The chief executive of futures exchange operator CME Group Inc. (CME) said Tuesday that exchange staff and regulators were still trying to get a handle on the collapse of broker-dealer MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF), which slid into bankruptcy Monday.

A troubling mismatch in MF Global's books, centered on how it handled billions in customer funds, was still being investigated after CME and other exchanges on Monday took emergency action to bar the firm and its clients from doing further business.

MF Global "was not in compliance with customer segregation requirements," said Craig Donohue, chief executive of CME, on a conference call discussing third-quarter results for the world's biggest futures exchange operator. Currently, Donohue said, officials were "unable to determine the size or scope of the failure."

The comments deepen questions around the recordkeeping of MF Global, one of the biggest players on derivatives exchanges around the world. By law, clearing firms like MF Global are required to "segregate" the funds of their customers from the firm's own assets and from one another, among the safeguards built into the futures market to shield brokers and corporate hedgers from the failure of a major market participant.

On Monday it was revealed that major discrepancies in the level of client funds held by MF Globa--at one point seen in the hundreds of millions of dollars--was the main factor in the firm's failure to secure a deal to sell assets to Interactive Brokers Group Inc. (IBKR) over the weekend.

Donohue said Tuesday that the situation with MF Global remained "very fluid" and that the exchange continued to work with MF Global and its clients to transfer trading positions to other clearing firms.

On Tuesday CME Group reported that third-quarter earnings jumped 29% as the exchange operator booked a double-digit jump in clearing and transaction fee revenue and significantly improved margins.

Churning markets drove CME's revenues for the quarter to a record level and boosted its operating margin to 65%, the Chicago-based firm's highest ever, and costs were more strictly controlled.

CME reported a profit of $316.1 million, or $4.74 a share, up from a profit of $244.3 million, or $3.66 a share, a year earlier. Revenue climbed 19% to $874.2 million, helped by a 22% jump in clearing and transaction fee revenue.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a per-share profit of $4.69 on revenue of $876 million. Operating margin widened to 65.4%, a record.

The exchange last month reported third-quarter contract volume jumped more than one-quarter over prior-year levels, with equity-index and metals derivatives both setting quarterly records for turnover.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

-Mia Lamar contributed to this article.

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