神奇小子拯救明富环球落难客户

    此外，在复杂民事诉讼案专家，西北大学法学院投资者保护中心（Northwestern Law's Investor Protection Center）主任塞缪尔•鲍姆协助下，库图拉斯领导的客户联盟也赢得了明富环球破产案法官马丁•格伦的尊重。格伦法官已经要求破产受托人，休斯、哈伯德和里德律师事务所（Hughes, Hubbard & Reed）的詹姆斯•吉登斯认真听取明富环球客户的意见。“当我第一次告诉法官我是大宗商品客户联盟的联合创始人时，他拿起了一份大约6英寸厚的卷宗，里面全是客户联盟成员的来信，”库图拉斯说。“那些数字给了我们力量。”

    明富环球的客户们说，客户联盟出现之前，完全没人搭理他们，即使他们的资产在缩水，资产返还也也进行得仓促马虎。“破产受托人根本没兴趣跟我们这些客户合作，”一位联盟成员说。“詹姆斯过来之前，根本就没有人顾及我们的利益，尽管我们的遭遇完全不合法。在150年的期货交易史上，还从来没有发生过这样的事情。没有人知道该怎么办，大家都吓坏了。”

    尽管库图拉斯不得不搁置自己公司的一些项目（他原计划于明年初推出一只多战略基金和一只股权基金），但他现在并不介意每天工作20个小时，穿梭飞行于芝加哥和纽约之间。

    此外，如果他能够从明富环球公司要回他的钱，他说他就能够向客户发布一份迄今为止最漂亮的年度报告。

    “我是这个世界上心眼最好的小伙子，”他说。“但如果有人胆敢耍我，那可得当心了。”

    译者：任文科

 With the help of J. Samuel Tenenbaum, an expert in complex civil litigation and the director of Northwestern Law's Investor Protection Center, Koutoulas's coalition also has earned the respect of MF Global's bankruptcy judge, Martin Glenn, who has directed the bankruptcy trustee, James Giddens of Hughes, Hubbard & Reed to heed the concerns of MF's customers. "When I first told the judge I was co-founder of the Commodity Customer Coalition, he held up a folder about six inches thick, full of letters from our members," Koutoulas says. "Those numbers give us power."

    Before the coalition appeared on the scene, MF customers say they were being ignored, even as their assets dwindled or were returned in sloppy fashion. "The bankruptcy trustee was not interested in working with the customers at all," says one member of the coalition. "Before James came along, there was absolutely nobody looking out for us, despite the fact that what happened to us was totally illegal. In 150 years of futures trading, this has never happened before. No one knew what to do. Everyone was terrified."

    Although Koutoulas has had to put some projects on hold (he'd planned to launch a multi-strategy fund, as well as an equity fund early next year) for now he doesn't mind working 20-hour days and flying back and forth between Chicago and New York.

    Also, if he can get his money back from MF Global, he says he'll be able to report to his clients the fund's best year yet.

    "I am the nicest guy in the world," he says. "But if you cross me, watch out."