JP Morgan managed down its MF Global exposure, according to CreditSights

Big banks' exposures to defunct MF Global should be manageable, according to a report by CreditSights. It quotes a JP Morgan investor relations official as saying that the bank, which was the indenture trustee for MF Global's 2007 liquidity facility, has no material exposure to the broker-dealer, having "aggressively risk-managed it down for some time".

Other banks that participated in the liquidity facility syndicate include syndication agents Citi and Bank of America, as well as BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley and a number of foreign lenders, according to CreditSights, which says that these banks will, in most cases, have sold on the debts to other banks.

MF Global filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday after getting hit by margin calls on a $6.3 billion position in short-dated bonds from peripheral eurozone countries, including $3.2 billion of Italian government debt. The firm, led by former Goldman Sachs head Jon Corzine, was created as a spin of from the UK-based Man Group in 2007. According to its most recent finaniancial statements, it had equity of $1.2 billion and just over $41 billion of assets. Until last week it was rated weak investment grade by Moody's and Standard & Poor's and BBB by Fitch.