Finra realized what MF Global was doing, it grew concerned. The Wall Street self-regulator told MF Global to set aside enough money in case the trades went bad. But Finra didn't have the authority to force the firm to do so -- that power was in the hands of the Securities and Exchange Commission , whose rule Finra was citing. Mr. Corzine then personally took the firm's case to the S.E.C. in mid-August, taking the Delta Shuttle to Washington for a meeting with a top agency official. The S.E.C. indicated it would side with Finra, but needed a few weeks to make a final determination. In the meantime, MF Global and Finra haggled over the size of the capital cushion: the regulator wanted $200 million set aside, while the firm pushed for a figure closer to $50 million. In late August, Finra won out. It would be the beginning of the end for MF Global. The Unwinding MF Global's investors may not have been fully informed about the European bet, but the firm's executives had been explaining the strategy to the ratings agencies for months, according to two people with direct knowledge of the conversations. Indeed, Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's had applauded Mr. Corzine's effort to overhaul the firm, a move that included ratcheting up risk. "We consider the most recent strategic plan of the new C.E.O. Jon Corzine to be sound," S.& P. said in 2010, while acknowledging the plan "will incrementally increase the firm's risk