Post-MF Global segregation reforms spark fierce debate

The failures of brokers MF Global and PFGBest have shaken the faith of commodity hedgers in their futures commission merchants (FCMs). But are regulators doing enough to protect customers from another FCM implosion? Alexander Osipovich reports

Avoiding a counterparty risk meltdown
Margin acccount meltdown after MF Global's collapse

Halloween is usually a rather whimsical holiday, but in 2011 it struck genuine terror in the hearts of thousands of companies across the US. On October 31 of that year, New York-based MF Global, one of the country's largest futures commission merchants (FCMs), filed for bankruptcy – meaning that legions of farmers, metals traders, heating oil distributors and other commodity firms were suddenly unable to exit their hedge positions or access money held in their margin accounts.

Making matters

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Credit risk & modelling – Special report 2021

This Risk special report provides an insight on the challenges facing banks in measuring and mitigating credit risk in the current environment, and the strategies they are deploying to adapt to a more stringent regulatory approach.

The wild world of credit models

The Covid-19 pandemic has induced a kind of schizophrenia in loan-loss models. When the pandemic hit, banks overprovisioned for credit losses on the assumption that the economy would head south. But when government stimulus packages put wads of cash in…

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