Collateralized transactions

The Company enters into collateralized borrowing and lending transactions in order to meet customers’ needs and earn residual interest rate spreads, obtain securities for settlement and finance trading inventory positions. Under these transactions, the Company either receives or provides collateral, including U.S. government and agency, asset-backed, corporate debt, equity, and non-U.S. government and agency securities.

The Company obtains short-term borrowings primarily through bank call loans. Bank call loans are generally payable on demand and bear interest at various rates but not exceeding the broker call rate. At June 30, 2014, bank call loans were $147.2 million ($118.2 million at December 31, 2013).

At June 30, 2014, the Company had collateralized loans, collateralized by firm and customer securities with market values of approximately $105.0 million and $258.5 million, respectively, with commercial banks. At June 30, 2014, the Company had approximately $1.4 billion of customer securities under customer margin loans that are available to be pledged, of which the Company has re-pledged approximately $169.5 million under securities loan agreements.

At June 30, 2014, the Company had deposited $349.2 million of customer securities directly with the Options Clearing Corporation to secure obligations and margin requirements under option contracts written by customers.

At June 30, 2014, the Company had no outstanding letters of credit.

The Company enters into reverse repurchase agreements, repurchase agreements, securities borrowed and securities loaned transactions to, among other things, acquire securities to cover short positions and settle other securities obligations, to accommodate customers’ needs and to finance the Company’s inventory positions. Except as described below, repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements, principally involving government and agency securities, are carried at amounts at which the securities subsequently will be resold or reacquired as specified in the respective agreements and include accrued interest. Repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements are presented on a net-by-counterparty basis, when the repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements are executed with the same counterparty, have the same explicit settlement date, are executed in accordance with a master netting arrangement, the securities underlying the repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements exist in “book entry” form and certain other requirements are met.

The following tables present the gross amounts and the offsetting amounts of reverse repurchase agreements, repurchase agreements, securities borrowed and securities loaned transactions as of June 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013:



As of June 30, 2014
(Expressed in thousands)
								Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Balance Sheet
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets		Gross Amounts Offset in the Balance Sheet			Net Amounts of Assets Presented on the Balance Sheet		Financial Instruments			Cash Collateral Received		Net Amount
Reverse repurchase agreements	$	314,796	$	(64,796	)	$	250,000	$	(250,000	)	$	—	$	—
Securities borrowed ⁽¹⁾	245,206		—			245,206		(239,762		)	—		5,444
Total	$	560,002	$	(64,796	)	$	495,206	$	(489,762	)	$	—	$	5,444


(1)	Included in receivable from brokers, dealers and clearing organizations on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.



								Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Balance Sheet
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Balance Sheet			Net Amounts of Liabilities Presented on the Balance Sheet		Financial Instruments			Cash Collateral Pledged		Net Amount
Repurchase agreements	$	881,402	$	(64,796	)	$	816,606	$	(811,335	)	$	—	$	5,271
Securities loaned ⁽²⁾	203,585		—			203,585		(196,335		)	—		7,250
Total	$	1,084,987	$	(64,796	)	$	1,020,191	$	(1,007,670	)	$	—	$	12,521


(2)	Included in payable to brokers, dealers and clearing organizations on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.



As of December 31, 2013
(Expressed in thousands)
								Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Balance Sheet
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Assets		Gross Amounts Offset in the Balance Sheet			Net Amounts of Assets Presented on the Balance Sheet		Financial Instruments			Cash Collateral Received		Net Amount
Reverse repurchase agreements	$	389,439	$	(204,614	)	$	184,825	$	(183,305	)	$	—	$	1,520
Securities borrowed ⁽¹⁾	274,127		—			274,127		(265,936		)	—		8,191
Total	$	663,566	$	(204,614	)	$	458,952	$	(449,241	)	$	—	$	9,711


(1)	Included in receivable from brokers, dealers and clearing organizations on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.



								Gross Amounts Not Offset on the Balance Sheet
	Gross Amounts of Recognized Liabilities		Gross Amounts Offset in the Balance Sheet			Net Amounts of Liabilities Presented on the Balance Sheet		Financial Instruments			Cash Collateral Pledged		Net Amount
Repurchase agreements	$	962,105	$	(204,614	)	$	757,491	$	(753,003	)	$	—	$	4,488
Securities loaned ⁽²⁾	211,621		—			211,621		(204,971		)	—		6,650
Total	$	1,173,726	$	(204,614	)	$	969,112	$	(957,974	)	$	—	$	11,138


(2)	Included in payable to brokers, dealers and clearing organizations on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.

Certain of the Company’s repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements are carried at fair value as a result of the Company’s fair value option election. The Company elected the fair value option for those repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements that do not settle overnight or have an open settlement date. The Company has elected the fair value option for these instruments to more accurately reflect market and economic events in its earnings and to mitigate a potential imbalance in earnings caused by using different measurement attributes (i.e. fair value versus carrying value) for certain assets and liabilities. At June 30, 2014, the fair value of the reverse repurchase agreements and repurchase agreements was $250 million and $nil, respectively.

The Company receives collateral in connection with securities borrowed and reverse repurchase agreement transactions and customer margin loans. Under many agreements, the Company is permitted to sell or re-pledge the securities received (e.g., use the securities to enter into securities lending transactions, or deliver to counterparties to cover short positions). At June 30, 2014, the fair value of securities received as collateral under securities borrowed transactions and reverse repurchase agreements was $239.1 million ($265.3 million at December 31, 2013) and $314.8 million ($385.5 million at December 31, 2013), respectively, of which the Company has sold and re-pledged approximately $27.2 million ($11.0 million at December 31, 2013) under securities loaned transactions and $314.8 million under repurchase agreements ($385.5 million at December 31, 2013).

