AIMCo helps secure more than US$200M on behalf of investors in MF Global case

EDMONTON – Alberta Investment Management Corp. and the Virginia Retirement System say they have recovered US$204.4 million on behalf of investors in MF Global, the now defunct brokerage firm.

The Alberta pension manager and Virginia were the co-lead plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the firm, which failed in 2011 after making bad bets on European bonds.

AIMCo said in a statement that the money recovered includes several partial settlements, including a US$64.5-million agreement resolving claims against former officers and directors of MF Global, including former chief executive Jon Corzine.

Certain underwriter defendants, led by Goldman Sachs, also settled for US$74.93 million and AIMCo and Virginia reached a US$65-million settlement with MF Global’s outside auditor, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Litigation continues against the remaining underwriters, led by Jefferies LLC.

When MF Global Holdings collapsed, more than US$1 billion in customer money was discovered to be missing. It was later found that the funds had been used to pay for the company’s operations.

It was the eighth-largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history