Articles

5th Circuit Bar Order Appeal Decision

Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Decision Regarding US Bar Order

In a decision dated 9 August 2024, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas did not have the requisite personal jurisdiction to bind the Antiguan Joint Liquidators with its Bar Order, thereby rendering the US Bar Order inapplicable to the Joint Liquidators.

Société Générale Private Banking (Suisse) SA (Soc Gen) subsequently filed a petition seeking a re-hearing of this matter from the Fifth Circuit and that petition was denied.  As a result, the US Bar Order does not apply to the Joint Liquidators and Soc Gen cannot use this to delay proceedings in Switzerland.

See below link to the decision of the Fifth Circuit. 

23-10726-CV0.pdf

Notice of Appointment of Kevin Hellard as Joint Liquidator of the Company

See attached Court Order dated 17 November 2023.

Notice of Resignation of Hugh Dickson as Joint Liquidator of the Company

To the Creditors,

Stanford International Bank Limited – in Liquidation (the Company)

Notice of Resignation of Hugh Dickson as Joint Liquidator of the Company

I write to notify the creditors of the Company that as of 31 December 2023, Hugh Dickson intends to retire from Grant Thornton Specialist Services (Cayman) Limited and cease to practice as an insolvency practitioner. As such, Mr. Dickson intends to resign from his role as Joint Liquidator of the Company.

It is proposed that Kevin Hellard, of Grant Thornton UK LLP, replace Hugh Dickson as Joint Liquidator of the Company. Mr. Hellard is an experienced insolvency professional and has extensive experience in insolvency matters. 

I will continue to act as Joint Liquidator of the Company.

Any objections received by the Joint Liquidators to the proposed replacement of Mr. Dickson will be brought to the attention of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Antigua and Barbuda at the hearing of the application for the Court’s approval of Mr. Hellard’s appointment. All objections are to be submitted to the Joint Liquidators within 14 days of the date of this notice.

Should you have any questions, please contact my colleague Ryan Fisher by email: ryan.fisher@uk.gt.com or on +1 284 346 4913.

Yours Sincerely,

Mark McDonald – Joint Liquidator of the Company

Dated: 18 October 2023

Supreme Court Dismisses Majority of SIB’s Claims Against HSBC

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom handed down its 48 page decision on 21 December 2022, finding in summary that a significant part of the loss suffered by SIB cannot be claimed from HSBC.

The case was heard on 19 January 2022 before a panel of five Supreme Court Justices and who considered the issue of whether or not SIB suffered any loss as a result of HSBC’s actions.  This appeal followed the Court of Appeal’s decision that SIB did not suffer any loss as a result of HSBC’s actions because although SIB had lost around £118m in cash from SIB’s HSBC accounts the majority of the money paid away reduced SIB’s liabilities to certificate of deposit holders.  We appealed the decision of the Court of Appeal because we believed that there were good arguments to be made that SIB did suffer a loss because of HSBC’s actions. 

The issue on appeal gave rise to detailed consideration of technical legal points and interpretation of the meaning of prior case law on this issue.  Lord Sales disagreed with his four fellow Justices and issued a dissenting decision in which his view was that SIB did suffer a loss as a result of the payments out of SIB’s bank accounts at HSBC.  However, because Lord Sales’ four fellow Justices viewed matters differently SIB’s appeal was dismissed.

We are disappointed with the result, but are continuing to assess recovery options against HSBC.  

See link to the full decision here.

Court Of Appeal for Ontario dismisses SIB’s appeal against TD Bank

On 17 November 2022, the Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed the Joint Liquidators’ Appeal of the Ontario Court’s June 2021 decision which dismissed the Joint Liquidators’ claim for approximately US$4.5 billion in damages from Toronto-Dominion Bank. 

The decision is deeply disappointing given that this claim represents a major prospect of a material recovery for the thousands of creditors around the world who were victims of Allen Stanford’s massive ponzi scheme.  The Joint Liquidators are considering the decision including what steps for further appeal may be appropriate.

A further update will be provided in due course.

Link to judgment: https://coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/item/21002/index.do

PDF copy of judgment

SIB v TD Bank Appeal – live viewing link

The Joint Liquidators’ Appeal of the decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice will be heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal for one and a half days on 20 April 2022 and 21 April 2022 from 10am EST (GMT-4).

