MF Global's October 2011 bankruptcy was the eighth largest bankruptcy by assets in the United States. James Giddens, the bankruptcy trustee, issued a press release on February 6 stating that his investigation found that money from customer accounts that was supposed to be segregated was improperly used to fund MF Global's daily activities. Improper transfers of customer money occurred regularly in amounts under $50 million before MF Global's bankruptcy. MF Global wasn't caught, because it put the money back before customers knew it was missing.
Note added April 23, 2012: This is from the Trustee's preliminary status report of February 6, 2012: "The investigation to date has found that transactions regularly moved between accounts and that funds believed to be in excess of segregation requirements in the commodities segregated accounts were used to fund other daily activities of MF Global. In the past, such transfers were in amounts of less than $50 million, but as liquidity demands increased and could not be me from internal sources, much larger amounts were used, apparently with the assumption that funds would be restored by the end of the day. By Wednesday, October 26th, as the result of increasing demands for funds or collateral throughout MF Global, funds did not return as anticipated. As these withdrawals occurred, a lack of intraday accounting visibility existed, caused in part by the volume of transactions being executed, and the 4(d) U.S. segregated commodity customer account appears to have reached a deficit condition on Wednesday, October 26th that continued through to MF Global's bankruptcy."
Note added March 1, 2012: In an earlier commentary, "MF Global Revelations Keep Getting Worse," November 22, 2011, I noted that the price volatility of MF Global's total return swap to maturity that it called a repo-to-maturity transaction on sovereign debt would have produced probable shortfalls on several days during 2011. The price volatility of these transactions was a red flag that indicated firm controls needed to be in place to monitor MF Global's ability to meet its margin requirements. MF Global's issues were apparent long before its bankruptcy.
On January 30, 2012 the Wall Street Journal did a hilariously bad job of reporting when its front page article stated that a "person close to the investigation" said that as a result of chaotic trading in the week before MF Global's October 31 bankruptcy, customers' money "vaporized." Money doesn't vaporize. It's true that tracing money transfers can be tedious, but that's why we call it work.
As for the Wall Street Journal's article, the editor should have made it vaporize. I was having breakfast with several traders at Chicago's East Bank Club. One trader read the passage aloud. The entire table burst out laughing. Then he got up and ceremoniously threw the paper in the trash. The entire table applauded.
Fox Business News had people in stitches when it reported that federal investigators are saying that this wasn't criminal, it's just a matter of sloppy bookkeeping.
The habitual filching of customers' funds -- even if the funds are later replaced -- goes way beyond sloppy bookkeeping. It goes way beyond bad judgment. Just because MF Global got away with it for a long time before it blew up in its face doesn't mean one can call it sloppy bookkeeping and have any reasonable person believe it. If federal investigators and law enforcement people want to make public statements like this, one should investigate corruption in their ranks. They seem to be providing undeserved excuses as a trial balloon to see if it will fly. Nice try, but it's not working.
According to the bankruptcy trustee, money was repeatedly filched from customers' accounts. That goes way beyond sloppy bookkeeping.
Senior officials of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and of MF Global's regulator, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), have already testified to Congress their belief that MF Global violated regulations -- it broke the law -- because using customers funds, money that was supposed to be in segregated accounts, to pay off MF Global's creditors or to use that money to fund MF Global's day-to-day operations is not permitted.
MF Global CEO Jon Corzine, a former head of Goldman Sachs, signed off on statements that said his internal controls were adequate. After Enron, the Sarbanes Oxley Act was meant to assure Americans that officers that signed such statements would be held accountable for their accuracy.
Federal law enforcement is trying to get away with saying no crime has been committed, because there was no direct criminal intent. Proving intent is very difficult. It's hard to get into someone's head and figure out what they were thinking when they were purloining funds. I mean, what could they possibly have been thinking?
Here's something that isn't at all difficult to prove. Jon Corzine should have a big problem under Sarbanes Oxley. There's no getting around the fact that MF Global's compliance standards were unreasonably inadequate.
Jon Corzine is a campaign fundraiser, a "bundler," for campaign contributions for President Obama. Money contributed by Jon Corzine and his wife was returned by President Obama's campaign committee, but the other money raised by Jon Corzine was not returned. It seems that both sides of the aisle in Congress view huge fundraisers like Corzine as untouchable. Congress will pose for the cameras and hold hearings, but absolutely nothing of meaning has been done to clean up the mess in the financial system.
When MF Global's condition worsened, the amounts grew much larger, and MF Global couldn't replace customers' funds in time to cover-up the shortfall. Investigators believe the segregated commodity customer account reached a deficit -- meaning customer funds were obviously missing -- on Wednesday, October 26, and that condition continued through to MF Global's bankruptcy.
