Rogue trader rang up about $142 million in losses on unauthorized wheat trades
By DAN SEYMOUR, AP Business Writer
Friday, February 29, 2008 5:34 PM CST
NEW YORK — A rogue trader at MF Global Ltd. rang up $141.5 million in losses on the broker’s account this week, the company said Thursday, Feb. 28.
The New York-based company said on Wednesday morning it detected a trader at one of its U.S. branches trading wheat contracts in amounts that exceeded how much he was allowed to trade.
MF Global fired the trader and liquidated the wheat contracts, which led to a $141.5 million loss. The company said the loss does not threaten the $19.5 billion held in clients’ accounts. An entry-order system that should have blocked the trader failed, the company said.
MF Global brokers options and futures contracts for 130,000 clients at 70 exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange.
MF Global’s stock plunged $4.79, or 16.4 percent, to $24.49 in morning trading Thursday. MF Global’s former parent company, Man Group, split MF Global into an independent company through a public offering of the division’s stock in July.
Banc of America Securities analyst Christopher J. Allen said the loss translates to about 72 cents per share for MF Global, which is nearly half of the company’s expected profit for the year. The company said the loss represents about six percent of its equity.
Allen said the rogue trader is a blow to MF Global’s reputation as a solid risk manager.
“The questions raised around the company’s risk-management practices are likely to keep the stock depressed for some time,” he said.
This news comes weeks after Jerome Kerviel, a trader at Societe Generale, rang up more than $7 billion in losses on his company’s account by placing unauthorized bets on European stock indexes.
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