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MF Global: It wasn't Greece's fault

Kevin Lacroix has a typically thoughtful and interesting post on the collapse of MF Global. One point that particularly caught my eye dealt with the issuers of the debt that got MF Global into trouble:

... MF Global was not exposed to Greek debt. MF Global held the debt of other European countries. Its assets include $6.3 billion of Italian, Spanish, Belgian Portuguese and Irish debt. More than half of the total was Italian. It was the company’s exposure to these debts that led to regulatory scrutiny, downgrades, and margin calls that threatened the company’s liquidity.

It's hard not to to draw adverse conclusions about the prospects for resolving the debt crisis if the eighth largest bankruptcy in US history can be occasioned despite the absence of Greek debt from MF Global's portfolio. It certainly suggests a lack of market confidence in the prospects for countries like Italy.

http://www.professorbainbridge.com/professorbainbridgecom/2011/11/mf-global-it-wasnt-greeces-fault.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+professorbainbridge%2FsheN+%28ProfessorBainbridge.com+%C2%AE%29