and this gentleman in the front row. >> thank you. roger kirk, atlantic council. my question is what kind of training and support do you expect will be needed after 2014? and what are the prospects that you see of getting that? >> i think there are some areas that the afghans will not be able to build capability or capacity over the next two years, and so they're going to need our support. as i mentioned earlier, the afghans in the intelligence realm, human intelligence, nobody is better than they are, so that's a powerful resource for them. but they don't have the rest of the intelligence capabilities. they don't have the intelligence surveillance resaun kansconnais

assets that we have. which have grown in the battlefield and i'm a very happy commander with what we're getting out there. the afghans know that we have that and they want to maintain or have access. so i think we're going to have to provide that for a while past 2014. there is no medical support capability anywhere in the world better than what we have. and we -- nowhere on the battlefield was a casualty without support for less than an hour. anywhere on the battlefield, we could get a guy stabilized and to the hospital and just amazing support. we have been providing that support for the afghans army and police. and, quite honestly, for many of the locals, local nationals we provided that support. that is something that the

afghans know that they're going to have to provide, at least some level of care. it won't be like what we have, but that's going to take time so we're going to have to stay there to help provide medevac and medical care. we're doing some great work. not only is the advising and training and tactics and security operations, but every member of my staff was advising in some role. like my surgeon was working with their doctors. so that's going to have to continue. i think fire support is an area that is going to have to be maintained through 2014. they don't really have the capability to put rounds on target and be absolutely precise like we can. and it makes your eyes water to see how precise our fire support

systems are. and the afghans know that an errant round, an errant bomb could just exacerbate the whole problem again. so that's going to have to stick around for a while. that's a little more complicated because as we lose eyeballs on the battlefield, we have to find a way to ensure that when the afghans call for fire or they need fire support that we have some way of seeing it. and so one of the things that we're developing, particularly in the rc southwest is full motion video so that as we leave places, we're maintaining systems. we have the balloons, we have various kinds of looking devices that we've integrated which will allow us to provide instantaneous or near instant support for the afghans when they call for fire. so i think those are our three areas. probably the one area that's most delicate is that, you know,

we have been working the police. as i mentioned earlier, the police are the center of gravity. they are the ones that are really going to win this thing for the duration. we dabble in criminal investigations and evidence collection, and we have to stop dabbling and we need to get the experts in there. we need to bring in the law enforcement experts. very similar to what we did in bosnia when we brought in the police forces from all over nato. and so if i was at a conference in nato, i'd be looking to build up that capability for the long haul. and then lastly is, you know, we have made humongous improvements with conventional forces to the point where it's almost seamless now.

special operations forces will continue to be required because, again, their special operations capabilities are going to take a little bit longer to nurture and mature, and those special operation forces will have to be there to back them up. >> well, general, unfortunately our time is up. i have another ten questions, but i'm sure the audience does as well but our time is up. thank you so much for coming here, telling us this very important story for our country and for our allies and certainly for afghanistan and our other partners. thank you, most of all, for your service to this country and to the effort. >> thank you very much. [ applause ]

born in a north korean work camp it's the only world chin has ever known. he's also the only one to ever escape from camp 14. >> his first memory at the age of around 4 was going with his mom to a place near where he grew up in the camp to watch

somebody get shot. and shootings, public executions in the camp, were held every few weeks. and they were a way of punishing people who violated camp rules an of terrorizing the 20 to 40,000 people who lived in the camp to obey the rules from then on. >> sunday, author blaine harden on shin's journey out of north korea and learning about society and civilization at 8:00 on c pif span's q & a. on may 6th look for our interview with robert caro. his multi-volume biography of the 36th president. where's the national public radio table? you guys are still here? that's good.

i couldn't remember where we landed on that. >> this weekend on c p-span, th 98th annual white house correspondents dinner. president obama and late night talk show host jimmy kimmel headline the event before an audience of celebrities, journalists and the white house press corps. coverage starts with the red carpet arrivals live at 6:30. and watch the entire dinner, only on c-span. you can also sync up your experience online at c-span's dinner hub. find the celebrity guest list, highlights of past dinners, plus blog and social media posts at cspan.org/whcd. the white house correspondents dinner, live saturday at 6:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. the senate banking committee held its sixth congressional hearing this week on the mf global collapse last october. former new jersey governor john corzine was then ceo of the company. he resigned the following

november. the committee focused on finding ways to avoid a repeat of financial abuses and enhance regulation. commodity futures trading commission commissioner jill summers testified. it's about two hours. >> i will call this hearing to order. today's hearing will examine the lessons learned from the collapse of the mf global, the misuse of customer accounts by one of the world's largest commodities and derivatives brokers has shaken confidence in our markets and deserves a thoughtful discussion of how to better protect farmers, ranchers and investors going forward. but before we get to these important issues i would look to express my deep concern that almost six months after mf global's bankruptcy, thousands

