In the days following MF Global’s stunning implosion last year, a senior executive at the firm made a startling concession to investigators looking into both the company’s demise and the loss of more than $1 billion in customer money, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.
MF Global’s chief financial officer for North America, Christine Serwinski, told investigators that her boss, MF Global’s chief executive, Jon Corzine, was well aware of the use and possible misuse of the customer funds during the firm’s final days, and as a result, Corzine may end up in “jail,” these people add.
Serwinski’s initial account of MF Global’s bankruptcy -- and who might be to blame for the loss of $1.6 billion in customer funds -- has yet to be disclosed, and could add a new dimension to the year-long federal investigation into the firm’s implosion.
There's no "dimension" to add.
The CFO would know, of course, because that's the person responsible for financial affairs. And assuming this account is accurate (and there's no reason to believe it's not) then there is no excuse for any entrepreneur, farmer or other person other than a speculator to engage in any Wall Street or other financial transaction until Corzine is prosecuted and imprisoned.
That's all folks.
You now have before you hard evidence that the casino is rigged, that Wall Street "big shots" can and will steal from you with impunity.
And for those who think this all happened "in the heat of the moment", as PFG Best shows along with the record on MF Global you're wrong:
In July of 2011, she told senior management in a memo that “utilizing…the client asset (base) should not be a (broker dealer) working capital source strategy to be relied upon,” according to the Trustee report.
The report added that on August 3, Serwinski’s direct supervisor, CFO Henri Steenkamp, told Serwinski that he was addressing her concerns about the use of customer money. The report said Steenkamp said he “walked Jon [Corzine] through” the regulations involving the use of customer funds.
In other words MF Global is alleged to have been cheating in July, some three months before the firm failed.
The responsibility here is multi-faceted. IMHO Corzine needs to be prosecuted and if found guilty imprisoned and asset-stripped to his underwear. But the regulators, including the CME, NFA and SEC, must also be held to account and the CME and NFA should be forced to cover the financial cost of any malfeasance and misfeasance involved as they (along with others) are responsible for oversight of these firms and monitoring their activities to guarantee that they protect customer segregated funds.
Until then gamble if you wish but do be aware that anything you have in "the system", including bank accounts, may be stolen and if they are nobody will be held to account.
