Wedbush Securities

American investment firm

Wedbush Securities

Company type| Private
Industry| Financial services
Founded| 1955; 70 years ago (1955)
Los Angeles, California
Founders|

* Edward W. Wedbush
* Robert Werner

Headquarters| 1000 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90017

Key people

| Gary L. Wedbush (President)
AUM| US$5.7 billion (2025)

Number of employees

| 980 (2025)
Website| wedbush.com
Footnotes / references
[1]

Wedbush Securities Inc. is a privately held financial services firm based in Los Angeles.[2] As of April 2025, the firm had $5.7 billion under management with 10,099 clients.[3]

Wedbush operates three divisions: Wealth Management, Investment Banking & Capital Markets, and Clearing & Execution.[citation needed]

## History

[edit]

The firm was founded in 1955 by two high school friends, Edward W. Wedbush, and Robert Werner, in Los Angeles, California. They each contributed $5,000 to capitalize their new company, Wedbush & Company.[4] The company was named after Wedbush because neither partner wanted a possible business failure named after them and Wedbush lost a coin toss.[5]

Wedbush opened its first office in 1957 located in the Crenshaw district of Los Angeles. Three years later, Robert Werner decided to sell his interest in the firm to Ed Wedbush.[6] In 1972, the firm began offering correspondent clearing services, providing trade execution for other brokerage firms.[7]

On September 30, 2024, Wedbush unveiled their new Pasadena headquarters, replacing their Los Angeles headquarters, which the company expects to officially move into in 2025.[8][9]

## Partnerships and Investments

[edit]

In 2011, Wedbush acquired Lime Brokerage, with the goal of integrating Lime's "high-performance trading technologies" with Wedbush's Advanced Clearing Services.[10]

In 2018, Wedbush acquired Lightspeed, an American electronic trading platform. In the transaction, Lightspeed merged with Lime Brokerage, LLC, an agency brokerage owned by Wedbush.[11]

In 2023, Wedbush entered into a partnership with Maybank, Malasia’s largest bank by market capitalization and total assets (at the time), which enables Wedbush clients to trade in Southeast Asian markets and granting access to Maybank’s research and market insights.[8] Also in 2023, Wedbush became the largest shareholder of Velocity Trade, a Toronto-based global broker dealer.[12][8]

In July 2024, Wedbush entered into a "strategic alliance" with Hana Securities wherein Wedbush's investment banking division's reach will expand to South Korea and Wedbush clients will have access to Hana's research and market insights.[8]

## Regulatory actions

[edit]

In 2018, FINRA fined Wedbush $1.5 million for violating SEC Customer Protection and Net Capital Rules, along with supervisory and records failures. Wedbush was found net capital deficient from 2015 to 2016, ranging between $10.5 million and $59.4 million. Between 2011 and 2016, Wedbush inaccurately calculated its customer reserve requirement multiple times, leading to underfunding. FINRA also noted Wedbush's failure to establish adequate supervisory systems, exposing customer funds and securities to risk for nearly seven years. Wedbush settled with FINRA without admitting or denying wrongdoing.[13]

In 2023, Wedbush settled a 2021 case with a $350,000 fine for approving $6.6 million in wire transfers allegedly submitted by a hacker without sufficient verification.[14]

In 2024, Wedbush agreed to pay $425,000 for inaccuracies and delays in publishing securities reports from 2009 to 2022, as alleged by FINRA.[15]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Wedbush Securities Inc. Form ADV" (PDF). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 3 May 2022. pp. 22–23.
2. ^ "Our Firm". Wedbush.
3. ^ "Wedbush Securities Inc". Money. U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved April 5, 2025.
4. ^ "After More Than 50 Years in the Securities Business, RSF Resident Still Dedicated to the Work He Loves." Rancho Santa Fe Review, February 19, 2009, p. 8
5. ^ Hamilton, Walter. "Edward Wedbush's roof leaks, but his wallet doesn't". LA Times. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
6. ^ "After More Than 50 Years in the Securities Business, RSF Resident Still Dedicated to the Work He Loves." Rancho Santa Fe Review, February 19, 2009, p. 8.
7. ^ "He’s Still Smiling." Eugene Register-Guard, May 22, 1974, p. 2C.
8. ^ a b c d Zak, Kennedy (2024-09-30). "Wedbush Moves Its HQ". Los Angeles Business Journal. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
9. ^ "Wedbush Securities Unveils Building Top Sign to Celebrate Pasadena Location – Pasadena Now". pasadenanow.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
10. ^ "Wedbush to buy Lime Brokerage". www.bizjournals.com. 2011-06-14. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
11. ^ "Lightspeed Acquires Irish Operations of Lime Brokerage". Financial Planning. 2011-06-20. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
12. ^ Writer, Verdict Staff (2022-10-13). "Wedbush buys stake in Canadian broker Velocity Trade". Private Banker International. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
13. ^ "FINRA Fines Wedbush Securities Inc. $1.5 Million for Customer Protection, Net Capital Rule Violations and Related Failures | FINRA.org". www.finra.org. 2018-02-05. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
14. ^ Corbin, Kenneth. "Wedbush Allegedly Sent a Hacker $6.6 Million. Now the Brokerage Firm Is Getting Fined". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2024-10-08.
15. ^ Nikolova, Maria (2024-09-20). "FINRA imposes $425k fine on Wedbush Securities". FX News Group. Retrieved 2024-10-08.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

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