XML 13 R17.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT

Net Capital Requirements	9 Months Ended
Net Capital Requirements	Sep. 30, 2011
Receivable from and Payable to Brokers and Clearing Organizations and Net Capital Requirements [Abstract]
Net capital requirements	9. Net capital requirements The Company’s U.S. broker dealer subsidiaries, Oppenheimer and Freedom, are subject to the uniform net capital requirements of the SEC under Rule 15c3-1 (the “Rule”). Oppenheimer computes its net capital requirements under the alternative method provided for in the Rule which requires that Oppenheimer maintain net capital equal to two percent of aggregate customer-related debit items, as defined in SEC Rule 15c3-3. At September 30, 2011, the net capital of Oppenheimer as calculated under the Rule was $158.1 million or 12.2% of Oppenheimer’s aggregate debit items. This was $132.3 million in excess of the minimum required net capital at that date. Freedom computes its net capital requirement under the basic method provided for in the Rule, which requires that Freedom maintain net capital equal to the greater of $250,000 or 6 2/3% of aggregate indebtedness, as defined. At September 30, 2011, Freedom had net capital of $5.0 million, which was $4.8 million in excess of the $250,000 required to be maintained at that date. At September 30, 2011, the regulatory capital of Oppenheimer Europe was $4.3 million, which was $1.3 million in excess of the $3.0 million required to be maintained at that date. Oppenheimer Europe computes its regulatory capital pursuant to the Fixed Overhead Method prescribed by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom. At September 30, 2011, the regulatory capital of Oppenheimer Investments Asia Ltd. was $1.1 million, which was $756,000 in excess of the $385,000 required to be maintained on that date. Oppenheimer Investments Asia Ltd. computes its regulatory capital pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Futures Commission in Hong Kong.