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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and contingencies Commitments The Company and its subsidiaries have operating leases for office space, equipment and furniture and fixtures expiring at various dates through 2028. Future minimum rental commitments under such office and equipment leases as at December 31, 2014 are as follows.
(Expressed in thousands) |
2015 | $ | 40,807 |
2016 | 38,318 |
2017 | 33,833 |
2018 | 31,779 |
2019 | 26,302 |
2020 and thereafter | 130,362 |
| $ | 301,401 |
Certain of the leases contain provisions for rent increases based on changes in costs incurred by the lessor. The Company’s rent expense for the year ended December 31, 2014 was $45.6 million ($46.4 million in 2013 and $51.2 million in 2012). At December 31, 2014, the Company had capital commitments of approximately $5.1 million with respect to its obligations in its role as sponsor for certain private equity funds. At December 31, 2014, the Company had no collateralized or uncollateralized letters of credit outstanding. Contingencies Many aspects of the Company’s business involve substantial risks of liability. In the normal course of business, the Company has been named as defendant or co-defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions, and other litigation, creating substantial exposure. Certain of the actual or threatened legal matters include claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages. These proceedings arise primarily from securities brokerage, asset management and investment banking activities. The Company is also involved, from time to time, in other reviews, investigations and proceedings (both formal and informal) by governmental and self-regulatory agencies regarding the Company’s business which may result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. The investigations include, among other things, inquiries from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and various state regulators. The Company is named as a respondent in a number of arbitrations by its current or former clients as well as lawsuits related to its sale of ARS. The Company accrues for estimated loss contingencies related to legal and regulatory matters when available information indicates that it is probable a liability had been incurred at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the Company can reasonably estimate the amount of that loss. In many proceedings, however, it is inherently difficult to determine whether any loss is probable or even possible or to estimate the amount of any loss. In addition, even where loss is possible or an exposure to loss exists in excess of the liability already accrued with respect to a previously recognized loss contingency, it is often not possible to reasonably estimate the size of the possible loss or range of loss or possible additional losses or range of additional losses. For certain legal and regulatory proceedings, the Company cannot reasonably estimate such losses, particularly for proceedings that are in their early stages of development or where plaintiffs seek substantial, indeterminate or special damages. Numerous issues may need to be reviewed, analyzed or resolved, including through potentially lengthy discovery and determination of important factual matters, and by addressing novel or unsettled legal questions relevant to the proceedings in question, before a loss or range of loss or additional loss can be reasonably estimated for any proceeding. Even after lengthy review and analysis, the Company, in many legal and regulatory proceedings, may not be able to reasonably estimate possible losses or range of loss. For legal and regulatory proceedings where there is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss or an additional loss may be incurred, the Company estimates a range of aggregate loss in excess of amounts accrued of $0 to approximately $31.0 million. This estimated aggregate range is based upon currently available information for those legal proceedings in which the Company is involved, where an estimate for such losses can be made. For certain cases, the Company does not believe that an estimate can currently be made. The foregoing estimate is based on various factors, including the varying stages of the proceedings (including the fact that many are currently in preliminary stages), the numerous yet-unresolved issues in many of the proceedings and the attendant uncertainty of the various potential outcomes of such proceedings. Accordingly, the Company’s estimate will change from time to time, and actual losses may be more than the current estimate. In February 2010, Oppenheimer finalized settlements with the Regulators concluding investigations and administrative proceedings by the Regulators concerning Oppenheimer’s marketing and sale of ARS. Pursuant to the settlements with the Regulators, Oppenheimer agreed to extend offers to repurchase ARS from certain of its clients subject to certain terms and conditions more fully described below. In addition to the settlements with the Regulators, Oppenheimer has also reached settlements of and received adverse awards in legal proceedings with various clients where the Company is obligated to purchase ARS. Pursuant to completed Purchase Offers (as defined) under the settlements with Regulators and client related legal settlements and awards to purchase