????庫圖拉斯很早就涉足資本市場。出生在佛羅里達州日出市的庫圖拉斯打小就是個技術天才。贏得學校網站設計大賽之后，他獲得了在一家電信初創企業實習的機會。從這家公司的CEO那里，他學到不少關于資本市場交易的知識，并且在16歲那年用炒技術股賺來的資本收益購買了他的第一部轎車。17歲時，他以實習生的身份為美邦銀行（Smith Barney）設計了一套評估經紀人業績的分析軟件。從法學院畢業后，他創辦了臺風資本管理公司。“臺風的商業模式基于這樣一個事實：就本性而言，交易員都是非常散漫的，”庫圖拉斯說。“我掌握了很多技能，但我的思考方式更像是一位程序員。公司后臺所有的法律和會計系統，以及產品的包裝都是我完成的。公司基本實現了運營自動化。”

????但在內心深處，庫圖拉斯一直對法律系統持有懷疑態度，而這似乎正是明富環球的客戶們所需要的。在巴恩斯和索恩伯格律師事務所(Barnes & Thornburg，其客戶包括那些因明富環球破產而受損的人）的合伙人協助下，庫圖拉斯已經成功地追回了數億美元的客戶資金，并且讓全國上下注意到明富環球客戶所遭受的困境，他們中有些人依然在絕望地等待著資金返還。“目前所取得的進展基本上都是我們自己爭取來的，”他說。“但依然有一些敵對的利益團體在活動，我們還有一段路要走。”

????比如，庫圖拉斯發現債權人委員會存在驚人的利益沖突，他正致力于解決這一問題。主要的事實是，美國銀行（Bank of America）、摩根大通（J.P. Morgan）和委員會的其他成員在嘗試建立“禿鷲基金”的時候，能夠利用內幕消息自肥——這些銀行利用這一基金低價購買客戶已大大縮水的索賠權，等待破產程序完結后獲得更高的補償。如果客戶無法迅速拿回資金，出售索賠權幾乎就成了他們唯一的選擇。但在庫圖拉斯看來，事情不應該這樣發展下去。此外，庫圖拉斯也對破產受托人頗有意見。“受托人根本不為客戶著想；把破產程序盡可能地拖下去，從而實現托管費用最大化，這才符合他的利益（這起案件的托管費用為每小時891美元）。”

????與此同時，約翰?羅伊作為一位眾議員之子的身份似乎也在產生成效：前新澤西州長、明富環球CEO喬恩?柯賽將于12月8日在參議院舉行的一個聽證會上作證。他預期將面臨的問題包括，為什么明富環球破產前，客戶資金會遭到侵犯。

????庫圖拉斯和羅伊在一份白皮書上寫道，他們最擔心的是，如果明富環球破產案草草收場，“美國將喪失其作為一個可行的大宗商品交易管轄地的地位。國會應該動用一切可動用的權力，阻止這一幕發生。”

????對于還擔任過高盛公司（Goldman Sachs ）聯席主席的喬恩?柯賽，庫圖拉斯意見很大，其中有些話甚至不宜見報。“他是個華爾街債券交易商，而不是做期貨這行的。這正是明富環球遭受滅頂之災的原因。他是個外行。他是華爾街罪惡的化身，是美國罪惡的化身。”

????Koutoulas got into markets early: As a tech-savvy kid from Sunrise, Florida, he landed an internship with a telecom startup after winning a contest designing his school's Web site. He learned about trading from the company's CFO and bought his first car at 16 using capital gains he earned from betting on technology stocks. At 17, he interned for Smith Barney writing analytical software that assessed the performance of brokers and he founded Typhon after graduating from law school. "Typhon's business model is predicated on the fact that traders are, by nature, disorganized," Koutoulas says. "I have lots of skills, but I think like a programmer. I built all our back-office legal and accounting systems and package our products. The business pretty much runs itself."

????But at his core, Koutoulas is a legal cynic, which appears to be just what MF Global's customers need. Working alongside partners at the law firm Barnes & Thornburg (whose clients include those hurt by the MF Global bankruptcy) Koutoulas has successfully expedited the restoration of hundreds of millions of dollars of customer funds and drawn national attention to the plight of MF Global customers still desperately awaiting their returns. "We are directly responsible for much of the progress that's been made," he says. "But there are still adverse interests at work and we have a ways to go."

????For instance, Koutoulas is looking to address what he believes to be staggering conflicts of interest on the creditors' committee – primarily the fact that Bank of America (BAC), J.P. Morgan (JPM), and other committee members can exploit inside information while trying to set up "vulture funds" to buy customers' claims for pennies on the dollar, then get paid out once the bankruptcy is settled. If customers' funds are not returned swiftly, selling their claims might be their only feasible option, but it should not have to be that way, he says. Koutoulas also has issues with the bankruptcy trustee. "The trustee is not there for the customer; he's there to make the bankruptcy take as long as possible, so he can get the most fees possible." (In this case, $891 an hour.)

????Meanwhile, Roe's pedigree as the son of a congressman may also be paying off: former New Jersey Governor and CEO of MF Global Jon Corzine has been called to testify at a Senate hearing on Dec. 8. Among the questions he's expected to face is why customer funds were violated before the collapse of his company.

????In a white paper, Koutoulas and Roe write that their greatest fear is that the MF Global bankruptcy will be botched so badly that "it will be the end of the United States as a viable jurisdiction for commodity trading. Congress should use whatever power it has to prevent this from happening."

????Regarding Corzine, also former co-chairman of Goldman Sachs (GS), Koutoulas harbors strong views; few of them fit to print. "He's a Wall Street bond trader, not a futures guy. That's what ruined it. He's an alien invader. He personifies what is wrong with Wall Street and what is wrong with this country."