Liffe traders set for Griffin payout

THE LIFFE independent traders put out of business by the collapse of Griffin Trading are set to receive a payout equal to half the positions they had with the fallen futures broker within the next few days.

The Financial Services Authority, the City watchdog, said yesterday that after inspecting the Griffin books it was "confident" it could give a 50 per cent payout to all the traders hit by the scandal.

Liffe said the payouts would come in the next few days in a bid to get up to 100 "locals" - independent dealers who risk their own money - back into business. It is understood that the losses by the dealers - who account for around 10 per cent of the exchange's locals capacity - range from pounds 15,000 to pounds 1m.

Griffin, the London-based unit of a well-known Chicago trading house, collapsed two weeks ago after rogue trader John Park lost pounds 6.25m on a German bunds futures contract.

The FSA's move came as Tullett & Tokyo, the broker used by Mr Park for his deals, said that it could take legal action against Griffin and the Korean-born trader .

Tullett & Tokyo said that it was set to lose up to DM1.2m (pounds 430,000) as a result of Mr Park's deals.

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