giant operates along the Mississippi River one of the world's largest petrochemical plants, and its army of engineers, technicians and executives were attractive to Stanford's local advisers.
While many investment firms regularly ply Exxon workers with free lunch and dinner investment seminars, "the Stanford name just spreads by word-of-mouth [among workers] because so many are invested" with the firm, Mr. Demarest says. Mr. Demarest says he and his wife have been trying constantly in recent days to reach anyone at Stanford but haven't heard back.
An Exxon Mobil spokesman in Baton Rouge said "it's inappropriate to comment" on its workers and their personal investments.
Stanford also marketed to Baton Rouge's doctors and lawyers, some of whom say they steered colleagues to the usually high returns Stanford seemed to deliver on every monthly statement.
Dr. Stephen Wilson, 69, an orthopedic surgeon, has about $600,000 with Stanford, a third of it in an Antiguan CD. His Stanford broker moved him to the offshore account about four years ago, and though "that raised red flags," Dr. Wilson says, "it never entered my mind that Stanford might be crooked. I got the account statements every month, and you could see the interest -- 8% or 10% -- show up. I should have opened my eyes and thought, how can a bank make this kind of money when no one else can?"
Dr. Wilson says he got a tearful call on Friday from the Stanford broker, whom he has known for decades. The broker apologized and said he recently "knew the firm was in trouble, but he didn't know it was this bad," according to Dr. Wilson. The broker couldn't be reached for comment.
The city's nonprofit community also is feeling the fallout. As in many cities where it has offices, Stanford blanketed the local philanthropic scene with donations of time and money, though usually tied to events for which Stanford would get tickets that it could use to woo or reward clients, according to philanthropic executives.
The Community Fund for the Arts was one of Stanford Group's local beneficiaries. It got about $40,000 annually from the firm, or roughly 8% of the fund's annual $500,000 fund-raising effort, according to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. One likely loss: the Stanford Financial Excellence in the Arts awards. The pair of awards, for $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, was given out annually to local arts organizations that demonstrate exemplary abilities in fiscal management and financial oversight.
Top story on WSJ website right now. nice.
LINK
In 2007, Stanford Group Co. signed on as official sponsor of Louisiana State University's cheerleading squad, one of many company efforts through the years to solidify ties to this south Louisiana community. Today, there are few cheers for the firm at the center of an alleged $8 billion investment fraud.
The seizure of three of Stanford Financial Group's companies and the freezing of most clients' assets by a federal judge on Monday are threatening the financial security of some local Exxon Mobil Corp. retirees who were actively courted by the firm through the years.
The action also has local professionals trying to access their certificates of deposit from a Caribbean island few of them have visited, and it promises to shrink the flow of philanthropic dollars into local charities that have come to regard Stanford Group as a reliable donor.
"We are definitely going to feel their loss," says Ron Ross, interim executive director at the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. "For years, Stanford has been a significant source of sponsorship dollars, and that's a significant loss for a small nonprofit like the symphony."
Mr. Ross and his staff have tried unsuccessfully to contact Stanford in recent days because the firm still owes $30,000 that it pledged to sponsor a black-tie gala last month before a concert with jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. The symphony is concerned that, if Stanford doesn't pay, it will have to ask donors to dig deeper into their pockets to cover the cost or explore other options.
An attempt to get comment from Jason Green, president of Stanford's Private Client Group in Baton Rouge, was unsuccessful. A woman answering a phone call to his home said, "You know we can't talk about that." Stanford's Baton Rouge office wasn't open earlier this week; a woman answering the door said, "We are not allowed to talk."
On Friday, bank regulators in Antigua and Barbuda seized control of Stanford Financial Group's offshore banking operations. The twin-island nation's Financial Services Regulatory Commission said the move affects Stanford International Bank and Stanford Trust Co., and it appointed two receivers to manage these two units of Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford's financial empire.
Separately, the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank said five commercial banks in the Eastern Caribbean, together with the Antiguan government, are establishing a new entity that by Monday will take over operations of the local Bank of Antigua, also controlled by Mr. Stanford; its statement didn't say what will happen to the depositors' money.
Also Friday, the court-appointed receiver for Stanford Financial Group issued a statement telling Stanford customers that they won't be allowed to access their accounts or transfer their funds "for the foreseeable future," until the receiver can verify that there aren't legal claims against the funds. The receiver halted the sales of all certificates of deposit by Stanford companies, as well as sales of the Stanford Allocation Strategy mutual fund.
In an unusual statement, the receiver urged politicians who received contributions from Stanford Financial executives to return the money, a move that will likely spotlight Mr. Stanford's Beltway connections. Mr. Stanford, his company and its employees have contributed at least $2 million since 2000 to candidates, including key lawmakers.
One recipient, Sen. Bill Nelson (D., Fla.) said he had planned to donate an amount equal to $45,900 in campaign contributions associated with Stanford to a charity that provides clothing to poor people but is "seeking guidance on whether it can be returned to the Stanford company's court-appointed receiver."
A Stanford spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment; previously he has declined to comment.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday filed civil charges in connection with the alleged fraud against the financier, and federal prosecutors are investigating if he was operating a Ponzi scheme, according to people familiar with the matter.
Stanford Group arrived in Baton Rouge in 1996, according to local press reports at the time, when the company opened its first satellite brokerage office outside Houston. By 2007, the firm had selected Baton Rouge as the hub for its national wealth-management operations. Its Stanford Trust and Stanford Group offices house about 25 employees and stretch across 10,000 square feet atop City Plaza, an eight-story building overlooking downtown and the Mississippi River.
