Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chairwoman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, today issued the following statement on the settlement deal approved by a bankruptcy court judge that paves the way for customers of the now-collapsed MF Global to recover much of the $1.6 billion that disappeared. The approved deal will recover about 93 percent of the lost customer money for those with U.S. accounts.
“I am pleased that a settlement has been approved and that customers will get most of their money back,” said Chairwoman Stabenow. “This is an important step, but I will continue to fight for customers to get more money back, as well as holding wrongdoers accountable. We need to ensure that customers are protected and that the markets are safe and functioning as intended.”
Following the collapse of MF Global in October of 2011, Chairwoman Stabenow held several hearings in the months following, examining the failures of MF Global as well as several CFTC oversight hearings to explore opportunities for strengthening protections for futures markets. The failures of MF Global resulted in an unprecedented loss of customer funds and dealt a blow to customer confidence in the futures markets. The failures devastated thousands of farmers, ranchers and small businesses who rely on the futures market to hedge business risk. Chairwoman Stabenow is focused on improving customer protections and restoring customer faith in the markets.