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KPMG has seen over 650,000 MF Global open positions closed since the UK business was placed into administration on Monday 31 October.
On the close of business that day, there were 1.61m open positions across over 10,000 clients. By the close of Friday there were 954,000 open positions left after transfers and forced liquidations..
In addition, as of Friday, the entire customer FX portfolio of 25,000 trades has been unwound representing a notional value of some $60bn. The spread betting and CFD customer positions have also been closed with the firm awaiting total values. Where KPMG is able to be definitive about forced liquidations as a result of data provided by exchanges, it has contacted clients directly. As of Friday KPMG had contacted more than 1,200 clients, though at this stage there is still a huge amount to do before definitive answers can be provided individually as each case is different and complex. However, this is a priority and work is continuing this week.
The process of default and close-‐out is inevitably difficult and is different in relation to the many markets in which the company operated. Defaults have taken place at different times for different markets and as a result it has not been possible to provide accurate information regarding the status of client positions. To assist clients in understanding which exchanges and clearing houses have defaulted the company, a summary of the position is available on the website www.mfglobal.co.uk.
Where possible, however, many holdings have been transferred to new brokers through the combined efforts of a large team of sector and insolvency specialists at KPMG and the MF Global staff who have all been retained in this initial phase.
Richard Fleming, administrator, said: “Good progress is being made and we are working incredibly hard to deal with clients as quickly and efficiently as possible. This is a complex process where we are helping clients get clarity on their positions if they have been closed down or -‐ where possible -‐ assisting them with the transfer of trades.
“We would like to thank the UK staff of MF Global for their continued support and diligence in getting this work done.”
KPMG is currently working to reconcile the cash positions of the firm prior to making any distributions. Further announcements will be made to customers regarding the process for registering claims against the firm as soon as possible.
