Goldman Sachs

Basis Yield Alpha Fund: Chapter 15 Petition (Cayman Islands)

August 29, 2007

Chapter 15 Petition for Recognition of a Foreign Main Proceeding in the Cayman Islands by Hugh Dickson, Stephen Akers, and Paul Billingham, as the Foreign Representatives of Basis Yield Alpha Fund (Master), at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.

Mark Cooke denies any involvement in Stirling Cooke fraud

August 10, 2007

In a recently-filed, colorfully-worded court document that often reads like it could have been written by the man himself, rather than the attorney whose name appears as the author, it is aggressively denied that Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings co-founder Nicholas Mark Cooke was involved in any financial improprieties or had any meaningful role in the group's collapse.

Bahamas hedge fund sues Cayman hedge fund over redemption

April 5, 2007

The Receiver of a failed hedge fund group that was partially based in the Bahamas has filed a civil complaint against a Cayman Islands hedge fund in an attempt to recover $48,700.Arthur Steinberg, of New Jersey, filed a complaint at the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 15, 2007 in his capacity as Receiver for Northshore Asset Management LLC, which is based in Chicago, Illinois; Ardent Research Partners L.P., organized in New York; Ardent Research Partners Ltd., incorporated in the Bahamas; Saldutti Capital Management, L.P., organized in New York; Kevin Kelley, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut; Robert Wildeman, a resident of Chicago, Illinois; and Glenn Sherman, a resident of Chicago, Illinois. The sole defendant is M. Kingdon Offshore Ltd., a hedge fund that is organized in the Cayman Islands and whose shares are listed on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange.

Stirling Cooke Bankruptcy Trustee sues Goldman Sachs, auditor, D&O, law firm for $80 m

October 5, 2006

Goldman Sachs refused to pull the plug on one of the biggest frauds the insurance industry has ever known for fear it would de-rail the 137-year-old investment banker's own $3.66 billion IPO in May, 1999, it has been claimed.The extraordinary allegation appears in a civil complaint that was filed recently in the United States by the Bankruptcy Trustee of Bermuda-based broker AlphaStar Insurance Group Ltd., formerly known as Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings Ltd., and several of its subsidiaries and affiliates.

11 new insurers & $10 b of capital hurtle towards Jan. 1 renewal bonanza

December 6, 2005

At least eleven new insurers have incorporated in Bermuda over the last two months, bringing with them capital that is likely to top $10 billion once financing has been completed. If Jan. 1 policy rates are as high as many expect them to be, these firms will have not so much a license to offer insurance as one to print money. All have set themselves capital-raising targets from $500 million to $1.5 billion, with $1 billion being the most popular target figure.

Banks ordered to turn over Stirling Cooke records

December 6, 2005

Five banks have been ordered to provide details of accounts maintained by the AlphaStar group of companies, formerly known as Stirling Cooke Brown, to its Bankruptcy Trustee.An order directing The Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Ltd., Wachovia Bank, Bank of America, North Fork Bank and JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA to turn over the records to Trustee Richard O'Connell was issued at the U. S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on September 22, 2005.

Retiree swindled in BVI ‘hedge fund’ scam, claims lawsuit

January 31, 2005

A 68-year-old United States resident is suing a British Virgin Islands-registered hedge fund that he claims swindled him out of $432,245.The action against Runnymede Master Fund was filed at the U. S. District Court for the Central District of California on December 14, 2004 by Paul G. McManigal and two of his retirement accounts.

AIG cooks the books using offshore insurance structures

November 24, 2004

Insurance giant AIG has used offshore structures in Barbados and Bermuda to circumvent or violate U. S. state laws regarding reinsurance and to help at least one crooked client evade taxes.In the late 90s, four state insurance departments were aware

From Bermuda to Baghdad: Ex-Director of crooked company to help re-build Iraq

July 31, 2003

A former senior officer with Goldman Sachs who was a director of Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings while it was committing massive fraud is about to be handed a major role in the reconstruction of Iraq.Notwithstanding that the company he helped to take public and govern lied and swindled its way to riches for insiders at the expense of shareholders, clients and the insurance industry in general, the career of Reuben Jeffery III has prospered.

Goldman Sachs sells AlphaStar shares for one-third of market price

January 31, 2003

Goldman Sachs has sold its entire 22.9 per cent stake in AlphaStar Insurance, formerly Stirling Cooke, back to the company for five cents per share - about one third of its current trading price. Goldman was keen to sell so that its investment vehicles could take a write off before the end of the tax year and agreed to buy at a discount to avoid creating the appearance of self-dealing, AlphaStar's CEO, Stephen Crane, told InsideBermuda.

