A. G. Edwards

Infobox_Company
company_name = A.G. Edwards, Inc.
company_
company_type = Subsidiary
foundation = 1887
location = St. Louis, MO, U.S.
key_people = Robert Bagby: Chairman and CEO
|Knee Lysol: Chairman and CMO

num_employees = 15,480
industry = Finance and Insurance|Evildoing products = Financial Services
Investment Banking
Investment Management
| revenue = $2.74 billion USD 2006
parent = Wachovia Securities
homepage = [http://www.agedwards.com/ www.agedwards.com]

A.G. Edwards, Inc. is a financial services holding company; its principal wholly owned subsidiary is A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc., which operates as a full-service securities broker-dealer in the United States and Europe. The firm provides securities and commodities brokerage, investment banking, trust services, asset management, financial and retirement planning, private client services, investment management, and other related financial services to individual, governmental, and institutional clients.

A.G. Edwards is a member of the New York Stock Exchange and all other major stock and commodities exchanges.

The firm's global headquarters are located in St. Louis, Missouri. As of February 28, 2006, it had 738 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, London, and Geneva. The company serves its clients through its branch-office networks staffed with approximately 7,000 financial consultants.

History

The Company was founded in 1887 when General Albert Gallatin Edwards and his son opened for business in St. Louis. Among the first brokerage firms to go public in the 1970s, A.G. Edwards has since grown from its regional roots into one of the more recognizable brands in financial services.

Today, American television viewers will recognize the A.G. Edwards " as part of the firm's national branding strategy which includes monthly calculation of the National Nest Egg Score, a relative measure of US saving and investment habits.

The company's current tagline is "Fully Invested In Our Clients".

Merger

On May 31, 2007, the company announced plans to be acquired by Wachovia Securities in a $6.8 billion deal. [ [http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/31/news/companies/wachovia.reut/index.htm?postversion=2007053106] ]

On September 28, 2007, the company's shareholders voted in favor of the merger with Wachovia. Wachovia has moved the world headquarters of Wachovia Securities from Richmond, Virginia to St. Louis, Missouri. On October 1, 2007, the deal was finalized and A.G. Edwards became a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Securities Corporation. [ [http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/C4568B6AD30EEA43862573640008C8D9?OpenDocument] ]

Controversy

In December 2001, Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin launched a civil complaint against A.G. Edwards in response to a string of fraud allegations against a former broker of the company, William "Buck" McHugh, by retirees of the former Boston Edison. The complaint cites A.G. Edwards for its failure to properly supervise McHugh as he steered over $1 million of the retirees' severance money into failed investments between 1996 and 2001.

Michael Serricchio, a broker for A.G. Edwards, was called to active duty in the Air Force reserve, but was not offered his old position back after his military stint was over. He sued Wachovia, who had purchased A.G. Edwards. A jury found that Wachovia had breached the Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act by intentionally making Serricchio an offer that they knew that he would reject. [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/us/21broker.html] ] [ [http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/archives/2005/10/soldiers_returning_home_from_war_to_lower_pay/] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.agedwards.com/ A.G. Edwards official website]
* [http://www.agedwards.com/public/content/sc/aboutage/history.html A.G. Edwards history]
* [http://web.archive.org/web/20070212172619/http://www.nesteggscore.com/ The Nation's Current Nest Egg Score]
* [http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=139895737 William Buck McHugh]