Stifel

Stifel Financial Corp. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company created under the Stifel name in July 1983 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange on November 24, 1986. Its predecessor company was founded in 1890 as the Altheimer and Rawlings Investment Company and is headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.

Stifel offers securities-related financial services in the United States and Europe through several wholly owned subsidiaries. Its clients are served through Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (Stifel Nicolaus) in the U.S., a full-service retail and institutional brokerage and investment banking firm, through Stifel Nicolaus Canada Inc. in Canada, and through Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited (SNEL) in the United Kingdom and Europe. Its other subsidiaries include Thomas Weisel Partners LLC (TWP), Stifel Independent Advisors, an independent contractor broker-dealer firm, and Stifel Bank & Trust, a retail and commercial bank. Stifel Bank & Trust offers consumer and commercial lending. Stifel Trust Company, N.A. offers trust and related services.

Acquisition history

On December 1, 2005, Stifel Financial closed on the acquisition of the Legg Mason Capital Markets business (LM Capital Markets) from Citigroup Inc. The LM Capital Markets business acquired included investment banking, equity and fixed income research, equity sales and trading, and taxable fixed income sales and trading (22 offices in the US and Europe and 500 associates). These assets gave the company substantial research and capital market capabilities and transformed the company from a regional firm to a national one.

Controversies

Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit

The Securities and Exchange Commission sued Stifel Nicolaus on August 10, 2011, claiming the firm duped five Wisconsin school districts into buying $200 million in "unsuitable" securities tied to collateralized debt obligations. The investments, which the school districts had purchased in 2006 with $163 million in borrowed funds and $37 million of their own money, were "far more risky" than Stifel Nicolaus advertised to the school districts, the S.E.C. alleged, and the firm hid the risks “through a series of falsehoods and misrepresentations." The school districts' credit ratings were lowered and they lost their investments, which were intended to fund school employees' retirement benefits. Stifel Nicolaus said in a statement that it was “deeply disappointed by the misplaced action” and that it would “vigorously defend” its behavior in the transactions. The S.E.C. said the firm had claimed that the investments were so safe that it would take "15 Enrons" or some other unexpected catastrophe for the investments to fail, but the first increment of securities did badly and credit agencies issued a "negative watch" on part of the portfolio within days of its closing.[28] On March 19, 2012, it was announced that a settlement had been reached with the school districts to jointly pursue a $200 million lawsuit against Royal Bank of Canada, alleging that they are liable for the original misrepresentation.[29] Royal Bank of Canada had already settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2011 for $30.4 million. In March 2012, Stifel settled with the school districts for $13 million.[30] In 2016, the Wisconsin school districts secured a settlement with Stifel and RBC for $217.9 million, $63.9 million in cash and $154 million in debt forgiveness. Stifel and former senior vice president David Noack admitted negligence but not fraud. Stifel also agreed to pay a $22 million civil penalty and Noack agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty.[31]

type	Public
traded as	nyse: SF S&P 400 component
isin	isin: US8606301021
foundation	1890
location	St. Louis, Missouri, US
aum	US$436 billion (2021)
key people	Ronald J. Kruszewski (chairman of the board, president, and CEO)
industry	Investment services
products	Asset management Financial services Investment banking Investment management
revenue	US$5.16 billion (2023)
operating income	US$707 million (2023)
net income	US$523 million (2023)
assets	US$37.7 billion (2023)
equity	US$5.29 billion (2023)
num employees	c. 9,000
num employees year	2023
homepage	stifel.com
footnotes	‡R1R‡

Acquisition history

Current business

Commercial banking

Investment banking research

Global wealth management

Major locations

Controversies

Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit

See also

External links

References