Review found no problems with separation at firms

[January 26, 2012]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government says a review of U.S. futures trading firms, ordered after MF Global's collapse, found no problems with firms meeting federal rules requiring customers' money be kept separate from the firms'.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission last fall ordered one-day reviews of 70 firms after an estimated $1.2 billion in customer funds went missing from MF Global, a brokerage run by Jon Corzine that filed for bankruptcy protection Oct 31.

The CFTC said Wednesday that as of early November, all the firms had customer money in separate accounts as required. The firms held a total of about $166 billion in customer accounts, around $13 billion more than what customers were owed, the agency said.

CFTC examiners reviewed the 14 largest firms; the futures exchanges examined the rest.

[Associated Press]

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