of former customers, including hundreds of south dakotans, still have not recovered the $1.6 billion removed from what should have been protected customer accounts. i know that the trustees, regulators, as well as the fbi and justice department continue to investigate what happened in the final chaotic days of mf global. but these customer funds must be returned without further delay to the rightful owners and these individuals and executives responsible for transferring these funds must be held accountable to the full extent of the law. lastly, it is not acceptable for mf global executives to be given bonuses when customers have not recovered the funds improperly

taken by them -- by mf global. i thank senator tester for his leadership on this issue. since the collapse of mf global, in october 2011, my staff has worked closely with senator shelby's staff in conducting extensive interviews and due diligence with regulators, self-regulatory organizations, and other parties involved in overseeing mf global and its bankruptcy. we have also coordinated with the senate ag committee which has primary jurisdiction over matters involving commodities and holding a series of bipartisan briefings where all senate staff with representatives of many of the organizations before us today to help our constituents impacted

by the fund's downfall. as investigators seek to recover mf global customer funds, and hold accountable those responsible for any wrongdoing this committee will focus our attention on preventing future abuses and the other critical public policy abuses raised by the collapse of mf global. today's hearing provides a unique opportunity to ask an important set of questions. how can we strengthen protections for customer accounts at fcms or broker dealers, including those firms that hold u.s. customer funds abroad, given the size of the shortfall in mf global's customer accounts. what should congress understand about the idea of extending to commodity accounts similar

insurance protections that are currently available to securities accounts under the securities investor protection act. and how we can continue to improve regulatory oversight and coordination where large, complex, global financial institutions. mf global may also provide some early lessons about the wall street reform act, since it is the first collapse of a major financial institution since the law's passage. for example, the story of mf global teaches us that effective customer protection and market oversight demands that we fully fund our regulatory cops on the beat. in hindsight there is little doubt that regulators responsible for monitoring mf

global should have taken additional steps. by short changing the cfdc or fcc of much-needed funding will only force them to delegate even more authority to self regulatory organizations in a way that could impart effective market surveillance. when funding cuts prevent regulators from inspecting firms or sending necessary staff to monitor a crisis, the american people and market confidence pay the price. additionally, a key pillar of the wall street reform bill was in the end too big to fail. and if mf global demonstrated anything, it is that those who take the risky bets that been

down their companies are now afraid to fail and will not receive any more taxpayer bailouts. to preserve time for questions, opening statements will be limited to the chair and ranking member. however, i would like to remind my colleagues that the record will be open for the next seven days for additional statements and other materials. i now turn to ranking member shelby. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you for calling this very important hearing. the collapse -- the collapse of mf global is one of the largest bankruptcies in u.s. history. and the greatest consumer protection failure since the enactment of the dodd-frank act. it's been six months or more since mf global filed for bankruptcy. the ownership of $1.6 billion in customer assets remains in dispute. hundreds of mf global customers are still waiting to learn how much, if any, of their funds will be returned to them. the disorderly failure of mf

global occurred despite the fact that it was regulated by not only the cfdc and sec, but also the financial industry regulatory association, the chicago board options exchange, the national futures association and the chicago mercantile exchange. the job of each regulator was to ensure customer assets were protected. that $1.6 billion in customer assets remains subject to ownership dispute that remains subject to ownership dispute reveals a serious regulatory failure i believe. accordingly the purpose of today's hearing should be to help the committee determine which regulators failed to do their job and why. to assist the effort, i asked the inspector general last november to examine the commission's oversight and regulation of mf global.

the inspector general's findings along with other ongoing investigations should assist congress in its efforts to hold regulators accountable for any identified failures. i also asked the cftc's inspector general to determine whether chairman againstler's recusal was appropriate and whether he should have recused himself much earlier in the process. prior to mf global bankruptcy, chairman ginzler had contacts with mf global and ceo john corzine, concerning, the cftc's regulation of the firm. if a recusal was appropriate it seems it would have, would have been more appropriate to start with mr. corzine's tenure rather than after the firm failed. furthermore, this committee's due diligence has revealed that chairman beginsler played an active role in the oversight of mf global during the week

leading up to its failure. yet, the chairman's recusal now shields him from explaining his actions. i believe this is unacceptable. the chairman owes the public a full accounting of his role in the fall of mf global. it appears, by his absence today, however, that we will have to wait a little bit longer for such an accounting. mf global will not be the last financial firm to fail. failure is an inevitable part of the free-market system. but our goal should be not to protect the private market from failure, our goal, i believe, should be to establish a credible regulatory system that protects consumers while leaving the market free to innovate and to expand. we must then hold that regulatory system accountable for its failures. this is exceedingly difficult when one main participant refuses to speak here. i look forward to the testimony

today, and i thank our witnesses for appearing. perhaps one day, mr. chairman, we will hear from mr. ginsler. today does not appear to be that day, however. >> thank you. thank you, senator shelby. now i will briefly introduce our witnesses. mr. james w.giddens is a trustee for the securities investor protection act of mf global incorporated. lewis j. freeh is a trustee from mf global holdings, honorable gerald summers is commissioner for the commodity futures trading commission. mr. robert cooke is director of the division of trading and markets for the u.s. securities and exchange commission. mr. richard ketchum is chairman and ceo of the financial industry regulatory authority.

