Stanford bank taken over

The fallout from fraud allegations against Allen Stanford has regional repercussions
The Antigua government and five commercial banks are the new shareholders of the Bank of Antigua, previously owned by Sir Allen Stanford.

After a few days of meeting between the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank and sub-regional banks, a new entity - the Eastern Caribbean Amalgamated Financial Company Ltd - has been created to run the affairs of the Bank of Antigua.

The Central Bank took control of three Stanford-owned companies in Antigua on Friday, after US financial regulators accused the Texan billionaire of an eight billion dollar fraud scheme.

The Antigua and Barbuda government secured 25 percent of the shares of the new company to become the single largest shareholder.

Five other commercial banks from St Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Antigua have each secured 15 percent shares.

The banks are the Antigua Commercial Bank, National Bank of Dominica, St Kitts Nevis Anguilla National Bank, East Caribbean Financial Holding Company Limited (Bank of St Lucia) and the National Commercial Bank of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The Central Bank and the new shareholders will be charged with the responsibility of capitalising the Bank of Antigua which has lost million of dollars after hundreds of customers withdrew substantial deposits last week after a run on the bank.

Politics

The Stanford scandal comes at delicate time for Antigua as the country is in full campaign mode for the March 12 general election.

This issue is expected to become a central one for the campaign, and already the opposition Antigua Labour Party (ALP) has spoken out against the government's attitude towards Mr Stanford.

It was the ALP, while in office, which had facilitated the Texan billionaire's presence in Antigua.

The ruling United Progressive Party (UPP) has had its run-ins with Sir Allen who has extensive business interests in Antigua.

--BBC Caribbean.com