Jefferies Group LLC is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company that is headquartered in New York City.

The firm provides clients with capital markets and financial advisory services, institutional brokerage, securities research, and asset management.

[7] In the early years, the firm was a successful trader and pioneer in what would be called the "third market", which allowed for the trading of listed stocks directly between institutional investors in an over-the-counter style, providing liquidity and anonymity to buyers.

[citation needed] International expansion led the company to develop a new overseas office in London, headed by Frank Baxter.

Jefferies, who had also earlier testified against Boesky, pleaded guilty; receiving a fine and a probation barring him from the securities industry for five years.

Three years later Jefferies launched its first sector-focused investment banking effort by hiring a group of bankers from Howard Weil, an oil and gas specialty boutique.

During this period, Jefferies built its investment banking division primarily by acquiring boutique advisory firms with specific sector expertise, most notably Randall & Dewey (energy) and Broadview (technology).

[citation needed] On June 17, 2009, after several primary dealers, including Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch, either collapsed or were acquired by other firms, Jefferies was named one of just 17 primary dealers participating in the New York Fed's open-market buying and selling of securities and Treasury auctions and providing market information to the New York Fed.

Its new European Rates unit, based in London, became an official member of the Federal Republic of Germany's bidding group in October 2009,[21] a Gilt-Edged Market Maker (GEMM) appointed jointly by the UK Debt Management Office and London Stock Exchange,[22] and was recognized as a Dutch Primary Dealer by the Dutch State Treasury,[23] both in December 2009.

Additionally, in February 2010 Jefferies was appointed as an EBT (Especialistas em Bilhetes do Tesouro) for Treasury Bills and as an OMP (Operadores de Mercado Primário) for long-term bonds by the Portuguese Treasury and Government Debt Agency (Instituto de Gestão da Tesouraria e do Crédito Público, IGCP).

[25][26] In November 2011, Jefferies was accused by Egan-Jones of having 77% of its shareholder's equity tied up in the same illiquid sovereign debt securities that just toppled MF Global.

Handler and the management team responded with unprecedented immediacy and transparency, collapsed 75% of the position to prove the bonds were hedged and highly liquid, sharply reduced the rest of Jefferies balance sheet and publicly addressed every false accusation.

"[28] On April 16, 2012, Jefferies CEO Richard Handler and Chairman of the Executive Committee Brian Friedman formed the Jefferies Global Senior Advisory Board which includes James D Robinson III, Lord Hollick, Michael Goldstein, Bernard Bourigeaud, Dennis Archer, Gilles Pélisson and Sir David Reid.

[30] On Sunday Aug 5 the company managed to raise around $400 million from six investors led by Jefferies in an attempt to stay in business after the trading error.

They aimed to leverage their experience with securitization markets to structure securities upheld by CircleBack Lending assets, which could then be rated and sold to an array of investors.

[35] On December 9, 2019, the United States Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) ordered Jefferies to pay close to $4 million, for their inappropriate handling of American depositary receipts (ADR).

[36] On April 5, 2021, it was announced that Jefferies Group would be coordinating the GameStop Corporation at the market sale associated with their Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it will raise up to $1 billion by selling as many as 3.5 million new shares of common stock.

[37] Jefferies has coverage groups spanning across all industries including Aerospace & Defense, Business Services, CleanTech, Consumer & Retail, Energy, Financial Institutions Group, Financial Sponsors, Gaming & Leisure, Healthcare, Industrials, Maritime, Media, Public Finance, Real Estate & Lodging, Technology, and Telecommunications.