mr. charles a. duffy is executive chairman of the chicago mercantile exchange. i thank all of you, again, for being here today. tell exchange. i would like to ask witnesses to keep remarks to five minutes. your full written statements will be included in the areaing record. you may begin your testimony. chairman johnson, ranking member shelby and members of the committee. i take seriously a trustee of mf global links. i would like to provide a copy and of course input from regulators a lack of supervision

and inattention to maintaining segregation of customer accounts caused the shortfall of customer funds. this is imposing personal liability on senior officers and directors when there is a regulatory shortfall. consideration should also be given to requiring not only financial operating principles, but senior officers, including the ceo and cfo to certify clins with commodity segregation requirements on a much more frequent basis. secondly i suggest the establishment of a commodities customer protection fund. this is a fund providing for

protection of up to a maximum of $100,000 would have made a substantial number of the claimants hold within days of the bankruptcy filing. third, we have learned many commodities customers have not fully understood the nature and risk of certain financial products in which their funds were invested. currently commodities customers are not subject to suitability requirements as are security customers. in my view they should be. as a fourth suggestion, the merchants may be required to segregate an amount in excess of 100% of customer funds. that would help insure there's sufficient at all times for commodities customers. i would turns to funds health for u.s. customers trading on customer exchanges. under current rules, scms are not required to calculate the seg regrags requirements for

foreign trading in the same way as they do for domestic trading. reliance on this alternative calculation resulted in a substantial difference in funds segregated. the alternative calculation would have required a greater segregation. the calculation should be eliminated. finally i believe there's a great need for international cooperation on insol sensy laws. customers would benefit from greater har monoization of the rules with funds for both commodities and securities customers. i've been engaged in active discussions since november with administrators of mfk global limited concerning a return of approximately 700 million of commodities customer properties. thises is being submitted to the uk courts for resolution.

we have distributed in excess of $4 billion. thank you for this opportunity to testify before you. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. good morning. thank you for the opportunity to appear here. you have my opening statement. i want to leave time for you. i want pointed as the chapter 11 trustee effective november 28th of last year. can you addictions to mf global

holdings. five other subsidiaries to which i am acting as the chapter 11 trustee. i think everyone understands the functions of the chapter 11 trustee. very distinct and different from my colleague. under the bankruptcy code my obligation is to investigate the acts, conduct, look at assets, liabilities and the financial condition of the debtor among other things. the responsibility of the chapter 11 trausee is to maximize the value of the estate for the creditors. including the top 20, which is included in the materials. when i was appointed in november i landed in the middle of a number of issues. first very active ongoing

investigations by the agencies represented here this morning in addition to two federal prosecutors office. one of my first challenges was to understand what documents the chapter 11 trustees and estates controlled to make arrangements and ensure the investigators could access the information they needed without compromising any of the privileges that i have a responsible to protect. we determined what the materials were over which we had authority jurisdiction. we reviewed thousands of pages and then set in place a process to quickly eliminate the waivers

of the privileges for the chapter 11 trustee. and ultimately all the issues were resolved in the process of producing evidence to the investigators has gone forward expeditiously. we're very sensitive to the fact that many customers have lost huge amounts of money and collateral that was entrusted to the subsidiary mf global inc. we scrubbed our own cash collateral upon direction by the bankruptcy judge to make sure that none of the collateral in the estate is in any way related to or would be part of the customer accounts. and we concluded with no disagreement from the staff that the cash collateral that the estates now possess does not include any misappropriated or

misdirected customer funds. let me also talk, and i'm pleased to be able to talk about the subject, the bonuses. this was raised very appropriately, senator tester, by you and clour colleagues. the source of this was, as you know, a media report. and i don't have control over what's in the media no more than than anyone in the media does. it was never my intention to pay any bonuses. i never had a plan to pay any bonuses. there were no discussions about myself and my staff about bonuses to senior executives. and bonuses are not part of my consideration now. they have not been in the past. i want to be as clear as i can about that. # my responsibilities as trustee is to maintain the people that i

need right now to help administer cost efficient and well administered estate. there are 15 employees. these are noninsider employees who work worry about tax. who worry about financing, unwinding transactions. they're all working at this point on salaries. three senior executives are working on salaries. if i negotiate with the 15 employees to stay on board because of the $22 million tax refund that i need to get to the estate. they have the expertise and experience. i will set fair and competitive salaries with them. if they don't agree with that, then that's not going to work out. i want to remain transparent, as i must in