Thursday, August 16, 2012

Stole from customers accounts and no one is to blame? Unbelievable!

No One Will Charged With a Crime for the MF Global Collapse

Authorities are winding down their criminal investigation of the failed brokarage firm, MF Global, and despite the lack of oversight and the loss of more than $1 billion in customer funds, it now seems unlikely that anyone at the firm will face criminal charges.

RELATED: GOP Will Get to Grill Jon Corzine in Congress


The New York Times is reporting this morning that after ten months of investigation by federal prosecutors, sources say there isn't even enough evidence to charge any of the firm's executives in a criminal probe. The company may have failed spectacularly when it came to oversight and risk management, but the losses cannot be chalked up to outright fraud.

RELATED: Jon Corzine Had Board Approval to Ignore His Risk Officer's Advice


The company placed a grossly outsized bet (more than $6 billion worth) on the health of the European debt market last year and when it went south, the firm "borrowed" money from the accounts of its customers to try and salvage its own losses. Most of the blame for those trades fell on its CEO (and ex-New Jersey governor) Jon Corzine, and while his reputation and firm are ruined, it seems he will escape any legal sanction. He could still face massive civil lawsuits or fines from regulators who have a lower standard than a criminal prosecution, but jail isn't in the cards.

RELATED: Corzine 'Simply Doesn't Know' Where MF Global's Money Went


Of course, if the company's bankruptcy is the result of incompetence rather than theft that won't makethose who were burned by it feel any better. Nor will it help ease the fears of anti-Wall Street types who already believe the financial industry is a wasteland of greed and corruption. Those waiting to see bankers and traders hauled away in handcuffs are going to have to keep waiting a little longer.

So what good are regulations if in the end they are swept aside with some b.s.? It's good to be a Democrat Party bundler, no? This is not just a failed business it's a criminal enterprise.


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