In the wake of MF Global losing more than half a billion dollars of client money, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has decided to audit every single futures trading firm in the country.

 

There are currently more than 100 futures commission merchants in the U.S. because of recent growth in the industry. Most of the nation’s banks, including Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase, have a futures business.

 

MF Global is under investigation by the commission, as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, for losing $600 million belonging to its customers. The firm was once run by Democrat Jon Corzine, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs who served as U.S. senator from and governor of New Jersey. The CTFC has also subpoenaed PricewaterhouseCoopers, MF Global’s own auditor.

 

The chairman of the CFTC, Gary Gensler, recused himself from the MF Global case because he used to work for Corzine at Goldman Sachs and he contributed to Corzine’s gubernatorial campaign. This means that a Republican commissioner, Jill Sommers, will oversee the investigation.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

In MF Global’s Wake, Regulators to Audit All Futures Firms (by Ben Protess, New York Times)

Another Agency That Earns More than It Spends: Commodity Futures Trading Commission (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)