Peregrine Financial

About Peregrine Financial

Peregrine Financial Group, also known as PFG Best, filed for bankruptcy on July 10, 2012. CEO Russell Wasendorf Sr. attempted suicide outside the company headquarters and left a confession note. Wasendorf had embezzled approximately 215 million from customer accounts over 20 years. He forged bank statements and used a post office box to intercept regulatory mail. The National Futures Association, the self regulatory organization, had failed to detect the fraud despite auditing Peregrine. Wasendorf was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The Peregrine failure came just one year after MF Global and further eroded confidence in the futures industry. The case led to reforms including daily reporting of customer balances and improved regulatory verification of bank records.