can someone explain this to me?

MF Global just filed for bankruptcy, and CEO Corzine just walked away from the mess. There is a lot of analysis about the risks they took and the things they could have done.. but among all the hand-wringing and finger-pointing, there is this little matter of the clients' $600 million that somehow went missing.

Regulators are bumbling around trying to figure out what happened to it, and who might be to blame, while Corzine makes clucking sounds about how they could have made it if the entire system hadn't turned on them blah blah blah.

What I cannot understand is - Why is he still walking? Why haven't they dragged his ass in for questioning?? Is there a law that prevents the administrators/trustees/regulators from making him talk???

Whats the point of 'looking' for the cash when the guy who was responsible is right there?? It's not like looking for Qaddafi's money !

Others are equally puzzled. Here's an interesting post.

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot...ing-delay.html

Lots more ink will be spilled weeping over this, but the sad truth is, the financial system is no safer today than it was 3 years ago. Here is a good description of everything that is still wrong with the system, or indeed, getting worse...

The $600 million will never be found, no one will admit guilt or go to jail, and if you're American, your tax bill will be raised again to cover up this mess....

From one of the many blogs around
"If I had an account with a second tier broker I would take the money out. It’s easy to put it back in. It’s a disaster if you can’t take it out."

Since I don't see the gov't bailing them out, exactly how is that going to work?

well I don't think the government can simply tell the investors.. "sorry your money is gone". that would spark the mother of all bank runs. ergo - the SIPC or the FDIC or some other state insurance scheme would have to come up with the dough.

UBS has hired Peter Forlenza, former global head of equities for MF Global Holdings, to run the Swiss banking group's equities business in North and South America.

Just as a small note about MF, this wasn't a surprise. I believe they have posted quarterly losses nine out of the last eleven. I have just left a role where we had a direct working relationship with MF and we had been winding down our positions with them for around six months. The day before they declared, there was a major run on them with almost all of their clients pulling there positions and transferring them.

With regard to the missing client funds, non-seg client accounts will come into this. It basically means that for preferable rates you (client) will allow your assets to be mixed with those of the broker. In this case, MF.

All that said. You are right, still doesn't fully explain where the cash is and Corzine needs to explain himself.

oh another small detail.. it seems that the missing funds amount to almost double the original estimate. USD 1.2 Billion that no one seems to have noticed leaving the company.

Corzine stood up before the Senate committee and shamelessly denied any knowledge of where that money might be, or indeed any responsibility for having known such details.

The US is truly a banana republic now....