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Showing posts with label george soros and mf global make money on mf global colapse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label george soros and mf global make money on mf global colapse. Show all posts

Sunday, December 18, 2011

How George Soros Ended Up With MF Global’s Client Money | Profitimes

How George Soros Ended Up With MF Global’s Client Money | Profitimes: How George Soros Ended Up With MF Global’s Client Money

How George Soros Ended Up With MF Global’s Client Money

A warning to former MF Global segregated account holders: If the news has already been more than you can bear, please do not read this post — it may really push you over the edge
While the congressional hearings have been interesting, at times shocking, at other times even quite entertaining, Congress has yet to connect the dots. So I will do it for them.
In short, when the dots are connected, a significant portion of the $1.2 billion (some say more, some say less) of segregated account money illegally stolen by Jon Corzine’s MF Global (with the CFTC driving the get-away car) has landed in the pockets of George Soros.
Let’s go through this step-by-step:
1. Jon Corzine figured out a brilliant trade in the European debt market.
While I won’t go into the details, Corzine would have made a fortune if the trade could have been held to maturity of the debt instruments. The money was NOT lost because Corzine made a bad trade.
2. Corzine leveraged the trade to the hilt. He had the trade on with uber leverage. In fact, MF Global ended up with a $6.3 billion trade.
3. The Greek and Italian bonds tanked (rates went higher) over concern about a possible default.
The spike in rates would not have affected the final profitability of Corzine’s trade, but did put the trade on margin call after margin call. MF Global used every last penny of cash reserves to meet the margin calls, knowing that if it could survive the margin calls the trade would have made money at maturity. MF Global was unable to secure additional loans to meet the margin calls because it was leveraged to the max on the trade it .
4. MF Global illegally took segregated customer funds out of J.P. Morgan to meet margin calls in an attempt to survive the trade. It was the legislated responsibility of the U.S. government to protect this from happening.
5. MF Global’s clients (without their knowledge or permission and as an illegal manuever) became the default counterparty to MF Global’s trade. This is a fact Congress has not yet figured out.
6. MF Global puked about $1.5 billion of the trade, but it filed for bankruptcy when it was finally unable to meet further margin calls.
The remaining $4.8 billion trade was taken over by KPMG LLP, MF Global’s bankruptcy administrator in London. REMEMBER FROM POINT #5 ABOVE, MF GLOBAL’S SEGREGATED CLIENTS REMAINED A COUNTERPARTY TO THE TRADE BY DEFAULT.
7. KPMG peddled perhaps half (or more) of the trade to George Soros. The actual amount reported was $2 billion, but at a discount.
Remember, this trade was a guaranteed winner at the maturity of the bonds, so Soros was locked into a profit. Also, with his deep pockets ,Soros knew he could withstand interim margin calls if necessary.
Final point #8: MF Global’s segregated account holders became the default counterparty to Soros’ trade.
The profits that Soros has locked in represent, in large part, the segregated money previously belonging to MF Global clients that had been safe and secure (at least that is what the CFTC’s responsibility was) at J.P. Morgan.
Let me conclude by emphasizing that George Soros did nothing illegal in this manuever. The great speculator/shark simply smelled blood in the water and had the money to buy a distressed trade that was a guaranteed winner.
But in the process, the profits Soros will realize will in part (or in whole) be the segregated funds of MF Global’s clients. Technically, and legally, these funds belong to Soros because they were laundered through the complex process of rehypothication. But make no mistake about it, this is the money that previously belonged to MF Global’s clients.
So the dots are connected. MF Global’s clients (by default) became the counterparty to George Soros’ trade. MF Global’s client’ money, while illegally taken, legally became George Soros’ money.
And, Congress seemingly has no hint this money trail exists; the CFTC takes no responsibility for this ugly episode in history; and the Administration and the Fed would rather spend their time hearlding the $180 billion-plus money it gave to AIG.
Source: Peterlbrandt

Thursday, December 15, 2011

George Soros, Others Benefit on Ex-MF Global Debt

George Soros, Others Benefit on Ex-MF Global Debt: George Soros

George Soros
George Soros
George Soros, or at least his family fund Soros Fund Management, is up more than $130 million after it “bought about $2 billion of European bonds formerly owned by MF Global Holdings Ltd.,” writes the Wall Street Journal. It is the very same “debt that helped force the securities firm to file for bankruptcy protection Oct. 31, according to people close to the matter.”

George Soros Scoops Up $2 Billion in Bonds

MF Global unloaded about $1.5 billion of that debt as it approached bankruptcy, leaving about $4.8 billion leftover. After its bankruptcy, the remaining bonds were turned over to KPMG, MF Global’s bankruptcy administrator in London. “These positions were offered to a number of big investors immediately after MF Global’s collapse, according to investors who had a chance to buy the bonds,” reports the Wall Street Journal. “Though a number of large investors passed on these bonds, Mr. Soros’s interest was piqued, according to people close to the matter.” Soros had transferred a “chunk of its holdings into safe, liquid investments” earlier this year, a move which gave him “the ability to write the approximately $2 billion check for MF Global’s bonds,” which were available below market price.

George Soros isn’t the Only One to Benefit

According to the Wall Street Journal, JP Morgan Chase (JPM) “and at least one large hedge fund bought Italian bonds that until recently were owned by MF Global Holdings Ltd., the bonds that played a key role in pushing the securities firm formerly run by Mr. Corzine into bankruptcy, according to people familiar with the matter.” It continues, “J.P Morgan and the hedge fund didn’t buy nearly as much as the $2 billion that Mr. Soros spent to buy these bonds. The securities were sold just after MF Global’s Oct. 31 bankruptcy filing under an administrator currently overseeing the firm, according to the people.” While the bonds may not be a sure thing, after all they don’t mature until December 2012 and anything can happen between now and then, “Buyers paid about 89 cents on the dollar for the Italian bonds, compared with a market price of about 94 cents at the time, according to the trader who bought them” – a good buy by any estimation.