Through the years, Stanford built a name among local investors who often viewed the firm as "upper tier," says 64-year-old retiree Barbara Demarest, who along with her husband, Fred, 66, had "a couple million, all of our money except about two months of living expenses, wrapped up in Stanford." Half of the couple's money is in Antiguan CDs; the other half is in cash and stocks held in Stanford's brokerage arm.
Like some of Stanford's Baton Rouge clients, Mr. Demarest is a retiree of Exxon. The energy giant operates along the Mississippi River one of the world's largest petrochemical plants, and its army of engineers, technicians and executives were attractive to Stanford's local advisers.
While many investment firms regularly ply Exxon workers with free lunch and dinner investment seminars, "the Stanford name just spreads by word-of-mouth [among workers] because so many are invested" with the firm, Mr. Demarest says. Mr. Demarest says he and his wife have been trying constantly in recent days to reach anyone at Stanford but haven't heard back.
An Exxon Mobil spokesman in Baton Rouge said "it's inappropriate to comment" on its workers and their personal investments.
Stanford also marketed to Baton Rouge's doctors and lawyers, some of whom say they steered colleagues to the usually high returns Stanford seemed to deliver on every monthly statement.
Dr. Stephen Wilson, 69, an orthopedic surgeon, has about $600,000 with Stanford, a third of it in an Antiguan CD. His Stanford broker moved him to the offshore account about four years ago, and though "that raised red flags," Dr. Wilson says, "it never entered my mind that Stanford might be crooked. I got the account statements every month, and you could see the interest -- 8% or 10% -- show up. I should have opened my eyes and thought, how can a bank make this kind of money when no one else can?"
Dr. Wilson says he got a tearful call on Friday from the Stanford broker, whom he has known for decades. The broker apologized and said he recently "knew the firm was in trouble, but he didn't know it was this bad," according to Dr. Wilson. The broker couldn't be reached for comment.
The city's nonprofit community also is feeling the fallout. As in many cities where it has offices, Stanford blanketed the local philanthropic scene with donations of time and money, though usually tied to events for which Stanford would get tickets that it could use to woo or reward clients, according to philanthropic executives.
The Community Fund for the Arts was one of Stanford Group's local beneficiaries. It got about $40,000 annually from the firm, or roughly 8% of the fund's annual $500,000 fund-raising effort, according to the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge. One likely loss: the Stanford Financial Excellence in the Arts awards. The pair of awards, for $25,000 and $10,000, respectively, was given out annually to local arts organizations that demonstrate exemplary abilities in fiscal management and financial oversight.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 5:30 pm to prplhze2000
incredible
Posted on 2/21/09 at 5:32 pm to prplhze2000
Morning Advocate said there was 2 billion between Lafayette and Baton Rouge alone, yall believe that?
Posted on 2/21/09 at 6:05 pm to mikeytig
OK, so do I have this right:
a)any CD money is likely a zero
b)any non-CD money is still going to be tied up indefinitely because there could be claims on it from other entities
a)any CD money is likely a zero
b)any non-CD money is still going to be tied up indefinitely because there could be claims on it from other entities
Posted on 2/21/09 at 7:01 pm to Tiger JJ
did i see correctly in article that they may go back and seize funds from innocent folks that withdrew in the last 6 months?
Posted on 2/21/09 at 8:49 pm to mikeytig
quote:
Morning Advocate said there was 2 billion between Lafayette and Baton Rouge alone, yall believe that?
That's 2 billion in total investments, not in the bogus CD's.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 8:52 pm to Tiger JJ
quote:
OK, so do I have this right:
a)any CD money is likely a zero
Looks so.
quote:
b)any non-CD money is still going to be tied up indefinitely because there could be claims on it from other entities
I'd imagine they will have a hard time hanging on to legit securities in the accounts of legit investors for long.
quote:
Late Friday, Janvey announced on the receivership’s Web site that investors cannot retrieve any money immediately.
“Cash and securities in customer accounts remain in the possession of third party, independent clearing brokers,” Janvey wrote.
“For the foreseeable future, customers cannot use their accounts to make payments because transfers out of these accounts are frozen until the receiver is able to verify there are no legal or equitable claims against those accounts,” Janvey added.
LINK
Posted on 2/21/09 at 8:53 pm to DandyPimp
quote:
did i see correctly in article that they may go back and seize funds from innocent folks that withdrew in the last 6 months?
Yep, it's called claw backs. They will just go after gains though, not the cost basis.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 9:01 pm to Cash
quote:
Patton said one of his former Baton Rouge clients this week told him nearly all of the couple’s $800,000 in retirement savings was invested in Stanford CDs.
quote:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if they don’t get anything back,” he said. “Certainly, I would suspect there would be substantial losses.”
quote:
Patton said the more than $8 billion in Stanford CDs likely won’t qualify for the special SIPC fund authorized by Congress that replenishes up to $100,000 in cash and up to $400,000 in securities lost by victims of failed brokerage firms.
LINK
Company wide 16% of the money Stanford managed was in the Antiguan CD's. If that allocation holds true for the money held at the Baton Rouge and Lafayette offices that puts the local exposure at approx. $320 million.
Posted on 2/21/09 at 10:52 pm to Cash
quote:
Yep, it's called claw backs. They will just go after gains though, not the cost basis.
Don't be too sure about that. Have you tracked the Bayou case at all? They have won some significant decisions recently that puts original principal back on the table. Observers are handicapping it at 50/50 now that original basis will have to be put back in the pot also.
Posted on 2/22/09 at 12:04 am to Tiger JJ
explain as they say in Amerika.
Posted on 2/22/09 at 9:32 am to Tiger JJ
do the feds taking over from the sec bode well for the investors? or is that bad news? would chances have been better for money reocovery by investors if the sec stayed on the case?
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