Prior to clicking the viewing link, creditors and stakeholders must read and acknowledge the following:

Unless permission is given by the court, it is an offence under s. 136 of the Courts of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. C. 43, punishable by a fine of not more than $25,000 or imprisonment of up to six months, or both, to record any part of the hearing, including by way of screenshot/capture and photograph, as well as to publish, broadcast, reproduce or disseminate any such recording.

The Appeal can be watched via Zoom using the link and details below:

Zoom viewing link
Passcode: 916911

Deadline for submitting a proof of debt or claim

To be eligible for all distributions made by the Joint Liquidators, including past distributions, creditors must submit their valid proof of debt or claim by no later than 16 April 2022.

Creditors who do not submit a valid proof of debt or claim by 16 April 2022 will be eligible for future distributions only, provided that a valid proof of debt is received by the date set out on the notice of intention to declare that distribution.

The Joint Liquidators have set this deadline date with regard to the length of time elapsed since the commencement of the liquidation and in order to ensure that creditors who have already submitted a proof of debt are not adversely impacted by the admission of any significant valid proof of debt which has not yet been received.

Please note that creditors whose claims have already been registered and admitted by the Joint Liquidators are not required to submit a new proof of debt or claim by the above deadline.

Supreme Court grants SIB permission to appeal HSBC decision

We are pleased to advise that the Supreme Court, the United Kingdom’s highest court, has granted SIB permission to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal.  In a decision dated 15 April 2021 the Court of Appeal dismissed SIB’s claim in dishonest assistance and the majority of SIB’s damages claim in negligence against HSBC.

It should be noted that the Joint Liquidators did not appeal the Court of Appeal’s decision in relation to dishonest assistance and so the appeal to the Supreme Court relates to SIB’s negligence claim.

The Joint Liquidators of SIB continue to believe that the pursuit of HSBC is in the interests of the SIB Estate. We will keep you updated as the Supreme Court appeal progresses.

See attached copy of the Supreme Court notice.

Notice of Supreme Court of United Kingdom

SIB Appeals TD decision to Ontario Court of Appeal

After fully considering the Ontario Superior Court of Justice trial decision dismissing SIB’s case against TD Bank, we have appealed the decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal.

See attached copy of our notice of appeal setting out the grounds for the appeal supporting our position that the Ontario Court of Appeal should grant judgment in our favour.

We will keep you updated as the appeal process progresses.

Notice of Appeal

ONTARIO COURT DISMISSES SIB’S CLAIM AGAINST TD BANK

In a decision dated 8 June, 2021 Justice Barbara Conway of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed SIB’s case against TD Bank.  SIB was seeking damages from TD Bank in the amount of approximately US$4.5 billion. 

Justice Conway ruled that TD did not owe a duty of care to SIB to protect it from ‘insider abuse’ and even if a duty had existed that TD did not fall below the standard of care of a reasonable banker.  Justice Conway’s judgment goes on to consider the position in the event she had ruled that a duty of care existed and that TD had breached that duty.  In that event she found that TD Bank would have been exposed to a significant damages awards, ranging between US$1.1 and 4.3 billion, agreeing with the findings of our damages expert, and dismissing other defences put forward by TD, including lack of causation, ex turpi causa and time limitations.  

We are deeply disappointed with today’s judgment, which leaves many thousands of creditors around the world without a material recovery after the collapse of Allen Stanford’s massive Ponzi scheme.

We are considering SIB’s position with our legal team including the possibility of appealing this judgment.  We will provide a further update shortly. 

See copy of the judgment here. 

Mark McDonald and Hugh Dickson

Joint Liquidators

Court of Appeal Dismisses Majority of SIB’s Claims Against HSBC

In a decision dated 15 April 2021 the Court of Appeal (CoA) overturned the decision of Mr Justice Nugee of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales and struck out the majority of SIB’s losses pursuant to the Quincecare negligence claim against HSBC and also held that we cannot as currently pleaded, pursue SIB’s claims against HSBC for dishonest assistance.

HSBC had appealed Mr Justice Nugee’s judgment in which he decided:

1. To dismiss HSBC’s application for the strike out or summary judgment of SIB’s Quincecare claim.
2. To accept HSBC’s application to strike out SIB’s claim of dishonest assistance.

