The American financial brokerage MF Global has filed for bankruptcy.
Its chief executive, John Corzine, a former United States senator, took responsibility for the company's failure after a multi-billion-dollar bet on European debt went wrong.
The company is the first major casualty of the European debt crisis and the eighth biggest bankruptcy in the US in the past 30 years.
The brokerage, which has 2000 staff worldwide, including 600 in London, is said to be planning to sell its assets to rival Interactive Brokers Group.
Shares in MF Global were suspended by the New York authorities on Monday.
JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank are the firm's two biggest creditors.
JPMorgan is said to have a claim of more than $US1.2 billion, while Deutsche Bank is owed more than $1 billion.
The BBC reports MF Global's roots go back nearly 230 years to a sugar brokerage on the banks of the Thames river in London.
Spun off from a hedge fund in 2007, the firm has been one of the world's largest players in exchange-traded futures and options.