The Company pledges certain of its securities owned for securities lending and repurchase agreements and to collateralize bank call loan transactions. The carrying value of pledged securities owned that can be sold or re-pledged by the counterparty was $664.7 million, as presented on the face of the condensed consolidated balance sheet at June 30, 2014 ($586.6 million at December 31, 2013). The carrying value of securities owned by the Company that have been loaned or pledged to counterparties where those counterparties do not have the right to sell or re-pledge the collateral was $125.9 million at June 30, 2014 ($126.8 million at December 31, 2013).

The Company manages credit exposure arising from repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements by, in appropriate circumstances, entering into master netting agreements and collateral arrangements with counterparties that provide the Company, in the event of a customer default, the right to liquidate and the right to offset a counterparty’s rights and obligations. The Company also monitors the market value of collateral held and the market value of securities receivable from others. It is the Company’s policy to request and obtain additional collateral when exposure to loss exists. In the event the counterparty is unable to meet its contractual obligation to return the securities, the Company may be exposed to off-balance sheet risk of acquiring securities at prevailing market prices.

As of December 31, 2011, the interest in securities formerly held by one of the Company’s funds which utilized Lehman Brothers International (Europe) as a prime broker was transferred to an investment trust. On September 26, 2013, the first interim distribution in the amount of $9.5 million was received by the trust and distributed to its members. During the first quarter of 2014, a subsequent distribution in the amount of $600,000 was received by the trust and distributed to its members. The 2014 payment substantially completes the Company’s claim on the Lehman Brothers Estate.

Credit Concentrations

Credit concentrations may arise from trading, investing, underwriting and financing activities and may be impacted by changes in economic, industry or political factors. In the normal course of business, the Company may be exposed to risk in the event customers, counterparties including other brokers and dealers, issuers, banks, depositories or clearing organizations are unable to fulfill their contractual obligations. The Company seeks to mitigate these risks by actively monitoring exposures and obtaining collateral as deemed appropriate. Included in receivable from brokers, dealers and clearing organizations as of June 30, 2014 are receivables from three major U.S. broker-dealers totaling approximately $157.8 million.

Warehouse Facilities

Through OPY Credit Corp., the Company utilized a warehouse facility provided by Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (“CIBC”) to extend financing commitments to third party borrowers identified by the Company. This warehouse arrangement terminated on July 15, 2012. However, the Company will remain contingently liable for some minimal expenses in relation to this facility related to commitments made by CIBC to borrowers introduced by the Company until such borrowings are repaid by the borrowers or until 2016, whichever is the sooner to occur. All such owed amounts will continue to be reflected in the Company’s condensed consolidated statements of operations as incurred.

The Company reached an agreement with RBS Citizens, NA (“Citizens”) that was announced in July 2012, whereby the Company, through OPY Credit Corp., will introduce lending opportunities to Citizens, which Citizens can elect to accept and in which the Company will participate in the fees earned from any related commitment by Citizens. The Company can also in certain circumstances assume a portion of Citizen’s syndication and lending risk under such loans, and if it does so it shall be obligated to secure such obligations via a cash deposit determined through risk-based formulas. Neither the Company nor Citizens is obligated to make any specific loan or to commit any minimum amount of lending capacity to the relationship. The agreement also calls for Citizens and the Company at their option to jointly participate in the arrangement of various loan syndications. At June 30, 2014, there were no loans in place.

The Company is obligated to settle transactions with brokers and other financial institutions even if its clients fail to meet their obligations to the Company. Clients are required to complete their transactions on the settlement date, generally one to three business days after the trade date. If clients do not fulfill their contractual obligations, the Company may incur losses. The Company has clearing/participating arrangements with the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”), the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (“FICC”), R.J. O’Brien & Associates (commodities transactions) and others. With respect to its business in reverse repurchase and repurchase agreements, substantially all open contracts at June 30, 2014 are with the FICC. In addition, the Company began clearing its non-U.S. international equities business carried on by Oppenheimer Europe Ltd. and Oppenheimer Investments Asia Limited through BNP Paribas Securities Services and Oppenheimer through BNP Securities Corp. The clearing corporations have the right to charge the Company for losses that result from a client’s failure to fulfill its contractual obligations. Accordingly, the Company has credit exposures with these clearing brokers. The clearing brokers can re-hypothecate the securities held on behalf of the Company. As the right to charge the Company has no maximum amount and applies to all trades executed through the clearing brokers, the Company believes there is no maximum amount assignable to this right. At June 30, 2014, the Company had recorded no liabilities with regard to this right. The Company’s policy is to monitor the credit standing of the clearing brokers and banks with which it conducts business.

OMHHF, which is engaged in commercial mortgage origination and servicing, has obtained an uncommitted warehouse facility line through PNC Bank (“PNC”) under which OMHHF pledges FHA—guaranteed mortgages for a period averaging 15 business days and PNC table funds the principal payment to the mortgagee. OMHHF repays PNC upon the securitization of the mortgage by the GNMA and the delivery of the security to the counter- party for payment pursuant to a contemporaneous sale on the date the mortgage is securitized. At June 30, 2014, OMHHF had $14.3 million outstanding under the warehouse facility line at a variable interest rate of 1 month LIBOR plus a spread. Interest expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 was $74,800 and $225,400, respectively ($149,200 and $291,300, respectively, for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013). The Company’s ability to originate mortgage loans depends upon our ability to secure and maintain these types of short-term financings on acceptable terms.

As discussed in Note 5, Financial instruments, the Company enters into TBA sale contracts to offset exposures related to commitments to provide funding for FHA loans at OMHHF. In the normal course of business, the Company may be exposed to the risk that counterparties to these TBA sale contracts are unable to fulfill their contractual obligations.