ST JOHN'S, Antigua -Antigua will restructure its financial system following the collapse of R. Allen Stanford's island-based empire when his alleged investment fraud unraveled, the governor general said Monday.
Laws will be amended to ensure adequate monitoring and strict compliance with anti-money laundering requirements, Dame Louise Lake-Tack said during her annual speech to Parliament laying out the government's agenda.
She accused Stanford of compromising Antigua's regulatory integrity.
The Caribbean island's top financial regulator, Leroy King, was fired after U.S. authorities accused him of accepting more than $100,000 in bribes to ignore Stanford's activities and of providing false information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Stanford has been charged by U.S. authorities with masterminding a $7 billion Ponzi scheme that promised inflated returns to about 28,000 investors for certificates of deposits. Stanford, who provided loans to the government and became Antigua's largest private employer, denies the allegations.
After his arrest, a group of investors filed a lawsuit against the government, accusing authorities of failing to adequately monitor Stanford International Bank Ltd. and of profiting from the fraud.
