Jon Corzine has stepped down as CEO of MF Global, a firm he leaves mired in bankruptcy court and a victim of the European debt crisis as well as a surfeit of recklessness.

Regulators and prosecutors are circling, and we can only hope they get to the bottom of the mess soon. We suggested recently that the top executives at the firm had no choice now but to lawyer up. Corzine has just hired Andrew Levander, according to the New York Times. Levander, a top white collar criminal attorney, has previously represented fellow Goldman Sachs alum John Thain in the matter of the troubled Merrill Lynch sale to Bank of America. Levander also represented the outside directors of Lehman Brothers.

The sordid implosion of MF Global has cast a negative light on the company's board, which many feel was all too beholden to Corzine, allowing him to take undue risks with a troubling lack of oversight.

"Critics say the brokerage and clearing firm's board tolerated at least one possible conflict of interest, bent its own rules and failed to rein in Corzine as he drove the company into dangerous bets," notes Reuters.

As he exits in ignominy, Corzine at least will not be seeking severance pay. He qualified for a Golden Parachute of $12 million. Had he taken that, he would have mostly likely had protesters on his lawn. Certainly, he does not lack for personal funds. Whether he ends up on the long list of famous Wall Street rogues depends in part on whether he is charged or not. At a minimum, people want to know how hundreds of millions in customer money was diverted and what role he played in approving that.    

For more:
- here's an article on Corzine's lawyer     
- here's a Reuters article on the board

Related articles:
Official admits crime at MF Global   
Lessons from the fall of MF Global