This is a disappointing result and we are currently considering next steps with our legal team. 

The basis upon which the CoA dismissed SIB’s Quincecare claim was on a narrow point of law regarding the issue of whether or not SIB could be said to have suffered loss as a result of HSBC’s actions.  The CoA held that SIB did not suffer any loss as a result of HSBC’s actions because the majority of the money that HSBC paid away reduced SIB’s liabilities to certificate of deposit holders. 

We continue to maintain that HSBC’s conduct fell below that required of a banker in its position.  We also disagree with a number of aspects of the CoA analysis, set out in its judgment.  We are continuing to explore with our legal team the next steps, including all possible avenues to seek recompense from HSBC for their actions.  We will post a further update at the appropriate time, once we have determined those next steps.

See below link to the decision of the Court of Appeal. 

 Stanford International Bank Ltd -v- HSBC | Courts and Tribunals
Judiciary

SIB v TD Bank Trial – Live Viewing Links Oral Closing Arguments

The oral closing arguments for the SIB v TD trial can be watched live at 10.00am to 4.30pm EST via the following links:

April 26, 2021: https://youtu.be/0wIFAJ5QPAg

April 27, 2021: https://youtu.be/-R2GwQylaek

April 28, 2021: https://youtu.be/nLT8R-fMt6s

April 29, 2021: https://youtu.be/TbV_uhW46qg

SIB’s claims against Proskauer Dismissed

On 29 October 2020 the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal
issued its decision in response to our appeal and held that we could not sue
Proskauer in Antigua.  In respect of the ongoing US litigation in this
matter, in which Proskauer was seeking to enforce a  US bar order against
the Antiguan Joint Liquidators, the United States Court of Appeals for the
Fifth Circuit also held a hearing on this matter in December 2020. 

Following these events we have agreed with Proskauer to
drop our claims against them which brings to an end all proceedings in Antigua
and the US involving Proskauer and SIB.  Each party is responsible for
their own costs in respect of the US and Antiguan litigation proceedings. 
We decided that this was the best course of action in view of the latest
decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal.  All matters as between
Proskauer and the Antiguan liquidation estate of SIB have now ended.  

SIB v TD Bank Trial – Update

Evidence in the trial has now completed and SIB and TD
have rested their cases.

Both parties are now in the process of preparing written closing submissions which are required to be lodged with the Court by 22 April.  The oral closing arguments are to be heard between 26 and 29 April.  The closing arguments can be watched live via YouTube, links will be posted during the week commencing 19 April.

SIB v TD Bank Trial – Live Viewing Links March 2021

Our trial against TD Bank resumes on Monday 1 March 2021.

The trial can be watched live at 10.00am to 4.00pm EST daily via the following links:

March 1: https://youtu.be/vXXzZFbqYIQ

March 2: https://youtu.be/JUTgnkQnuoA

March 3: https://youtu.be/-OZLdWqh6WI

March 4: https://youtu.be/uwa4BFGaSSk

March 5: https://youtu.be/TbVj3ls3yWM

March 8: https://youtu.be/9K9H37ml-3c

March 9: https://youtu.be/jgHJLZbQ6Xo

March 10: https://youtu.be/_2fx3HKubZY

March 11: https://youtu.be/mPkpZ11mtkM

March 12: https://youtu.be/Ghq7Z6jzTms

March 15: https://youtu.be/bdXp2lgtcTI

March 16: https://youtu.be/YDevz1uAZ0Y

March 17: https://youtu.be/u7JWJ7kstdw

March 18: https://youtu.be/PXA6ZBqfzt8

March 19: https://youtu.be/AW8jtmCim_I

The week commencing Monday 22 March is a non-sit week.

The trial will resume on Monday 29 March.

Further links will be posted as the trial progresses.

LIQUIDATORS ANNOUNCE THIRD DISTRIBUTION

The Joint Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited (SIB) are pleased to announce that we have now received the Antiguan liquidation estates share of the remaining Swiss frozen funds.We are now preparing to pay a third distribution to creditors of 1% of their claim.1% of total creditor claims is equivalent to approximately US$50 million. This third distribution will bring the liquidators total distributions to date to 2.6% of creditors’ claims.

