Thursday, December 29, 2011

Regardless Of His Intentions, He Ran Off With My Wallet

Reading the NYT especially about MF Global and I get the sense that for whatever reason the lawyers are scrutinizing every article before publication.

In MF Global’s last days, the brokerage house was frantically winding down trades to shore up its balance sheet and stave off bankruptcy. Investigators are examining whether the firm — as part of that effort — began moving client funds to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, a financial intermediary responsible for closing out some of MF Global’s transactions, these people say.

The new details bolster claims that MF Global was careless with customer money, regardless of the company’s intentions.

...

It is unclear how much customer money was transferred to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and whether officials at MF Global knew they were using client funds. Haphazard recordkeeping and the flood of transactions in its final days might have concealed whether MF Global was deploying the customer cash for firm needs.

All just a big oopsie, really, no one is to blame.