ARS, as of December 31, 2014, the Company purchased and holds (net of redemptions) approximately $98.6 million in ARS from its clients. In addition, the Company is committed to purchase another $12.2 million in ARS from clients through 2016 under legal settlements and awards. The Company’s purchases of ARS from its clients holding ARS eligible for repurchase will, subject to the terms and conditions of the settlements with the Regulators, continue on a periodic basis. Pursuant to these terms and conditions, the Company is required to conduct a financial review every six months, until the Company has extended Purchase Offers to all Eligible Investors (as defined), to determine whether it has funds available, after giving effect to the financial and regulatory capital constraints applicable to the Company, to extend additional Purchase Offers. The financial review is based on the Company’s operating results, regulatory net capital, liquidity, and other ARS purchase commitments outstanding under legal settlements and awards (described below). There are no predetermined quantitative thresholds or formulas used for determining the final agreed upon amount for the Purchase Offers. Upon completion of the financial review, the Company first meets with its primary regulator, FINRA, and then with representatives of the NYAG and other regulators to present the results of the review and to finalize the amount of the next Purchase Offer. Various offer scenarios are discussed in terms of which Eligible Investors should receive a Purchase Offer. The primary criteria to date in terms of determining which Eligible Investors should receive a Purchase Offer has been the amount of household account equity each Eligible Investor had with the Company in February 2008. Once various Purchase Offer scenarios have been discussed, the regulators, not the Company, make the final determination of which Purchase Offer scenario to implement. The terms of settlements provide that the amount of ARS to be purchased during any period shall not risk placing the Company in violation of regulatory requirements. As of December 31, 2014, the Company had $825,000 of outstanding ARS purchase commitments related to the settlements with the Regulators. Eligible Investors for future buybacks continued to hold approximately $101.4 million of ARS principal value as of December 31, 2014. It is reasonably possible that some ARS Purchase Offers will need to be extended to Eligible Investors holding ARS prior to redemptions (or tender offers) by issuers of the full amount that remains outstanding. The potential additional losses that may result from entering into ARS purchase commitments to Eligible Investors for future buybacks represents the estimated difference between the principal value and the fair value. It is possible that the Company could sustain a loss of all or substantially all of the principal value of ARS still held by Eligible Investors but such an outcome is highly unlikely. The amount of potential additional losses resulting from entering into these commitments cannot be reasonably estimated due to the uncertainties surrounding the amounts and timing of future buybacks that result from the six-month financial review and the amounts, scope, and timing of future issuer redemptions and tender offers of ARS held by Eligible Investors. The range of potential additional losses related to valuation adjustments is between $0 and the amount of the estimated differential between the principal value and the fair value of ARS held by Eligible Investors for future buybacks that were not yet purchased or committed to be purchased by the Company at any point in time. The range of potential additional losses described here is not included in the estimated range of aggregate loss in excess of amounts accrued for legal and regulatory proceedings described above. Outside of the settlements with the Regulators, the Company has also reached various legal settlements with clients and received unfavorable legal awards requiring it to purchase ARS. The terms and conditions including the ARS amounts committed to be purchased under legal settlements and awards are based on the specific facts and circumstances of each legal proceeding. In most instances, the purchase commitments are in increments and extend over a period of time. At December 31, 2014, no ARS purchase commitments related to legal settlements extended past 2016. To the extent the Company receives an unfavorable award, the Company usually must purchase the ARS provided for by the award within 30 days of the rendering of the award. The Company is also named as a respondent in a number of arbitrations by its current or former clients as well as lawsuits related to its sale of ARS. If the ARS market remains frozen, the Company may likely be further subject to claims by its clients. There can be no guarantee that the Company will be successful in defending any or all of the current actions against it or any subsequent actions filed in the future. Any such failure could, and in certain current ARS actions would, have a material adverse effect on the results of operations and financial condition of the Company including its cash position. The Company has sought, with limited success, financing from a number of sources to try to find a means for all its clients to find liquidity from their ARS holdings and will continue to do so. There can be no