Wall Street Crackdown Triggered by MF Global May Get Dialed Back
- Firm’s collapse led to regulations that CFTC is now reviewing
- Industry says constraints are causing undue harm to brokers
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After MF Global Holdings Ltd. imploded and more than $1 billion of client money went missing in 2011, Washington ratcheted up restrictions on what futures brokers could do with customer funds. Now, regulators in the Trump era are examining whether the shackles should be loosened.
The rules in question stiffened limits on brokers’ ability to invest collateral that clients post for trades. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the overhaul after former MF Global Chief Executive Officer Jon S. Corzine made wrong-way bets on European sovereign debt that helped trigger the firm’s collapse and set off a political firestorm.