MIAMI (Reuters) - The bank regulator in the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda has not launched a formal investigation into Stanford International Bank but will question bank officials about issues raised in press reports, the regulator's chief executive told Reuters on Friday.
Leroy King, head of Antigua's Financial Services Regulatory Commission, said he had received no customer complaints or credible evidence that would require a formal probe of Stanford, the Caribbean arm of Stanford Group Co, which is being looked at by U.S. regulators.
"We have no credible information coming to us to say that they are not sound," King said in a telephone interview.
King said his agency had received requests for information from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and would be reviewing those requests later on Friday before meeting with Stanford International officials to check about press reports.
BusinessWeek reported that U.S. regulators were investigating Stanford's ability to pay high yields on certificates of deposit as it invests CD money largely in stocks, real estate, hedge funds and precious metals, many of which have lost value in recent months.
(Reporting by Jim Loney, Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Jeffrey Benkoe)
