A financial-industry regulator said former MF Global Holdings
Ltd. Chairman and Chief Executive Jon Corzine would have to resolve
issues stemming from the firm's October 2011 bankruptcy before he
can work with the public again in the futures industry.
National Futures Association Chairman Christopher Hehmeyer
released a statement after a Thursday board meeting saying that
publicly available information "raises issues concerning Mr.
Corzine's fitness for NFA membership."
Membership is required for futures industry officials who deal
with the public. Mr. Corzine withdrew his NFA membership after
leaving MF Global in November 2011.
If the former MF Global chief "applies for membership in the
future, he will not be granted membership unless NFA, after
completing its fitness investigation, resolves those issues to its
satisfaction," Mr. Hehmeyer said.
Mr. Corzine declined to comment through a spokesman. Mr.
Corzine, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) chairman who also
served as a U.S. senator and governor from New Jersey, is still
active in trading and investing his own money, according to people
who know him. But it is unclear if he would ever want to open up a
fund to outside investors.
NFA is an industry-funded regulatory organization for the
futures industry, where derivatives contracts trade on a variety of
global exchanges. Fund managers who use futures don't necessarily
need to be registered with the NFA.
Thursday's statement followed a push by two of NFA's directors
to hold a hearing on whether Mr. Corzine should be banned following
MF Global's bankruptcy and the subsequent revelation that more than
$1 billon of MF Global customers' cash had been moved from their
accounts, preventing them from recovering money for months.
Some directors opposed such a hearing, fearing it might distract
from continuing investigations into the bankruptcy, people familiar
with NFA's thinking said.
Write to Aaron Lucchetti at aaron.lucchetti@wsj.com
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