The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has announced customers of MF Global are to receive their claim forms ‘imminently’.

The announcement affects private customers with individual accounts only, not joint accounts. All these customers are expected to receive a form by 23 January.

The FSCS can pay up to £50,000 per customer in compensation.

Forms for private customers with joint accounts, corporate customers and trust customers with client accounts are expected to sent out by the end of February once the FSCS has received information from administrators KPMG.

Mark Neale, FSCS chief executive, said: “Although we will not be able to complete claims until KPMG is able to confirm account balances, we want to assure customers of MF Global that we are working with KPMG to ensure eligible claimants are compensated as quickly as possible.”

American firm MF Global went into special administration in November 2011 after revealing a £4bn exposure to eurozone sovereign debt.

It had 2,000 staff worldwide including 600 in London.

The firm was said to have broken rules over segregating and safeguarding clients’ money and an estimated £760m in customer cash is missing from accounts.