Monday 31 October is a date that will forever be etched in the mind of Jon Corzine and the staff of MF Global, the broker he wanted to turn into a mini-Goldman Sachs.

Following a flurry of negative headlines last week, including credit-rating downgrades and the disclosure of a $6bn in exposure to European government debt, Corzine and his workforce could have been forgiven for being a little apprehensive when walking into work on Monday morning.