The shape-shifting at MF Global under its big-hitting ex-Goldman Sachs boss, Jon Corzine, has ended badly. Having come in on a mission to turn round the US futures brokerage last year, his strategy – to turn it into a mini investment bank – has killed the patient.

Much of the blame must be down to poor execution. Mr Corzine made the wrong bets at the wrong time. But his approach – to ditch boring vanilla customer business and chase riskier but higher yielding activities – mirrors that taken by the industry before the financial crisis. As such, MF’s collapse may have wider lessons for regulators and investors alike.

To be fair, investors seem to have harboured doubts for some time. MF’s shares declined sharply even before doubts started to circulate about its capital. True, the regulator obliged MF to raise more capital when it perceived the risks the firm was running with its holdings of sovereign debt. However, this was insufficient to quell doubts when its credit rating was downgraded, simultaneously undermining both the brokerage and casino sides of the house.