Stanford Bank Venezuela was Stanford International Bank's subsidiary in Venezuela.
It was headquartered in Caracas and had several branches throughout Venezuela. [1] The Venezuelan banking regulator estimated that Venezuelans had placed around $2.5bn in deposits with Stanford International. [2] Stanford Bank Venezuela (SBV) was a subsidiary holding company of Stanford International, operating and licensed accorded the laws and regulations within Venezuela. Currency inflation and lack of liquidity prompted a run on several Venezuelan banks including SBV, forcing the government of Venezuela to intervene.
In May 2009 the Stanford Bank Venezuela was sold to Banco Nacional de Crédito for $111 m, with the bank being merged into BNC.
The economy of Venezuela is based primarily on petroleum, as the country holds the largest crude oil supply in the world. Venezuela was historically among the wealthiest economies in South America, particularly from the 1950s to 1980s. During the 21st century, under the leadership of socialist populist Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro, the Venezuelan economy has collapsed, prompting millions of citizens to flee Venezuela. GDP has fallen by 80 percent in less than a decade. The economy is characterized by corruption, good shortages, unemployment, mismanagement of the oil sector, and since 2014, hyperinflation.
Banco Popular Español, S.A. was the sixth largest banking group in Spain before it was bought by Banco Santander as part of a rescue package in June 2017.
Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. is the Venezuelan state-owned oil and natural gas company. It has activities in exploration, production, refining and exporting oil as well as exploration and production of natural gas. Since its founding on January 1, 1976, with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry, PDVSA has dominated the oil industry of Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter.
Axa S.A. is a French multinational insurance corporation headquartered in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. It also provides investment management and other financial services via its subsidiaries. As of 2023, it is the largest financial services company by revenue in France, and the 4th largest French company.
Antigua, also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the local population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the most populous island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Barbuda became an independent state within the Commonwealth of Nations on 1 November 1981.
Weatherford International plc is an American multinational oilfield service company, headquartered in the US and operating in 75 countries globally across the oil and natural gas producing regions. The company provides technical equipment and services used for drilling, evaluation, completion, production, and intervention on gas and oil wells.
Robert Allen Stanford is a convicted financial fraudster, former financier, and sponsor of professional sports. He was convicted of fraud in 2012, having operated an eight billion dollar Ponzi scheme, and is now serving a 110-year federal prison sentence.
PAWA Dominicana was the international flag carrier of the Dominican Republic. It was created as a subsidiary airline for Pan American Airways. This airline had scheduled flights between Santo Domingo and other Caribbean and US destinations. It was based at Santo Domingo-Las Americas.
Venezuela has the largest conventional oil reserves and the second-largest natural gas reserves in the Western Hemisphere. In addition Venezuela has non-conventional oil deposits approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil. Venezuela is also amongst world leaders in hydroelectric production, supplying a majority of the nation's electrical power through the process.
Société Générale S.A., colloquially known in English speaking countries as SocGen, is a French multinational universal bank and financial services company founded in 1864. It is registered in downtown Paris and headquartered nearby in La Défense.
Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company offering investment banking, financial advisory services, capital markets services, asset management, wealth management, and related products and services worldwide. The company, which once occupied the One World Financial Center building in Manhattan, now bases its operations at 85 Broad Street in New York City.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves at an estimated 304 billion barrels as of 2020. The country was once one of the world's largest exporters of oil. Oil production peaked in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Banco de Venezuela is an international universal bank based in Caracas. It was the market leader in Venezuela until 2007, when it fell to third place, with an 11.3% market share for deposits; its major competitors are Banesco, Banco Mercantil and BBVA Banco Provincial. As of June 2008, it had 285 branches in Venezuela.
The Stanford Financial Group was a privately held international group of financial services companies controlled by Allen Stanford, until it was seized by American authorities in early 2009. Headquartered at 5050 Westheimer in Uptown Houston, Texas, it had 50 offices in several countries, mainly in the Americas, included the Stanford International Bank, and was said to have managed US$8.5 billion of assets for more than 30,000 clients in 136 countries on six continents. On February 17, 2009, U.S. Federal agents placed the company into receivership due to charges of fraud. Ten days later, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amended its complaint to accuse Stanford of turning the company into a "massive Ponzi scheme".
Stanford International Bank was a bank based in the Caribbean, which operated from 1986 to 2009 when it went into receivership. It was an affiliate of the Stanford Financial Group and failed when its parent was seized by United States authorities in early 2009 as part of the investigation into Allen Stanford.
Laura Pendergest-Holt is a convicted Ponzi scheme perpetrator, financier, and former chief investment officer of Stanford Financial Group, who was charged with a civil charge of fraud on February 17, 2009. On May 12, 2009, Pendergest-Holt was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of a criminal complaint of obstructing a fraud investigation and conspiracy to obstruct justice. In early 2009, Stanford Financial became the subject of several fraud investigations, and on February 17, 2009, Pendergest-Holt was charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission with fraud and multiple violations of U.S. securities laws for alleged "massive ongoing fraud" involving $8 billion in certificates of deposit. The FBI raided three of Stanford's offices in Houston, Memphis, and Tupelo, Mississippi. On February 27, 2009, the SEC amended its complaint to describe the alleged fraud as a "massive Ponzi scheme". On June 21, 2012, she pleaded guilty to obstructing a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into Stanford International Bank (SIB), the Antiguan offshore bank owned by Robert Allen Stanford. On September 13, 2012, Holt was sentenced to three years in prison, followed by three years of supervised probation. She was released on April 23, 2015.
The Banco Nacional de Crédito (BNC) is a financial institution Venezuelan with private capital specialized in universal banking. It is headquartered in the El Rosal sector of Caracas.
The 1994 banking crisis occurred in Venezuela when a number of the banks of Venezuela were taken over by the government. The first to fail, in January 1994, was Banco Latino, the country's second-largest bank. Later, two banks accounting for 18% of total deposits also failed. The crisis led the President Rafael Caldera to suspend constitutional rights in order to impose price controls, exposure of deep corruption in the Venezuelan banking system, and the resignation of Finance Minister Julio Sosa Rodriguez.
The 2009–2010 banking crisis occurred in Venezuela when a number of the banks of Venezuela were taken over by the government, after "the revelation that several banks owned by Hugo Chavez supporters were in financial trouble after engaging in questionable business practices. Some were seriously undercapitalized, others were apparently lending large sums of money to top executives, and at least one financier couldn't prove where he got the money to buy his banks in the first place." In November and December 2009 seven banks were taken over, accounting for around 12% of total deposits. In 2010 more banks were taken over. The government arrested at least 16 bankers and issued more than 40 corruption-related arrest warrants for others who had fled the country.
Mercantil Servicios Financieros (Mercantil) is a Venezuelan holding company of financial services present in 9 countries in America and Europe. Its shares are listed on the Caracas Stock Exchange and it maintains a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt program (ADR) in the over-the-counter market (OTC) in the United States of America .