assurance that the Company will be successful in finding a liquidity solution for all its clients’ ARS. In October 2010, Oppenheimer received notice of an investigation by the SEC related to the trading of low-priced securities by one former financial adviser in one of Oppenheimer’s branch offices and the supervision related thereto. On June 23, 2011, Oppenheimer received notice of an investigation by the SEC pursuant to which the SEC requested information from the Company regarding the sale of a number of low-priced securities effected primarily through several former Oppenheimer financial advisers and purchases and sales of low-priced securities through one Oppenheimer customer account. The issues and facts surrounding this investigation are, in the Company’s view, largely duplicative of the matter that was settled by Oppenheimer with FINRA in August 2013. On July 16, 2013, the Company received a “Wells Notice” from the SEC requesting that Oppenheimer make a written submission to the SEC to explain why Oppenheimer should not be charged with violations of the Exchange Act in relation to its sales of low-priced securities on behalf of a former customer of the firm. The Company submitted a Wells response on August 19, 2013. As a result of the above-described investigations, the SEC notified Oppenheimer that it intended to institute public administrative and cease and desist proceedings against it for failing to report a customer’s suspicious activities occurring through its Oppenheimer account in violation of the Exchange Act; aiding and abetting a customer’s violation of the broker-dealer registration provisions of the Exchange Act; violating the Exchange Act provisions requiring broker-dealers to maintain ledgers accurately reflecting liabilities and expenses; failing to accurately maintain records for each account showing the true beneficial owner as required by Exchange Act rule; and violating the securities registration provisions contained in Section 5 of the Securities Act and failing to prevent and detect such violations of Section 5 of the Securities Act as required by the Exchange Act. To settle the investigations described above, on December 31, 2014, Oppenheimer submitted an Offer of Settlement to the SEC. On January 27, 2015, the SEC approved the Offer and issued an Order Instituting Administrative and Cease and Desist Proceedings (the "Order”). Pursuant to the Order, Oppenheimer was ordered to (i) cease and desist from committing or causing any violations of the relevant provisions of the federal securities laws; (ii) be censured; (iii) pay to the SEC $10.0 million comprised of $4.2 million in disgorgement, $753,500 in prejudgment interest and $5.1 million in civil penalties; and (iv) retain an independent consultant to review Oppenheimer’s policies and procedures relating to anti-money laundering and Section 5 of the Securities Act. In addition, as a result of discussions between Oppenheimer and senior members of the SEC staff, Oppenheimer agreed that the independent consultant, subject to review by the SEC, will also review Oppenheimer’s governance and compliance programs and processes and provide recommendations for changes in or improvements to Oppenheimer’s policies and procedures. Oppenheimer made a payment of $5.0 million to the SEC on February 17, 2015 and agreed to make a second payment of $5.0 million to the SEC before January 27, 2017. As a result of the resolution of the SEC action, Oppenheimer consented to be enjoined, in order to avoid a disqualification that would have negatively impacted the Company’s business and its results of operations. The Company sought and on January 27, 2015, received a waiver from the disqualification that would have prohibited the sale of certain privately-placed securities, including third party alternative investments. Oppenheimer believes that any disqualification resulting from the issuance of the Order for which Oppenheimer has not received a waiver or similar relief, is not material to the business of Oppenheimer or its affiliates. In February 2014, Oppenheimer received notice of an investigation by, and a request for information from, a division of the United States Department of the Treasury (“FinCEN”) relating to potential violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder related primarily to, in the Company’s view, the FINRA and SEC matters discussed immediately above. Oppenheimer provided information it believes is responsive to the FinCEN request for information in March of 2014. On January 27, 2015, FinCEN issued a Civil Monetary Assessment against Oppenheimer. Pursuant to the terms of the Assessment, Oppenheimer admitted that it violated the Bank Secrecy Act and consented to the payment of a civil money penalty, which, as a result of the payments to the SEC described above, obligates Oppenheimer to make an aggregate payment of $10.0 million to FinCEN. On February 9, 2015, Oppenheimer made a payment of $5.0 million to FinCEN and has agreed to make a second payment of $5.0 million before January 27, 2017. Oppenheimer further agreed to provide FinCEN copies of any reports or other recommendations prepared by the independent compliance consultant retained pursuant to the SEC settlement described above. The Company had fully reserved $20.0 million related to the aforementioned matters through the period ended June 30, 2014.

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