As predicted, the London operations of MF Global, the group that received bonuses the day before the bankruptcy filing, was apparently involved with the 'misplacement' of customer account money. And some of that customer money was in the hands of JP Morgan.
Bloomberg
KPMG Recovered $500 Million of MF Global U.K. Client Assets
By Kit Chellel
Nov 29, 2011 2:12 PM ET
MF Global (MF)’s U.K. administrators have recovered about half of the estimated $1 billion of customer funds frozen when the brokerage collapsed on Oct. 31.
The final recovery amount will depend on how much can be taken back from the third-party financial firms which held money for MF Global’s U.K. clients, said Richard Heis, a partner at KPMG LLP.
KPMG, which was appointed to supervise the administration of MF Global UK Ltd., said Nov. 27 that it hoped to return some money to the broker’s clients by March.
MF Global Holdings Ltd., the New York-based holding company, sought protection on Oct. 31 in the fifth-largest financial company bankruptcy by assets. There may be more than $1.2 billion missing from MF Global Inc.’s customer accounts in the U.S., according to the court-appointed trustee in the U.S., James Giddens.
About $200 million of the missing customer funds may have been found at JPMorgan Chase in the U.K., the New York Times reported today.
While KPMG wouldn’t confirm the accuracy of the report, it said it didn’t believe the $200 million reportedly found would affect recoveries for U.K. clients.
“Based on the information available, the joint special administrators are not aware of any threat to the segregated money held on behalf of MF Global U.K. clients arising from the matters set out in the New York Times report,” the firm said in an e-mailed statement today.
