Quote from comintel:
The old thread offered great insight.
Of course, the actual CFTC rules, finally under some scrutiny now, turn out to have been even more full of holes.
We are told that the rules allow the broker to do any and all of:
- invest segregated funds and keep the profits
- invest segregated funds in high-yield sovereign debt
- temporarily borrow from client segregated funds for firm purposes so long as the firm provides security for the loans
It seems to me that by far the easiest explanation for the MF Global missing funds is that MF Global was doing all of the above in an overly aggressive manner.
For example, they may have been borrowing from segregated funds every day and paying it back at the end of the day. Also, using the firm's high-yield sovereign debt as security for temporary loans to the firm from segregated funds. When the firm went bankrupt suddenly, the loans were obviously not repaid.
Of course, the regulators are going to claim this amounted to fraud, because that lets them off the hook. The firm's former managers are going to claim it was all proper within the vague CFTC rules.
Vague rules of this nature are an invitation to looseness with client funds and the CFTC bears major responsibility for enabling that behavior.