Notice of the distribution will be sent to all creditors shortly via the registered email that we hold on file.

Please send any questions to stanford.enquiries@uk.gt.com

Mark McDonald and Hugh Dickson
Joint Liquidators

SIB v TD Bank Trial – Live Viewing Links

Our trial against TD Bank in relation to our $4.5 billion damages claim commences on Monday 11 January 2021.

The trial can be watched live at 10.00am to 4.00pm EST daily via the following links:

Monday January 11: https://youtu.be/ero7c9_DuGc

Tuesday
January 12: https://youtu.be/A-t9LaIjQ5w

Wednesday
January 13: https://youtu.be/g7PGp00uWLs

Thursday January 14: https://youtu.be/-lro6QtRTuA

Friday January 15: https://youtu.be/6L2GtchbLWE

Monday
January 18: https://youtu.be/tABQYOFC5vk

Tuesday
January 19: https://youtu.be/KZbnAEDxsfI

Wednesday
January 20: https://youtu.be/mD2fCwuv5WU

Thursday
January 21: https://youtu.be/4lqhtekdGyo

Friday January 22: https://youtu.be/d4wVxmSBIwQ

The week commencing Monday 25 January is a non-sit week.  The trial will resume on 1 February.

Further links will be posted as the trial progresses.

Decision of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court

See link to full, English translated, decision of the Swiss Federal Criminal Court ordering the release of all remaining Swiss frozen funds.

Société Generale Does Not Appeal Swiss Federal Criminal Court Order And Frozen Funds Will Be Released

Further to our update of 5 November confirming that the Swiss Federal Criminal Court ordered the release of all remaining Swiss frozen funds we advise that Société Generale Private Banking (Suisse) SA (Soc Gen) did not appeal the decision within the required time limit.  This means that the frozen funds will now be released to the US authorities and will ultimately be paid to the US Receivership and Antiguan liquidation estates for distribution to the victims. 

The Joint Liquidators are delighted with this development because it will finally allow for these funds to be distributed to the victims. We will provide further updates to victims in due course once we have a better understanding on the likely timing of the release of these funds. 

The release of these funds combined with a further US$16 million of projected recoveries from the Bank of Antigua liquidation will allow for the eventual distribution to victims of approximately US$168 million. 

Swiss Federal Criminal Court Orders the Release of Swiss Frozen Funds

In a decision dated 16 October 2020 the Swiss Federal Criminal Court (the FCC) upheld the decision of the Swiss Federal Office of Justice (the FoJ) (see link to that 2019 decision) and ordered that all frozen funds remaining in Stanford International Bank Limited’s (In Liquidation) accounts at Societe Generale Private Banking (Suisse) SA’s (Soc Gen) be released to the US authorities.

This decision and related decisions, providing for the release of amounts held at Soc Gen in the name of related entities, of the FCC should allow for the release of all remaining Swiss frozen funds totalling approximately US$152 million.  In addition we are working with the Bank of Antigua liquidators to recover amounts totalling approximately US$16 million.  These amounts will be distributed to the victims by both the US Receivers Estate and the Antiguan Liquidation estate in accordance with the Cross Border protocol and Settlement Agreement.

Please note that Soc Gen has one final appeal possibility if it decides to appeal this decision to Switzerland’s highest court, the Federal Supreme Court.
We are awaiting news as to whether or not Soc Gen will be appealing this decision and will provide a further update once that is known.

The Joint Liquidators, via Swiss counsel, made arguments to the FCC in support of the request to handover funds to the US authorities.  The Joint Liquidators are hopeful that this decision will finally allow for the release of the Swiss frozen funds so that they can be distributed to the victims.

We will post a link to the full FCC decision,translated into English, once it becomes public.

Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal Denies SIB’s Appeal to Pursue Proskauer in Antigua

See link to decision of the Eastern Caribbean Court of Appeal denying our appeal to allow us to sue Proskauer in Antigua.  The Court of Appeal decided that the claim against Proskauer should not be heard in Antigua.  We consider that there are legal and policy reasons why Antigua should hear this case and we are currently considering an appeal of this judgment. 

