WASHINGTON, D.C. – October 31, 2011 - The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed brokerage firms, announced today that it is initiating the liquidation of MF Global Inc., under the Securities Investor Protection Act (SIPA).

SIPC today filed an application with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York for a declaration that the customers of MF Global Inc. are in need of the protections available under the SIPA.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted the application and appointed James W. Giddens as trustee for the liquidation, and further appointed the law firm of Hughes Hubbard & Reed as counsel to Mr. Giddens.

Orlan Johnson, board chairman of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), said: "When the customers of a failed SIPC member brokerage firm have left their securities in the custody of that firm, SIPC acts as quickly as possible to protect those customers. In this case, SIPC initiated the liquidation proceeding within hours of being notified by the SEC that a SIPC case was necessary to protect the investing public."

The trustee is charged with giving notice of the proceeding and mailing claim forms to the customers and other creditors of the firm. Information about the case also will be made available on the Web at http://www.sipc.org.

The case will be referred to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. The case filing is available at 103111 Order (Case No 11-7750).pdf.

NOTE: More information about the MF Global liquidation can also be found at www.mfglobaltrustee.com. The trustee email address for inquiries is MFGITrustee@hugheshubbard.com. They have all set up a call center for questions. The number in the U.S. callers is 1-888-236-0808 and for non-U.S. callers is 1-503-597-5173.