WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee has asked former MF Global chief Jon Corzine to testify before the panel on Dec. 13, the latest hearing scheduled by lawmakers looking to understand the role of regulators and what led to the firm's collapse. The committee said the hearing would be part of its investigation into MF Global and the ongoing search for hundreds of millions in missing customer funds.
"Anyone engaged in wrongdoing in this matter must be swiftly held accountable, to help bring justice to victims and to prevent further erosion of confidence in the financial system," Debbie Stabenow, chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, said in a statement.
MF Global customers also are being invited to testify at the hearing.
This would be the second MF Global hearing for the committee, which has oversight jurisdiction on commodity trading and its regulatory agencies.
It has already scheduled a hearing for Dec. 1 at which Gary Gensler, head of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, are due to testify.
Separately, a House Financial Services subcommittee plans its own MF Global hearing on Dec. 15. Corzine has been invited to testify at that hearing, along with Bradley Abelow, the firm's chief operating officer, and financial regulators.
MF Global, a futures brokerage, filed for bankruptcy on Oct. 31, after $6 billion in risky bets on European sovereign debt spooked investors and an effort to sell the firm failed.
The shortfall of customer funds at MF Global may be around $1.2 billion, about double initial estimates from regulators, the trustee liquidating the company said last week.
Regulators are trying to determine what happened to the money and whether MF Global may have improperly mixed customer funds with its own -- a violation of industry rules.
Corzine resigned from the firm earlier this month. Neither the firm nor its executives have been charged with wrongdoing.
Poster Comment:
Why is this guy (mini-Madoff) getting the kid glove treatment?
