HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Stanford Group Chief Financial Officer James Davis will plead guilty as part of a federal probe of a $7 billion Ponzi scheme at the Texas company, his lawyer David Finn said. Stanford and four other people were indicted by a Houston federal court jury. read more...

---

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands -- The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (CIMA) on Monday issued a cease and desist order to British American Insurance Company Limited, publicly known as BAICO. BAICO is a member of the troubled CLICO group, which was bailed out by the Trinidad government. read more...

---

MIAMI, USA (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration escalated its attack on Swiss bank secrecy and tax evaders by insisting UBS AG reveal the identities of 52,000 US account holders. In papers filed Tuesday in US District Court in Miami, the Justice Department responded to UBS’s opposition to releasing the names. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday ordered Texas financier Allen Stanford, accused of a $7 billion fraud, held without bail until trial. US prosecutors had argued that Stanford, who faces life in prison if convicted on all charges, had the means and motive to flee. Stanford spent 15 years living in the Caribbean. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Allen Stanford will spend Monday night in jail after US prosecutors told a federal judge that the accused swindler would likely flee the country rather than face life in prison if released on bail. The once high-flying billionaire and sports promoter has been in federal custody since June 18. read more...

---

HAMILTON, Bermuda -- The Bank of NT Butterfield & Son Limited has announced the official closing of the Offering Period for an issue of USD 200 million of Government guaranteed, 8.00% Non-Cumulative Perpetual Limited Voting Preference Shares on 22 June 2009. The initial offering was oversubscribed. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of swindling investors in a $7 billion fraud, will be held in jail until a June 29 court hearing on whether an order granting him bail should be reversed, a judge ruled. The request to delay Stanford’s release on bail was filed on Friday. read more...

---

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) -- ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd has pulled out of an oil and gas production sharing contract it had signed with the Trinidad and Tobago government six months ago, Energy Minister Conrad Enill said. Enill said the NCMA Block 2 would now be included in the country's next oil bidding round. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (AFP) -- Texan cricket mogul and billionaire financier Allen Stanford on Thursday pleaded not guilty to 21 charges of multi-billion dollar fraud, money-laundering and obstruction. Stanford appeared in a Houston court along with three of his four co-accused charged with running an investment scam. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Allen Stanford’s court-appointed receiver needn’t wait for a resolution of fraud charges against the Texas financier before selling properties that are draining cash, his lawyer said. The money could be used to repay investors allegedly swindled of $7 billion. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- The receiver charged with recovering assets for investors allegedly bilked of $7 billion through R. Allen Stanford’s Antiguan bank said his legal fees shouldn’t suffer “arbitrary and across-the-board penalties’’ because US regulators and investors have complained he wants too much. read more...

---

BOSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Investors burned by Texas billionaire Allen Stanford took solace from his indictment on Friday, but many remained devastated by their losses and frustrated at their inability so far to recover the money. The arrest does little to ease the pain of the 30,000 investors affected by the scam. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP) --Texan billionaire financier and cricket mogul Allen Stanford and four others were charged Friday with 21 counts of fraud, money-laundering and obstruction in a huge eight-billion-dollar scam. Some 30,000 investors from across the world, including thousands of Americans, were defrauded. read more...

---

CHICAGO, USA (Bloomberg) -- Baker Botts LLP, the law firm of former US Secretary of State James A. Baker, should be disqualified from representing the receiver appointed to run the businesses of Allen Stanford because, according to the financier’s lawyers, the firm helped set up a Stanford bank. read more...

---

BERLIN, Germany (Bloomberg) -- Sudan and Mozambique stand to gain from European sugar-industry reforms because they can lift output and cut costs, while smaller Caribbean producers may miss out, according to the International Sugar Organization. Belize and Caribbean countries have limited scale for expansion. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- The court-appointed lawyer overseeing Allen Stanford's financial empire has reached a deal to return the Texas billionaire's five luxury aircraft to the leasing agent in exchange for $4.8 million dollars, according to a court filing. Ralph Janvey has overseen Stanford's holdings since February. read more...

---

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (BGIS) -- The successful implementation of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Union (EU) and the Caribbean Forum of ACP States (CARIFORUM) and other trading arrangements will require significant resources, said Barbados Senator Maxine McClean. read more...

---

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela's government is interested in buying a minority stake that six Japanese companies said they want to sell in the Venalum aluminum smelter, Venalum's president said on Tuesday. The Japanese firms said they wanted to sell their stake after a dispute with the government. read more...

---

A proper succession plan for your business has more of an impact than just the idea that your namesake will survive for future generations, but it’s also critical to sustainable development for the collective as well. Through my experiences with numerous European CEOs working the western European desk... read more...

---

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters) -- Trinidad and Tobago's government has taken over management of the Caribbean's biggest private business conglomerate, CL Financial (CLF), whose financial troubles have sent economic shock waves across the Caribbean. read more...

---

ORLANDO, USA -- Participants at the just-concluded 4th Caribbean-American Business Expo and Conference in Orlando, Florida are formulating an Action Plan after two days of intensive discussions on strategies to improve and expand trade and investment with the United States.The forum was held June 10-12. read more...

