ICE Seeks Court Ruling To Unlock Customer Cash At MF Global

IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) sought a bankruptcy court ruling Thursday to free up customer cash held on deposit with MF Global Holdings Ltd. (MF), after some funds began to be returned to other clients of the collapsed broker-dealer this week.

ICE warned that the still-unfolding process of reuniting MF Global's derivatives-trading clients with the funds used to back up their bets has favored some customers over others, and said that the court's decision on the matter would set a legal precedent.

"We believe this result is inequitable and within the power of the court to redress," wrote Thomas Hammond, president of ICE's U.S. clearinghouse, and Thomas Farley, president of ICE's U.S. futures markets, in the letter.

ICE joined with other exchanges and clearing facilities last week to arrange a mass exit from MF Global for brokers, hedge funds and individual investors who had trades open at the time the New York firm slipped into bankruptcy on Oct. 31. Those clients were placed with a group of healthy clearing firms.

Customers of MF Global who took trades off the table ahead of the mass transfer or had only cash in their accounts remain separated from their funds, however. The trustee supervising the company's liquidation is expected to require clients to file claims to retrieve these assets.

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

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