SIB’s Case Against HSBC to Proceed to Trial

We are pleased to report that we have defeated HSBC’s application for strike out or summary judgment on our claims against them which means that our case against HSBC can now proceed to trial. See attached copy of the written judgment of Justice Nugee of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales. The claims which HSBC were seeking to have struck out, or summary judgement entered on, were as follows:

1. That HSBC failed in its Quincecare duty to take sufficient care to see that the monies being paid out from accounts under its control were being properly paid out.
2. That HSBC should be liable for dishonest assistance in relation to breaches of fiduciary duty by Robert Alan Stanford.

After a two day virtual hearing on 30 and 31 July, Mr Justice Nugee decided as follows:

1. To dismiss HSBC’s application for the strike out or summary judgment of SIB’s Quincecare claim.
2. To accept HSBC’s application to strike out SIB’s claim of dishonest assistance. However, the Judge did not give summary judgment against us on that claim. The Judge noted that should information come to light during the disclosure process that is supportive of a case for dishonest assistance we can re-plead this case for trial.
3. The stay on this case that had been previously imposed is now lifted and parties are to resume preparations for trial.

See link to the copy of the judgement. This is a good result for SIB and despite our claim for dishonest assistance being struck out we believe that our Quincecare claim is strong and will continue to pursue that claim. We will also carefully review the disclosure to determine whether or not it provides sufficient information and evidence to allow us to re-plead our dishonest assistance claim. Next steps are to carry out disclosure between the parties and ultimately we are hopeful that the full trial of this matter will be heard in October 2021.

We will continue to post updates on any significant developments in this and other cases.

Update re mediation between SIB and TD Bank

As part of the lead up to the three month trial for this matter, scheduled to begin in January 2021, the Ontario Court required both parties to attend a mediation in an attempt to have the parties try to resolve the matter outside of  court.

We confirm that the Joint Liquidators and TD Bank attended a mediation, via video conference, on 20 May 2020.  No settlement was achieved between the parties and the Joint Liquidators and their legal team continue to prepare for the trial of this matter.

Privy Council Confirms that the Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited (SIB) Cannot Claw Back from Net Winners and Preference Creditors

The Privy Council have decided that the law governing the liquidation of SIB in Antigua and Barbuda does not allow the Liquidators to re-adjust the losses amongst SIB depositors and that the losses must be left as they were when SIB went into liquidation in February 2009.  The Privy Council issued its decision on these issues in a 42 page judgment handed down on 16 December 2019. The Board of the Privy Council, which sits in London, is the highest court for dealing with the SIB liquidation matters and this decision is therefore the final say on these issues.

This decision means that the Liquidators cannot pursue claims against Net Winners (those investors who took out more than what they put in) or preference creditors (those investors that withdrew funds in the 6 months prior to SIB’s liquidation) and must now release all amounts that the Liquidators have previously held back from preference creditors.

This decision allows the Liquidators to release approximately US$20 million that had previously been held back from 4,093 preference creditors in the first two distributions.  The Liquidators will start preparations for the release of these funds shortly and will be in contact, by email, with all preference creditors impacted by this decision.

A link to the full decision of the Privy Council is below:

https://www.jcpc.uk/cases/docs/jcpc-2018-0075-judgment.pdf

Notice to Claim Buyers

To all Claim Buyers,

Please see enclosed a copy of the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF DEED OF ASSIGNMENT to be used going forward for all claim transfers.

We take this opportunity to clarify that this is the only format of acknowledgement which will be accepted going forward and also to confirm our new standardised process in respect of distribution declaration.

Distribution Payees
Going forward distributions will be paid to the owner on record at the date of announcement of the distribution. The distribution will first be announced on our website: http://sibliquidation.com/.

Preference settlements
Following repayment, held back distributions will be recalculated against the Revised Claim Amount and released to the owner of the claim on record as at the date the Preference Payment is settled. Subsequent distributions will be calculated with reference to the Revised Claim Amount and paid to the owner of the claim on record as at the date each distribution is announced.

Submission of Deeds
There Registration and Records Act (Cap. 375) provides a deadline of 3 months between execution of the deed and registration with the Antiguan and Barbudian Deeds Registry. Once registered, it is the responsibility of the claim buyer to send a copy of the registered deed to the Joint Liquidators as soon as possible to ensure distributions are sent to the legal holder of the claim.

