The Stanford Financial Group was a privately held international group of financial services companies controlled by Allen Stanford, until it was seized by American authorities in early 2009. Headquartered at 5050 Westheimer in Uptown Houston, Texas, it had 50 offices in several countries, mainly in the Americas, included the Stanford International Bank, and was said to have managed US$8.5 billion of assets for more than 30,000 clients in 136 countries on six continents. On February 17, 2009, U.S. Federal agents placed the company into receivership due to charges of fraud. Ten days later, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amended its complaint to accuse Stanford of turning the company into a "massive Ponzi scheme".
History
Allen Stanford traced his company to the insurance company founded in 1932 in Mexia, Texas, by his grandfather, Lodis B. Stanford. However, there was no direct connection between the insurance company and Allen Stanford's banking business, which he started on the British Overseas Territory of Montserrat in the West Indies in the 1980s. Allen Stanford's move into banking utilised funds he had made in real estate in Houston in the early 1980s.
In 2008, Stanford Financial Group announced it would open a new global management complex in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, to include the base for the corporate support functions such as business technology, compliance, finance, human resources, investment strategy and legal, as well as the chairman's office. Completion was planned for July 2009 but did not occur due to the company's dissolution.
The company was bound by a web of personal and family ties. Stanford's chief financial officer and second-in-command, James M. Davis, was his roommate at Baylor University. The chief investment officer, Laura Pendergest-Holt, grew up attending a church in Baldwyn, Mississippi, where Davis was a Sunday school teacher. Many top officials were related to each other. This led former employees to claim the company was fraught with nepotism; former executive Charles Satterfield told Bloomberg News that whenever someone asked questions, a common response was "I'm not going to question my brother-in-law."
Affiliated companies
Stanford Financial Group comprised several affiliated companies: Stanford Financial Group Company (SFGC) was an entity based in Houston, Texas, USA, that provided financial services to several of the affiliated companies, and in particular to Stanford International Bank Limited (SIBL). The services were provided via a "Services Agreement" that paved the way for investor deposits to be funneled via a circuitous route to multiple destinations, including affiliated companies that leased multiple corporate jets, owned yachts, funded a cricket pitch and even a Swiss bank account used to bribe officials. Stanford Capital Management, investment adviser, based on Houston Stanford Group Company, broker-dealer, based in Houston Stanford International Bank, was started in 1986 in Montserrat where it was called Guardian International Bank. Allen Stanford relocated its operations to Antigua. On February 19, 2009 Nigel Hamilton-Smith and Peter Wastell of the British accounting firm Vantis were appointed joint receivers of the bank, and were made liquidators on April 15, 2009. In June 2010, the High Court of Antigua resolved that Vantis should be removed from its responsibilities. The firm, which had recently received government approval to sell the property assets, appealed the decision. Stanford Trust Company, helped manage and protect wealth. Vantis was also appointed receivers of Stanford Trust Company. Bank of Antigua Stanford Coins and Bullion
Sponsorships and charity
In 2007, Stanford Financial Group assumed title sponsorship of the Stanford St. Jude Championship, a top PGA Tour event to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of Memphis, Tennessee. On March 20, 2009, after the Group's fraud was revealed, the PGA announced that they would be dropping their affiliation with the company and that for 2009 the event would be called the St. Jude's Classic.
Stanford Financial Group was the lead financier for the 2007 film The Ultimate Gift,. According to the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, the story of The Ultimate Gift promoted philanthropy in not-for-profit health care institutions.