JON CORZINE has resigned as chairman and chief executive of embattled brokerage firm MF Global and will not seek his $12 million (€8.7 million) severance from the firm, which filed for bankruptcy on Monday.

The resignation capped a disastrous week for Mr Corzine (64), as he saw MF Global lose two-thirds of its market value, file for bankruptcy and face a handful of federal investigations into more than $600 million in missing customer money.

The decision also signalled a rapid downfall of what was supposed to be Mr Corzine’s grand return to Wall Street – a comeback that began in early 2010 after a roughly 10-year sabbatical spent in politics.

“I feel great sadness for what has transpired at MF Global and the impact it has had on the firm’s clients, employees and many others,” Mr Corzine said in a statement. “I intend to continue to assist the company and its board in their efforts to respond to regulatory inquiries and issues related to the disposition of the firm’s assets.”

Mr Corzine’s resignation signals the end of a troubled chapter in his career. The former head of Goldman Sachs, Mr Corzine joined MF Global in March 2010 following a failed re-election bid for New Jersey governor.

Soon after joining the company, he moved to transform the sleepy brokerage into full-service investment bank in the mould of his former employer, Goldman. He aggressively bought up European sovereign debt, wagering that the Continent would not let troubled countries default on their loans.

As the sovereign debt crisis dragged on this autumn, regulators noticed the risky bets and pushed the firm to hold more capital against the investments. The move alarmed shareholders, clients and rating agencies, inciting a crisis of confidence. With the stock in free fall, the firm searched desperately for a suitor to buy at least a part of its business.

MF Global had a handshake deal late on Sunday, but the overnight revelation of hundreds of millions of dollars of missing customer money scuttled any potential deal. The firm filed for bankruptcy early on Monday.

After MF Global filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, regulators, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, started searching for missing money.

On Tuesday, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began its own inquiry. Roughly $630 million in assets remains unaccounted for, and regulators are examining whether the firm used the money to plug holes in a scramble to save itself. – ( New York Timesservice)