Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentation

NOTE 1 – Nature of Operations and Basis of Presentatio

Nature of Operations

Stifel Financial Corp. (the "Parent"), through its wholly owned subsidiaries, principally Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated ("Stifel Nicolaus"), Stifel Bank & Trust ("Stifel Bank"), Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited ("SNEL"), Century Securities Associates, Inc. ("CSA"), Stifel Nicolaus Canada, Inc. ("SN Canada"), and Thomas Weisel Partners LLC ("TWP"), is principally engaged in retail brokerage; securities trading; investment banking; investment advisory; retail, consumer, and commercial banking; and related financial services. Although we have offices throughout the United States, two Canadian cities, and three European cities, our major geographic area of concentration is the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions, with a growing presence in the Northeast, Southeast and Western United States. Our company's principal customers are individual investors, corporations, municipalities, and institutions.

On October 1, 2011, we acquired Stone & Youngberg LLC ("Stone & Youngberg"), a leading financial services firm specializing in municipal finance and fixed income securities. Stone & Youngberg's comprehensive institutional group expands our public finance, institutional sales and trading and bond underwriting, particularly in the Arizona and California markets, and adds more than 30 financial advisors in four offices to our Private Client Group. The purchase consideration consisted of cash, a portion paid at closing and a portion to be paid over the next three years, and stock based on the value of net assets at closing. In addition, we may be required to pay a contingent earn-out over a five year period after the close based upon revenue goals, as established in the purchase agreement. The public finance, institutional sales and trading, and retail businesses were integrated with Stifel Nicolaus immediately after the acquisition. Stone & Youngberg remains a wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary of the Parent.

On July 1, 2010, we acquired Thomas Weisel Partners Group, Inc. ("TWPG"), an investment bank focused principally on the growth sectors of the economy, which generates revenues from three principal sources: investment banking, brokerage, and asset management. The investment banking group is comprised of two primary categories of services: corporate finance and strategic advisory. The brokerage group provides equity sales and trading services to institutional investors and offers brokerage and advisory services to high-net-worth individuals and corporate clients. The asset management group consists of: private investment funds, public equity investment products, and distribution management. The employees of the investment banking, research, and institutional brokerage businesses of TWP, a wholly owned subsidiary of TWPG, were transitioned into Stifel Nicolaus during the third quarter of 2010. TWP remains a wholly owned broker-dealer subsidiary of the Parent.

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements include Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries, principally Stifel Nicolaus and Stifel Bank. All material intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated. Unless otherwise indicated, the terms "we," "us," "our," or "our company" in this report refer to Stifel Financial Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiaries.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, which require management to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts. We consider significant estimates, which are most susceptible to change and impacted significantly by judgments, assumptions, and estimates, to be: valuation of financial instruments and investments in partnerships; accrual for contingencies; allowance for loan losses; derivative instruments and hedging activities; fair value of goodwill and intangible assets; provision for income taxes and related tax reserves; and forfeitures associated with stock-based compensation. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

On March 7, 2011, our Board approved a 50% stock dividend, in the form of a three-for-two stock split, of our common stock payable on April 5, 2011 to shareholders of record as of March 22, 2011. All share and per share information has been retroactively adjusted to reflect the stock split.

Certain amounts from prior periods have been reclassified to conform to the current period's presentation. The effect of these reclassifications on our company's previously reported consolidated financial statements was not material.

Consolidation Policies

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Stifel Financial Corp. and its subsidiaries. We also have investments or interests in other entities for which we must evaluate whether to consolidate by determining whether we have a controlling financial interest or are considered to be the primary beneficiary. In determining whether to consolidate these entities, we evaluate whether the entity is a voting interest entity or a variable interest entity ("VIE").

Voting Interest Entity. Voting interest entities are entities that have (i) total equity investment at risk sufficient to fund expected future operations independently, and (ii) equity holders who have the obligation to absorb losses or receive residual returns and the right to make decisions about the entity's activities. We consolidate voting interest entities when we determine that there is a controlling financial interest, usually ownership of all, or a majority of, the voting interest.

Variable Interest Entity. VIEs are entities that lack one or more of the characteristics of a voting interest entity. We are required to consolidate VIEs in which we are deemed to be the primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary is defined as the entity that has a variable interest, or a combination of variable interests, that maintains control and receives benefits or will absorb losses that are not pro rata with its ownership interests.

We determine whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE by first performing a qualitative analysis of the VIE's control structure, expected benefits and losses and expected residual returns. This analysis includes a review of, among other factors, the VIE's capital structure, contractual terms, which interests create or absorb benefits or losses, variability, related party relationships, and the design of the VIE. Where a qualitative analysis is not conclusive, we perform a quantitative analysis. We reassess our initial evaluation of an entity as a VIE and our initial determination of whether we are the primary beneficiary of a VIE upon the occurrence of certain reconsideration events. See Note 28 for additional information on variable interest entities.