Reuters – Two employees of Allen Stanford’s financial business, which U.S. regulators have accused of massive fraud, held advisory roles at a watchdog group overseeing U.S. broker-dealers aimed at preventing abuses.

Lena Stinson, director of global compliance at Stanford Financial Group, served on the membership committee of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, which describes itself as the largest independent regulator of U.S. securities firms.

Frederick Fram, the chief operating officer of Stanford Group Holdings, served on the FINRA continuing education content committee, "where he participates in creating material for the Regulatory Element continuing education program," according to a biography on Stanford’s website.

The Stanford executives resigned from their posts last week at FINRA’s request, Brendan Intindola, a FINRA spokesman, said.

Stanford Group Co is a member of FINRA. Calls to Stanford’s Houston offices were not answered.

The firm referred all press inquiries to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which last week accused the Texas billionaire and two of his associates of a "massive ongoing fraud" related to the sale of $8 billion in certificates of deposit.

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