SEC Thanks Gibraltar

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

27 January 2011

The United States’ financial regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission has publicly thanked the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission for its assistance in bringing charges against a number of persons allegedly involved in ‘a massive life settlement bonding fraud’.

According to the SEC, the fraud involved a company located in Costa Rica that provide financial guarantee bonds on life settlements and claims to protect investors’ interests in life insurance policies by promising to pay the death benefit if the insured lives beyond his or her estimated life expectancy.

The SEC claims that the firm issued policies with a face value of more than USD670m. Allegations include that the individuals behind the company made material misrepresentations about the assets that backed the bonds.

Commenting, the FSC’s Chief Executive, Marcus Killick, said: “Whilst we obviously cannot provide details, I can confirm this did not involve Gibraltar individuals but simply some services provided by a local licensee, which was not the subject of the investigation and which has fully cooperated with this Commission. This is another example of the FSC and the finance industry working together to protect Gibraltar’s reputation as a finance centre.”

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