Posted on 12/12/2011 7:51:38 AM PST by blam
The Collapse Of MF Global Basically Started On Corzine's Day 1
Ben Walsh
Dec. 12, 2011, 8:36 AM
Image: AP
MF Global Client's Counsel Blasts Jon Corzine Calling His Prepared Testimony 'Cowardly' And A 'Cop-Out' Five Reasons Why Wall Street Enjoyed Today's Corzine HearingMF Global's Bankruptcy Trustee Finally Pinpointed The Shady Trades In Customer Accounts
When Jon Corzine, on a visit to MF Global's Chicago office shortly after becoming CEO in 2010, Dealbook reported that he discovered that a young trader was successfully using a small account to trade the firm's capital, he was enthralled.
With widening eyes, Corzine suspended his meet and greet tour to talk to disect the broker trades for an hour.
This anecdote is yet another in a string details that paint Corzine as more focused on the minutiae of individual trading tactics than on his broader responsibilities as Chief Executive. It is not uncommon for financial executives to review trading strategies and potential market opportunities with other senior executives, but Corzine's behavior while visiting the Chicago office was far from the norm. And such behavior continued:
Mr. Corzine compulsively traded for the firm on his BlackBerry during meetings, sometimes dashing out to check on the markets. And unusually for a chief executive, he became a core member of the group that traded using the firms money. His profits and losses appeared on a separate line in documents with his initials: JSC.
As the firm's position's in European sovereign debt increased, the board became concerned and Corzine responded by making it clear that he intended to proceed with the trade or leave MF Global:
If you want a smaller or different position, maybe you dont have the right guy here, he told them, according to a person familiar with the matter.
(snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
By Eric Fry
12/09/11 Laguna Beach, California If wishes were horses, beggars would ride, according to a 16th century British proverb.
Continuing that logic, if wishes were $1.2 billion of missing client assets at MF Global, the companys former CEO, Jon Corzine, would not be a criminal. But alas, wishes are neither horses nor missing client funds so beggars dont ride and CEOs that misplace $1.2 billion of client funds are criminals.
Does Corzine deserve his day in court? Absolutely. Lets give him several days in court after which lets give him several years in jail.
Perhaps there is a legitimate defense for Corzines overtly indefensible act. But we pity the poor defense attorney who has to come up with that one. In the heavily regulated, frequently audited and continuously marked-to-market world of broker-dealer operations, $1.2 billion does not simply go missing and if it does, the CEO absolutely, positively knows about it, if he did not directly authorize it himself.
Were it not so, dear reader, Mr. Corzine would not have appeared before Congress yesterday with the lamest of all possible defenses. He would not have delivered a series of oh my gosh, gee whiz, golly gee, I wish I knew what happened, and shucks, I feel awful remarks.
(snip)
The facts as known thusfar earn him a cell right next to Madoff, for a decade or more.
Ping for later.
Last week Rush mentioned the movie Margin Call. He also mentioned Lehman Brothers in passing.
I watched it Saturday night. It is a really good movie. The wife was captivated with the ongoing 24 hour unfolding of fantastic problems and very young guys involved. I can’t tell how accurate it is but it portrays the various kinds of individuals that would be involved in the MF debacle.
Ping for use on eventual arguments with democraps.
Ping for use on eventual arguments with democraps.
Why do you post utter crap like this? It’s total BS.
Anyone who has ever been anywhere near the FCM business understands that it’s a total load of crap.
Please stop.
HUH?
The idiot who wrote the article would have you believe that Corzine was somehow “enthralled” that some penny-ante guy hired to trade firm capital, a “prop trader” was actually trading for the firm and that this was somehow in any way unusual.
Pure idiocy. Of course proprietary traders trade firm capital.
MF Global, formerly Man Financial, had lots of prop traders, with varying limits on leverage and positions. Man also had lots of experience with bankruptcy via Refco/Lind-Waldock, whom Man acquired about 6 years ago out of bankruptcy when Refco blew up for the same reasons MF blew up.
None of their prop traders had anything to do with the bankruptcy, Corzine had everything to do with it, he was the ultimate proprietary trader.
He’s the idiot who made the 6 billion dollar proprietary capital bet on Euro-debt. Nobody else. Just him.
If he’s a globalist he has a KIMYA card. There’s nothing to worry about, he gets a pass.
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