Police in Antigua and Barbuda arrested a top banking regulator on US charges related to the alleged $7bn (€5bn) Ponzi scheme run by Texas financier R. Allen Stanford.

Leroy King, administrator of the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, was taken into custody following a judge's approval of a US request on Wednesday, a government spokesman said. US authorities made the request based on a US indictment announced Friday and pending extradition proceedings, according to the Antiguan official.