Jefferies is almost done selling investments held for customers of Peregrine Financial Group, the troubled Iowa brokerage whose founder attempted suicide at the company headquarters this week.
The investment bank, based in New York, said Wednesday that it had sold all of its PFG positions on the open market 9xcept for a small Canadian account. Canadian regulators had asked for that account to be transferred.
The remaining proceeds are being held in separate accounts for the customers.
Jefferies was a clearing bank for PFG, buying and selling investments on behalf of PFG’s clients. PFG filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in Chicago late Tuesday. About $115 million in customer money was missing when regulators shut it down.
PFG founder Russell Wasendorf Sr. was found by employees in his car Monday morning, with a tube connecting the vehicle’s tailpipe to its interior, authorities told The Associated Press. He left behind a note that prompted police to notify the FBI, which has launched a preliminary inquiry. Federal filings suggest that he is in a coma.
On Tuesday, federal regulators filed civil fraud charges against the company, saying Wasendorf misused company funds from a bank account at U.S. Bank that sometimes was short as much as $200 million. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also asking a court to freeze the firm’s assets and appoint a receiver to take over the firm.
Jefferies rose 3 cents to $12.50 per share in morning trading Wednesday.