No Taxpayer Backstops, Corzine Crashes MF Global

Jon Corzine

NY Daily News - He ran one of Wall Street’s most powerful investment banks and used to live in the New Jersey governor’s mansion. Now he’s in the throes of one of the largest bankruptcy filings in U.S. history. The curtain on the third act of ex-Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, 64, came down with a thud Monday as the Wall Street firm he took over just a year ago filed for bankruptcy. MF Global, the brokerage firm Corzine tried to turn into his latest power base, was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after a last-ditch effort to sell itself to Interactive Brokers Group fell apart. The firm’s spectacular demise — it listed $39.68 billion in liabilities — is a harsh setback and will likely mean the end of the road for Corzine’s short-lived resurgence. “It will be harder to come back from this than from losing a New Jersey gubernatorial election,” said Uri Landesman, president of Manhattan hedge fund Platinum Partners. Corzine took over MF Global in March of last year with a mission to turn the sleepy brokerage firm into a mini Goldman Sachs, the firm he headed from 1994 to 1999. Read full story here: News New Mexico

No Taxpayer Backstops, Corzine Crashes MF Global