In a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congressman Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, urges SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro to answer questions about the handling of the alleged fraud by Stanford Financial Group—a process that began in February when officials closed down the company’s offices. Cassidy’s second letter this summer urges the SEC to answer such questions as: Why are there discrepancies over the actual starting date of the SEC investigation into Stanford? Some reports say they began investigating Stanford in 2003; others not until 2005. Does the SEC have guidelines for how a receivership, which breaks down a fraudulent company to disperse the assets, should be run? Why weren’t the Stanford Group Company advisers involved in breaking down the company rather than hiring expensive forensic accountants to dissect the complicated network of clients and accounts? Cassidy’s letter is signed by all of the state’s Congressional delegation except U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-New Orleans.
Cassidy says that most of his questions come from the victims themselves. “You go and talk to these victims,” he says “and they always ask about the dates,” and the receiver. Their biggest concern is that there isn’t another Stanford-like incident. “They want to make sure this doesn’t happen to others,” he says. Ultimately, Cassidy says he is trying to provide an “effective, efficient, compassionate, transparent response” for the Stanford victims. To read the full letter from Cassidy and 11 other members of Congress to Schapiro, click here.—Olivia Watkins
