Profile: LaBranche & Co Inc. (LAB)

LaBranche & Co. Inc., incorporated in June 1999, is the parent company of LaBranche Structured Holdings, Inc. (LSHI), the holding company for a group of entities that are specialists and market-makers in options, futures and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), traded on various exchanges. The Company is also the parent company of LaBranche & Co. LLC. LaBranche Financial Services, LLC (LFS), another of the Company’s operating subsidiaries, provides securities execution, clearing and direct-access floor brokerage services to institutional investors. The Company operates principally in two segments: the Market-Making segment and the Institutional Brokerage segment.

LSHI is the sole member of LaBranche Structured Products, LLC (LSP), the 100% owner of LaBranche Structured Products Europe Limited (LSPE), a United Kingdom single member private company, and LaBranche Structured Products Hong Kong Limited (LSPH), a Hong Kong single member private company, and the sole stockholder of LaBranche Structured Products Direct, Inc. (LSPD). LSP is a registered broker-dealer that operates as a specialist in options. LSPH is a broker-dealer registered with Hong Kong’s Securities and Futures Commission and operates as a market-maker for ETFs and engages in hedging transactions in Asia. LSPD is a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) member firm that is in the process of obtaining approval from the FINRA to become an institutional execution firm in derivative and structured products, but as of December 31, 2008, LPSD doesn’t had any operations.

The Company is the sole stockholder of LABDR Services, Inc. (LABDR) and the sole owner of LaBranche & Co. B.V. (BV). BV represents LaBranche & Co. LLC in European markets and provides client services to LaBranche & Co. LLC’s European listed companies. As of December 31, 2008, LaBranche & Co. B.V. is inactive.

Market-Making Segment

The Company is an integrated market-making company, both as designated market makers (DMMs) or specialists in cash equity securities, ETFs and index and ETF options, and as a market-maker in several classes of securities, including equity options, index options, ETF options, futures, structured notes, ETFs and equities, with trading operations in domestic and global securities markets. The Company focuses to provide quotations and interact with order flow globally through electronic trade messaging and over a scalable platform of market-making algorithms that can interact with all securities markets. The Company’s Market-Making segment includes the operations of LaBranche & Co. LLC, LSP, LSPE, LSPH, LSPD and LSPS. As of December 31, 2008, the entities within its Market-Making segment were designated market- makers and other bona fide market makers on the NYSE, the NYSE Alternext (formerly the AMEX), the NYBOT, the PHLX, the CBOE and the ISE. Collectively, Market-Making segment is the designated market maker and/or specialist for 500 common stock listings on the NYSE and 660 options listings, three futures and 114 ETFs on the NYSE Alternext, PHLX, NYBOT and other exchanges, and is a market-maker for ETFs, options and futures on various exchanges.

The Company’s NYSE equity specialist operations are conducted through its LaBranche & Co. LLC subsidiary. LaBranche & Co. LLC provides a service to its listed companies, and to the brokers, traders and investors who trade in its DMM stocks. In addition, LaBranche & Co. LLC acted as the DMM for 203 other NYSE-listed securities (preferred stocks and derivative securities). As of December 31, 2008, LaBranche & Co. LLC’s listed companies included 107 of the S&P 500 Index companies; 31 of the S&P 100 Index companies and 123 foreign american depository receipts (ADRs), of which 23 are Peoples Republic of China ADRs.

Institutional Brokerage Segment

The Company’s Institutional Brokerage segment includes the operations of LFS, which provides securities execution to retail and institutional clients and professional traders. LFS provides a range of customized execution services, including direct access brokerage to a range of institutional and individual clients through its Institutional Execution Group (IEG). IEG provides institutions with customized service built around special execution needs. IEG handles and, through an outsourced clearing relationship with a major Wall Street firm, clears trades on every major domestic stock exchange, with straight-through processing from order origination to trade execution. IEG also provides soft dollar execution and other administrative services to institutional customers. IEG has active relationships with over 300 accounts and is developing its business nationwide.