Where In The World is JC Brinks? Missing Information about Touchet Group Corporation and Second Life Investment Bank[UPDATE]

Posted May 10th, 2007 by Taran

Update: On May 11th, JC Brinks posted a response. There are still questions, but these questions will probably be handled in another entry.

This morning I got a message from a friend about some bank being frozen for trading on the World Stock Exchange within SecondLife.

Of course, the main problem is that there is a general lack of facts and a lot of rumors flying around. Here's a general idea of the timeline:

May 8th: the Second Life Investment Bank building disappeared from Commerce City East (approx. 23,161,34), leaving only the furniture and ATMs. A witness reported a 'giant ball' appeared on the sim and roads were destroyed.
May 9th: An announcement from JC Brink of the Touchet Group Corporation states appeared on the WSE website.
May 10th: No official word on anything. There are reports of some investors having funds returned and these reports do seem legitimate, but cannot be substantiated in a meaningful way.

So, at this point, there are many questions by many people. Some of these people have formed a group, 'Second Life Investment Bank Watch', who were very helpful in trying to dig up what little facts exist. If you're interested in finding out what is going on, join that group. You can also stop by and see if anyone is around to chat (Heathrow 186,213,92).

And for right now - it would be a good bet not to deposit funds at the Second Life Investment Bank (Commerce City East, 28,167,34). Not until this is cleared up, anyway.

This leads to a lot of questions about banking in SecondLife as related to transparency and more. There really is not a good excuse for 72 hours of silence in a virtual world when it comes to a facility which is based on trust. Missing buildings do not bode well- this image should instill an appropriate level of confidence in Second Life Investment Bank: