XML 36 R23.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v2.4.0.6

Regulatory Requirements | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2011
Cash and Securities Segregated For Regulatory and Other Purposes, Receivable from and Payable to Brokers and Clearing Organizations, Bank Call Loans and Regulatory requirements [Abstract] |
Regulatory requirements | 15. Regulatory 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”) promulgated under Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). 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 December 31, 2011, the net capital of Oppenheimer as calculated under the Rule was $144.4 million or 12.75% of Oppenheimer’s aggregate debit items. This was $121.8 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 December 31, 2011, Freedom had net capital of $4.9 million, which was $4.6 million in excess of the $250,000 required to be maintained at that date. At December 31, 2011, Oppenheimer and Freedom had $15.1 million and $14.8 million, respectively, in cash and U.S. Treasury securities segregated under Federal and other regulations. At December 31, 2011, the regulatory capital of Oppenheimer Europe Ltd. was $6.4 million which was $3.3 million in excess of the $3.1 million required to be maintained at that date. Oppenheimer Europe Ltd. computes its regulatory capital pursuant to the Fixed Overhead Method prescribed by the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom. At December 31, 2011, the regulatory capital of Oppenheimer Investments Asia Ltd. was $1.74 million, which was $1.35 million in excess of the $386,000 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. In accordance with the SEC’s No-Action Letter dated November 3, 1998, the Company has computed a reserve requirement for the proprietary accounts of introducing firms as of December 31, 2011. The Company had no deposit requirements as of December 31, 2011.

X
- Definition Regulatory Requirements Text Block. + References No definition available. + Details
Name: | opy_RegulatoryRequirementsTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | opy_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Details
Name: | us-gaap_BrokersAndDealersAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration