[23265]
February 20, 2009
TO: BANK, TRUST AND RECORDKEEPER ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 6-09BROKER/DEALER ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 8-09
CHIEF COMPLIANCE OFFICER COMMITTEE No. 4-09
COMPLIANCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 1-09
SEC RULES COMMITTEE No. 7-09
TRANSFER AGENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 17-09 RE: STANFORD GROUP COMPANY – NOTICE OF CONFERENCE CALL TODAY AT 3:30 EASTERN TIME
As you likely know, a judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) on February 16, 2009 that included the following provision:
All banks, savings and loan associations, savings banks, trust companies, securities broker-dealers, commodities dealers, investment companies, other financial or depository institutions, and investment companies that hold one or more accounts in the name, on behalf or for the benefit of Defendants are hereby restrained and enjoined, in regard to any such account, from engaging in any transaction in securities (except liquidating transactions necessary to comply with a court order) or any disbursement of funds or securities pending further order of this Court. This provision shall continue in full force and effect until further order by this Court and shall not expire. [1]
We have received a number of inquiries relating to the processing of mutual fund trades in light of the TRO, and we have been in contact with the court-appointed receiver for the Stanford Group Company (SGC ) and one of SGC’s principal clearing firms.
We have scheduled a conference call for interested ICI members at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time today, Friday, February 20, 2009. The call is intended to provide members with an opportunity to discuss potential operational issues with processing trades in light of the TRO, particularly with NSCC networked accounts associated with SCG. We will also update members on our discussions with the receiver and clearing firm.
If you would like to participate in the call, please RSVP to Maureen Maher at mmaher@ici.org. She will reply with dial-in information for the call.
Robert C. Grohowski
Senior Counsel
Securities Regulation - Investment Companies
endnotes
[1] The TRO, and other related documentation, is available through http://stanfordfinancialreceivership.com.