Allied World Assurance opens office in Dublin

October 31, 2002

New Bermuda based insurer, Allied World Assurance Holdings, has been granted a license to commence business in Dublin, Ireland."The location will be the European head office of Allied World Assurance Holdings (Ireland) Ltd and will operate through its wholly owned

News Briefs: Partner Re and Merrill Lynch

June 30, 2002

PartnerRe to open office in Chile and Merrill Lynch sponsors Bermuda insurer.

‘Goldman Sucks’: Stirling Cooke’s sponsor performs just as badly in London

May 31, 2002

Goldman Sachs, which took Stirling Cooke Brown public in 1997 without disclosing its principals' history of fraud, has finished bottom of an IPO performance league table for the London market.

InsideBermuda’s Five-Year Anniversary

January 31, 2002

This month's edition of InsideBermuda marks our fifth anniversary of continuous publication, having launched the newsletter on February 24, 1997. In the 60 editions since that date, InsideBermuda has 'broken' many significant stories, perhaps most notably about Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance and Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings.

Stirling Cooke name change halted due to clash

December 31, 2001

Goldman Sachs-controlled Stirling Cooke's proposed name change to Atlantic Star Insurance Group Ltd. has been halted at the eleventh hour after it was discovered the name clashed with an existing firm. Curious as to why the company had not yet effected a name change that was approved at Stirling Cooke's AGM as long ago as May 23, 2001, InsideBermuda asked Stirling Cooke for an explanation.

Stirling Cooke discloses that CIRCL is insolvent

November 30, 2001

Goldman Sachs controlled Stirling Cooke Brown's problems worsened this month as the firm announced that its reinsurance subsidiary, Comp Indemnity Reinsurance Company Ltd., had become insolvent.News of CIRCL's insolvency was contained in the firm's 10Q filing with the SEC on

Stirling Cooke Brown lays off Bermuda staff

June 30, 1999

Beleaguered Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings Ltd. is laying off staff in Bermuda and is in the process of moving its Bermuda-based broking activities to London, Inside Bermuda has been told. The move comes after Goldman Sachs, which is the biggest single shareholder in Stirling Cooke, told management that it was taking more control of the company, said a source.

Insider Talking: June 30, 1999

June 30, 1999

As I flew out of Bermuda on June 10 after narrowly surviving an attempt by Donald Lines' attorney, Robin Potts, to have me put in prison for contempt of court for refusing to reveal my sources in relation to articles I wrote about Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance, who should I bump into on the flight to Atlanta but one of Donald's sons, Brian Lines, who is the President of Lines Overseas Management, which has been on the receiving end of several unflattering articles in this newsletter; Some of the UK's leading attorneys have made Bermuda their home for the next several months as they work on two of the biggest civil trials in the island's history: The Bermuda Fire & Marine Insurance Company case and a trust dispute involving the Thyssen-Bornemisza family, which has a $2.7 billion fortune; What was it like sitting in front of Britain's finest while they debated for two days whether to lock me up for seven days for contempt of court? Not much fun, I can tell you; The lengths that crooks will go to in order to lend credibility to their scams knows no shame; and Beleaguered Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings Ltd. is laying off staff in Bermuda and is in the process of moving its Bermuda-based broking activities to London, we have been told.

Stirling Cooke – What you won’t find in its prospectus

November 30, 1997

Investors contemplating taking part in the $50 million IPO of Bermuda-based insurance broker/risk manager Stirling Cooke Brown Holdings Limited, which is 24 per cent owned by Goldman Sachs, may be interested in a few details they will not find in the company's share prospectus. Perhaps the most noteworthy is the involvement of its subsidiary Raydon Underwriting Management in one of the world's largest insurance frauds. Raydon, which shares offices with Stirling Cooke at Victoria Hall, Hamilton, had the dubious distinction of managing reinsurer North American Fidelity & Guarantee.

Black and Cascio resign from Stockton Re

July 30, 1997

The ability of finite risk reinsurer Stockton Re to continue its impressive growth since it was formed three years ago is in question following the resignations last month of chief underwriters Richard Black and Michael Cascio, who effectively ran the insurance side of the company.Their departures followed differences with senior management over the future direction of the firm following the recent sale of its investment manager and sister company, Commodities Corporation, to Goldman Sachs.