Latest Development from MF Global " to shut its asian operations "


The Australian arm of collapsed U.S. futures broker MF Global was shut down after failing to get an adequate offer and the Australian administrator expects a similar outcome for the brokers Asia business.

"We could not get a sale as a going concern," Chris Campbell, a partner at administrator Deloitte told Reuters by telephone.

"I am pretty sure the Asian sale is not happening either. I believe Asia will have a similar outcome."

MF Global went bankrupt on Oct. 31, sunk by its disastrous bets on euro zone debt.

Three weeks its collapse, furious former customers are still fighting for access to billions of dollars globally as they question why as much as two-thirds of their money is still stuck.

A sale failure to could mean the end of the road for MF Global's Asia business, which according to firm's last annual report generated around 14.4 percent of its global revenue. Asian liquidators had earlier said there were more than 50 interested parties for the Asia-Pacific business.

The provisional liquidators for the business in Hong Kong earlier this month said the sale process has proved increasingly complex and the focus was on selling units separately. No deal has been reached yet though.

In Asia, the brokerage has large derivative businesses in Singapore, offices in Hong Kong, Tokyo, Taipei, Shanghai and a joint venture in India with Sify Technologies.

The Australian business made 83 employees of MF Global Australia redundant last Friday, Campbell said and the administrators would now focus on returning money to clients.

Earlier this month Campbell estimates administrators have nearly half the total funds owed to the Australian business's clients in cash, with most of the remainder tied up with counterparties.

Counterparties owed MF Global Australia A$167 million ($168.7 million), or just over half the A$313 million of client funds, he had said.

There was no material change to the estimates and it would take a while before clients money is returned, Campbell added.

"There is a fair amount of work to be done," he said.

( Source: Reuters )
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