Stanford International Bank

Stanford International Bank was a bank based in the Caribbean, which operated from 1986 to 2009 when it went into receivership. It was an affiliate of the Stanford Financial Group and failed when the its parent was seized by United States authorities in early 2009 as part of the investigation into Allen Stanford.

Prior to its demise, Stanford International Bank Limited (SIBL) offered Certificate of deposit (CDs) at rates consistently higher than those available from banks in the United States.

The bank was started by Allen Stanford in 1986 in Montserrat where it was called Guardian International Bank. Allen Stanford's move into banking utilised funds he had made in real estate in Houston, Texas, in the early 1980s. There was no direct connection between Stanford's insurance business in Texas and the banking business.

Stanford relocated its operations to Antigua. The bank's portfolio was overseen by an investment committee consisting of Allen Stanford; his father; Laura Pendergest-Holt, Stanford Financial Groups' Chief Investment Officer; James M. Davis (Allen Stanford's college roommate), CFO of Stanford International Bank; and a resident of Mexia, Texas (where Stanford's US interests were based) with cattle ranching and car sales experience.

In February 2009, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigated the US operations of the Stanford Financial Group, including the bank. On 13 February Stanford was quoted saying "the bank remains a strong institution".

On 17 February 2009, the SEC charged Allen Stanford, Pendergest-Holt and Davis with fraud in connection with the bank's US$8 billion certificate of deposit (CD) investment scheme that offered "improbable and unsubstantiated high interest rates". This led the federal government to freeze the assets of the bank and other Stanford entities. In addition, the bank placed a 60-day moratorium on early redemptions of its CDs.

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