NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Regulators have discovered MF Global Holdings Ltd. shifted hundreds of millions of dollars of customer funds to its own brokerage accounts days before its bankruptcy filing on Oct. 31, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. It's not clear whether the apparent use of customer money occurred intentionally, but about $600 million is still missing and might never be recovered, the report said. A judge on Thursday approved the transfer of $520 million in customers' cash-only accounts at MF Global. The transfer will start in about a week and represents about 60% of the $869 million held in the accounts. The rest is being retained to cover any possible shortfalls, the report added. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/60...-bookswsj-2011-11-18?link=MW_home_latest_news And might never be recovered...Bad news. I think, Mr. Corzine needs some good legal advice, it it happens to be true.
News is leaking that the money was indeed stolen. In other words, it's gone! Corzine is going to prison.
Can someone please explain to me what all this going on at MF Global means for someone who was, say, in a position with a $10000 account the minute of bankruptcy? I personally don't have an account with them,(Thank God) but I'm sure a lot of people here like me are following this closely as this could happen to any of us. I just can't imagine someone taking all my money. I mean when you put money in a bank, aren't insured up to like a very large amount? Is that the case with this too? Are people going to get all their money back? Were people really stuck in positions in the market fully exposed? Thanks.
Better than a Ponzi scheme, he didn't have to go begging for money it was just there to steal. I friend who lives in England forwarded an email to me written by a fairly big trader friend of his that implied more maybe on the way. His implication from what I gathered was MF wasn't the only one playing heavy, but whether anyone else dipped into customer funds to cover bets is not known, and probably won't until the next implosion as regulators/governments everywhere are to busy with all the other economic problems that this wasn't and still isn't on the radar. He said there were alot of bigger people worried in light of the CME's slow response and possible lack of a plan for something like this occurring. There is also worry among bigger individual players that the futures may be forced to 1 to 1 leverage across the board. Imagine needing ~ $60,000 to trade one ES.
Id say its about time. If your not a bonafide hedger there is no reason you should be afforded such leniant margins. If you are an outright spec, thats fine only now you would actually need a proper bankroll. Make it 50% ala equities and you flush out many issues.
Thats ridiculous.... that would end most mini trading. If you hold a position for short time then you need leverage
If this were to happen, i wonder how this would affect volatility and volume? I wonder if the markets would be smoother.
So what? The minis would still be there for hedging stock portfolios. Just the small game would be flushed.
Apples and oranges! Why are we equating theft to 10:1 spec margins? Fine, make me post $60,000 for 1xES, if MF steals my collateral how is the outcome any different other than me losing MORE money? Let's not forget who the victim is here, 10:1 specs were taken advantage of by a broker dealer/FCM trading 40:1 leverage. Also show me one instance where SPAN margins generate significant debits in a properly managed risk environment like Interactive Brokers.
Asinine response. Retail traders may hurt themselves by overleveraging, but that's their problem. That has nothing to do with what Corzine did and why MF Global got in trouble. Then again, it wouldn't surprise me if they punished the wrong parties here. Dodd-Frank punished retail FX traders while not touching the big banks or three Big "F" drivers of the financial crisis (Fannie, Freddie and the Fed).