MF Global's warning bells (in danger of going under)

[Renew Deal]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Few outside of Wall Street have noticed the drama swirling around broker MF Global this week. But they should be paying attention.

The problems that have left the company reportedly scrambling for a buyer and facing the risk of bankruptcy could be just an early sign of how problems in Europe's high-profile sovereign debt crisis could be quietly causing problems for many U.S. financial companies.

MF Global (MF) is just one of several Wall Street companies that could end up in trouble as banks are forced to take significant write-offs on the value of their European bonds.

"A lot of firms are going to incur pain as a result of the European debt crisis," said Sean Egan, managing director of Egan-Jones, the independent rating agency. "The problem is the transparency is far from acceptable."
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http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/28/news/companies/mf_global/index.htm