GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- Luxembourg could draw hedge funds in their droves as European investors retreat from offshore vehicles and seek to rein in liquidity and counterparty risk in the post-Madoff, post-Lehman environment. Managers in Europe's $300 billion hedge fund industry are eyeing Luxembourg. read more...

---

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados -- The European Commission has launched the second phase of the ACP-EU Energy Facility under the 10th European Development Fund (EDF) for the period 2009-2013. Following a first successful implementation phase, the European Union and the ACP Group of States agreed to... read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters) -- The founder of the defunct online offshore gambling firm BetOnSports, Gary Kaplan, was sentenced to the maximum 51 months in prison for conspiring to violate US racketeering and other laws. Kaplan set up business entities offshore in Aruba, Antigua and Costa Rica. read more...

---

LONDON, England -- The positive role that offshore financial centres play in supporting growth around the world is highlighted in a new report, International Finance Centers and the World Economy, published Wednesday. The report was commissioned by the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP). read more...

---

NEW ORLEANS, USA (Reuters) -- A US appeals panel had tough questions on Monday for the receiver in Allen Stanford's civil fraud case, who is suing to recover proceeds from several hundred investors in the firm's offshore bank. At issue is whether receiver Ralph Janvey has a right to pursue "clawback" claims. read more...

---

GENEVA, Switzerland (Reuters) -- An end is in sight to the world's longest-running trade dispute, involving bananas, and a deal could be in place by the end of the year, senior European and Latin American trade negotiators said. Settling the banana dispute would be a fillip for the World Trade Organisation. read more...

---

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Britain's overseas financial havens should bump up taxes to wean their economies off credit crunch hit banking, insurance and funds services, a government commissioned report said on Thursday. The UK government signalled its backing for the report. read more...

---

MIAMI, USA (Reuters) -- A former client of UBS AG who cooperated in a probe of the Swiss bank's ties with wealthy Americans hiding money overseas was sentenced to one year house arrest and a fine on Wednesday for a multimillion-dollar tax evasion scheme involving a British Virgin Islands corporation. read more...

---

CASTRIES, St Lucia -- Cruise spending is up in a down economy in destinations visited by cruise line-members of the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association. Cruise tourism boosted revenue in Florida, Latin America and the Caribbean in one of the gloomiest financial years since the Great Depression. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters) -- US regulators would be able to peer into the secretive world of hedge funds and private equity funds under a bill passed by a key congressional committee. The House Financial Services Committee voted 67-1 to require advisers to hedge funds, private equity and offshore funds... read more...

---

DALLAS, USA -- The Stanford Victims Coalition and the law firm Morgenstern & Blue sent a letter on Friday to over 50 US Senators and Congressmen asking them to block Antigua from receiving any funding from the IMF. Antigua’s involvement in the $7.2 billion Stanford International Bank scandal is claimed to be... read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Reuters) -- The US government is seeking a reduced sentence for a former client of UBS AG, who provided substantial information in a probe that found the Swiss bank helped Americans stash money overseas to evade taxes, according to a court filing on Friday. read more...

---

LOS ANGELES, USA (Reuters) -- The receiver overseeing the assets of accused swindler Allen Stanford has sued two former Stanford Capital Management employees, seeking the return of $11 million in investor funds, court documents showed. The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday in Dallas federal court. read more...

---

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AFP) -- The leftist Latin American ALBA trade bloc is scheduled on Friday to approve measures that would replace US dollars with a new virtual currency for regional commerce, an official said here. The new monetary system was adopted in principle at an ALBA summit in April. read more...

---

HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) -- Disgraced financier Allen Stanford appeared ill in court on Wednesday but declined a speedy trial despite being held in solitary confinement after he was badly beaten in a jailhouse brawl. Stanford's lawyer told the judge that he needed at least two years to mount a defense. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- More than 7,500 US taxpayers voluntarily disclosed secret offshore accounts to the Internal Revenue Service as the agency expands its crackdown on overseas tax evasion, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said. People who have come forward have provided information. read more...

---

NASSAU, Bahamas -- The Committee for the Privatisation of The Bahamas Telecommunications Company Ltd ("BTC") announced on Wednesday that the privatisation of BTC continues to progress with significant interest from prospective parties. Upon review of the pre-qualification packages... read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Allen Stanford’s court-appointed receiver should continue to be blocked from suing investors to get back funds they received from an alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme, US securities regulators told an appeals court. Ralph Janvey has no legal authority to sue 650 investors for almost $1 billion. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s internal watchdog is taking a fresh look at agency investigations of the $7 billion Ponzi scheme allegedly carried out by R Allen Stanford. SEC Inspector General H David Kotz said he is conducting the review in response to a request. read more...

---

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Guyana’s President Bharrat Jagdeo has raised concerns over what he termed a “conflict of interest” by the chairman of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) Trust Fund Dr Rollin Bernard since he is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL)... read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- US prosecutors asked a federal judge on Tuesday to set a trial date for Allen Stanford, the former Texas billionaire accused of leading an alleged $7 billion fraud. Stanford and three other defendants are due in federal court in Houston for a status hearing on Wednesday. read more...

