Lawyer Tells Bankruptcy Judge: All MF Global Funds Accounted For, Held by Brokerage

Bloomberg

MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF), run by former New Jersey governor and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) co- chairman Jon Corzine, has accounted for all its customer funds, said Kenneth Ziman, a lawyer for MF Global, citing the company’s management.

“To the best knowledge of management, there is no shortfall,” Ziman told U.S. Bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn in Manhattan, who inquired about whether a shortfall in customer accounts would affect the case, citing media reports that hundreds of millions of dollars were missing. Most of MF Global’s U.S. assets are held at its brokerage unit, Ziman said.

The brokerage unit is not part of the main bankruptcy case, in which creditors are trying to recover on their claims against the company. The Securities Investor Protection Corp. has appointed a trustee to liquidate the assets in the brokerage.

SIPC, which has people in New York looking at MF Global’s assets, said it hasn’t verified whether the assets are accounted for, said Stephen Harbeck, SIPC’s president and chief executive officer.  “I certainly hope it’s true, but it’s far too early for me to know one way or the other,” Harbeck said.

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