With U.S. futures markets closing for Thanksgiving from Nov. 24-28, all open futures positions will be closed by Nov. 23, says KPMG Inc., the trustee for MF Global Canada Co.’s bankruptcy

KPMG said today that former MF Global clients with open futures positions must advise it if they haven’t heard from RBC Dominion Securities Inc., which is handling account transfers.

“Given the inherent risks in the futures markets and that U.S. futures markets will generally be closed [for the holiday] all open futures positions will be closed out on Wednesday, November 23,” it says, unless clients have contacted RBC DS and made arrangements to keep the positions open with RBC DS.

Alternatively, clients that want to keep their futures positions open with another firm, RBC DS has agreed to try to transfer the future positions on Nov. 23, provided that DS has been advised by the close of business on Nov. 22.

In the meantime, KPMG says that the majority of former MF Global accounts are being transferred to RBC DS. These sorts of transfers are much more complicated than typical account transfers, it notes, as they require the coordination of multiple stakeholders, including the trustee, the Canadian Investor Protection Fund, RBC DS, various clearing firms, the staff of MFGI and the SIPF Trustee for MF Global Inc.

RBC DS and the trustee are currently completing the reconciliation of transferred positions, it reports, and the target for completing the reconciliation process for cash and collateral being transferred is Nov. 23. “Because it is necessary that all customer positions and cash are accurately reconciled both in the trustee’s records and in the records of RBC DS in connection with the transfer, the trustee has asked RBC DS to place a hold on all transferred accounts until Nov. 23,” it notes.

Additionally, RBC DS is in the process of contacting MF Global customers that have had their accounts transferred to facilitate access to their accounts and to discuss the options available for transferred accounts. “The options available for a given transferred account will depend upon a number of factors including the customer’s risk tolerances/investment objectives, margin adequacy, and the risks inherent in the transferred customer’s positions,” it says.

The positions of futures customers that were traded on several overseas exchanges are not being transferred to DS, including: London Metal Exchange, London Futures and Options Exchange, Singapore International Monetary Exchange, Sydney Futures Exchange, Tokyo Stock Exchange, and Eurex Deutschland. KPMG will be contacting these customers directly.