One of the ancillary victims in the MF Global scandal has been the CME Group, the premier domestic operator of derivatives exchanges.

It was not surprising when the CME Group took a very harsh tone toward MF Global and ex-MF Global CEO Jon Corzine, who was accused in straightforward fashion of knowing about improper use of customer cash by the CEO of the CME Group. The accusation, coming in a public hearing, was nothing short of stunning. The CME Group has every reason to paint MF Global as a rogue outfit bent on circumventing SRO checks to misuse customer funds in a desperate bid for survival. The more criminal MF Global looks, the less lax the CME Group looks.

But that line of defense is not really holding up, and federal officials are now turning their eyes to the SRO. The criticism of how the SRO could have allowed the customer funds to be misappropriated has been pointed, and the CFTC really has no choice but to investigate.

Dealbook says, "One question for authorities is why CME appeared to be slow to respond to the crisis enveloping MF Global in the week before its bankruptcy. The publicly traded exchange did not dispatch employees to MF Global's Chicago headquarters until Oct. 27, three days after Moody's Investors Service cut its rating on the brokerage firm, sending it into a tailspin. When CME officials arrived at MF Global, they reviewed the firm's latest statements of customer accounts to ensure client money was safe. Documents indicated the money was secure, the CME said. But then the money vanished."

We may see some sort of censure eventually.

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