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MF Global Friday: Trustee to Testify

Looks like customers of MF Global may get more information next week as Louis Freeh testifies before the Senate Banking Committee. The hearing, according to Reuters, will address the policy implications of the trading firm's implosion. Freeh is scheduled to join James Giddens, the trustee in charge of MF's broker-dealer unit, and a short list of regulators as witnesses at the hearing scheduled for Tuesday, April 24.

Giddens has testified before the Senate Ag Committee, but this will be the first time before a Congressional panel for Freeh, the man tasked with getting money back for MF Global's creditors. Check the full story.

A Huffington Post from Leo Hindery Jr., chair, U.S. Economy/Smart Globalization Initiative at the New America Foundation, notes that it's pretty difficult to police an industry if you don't have funding. That issue impacts the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which requires annual appropriations to keep operating.

However, even in light of the MF Global scandal, Congress is proposing a 33% cut in CFTC's funding. Kind of runs counter to common sense, Hindery says. He says a permanent funding source for the commodities regulator is needed. Check out the full story.

Targeting UK Funds

James Giddens, trustee for the bankrupt MF Global brokerage unit apparently plans to pursue a lawsuite in the United Kingdom to recover $700 million in customer funds. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that Giddens has been working since November to return the $700 million in funds and has already filed a claim with the administrators overseeing the MF Global UK Ltd. unit.

Giddens has apparently cited a current dispute over whether the money shuld have been segregated under English law, and seeks to have a British court decide the issue. Check out the full story.