[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 175 (Monday, November 30, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Page S12012]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  SENATE RESOLUTION 362--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE SENATE THAT THE 
  SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY SHOULD DIRECT THE UNITED STATES EXECUTIVE 
DIRECTORS TO THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND AND THE WORLD BANK TO USE 
 THE VOICE AND VOTE OF THE UNITED STATES TO OPPOSE MAKING ANY LOANS TO 
THE GOVERNMENT OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA UNTIL THAT GOVERNMENT COOPERATES 
  WITH THE UNITED STATES AND COMPENSATES THE VICTIMS OF THE STANFORD 
                         FINANCIAL GROUP FRAUD

  Mr. SHELBY (for himself, Mr. Vitter, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Cornyn, Mrs. 
Hutchison, Mr. Isakson, Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Wicker) submitted the 
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign 
Relations:

                              S. Res. 362

       Whereas thousands of investors, many of them in the United 
     States, lost billions of dollars that they invested in 
     fraudulent Stanford International Bank certificates of 
     deposit;
       Whereas Allen Stanford had close ties with the Government 
     of Antigua and Barbuda and, among other things, Mr. Stanford 
     is alleged to have loaned at least $85,000,000 to the 
     Government of Antigua and Barbuda, which likely came from 
     investor funds;
       Whereas the relationship of the Stanford Financial Group 
     with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda was described in a 
     joint statement by the Stanford Financial Group and the 
     Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda as a ``productive and mutually 
     beneficial relationship'';
       Whereas the United States Securities and Exchange 
     Commission alleged that Leroy King, the chief executive 
     officer of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission of 
     Antigua and Barbuda, was bribed by Mr. Stanford not to 
     investigate the Stanford International Bank, to provide Mr. 
     Stanford with access to the Financial Services Regulatory 
     Commission's confidential files, to allow Mr. Stanford to 
     dictate the Financial Services Regulatory Commission's 
     responses to inquiries by the Securities and Exchange 
     Commission about the Stanford International Bank, and to 
     withhold information from the Securities and Exchange 
     Commission;
       Whereas, after the fraud allegedly perpetrated by the 
     Stanford Financial Group was made public, the Government of 
     Antigua and Barbuda seized Stanford property in Antigua and 
     Barbuda worth up to several hundred million dollars;
       Whereas, in an October 28, 2009 report, the United States 
     court-appointed receiver, Ralph Janvey, reported that ``the 
     total of all cash collected is $128.8 million, of which $71.5 
     million remains on hand after payment of expenses'', which 
     falls far short of investor losses;
       Whereas Janvey's report also noted that ``the Antiguan 
     liquidators object to every attempt to secure and liquidate 
     assets, world-wide'', and ``[t]he government of Antigua 
     refuses to recognize US orders even as to entities for which 
     there is no other owner i.e. the Antiguan liquidators were 
     only appointed to liquidate two of the more than 150 Stanford 
     entities, but we are hindered by Antigua's refusal to 
     recognize the Court's orders even as to non-disputed 
     entities''; and
       Whereas the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is seeking 
     loans from the International Monetary Fund and the World 
     Bank: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That it is the sense of the Senate that the 
     Secretary of the Treasury should direct the United States 
     Executive Directors to the International Monetary Fund and 
     World Bank to use the voice and vote of the United States to 
     ensure that any loan made by the International Monetary Fund 
     or the World Bank to the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is 
     conditioned on providing complete redress to the victims of 
     the Stanford Financial Group fraud, including through--
       (1) the full cooperation of the Government of Antigua and 
     Barbuda and the liquidators appointed for the liquidation 
     proceeding relating to the Stanford International Bank in 
     Antigua and Barbuda with the Securities and Exchange 
     Commission, the Department of Justice, and the United States 
     court-appointed receiver in investigating the Stanford 
     Financial Group fraud and marshaling the assets of Mr. 
     Stanford and Stanford-affiliated entities;
       (2) an agreement by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda 
     to be subject to the jurisdiction and bound by the judgment 
     of any United States court or international court that is 
     adjudicating the claims of victims of the Stanford Financial 
     Group fraud;
       (3) the transfer of the assets seized by the Government of 
     Antigua and Barbuda and the liquidators in Antigua and 
     Barbuda to the United States court-appointed receiver for the 
     benefit of victims of the Stanford Financial Group fraud;
       (4) a contribution by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda 
     to the United States receivership estate, for the benefit of 
     victims of the Stanford Financial Group fraud, in an amount 
     equal to the amount of any funds provided to Antigua and 
     Barbuda by Mr. Stanford or any Stanford-affiliated entity; 
     and
       (5) a contribution by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda 
     to the United States receivership estate, for the benefit of 
     victims of the Stanford Financial Group fraud, in an amount 
     equal to any payments made by Mr. Stanford or the Stanford 
     Financial Group to officials of the Government of Antigua and 
     Barbuda for the purpose of subverting regulatory oversight of 
     the Stanford International Bank.

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