Transfer Fee
To cover the administration costs of the claim transfer there is a fee of US$1000 per claim transfer (per PEA). To clarify, bundling PEAs into one deed or processing several at a time still means that a cover fee per PEA will need to be paid to the Joint Liquidators.

Bank Account
All payments are to be made to our account held at Bank of Nova Scotia: 60335000004909

Beverly Jacob – your Account Manager
Beverly Jacobs (cc’d) will be the new point of contact for all claim transfers. Mrs. Jacob has been working alongside us since the beginning of the liquidation and has an excellent understanding of the mechanics of the claim transfers being responsible for maintaining the claims database paperwork. Mrs. Jacob’s email is Beverly.jacob@uk.gt.com.

Your Sincerely,

Mark McDonald
Joint Liquidator of Stanford International Bank (in Liquidation)

SWISS FROZEN FUNDS DEVELOPMENT – Swiss Federal Office of Justice orders handover of frozen funds to US authorities

Swiss Federal Office of Justice orders handover of frozen funds to US authorities

In a decision dated 12 June 2019 the Swiss federal Office of Justice (FOJ) ordered that all funds remaining in two bank accounts of Stanford International Bank Limited’s (In Liquidation) (SIB) held at SOCIETE GENERALE Private Banking (Switzerland) Ltd, Geneva (Soc Gen) totalling US$105.7 million be handed over to the US authorities. These funds have been frozen since the start of the liquidation process in 2009 and have yet to be handed over to the US authorities because of opposition from Soc Gen. Soc Gen are claiming a pledge over these funds to allow them to meet any judgments made against them resulting from US litigation claims being pursued by SIB investors.

Soc Gen’s position was that the funds should not be handed over to the US authorities because the provisions of the Swiss law governing the handover of these assets had not been met and in particular that Soc Gen had a valid and enforceable pledge over the assets and that they were able to demonstrate that their dealings with the Stanford Group were carried out in good faith. The lawyers representing the Antiguan Joint Liquidators put forward comprehensive arguments to the FOJ showing that Soc Gen’s position was incorrect. The primary focus of the FOJ in its decision was on the issue of good faith and whether Soc Gen could demonstrate that it had acted in good faith in their dealings with the Stanford Group.

In ordering the handover of funds the FOJ accepted the arguments presented by SIB and dismissed those of Soc Gen. The decision concluded that in its dealings with the Stanford Group that Soc Gen’s lack of good faith had been amply demonstrated. The decision referred to a 30 August 2013 decision by FINMA, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, which found that Soc Gen had been in serious breach of its anti-money laundering duties in respect to the Stanford accounts. FINMA’s decision was upheld by the Federal Administrative Court in a 4 October 2016 decision – see link to the translation of the Swiss decision: ATAF B-5586/2013

Upon the handover of the funds to the US authorities the funds will be dealt with in accordance with the Cross Border Protocol and Settlement Agreement entered into between the Antiguan Joint liquidators, the US Receiver, and the US department of Justice and others. That agreement provides that one third of the funds will go to the Antiguan liquidation estate for distribution and that two thirds of the funds will go to the US Receiver for distribution.

The Joint Liquidators are recognised as an interested party in these proceedings and were thus able to make representations, via their Swiss lawyers, in support of the request to hand over the SIB funds with Soc Gen to the US authorities. Soc Gen has thirty days within which to appeal this decision.

The Antiguan Joint Liquidators are pleased with this decision and are hopeful that the funds will now be handed over to the US authorities.

Please note that there are additional frozen funds held in Switzerland in the names of related Stanford companies and the handover of these funds are the subject of separate proceedings.

UPDATE ON TD LITIGATION DEVELOPMENT

UPDATE ON TD LITIGATION DEVELOPMENT

The Joint liquidators are pleased to report that the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has directed that our $5 billion damages claim based on a charge of negligence against TD Bank, be set down for a trial starting in January 2021. The trial is estimated to last between 2.5 and 3 months.

This is a significant development nearly 8 years after we filed the claim against TD Bank in August 2011. The claim has been strongly resisted by TD Bank and numerous challenges have been overcome to progress the claim to this stage. While January 2021 is still 18 months away, there remains a lot of work required to prepare for a trial of this complexity and length. We will be working closely with our legal team to ensure that we are fully prepared for the commencement of the trial.

