MF Global Five Years On

The liquidation and settlement of claims stemming from the collapse in October 2011 of the futures commission merchant and broker–dealer entities of MF Global (MFG) Group took nearly four years to settle. Various investigative initiatives have revealed evidence that customer monies were probably used at times to fund the proprietary trading of the firm in violation of law and regulation in certain jurisdictions and contrary to international principles. This paper examines the conflicting business objectives of MFG overall, its proprietary trading strategies and its eventual collapse, with some lessons learned.