WASHINGTON — Republican Sen. Richard Shelby is asking for an investigation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's oversight of MF Global.
The bankrupt derivatives broker has not been able to account for all of its customers' funds, prompting an investigation by the CFTC and other federal agencies.
CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler, a one-time colleague at Goldman Sachs of former MF Global chief executive Jon Corzine, has recused himself from his agency's investigation.
Now Shelby is asking the CFTC's inspector general to open a separate investigation into the commission's regulation of MF Global before it went belly-up.
In a letter Wednesday, Shelby asked the inspector general to look into whether the CFTC's treatment of MF Global, prior to its recent collapse, differed substantially from its regulation and oversight of other firms.
Shelby also raised the question of whether Gensler should have recused himself at an earlier stage from matters involving MF Global.
