Much as the mythical Icarus plunged to his death after he flew too close to the sun, the trustee’s report on the demise of MF Global shows how the firm pushed the permissible uses of customer money to the edge until the firm collapsed. The question is whether prosecutors can build a criminal case or whether management stayed close enough to the line to avoid being charged. The report issued by James W. Giddens, the trustee tasked with returning the money to customers, describes the rapid growth of MF Global after Jon S. Corzine took over as chief executive in 2010. While he had global ambitions for the firm, its infrastructure never kept pace with the complexity of the broader financial system. More in the New York Times here.
