WASHINGTON (AP) ? A key regulator will not participate in the investigation of the collapsed brokerage that was run by his former Goldman Sachs colleague Jon Corzine, according to published reports.
Gary Gensler, Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, will no longer investigate MF Global "due to his long acquaintance with Mr. Corzine," The New York Times reported late Friday.
Gensler and Corzine were colleagues for 18 years at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. They worked together on the trading floor after joining in the 1970s. Gensler rose to become Goldman's co-head of finance before leaving in 1997. Corzine left Goldman in 1999, after serving as chairman and CEO.
The two collaborated again when Corzine was a senator and Gensler worked on Capitol Hill. As an adviser to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, D-Md., Gensler helped Sarbanes craft the accounting law that bears his name. At the time, Corzine was a senator from New Jersey.
On Thursday, The Associated Press reported that in 2005 Gensler donated $10,000 to the New Jersey Democratic Party, which helped get Corzine elected as the state's governor later that year.
MF Global collapsed last week after a disastrous bet on European debt. The company told officials at Gensler's agency early Monday that hundreds of millions in client funds are missing.
Regulators are investigating whether MF Global dipped into client money as its financial condition worsened. That would be a serious violation of securities laws and rules. The FBI also is investigating whether the company broke any criminal laws.
Corzine, who has retained a criminal lawyer, was chairman and CEO of MF Global until his resignation on Friday. He had hoped to build it from a small securities firm into a full-scale investment bank. In the end, investors and trading partners grew nervous about the size of Corzine's bets on European debt and they hurriedly withdrew cash that the company had relied on to operate.
Gensler and Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Mary Schapiro decided to force it into bankruptcy after learning of the missing money.
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Reach Daniel Wagner at www.twitter.com/wagnerreports.(backslash)
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