---

PIARCO, Trinidad -- Arthur Lok Jack, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Caribbean Airlines has announced the appointment of Captain Ian Brunton as Chief Executive Officer with effect from 15 October, 2009. He takes over from Philip Saunders, who, some six months ago, gave notice of his intention to resign. read more...

---

HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- The impact of the world economic crisis on tourism is one of the topics on the agenda of the 2nd Meeting of Tourism Ministers of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA), underway in this capital. In session at Havana’s Hotel Nacional de Cuba at closed doors... read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Financier Allen Stanford and other executives who face charges related to an alleged $7 billion fraud may file claims for defence funds under a directors' and officers' insurance policy, a federal judge said. Stanford has had his assets frozen since civil charges were filed against him in February. read more...

---

BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CUOPM) -- Puerto Rico-based Caribbean Ferries has expressed an interest in expanding to the north-eastern Caribbean. President of Caribbean Ferries, Nestor Gonzalez met with St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister and Current Chairman of the Authority of the OECS, Denzil Douglas. read more...

---

Access to capital for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has been a consistent challenge for economies. Lack of adequate access to financing can have a serious effect on local businesses. For example, some companies borrow money for payroll. Some companies borrow money or use leverage for... read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Laura Pendergest-Holt, accused of helping R Allen Stanford swindle investors out of more than $7 billion, won court permission for her husband to sell a luxury waterfront lot and keep some of the proceeds. The Holts have been unable to pay their mortgage on the property. read more...

---

Sooner or later in your business life you will get stuck. It can happen for a variety of reasons; a personal problem, a chronic business problem or an outside condition that you simply have no control over. Don’t feel bad, because you are not alone. Getting stuck affects nearly every business owner or CEO. read more...

---

ISTANBUL, Turkey (Reuters) -- The Group of 20 major nations may blacklist countries that have lax financial regulation and impose sanctions on them, mirroring its crackdown on tax havens, Chancellor Alistair Darling was quoted as saying. The G20 is pushing for wide-ranging changes in financial regulation. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Ralph Janvey is asking for another $8.8 million in fees and expenses for his work as the court- appointed receiver for the businesses of accused Ponzi scheme mastermind Allen Stanford. Janvey won court approval last month for about $20 million in fees and expenses. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority didn’t fully probe transactions at Bernard Madoff’s firm and repeatedly failed to investigate tips about Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion fraud, an internal report found. FINRA said it will create an Office of Fraud Detection. read more...

---

PARIS, France (Reuters) -- French banks have promised to close all their branches and outlets in jurisdictions considered to be tax havens from March 2010 onwards, President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Thursday. The French President held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the issue with leading figures. read more...

---

Rene Henry may have an impressive resume as an banking and political insider ["Commentary: Will people ever trust banks again?", October 1, 2009], but his conclusions on what should be done about American banks that have lost the trust of their customers would exacerbate the problem, not effect a solution. read more...

---

Banking once was a trusted and respected business. Even after the multitude of bank failures during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the savings and loan crises of the 1980s and 1990s, bankers were the pillars of their local communities. What banking and financial institutions need today is a... read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Allen Stanford’s court-appointed receiver persuaded a US judge to block the accused Ponzi scheme mastermind’s bid to access insurance funds to pay his lawyers at a hearing Tuesday in London Chancery court. Janvey has been fighting Stanford’s efforts to unlock frozen assets. read more...

---

LOS ANGELES, USA (Reuters) -- A federal judge on Monday agreed to move accused swindler Allen Stanford to a federal lockup in downtown Houston to be closer to his attorneys, who are sifting through over 4 million documents in his case. Stanford, 59, has been housed in the Conroe, Texas jail since his arrest. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Allen Stanford, who is in jail awaiting trial on charges related to an alleged $7 billion fraud, was taken to a Texas hospital after a fight with another inmate, a deputy US Marshal confirmed on Friday. Stanford, 59, was injured in a fight on Thursday morning and needed medical attention. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Susan Stanford, the estranged wife of accused Ponzi scheme mastermind, Allen Stanford, is suing her former divorce lawyer for failing to tell her of a verbal offer to settle her divorce for $200 million last year. Stanford is asking for “$200 million plus’’ in damages. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- The Internal Revenue Service told its auditors in Manhattan to develop cases against offshore hedge funds and foreign companies it said are trying to avoid taxes on income from loans they make in the US. Most hedge funds set up offshore corporations in the Cayman Islands. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- The receiver in charge of Allen Stanford's assets has asked a federal judge for permission to sell the alleged swindler's luxurious 112-foot motor yacht, the Sea Eagle. Ralph Janvey, the receiver in the case, filed a motion asking US District Judge David Godbey to approve the sale of the vessel. read more...

---