Notice to Claim Buyers

To all Claim Buyers,

Please see enclosed a copy of the New Acknowledgement Form to be used going forward for all claim transfers.
We take this opportunity to clarify that this is the only format of acknowledgement which will be accepted going forward and also to confirm our new standardised process in respect of distribution declaration.

Distribution Payees
Going forward distributions will be paid to the owner on record at the date of announcement of the distribution. The distribution will first be announced on our website: http://sibliquidation.com/.

Preference settlements
Following repayment, held back distributions will be recalculated against the Revised Claim Amount and released to the owner of the claim on record as at the date the Preference Payment is settled. Subsequent distributions will be calculated with reference to the Revised Claim Amount and paid to the owner of the claim on record as at the date each distribution is announced.

Submission of Deeds
There Registration and Records Act (Cap. 375) provides a deadline of 3 months between execution of the deed and registration with the Antiguan and Barbudian Deeds Registry. Once registered, it is the responsibility of the claim buyer to send a copy of the registered deed to the Joint Liquidators as soon as possible to ensure distributions are sent to the legal holder of the claim.

Transfer Fee
To cover the administration costs of the claim transfer there is a fee of US$1000 per claim transfer (per PEA). To clarify, bundling PEAs into one deed or processing several at a time still means that a cover fee per PEA will need to be paid to the Joint Liquidators.

Bank Account
All payments are to be made to our account held at Bank of Nova Scotia: 60335000004909

Beverly Jacob – your Account Manager
Beverly Jacobs (cc’d) will be the new point of contact for all claim transfers. Mrs. Jacob has been working alongside us since the beginning of the liquidation and has an excellent understanding of the mechanics of the claim transfers being responsible for maintaining the claims database paperwork. Mrs. Jacob’s email is Beverly.jacob@uk.gt.com.

Your Sincerely,

Mark McDonald
Joint Liquidator of Stanford International Bank (in Liquidation)

Notice to clients of Dr. Gaytri Kachroo of Kachroo Legal Services, P.C.

Please take notice that Attorney Dr. Gaytri Kachroo will no longer represent any creditors of Stanford International Bank. The Joint Liquidators will be issuing further distributions to Dr. Kachroo’s clients either a) directly to those creditors who have updated their contact details since the resignation of Dr. Gaytri Kachroo or b) via Mr. Charles Scarlett, who has been retained by a number of creditors as successor counsel to Dr. Kachroo.

There are a number of creditors who have not appointed a successor counsel to Dr Kachroo and have not provided our Antiguan team with alternative contact details. The only address held in our records for these creditors is that of Dr. Kachroo, who is now not authorised to receive payment on behalf of Dr. Kachroo’s former clients. In the absence of an alternative contact address, the Joint Liquidators are unable to make distributions to these creditors.

If you are a former client of Dr. Kachroo who has not yet provided our Antiguan team with new contact details or appointed a successor counsel to Dr. Kachroo, the Joint Liquidators urge you to contact Stanford.enquiries@uk.gt.com from your authorised email address referencing your PEA number and your direct contact address.

For avoidance of doubt, there is no requirement to appoint any legal counsel to receive distributions from the Antiguan estate, however creditors are free to appoint such counsel should they wish.

Yours Sincerely,

Mark McDonald – Joint Liquidator

Notice to clients of Castillo Snyder, PC

Please take notice that law group Castillo Snyder has advised that they will no longer be accepting distribution cheques on behalf of their clients.

The Joint Liquidators have requested alternative contact details from Castillo Snyder for their clients so that distribution cheques may be issued directly to the creditors of the estate. However, Castillo Snyder have only been able to provide contact details for some of their clients.

Without contact details, the Joint Liquidators are unable to issue distribution cheques (including those for the upcoming second distribution) to some of Castillo Snyder’s clients.

The Joint Liquidators would like to limit any delay caused by this situation and therefore ask that clients of Castillo Snyder please provide their latest contact details to the firm as soon as possible by emailing legalassistant@casnlaw.com or stanford.enquiries@uk.gt.com.