MF Global's officers cannot claim to have been ignorant of missing customer money when it habitually took customer money in small amounts and then took money in huge amounts, and the fact that customer money was missing showed up on an MF Global report. Investigators are now looking at multiple wire transfers including a just-made-public suspicious transfer of $325 million that was transferred on October 31. This is just one of many transactions that are under investigation.
Since the September 2008 financial crisis, we've seen a pattern of misdeeds, dodgy financial reporting, congressional "investigations" that are all for show, slow and incompetent investigations, and ultimately a slap on the wrist for wrong-doers. The MF Global "investigation" is just the last in a long list of the miscarriage of justice that has destroyed confidence in global finance.
First Business Morning News's Bill Moller interviewed me about this ongoing pattern of crime and lack-of-punishment in this brief segment:
http://www.keretaminiku.com
... neck deep in Wall St $$ ...
Based on the MF Global Proxy statement filed in August 2011, there are rumors that the now defunct Primary Dealer will pay Jon Corzine a severance of $12.1 million. However, is that the full story?
As the proxy observes, the Golden Parachute would be paid in the case of a "change in control" which precludes a full out bankruptcy from being a trigger, and will likely see Corzine's payment become a general unsecured claim of the estate, but in case there is a prepack-agreed stalking horse bid whether Interactive Brokers or Goldman Sachs, this payment will likely be triggered.
After all, what better way for Goldman to repay its former boss for handing over MF on a 70% off silver platter than to pay him just that little extra...
Were this a Republican the Huff Po would be ablaze with calls for hearings and Jail time for everyone involved...
Note:
As of 9/30 MF Global was required to segregate $862,233,4333 on behalf of customers who are trading on designated contracts markets (DCMs) and derivatives transaction execution facilities (DTEFs) and an additional $551,777,871 for customers who trade on commodity exchanges located outside of the United States.
It is our understanding that approximately 100 million dollar are missing from these funds.
In other words, do the other Clearing Members at CME have to pony up the lost money if MF Global lost it fraudulently as opposed to though market events and poor in-house risk management.
If MF Global is found to be in violation of some CME rules, fraud, delinquency or otherwise, we believe CME’s other Clearing Members will put their collective political collateral into finding a way to NOT pay the money lost.
What we worry about is the CME Clearing Members Guarantee fund not being liable due to fraud, and the GOVERNMENT having to step in once again as a final back stop.
On November 4, the Financial Times reported that hundreds of millions in looted funds from customers’ accounts later “turned up at JPMorgan Chase, the failed broker-dealer’s custody bank.”
Citing a report in the Wall Street Journal that MF Global, “recently discovered that about $659 million of its customer segregated accounts resided in an account at banking heavyweight JPMorgan Chase (JPM).”
However, after JP Morgan claimed the funds found in its account “isn’t the missing money” stolen from MF Global clients, the story went cold, despite MF Global executives claiming otherwise. Either MF Global or JP Morgan are telling porkies.
When MF Global filed for bankruptcy, commodity accounts that had open positions were moved to new brokers, but only about 60% of the collateral to back up those trades were moved with it. That's because once the $600 million missing from customer segregated accounts was discovered, James Giddens (the trustee) froze all client accounts.
Bernake - you are guilty too with your sidestep Geithner
Corzine and Spitzer get off with nothing.. no charges.. while guys like Tom Delay and Newt Gingrich get dragged through years of proceedings..
How is Corzine different than Bernie Maddof??
A large chunk of the money is STILL unaccounted for... "Vaporized" is the right word to use. Honestly I'm surprised the Huff Po has this story at all.. albeit neutered of the obvious political connections to the Democrat Party...
"If federal investigators and law enforcement people want to make public statements like this, one should investigate corruption in their ranks. They seem to be providing undeserved excuses..."
EXACTLY! This case provides a blatant example of a systemic problem. The regulators are merely the facilitators of and apologists for criminal activity in the financial sector. The WHOLE regulatory apparatus ... SEC, OTS, FDIC, CFTC, Treasury Dept. and FBI white collar crimes division needs to be held accountable for their negligence and complicity regarding financial crimes. Congress should hold hearings and appoint a special prosecutor.
Politicians like to blame "de-regulation" for the financial crisis when it was really failure to enforce EXISTING regulations! Get a clue people. The Federal government isn't protecting you from the evil corporations. They are helping the corporations STEAL from you and keep stealing from you as long as possible.
What MF Global did is the exact equivalent of E-Trade telling you that you owned stocks X, Y, and Z while they are gambling with YOUR money! "Sloppy bookkeeping"?????
I feel like John Goodman's character in "The Big Lebowski":
"Has the whole world gone CRAZY??? AM I the only one who gives a **** about the RULES???"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLt05sN7vK0&feature=youtu.be
JON CORZINE TO BECOME A NEW SHIP CAPTAIN FOR CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UgwsQDOovI
What's wrong with that ?