---

NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) -- Standard & Poor's on Friday cut the credit rating of Venezuela's PDVSA oil company on liquidity concerns and uncertainty about the company's willingness to meet contractual obligations with some of its suppliers. At the same time, S&P affirmed Venezuela's sovereign credit ratings. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Bloomberg) -- Allen Stanford’s UK assets seized in a fraud probe have sparked a legal fight between court-appointed liquidators from the US and Antigua who are both seeking the right to distribute the money to creditors. Lawyers told a London court this week that they can’t reach an agreement read more...

---

TEL AVIV, Israel (Reuters) -- Caribbean tax havens want to be seen as part of a solution to the global financial crisis and refute complaints they offer loopholes through which over-risky, or even fraudulent, businesses can undermine world markets. Several sent delegations to the annual IOSCO conference. read more...

---

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Urban unemployment in Latin America and the Caribbean rose by 0.6% during the first quarter of 2009 with regard to the same period last year. This variation reflects the impact of the international crisis on labour markets in the region, stated ECLAC and ILO in a joint report. read more...

---

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - Shares of Popular Inc fell as much as 16 percent on Tuesday, a day after the Puerto Rico-based bank set a plan to boost its Tier I common equity by about $1.2 billion through an exchange offer and said it will suspend dividends on its common and preferred stock after June 30. read more...

---

HAVANA, Cuba (ACN) -- New plans of cooperation will be discussed during the 6th Petrocaribe Summit that takes place on Thursday and Friday in St Kitts and Nevis. Petrocaribe is an energy cooperation agreement of the Venezuelan government with Caribbean nations that was established on June 29, 2005 read more...

---

CARACAS, Venezuela (Bloomberg) -- Showa Denko KK, Kobe Steel Ltd, Sumitomo Chemical Co. and three more Japanese companies await talks with Venezuela’s government as they seek to sell their share of an aluminum smelter in the South American country. The companies initially decided to leave Venezuela in 2006. read more...

---

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- Kirk Carpenter, a little known relative of CL Financial Chairman, Lawrence Duprey, has launched a bid to stop the beleaguered conglomerate from entering into an agreement with the government that would result in the State taking control of the group's board. read more...

---

ORLANDO, USA -- The University of the West Indies (UWI) has accepted an invitation to attend the Fourth Annual Caribbean American Business Expo and Conference, which starts in Orlando on Wednesday, and will use the opportunity to seek closer collaboration with the educational institution and the private sector. read more...

---

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- All 16 Caribbean member governments renewed their catastrophe policies with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility for the 2009/10 policy period. Member governments were able to take advantage of a 10% decrease in premium costs from the CCRIF by increasing coverage. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) -- Lawyers for Allen Stanford, the Texas financier charged with an $8.5 billion fraud by US regulators, on Friday characterized a $20 million fee request by the case's receiver as "exorbitant," according to a court filing. Lawyers for the US Securities and Exchange Commission also filed objections. read more...

---

ORLANDO, USA – Strategies for successfully engaging the administration of US President Barack Obama will be the focus of the address to be delivered by veteran US diplomat Ambassador Harriet Elam Thomas at the Fourth Caribbean American Business Expo and Conference to be held next Thursday in Orlando. read more...

---

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday suffered a major setback in its legal battle with CL Financial Limited when a judge blocked the bank from accessing information on the group and using it outside of the present case before the court. read more...

---

NEW YORK, USA (Reuters) -- Shareholders of Ingersoll-Rand Co approved the conglomerate's plan to reincorporate from Bermuda to Ireland by a margin of 97 to 3, and the reorganization will become effective within four weeks, the company said on Wednesday. Shareholders also elected all 12 nominees to the board. read more...

---

BELMOPAN, Belize -- The Belize Trade and Investment Development Service (BELTRAIDE) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries in collaboration with the Embassy of Taiwan in Belize and the Embassy of Belize in Taiwan will be hosting a contingent of fourteen Taiwanese investors. read more...

---

LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British gas and electricity supplier Centrica said it has agreed to pay $142.5 million in cash for a 45 percent stake in a gas development block in Trinidad to boost Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supplies. Exploratory drilling had identified significant gas reserves at the block. read more...

---

BELMOPAN, Belize -- The Supervisor of Insurance has informed the policyholders of CLICO (Bahamas) Ltd that on 30 May 2009, the Supreme Court of Belize made an order that the Belize branch of the company be placed under judicial management and Mark Hulse of Baker Tilly Hulse be appointed Judicial Manager. read more...

---

WASHINGTON, USA -- In its 2009 Independent Evaluation of IFC’s Development Results released today, the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) provides a first global review of International Finance Corporation (IFC) advisory services - knowledge services to private firms and governments. read more...

---

HOUSTON, USA (Reuters) - Allen Stanford, the Texas financier accused of an $8.5 billion fraud by US regulators, used client funds to pay for his jet-set lifestyle, the Antiguan liquidator in the case said on Monday. Stanford used the money to pay for jets, lavish homes and yachts, Hamilton-Smith told Reuters. read more...

---