Yours Sincerely,

Mark McDonald – Joint Liquidator of Stanford International Bank (in Liquidation)

Claims Against Banks – Individual Claims and Representation

It has been brought to our attention that a number of creditors have received correspondence from a US law firm requesting that creditors enter into a representation agreement with them or they risk losing their claims against the banks. The correspondence refers to claims against TD Bank, HSBC, Trustmark National Bank, Bank of Hoston and Societe Generale Bank (“the Banks”).

We are not seeking to advise creditors in any way with regards to what action they should take, if any, in connection with this correspondence. Creditors are free to take their own US legal advice on this matter if they wish to do so.

We would simply like to advise creditors that the Antiguan liquidators of SIB are pursuing claims against the banks (TD Bank, HSBC and will likely claim against Societe Generale in the near future) and that in the event we are successful in these claims that the net proceeds will be distributed to creditors irrespective of whether they have individual counsel. We also understand that OSIC are is also pursuing claims against the Banks which if successful will also result in creditors receiving funds.

LIQUIDATORS ANNOUNCE SECOND DISTRIBUTION

The Joint Liquidators of Stanford International Bank Limited (SIB) are pleased to announce that we are preparing to pay a second distribution of US$30 million to the creditors. This distribution equates to approximately 0.6% of the total admitted claims in the liquidation of SIB.

The distribution will be paid by cheque and sent via post or courier to the most recent address details we have on file for creditors.

Creditors only need to contact us if there has been a change to their address details. If your address has changed you must contact us, via email to Stanford.enquiries@uk.gt.com, to update your details before 31 March 2019. Please do not contact us if your address details have not changed.

No distribution will be made to creditors who have previously been advised that their distributions are being held back for any reason.

Please send any questions to Stanford.enquiries@uk.gt.com

Mark McDonald and Hugh Dickson

Joint Liquidators

Notice of Resignation of Marcus Wide as Joint Liquidator of the Company

To the Creditors,

Stanford International Bank Limited – in Liquidation (the Company) Claim No: ANUHCV2009/0149

Notice of Resignation of Marcus Wide as Joint Liquidator of the Company

I write to notify the creditors of the Company that as of 31 December 2018, Marcus Wide, intends to resign from Grant Thornton (British Virgin Islands) Limited and cease to practice as an insolvency practitioner. As such, Mr. Wide intends to resign from his role as Joint Liquidator of the Company.

Mr. Hugh Dickson of Grant Thornton Specialist Services (Cayman) Limited will continue to act as Joint Liquidator of the Company.

It is proposed that Mark McDonald, also of Grant Thornton (British Virgin Islands) Limited, replace Marcus Wide as Joint Liquidator of the Company. Mr. McDonald is an experienced insolvency professional and has worked alongside Marcus Wide and Hugh Dickson since the beginning of the liquidation of the Company.

Any objections received by the Joint Liquidators to the proposed replacement of Mr. Wide will be brought to the attention of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court of Antigua and Barbuda at the hearing of the application for the Court’s approval of Mr. McDonald’s appointment. All objections are to be submitted to the Joint Liquidators within 14 days of the date of this notice.

Please see enclosed a copy of the liquidator’s receipts and payables as of 30 September 2018.

Should you have any questions, please contact my colleague Jasmine Wong by email: jasmine.wong@uk.gt.com or on +1 284 494 6162.

Yours Sincerely,

Marcus Wide– Joint Liquidator of the Company

Dated: 6 November 2018

Media Blitz: further exposing TD Bank’s role in the second biggest Ponzi scheme

The Billionaire and the Bank.
How a Canadian bank backed a billionaire fraudster: Watch Full Episode.
Global News: 16×9
January 30 2016 8:02pm

The biggest Ponzi schemes: Stanford vs Madoff
By Francesca Fionda and Gil Shochat
Global News: Crime
January 30, 2016 10:00 am

Allen Stanford’s house of cards: How TD banked the 2nd-largest Ponzi scheme in U.S. history
By Gil Shochat and Francesca Fionda
Global News: Canada
January 29, 2016

TD missed ‘warning signs’ about notorious fraudster, lawsuit alleges
JEFF GRAY – LAW REPORTER
The Globe and Mail
Published Friday, Jan. 29, 2016 6:01PM EST
Last updated Monday, Feb. 01, 2016 8:31AM EST