Bravo to Jefferies & Company
January 19th, 2010In an age of greed and ridiculous bonuses, it is wonderful to see at least one Wall Street firm step up and surprise people with their generosity, which is what Jefferies & Company did on Friday. The brokerage donated $1 million and then donated all trading commissions from Friday, plus employees chipped in their salaries. They ended up raising $7.5 million. Here is the press release:
NEW YORK and LONDON, January 19, 2010 — Jefferies announced today a total donation of $7.5 million to organizations providing immediate help to victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The firm’s clients generated $5.5 million through global trading commissions on January 15th, Jefferies donated $1 million, and voluntary elections from the firm’s 2,628 employee-partners and Board of Directors totaled another $1 million. All funds will be wired directly today for immediate relief work.
Contributions will be designated only for relief efforts associated with the recent earthquake in Haiti. The American Red Cross, UNICEF, Save the Children, the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund (CBHF) and the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) will each receive $1 million. Partners in Health, Americares, Shelterbox, HEART 9/11 and SOS Children’s Village will each receive $500,000.
“On Wednesday, twenty H.E.A.R.T. veteran disaster response experts will be escorted by the FBI to Haiti. We will leverage our hard earned wisdom and the financial support of Jefferies to provide leadership to multiply response effectiveness, and with the skills and empathy born from the WTC mission, we will respectfully recover the Haitian victims and empower the survivors to build again,” said Bill Keegan, President of H.E.A.R.T. 9/11.
“This extraordinary contribution from Jefferies, as well as their many philanthropic clients, to UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts in Haiti is truly remarkable and will literally save lives; the enthusiasm shown to make a difference by Jefferies’ leadership and employees is encouraging,’ commented Edward Lloyd, Chief Financial Officer of the United States Fund for UNICEF. “One hundred percent of the funds will go toward our effort to provide items such as water purification tablets, oral rehydration salts, tents, portable toilets, blankets and other basic necessities, insuring that Haiti’s children are getting all that they need now and in the weeks to come, we are truly appreciative.”
“This gift will go directly to provide emergency medical care for patients in Haiti. Thanks to the generosity of Jefferies and their clients, PIH is sending medical personnel, supplies, food and water that are so desperately needed. We are very grateful,” said Paul Zintl, Chief Operations Officer, Partners In Health.
“Our 2,628 employee-partners and our amazing clients made this happen. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” added Richard B. Handler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jefferies.
Jefferies, a major global securities and investment banking firm, has served companies and their investors for more than 45 years. Jefferies & Company, Inc. is the principal US operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF: www.jefferies.com), and Jefferies International Limited is the principal UK operating subsidiary. Jefferies International Limited, a UK-incorporated company, is authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority.
January 20th, 2010 at 4:56 am
Nothing unprecedented in a Wall Street firm making a charitable donation that’s big in dollar terms and relatively tiny as a percentage of the firm’s profits. Bear Stearns famously expected its employees donate 4% of their salaries to charity; Goldman Sachs recently offered $500 million in small business grants, and several years ago, bought a swath of the tip of South America as a nature preserve.
You seem easy to impress. What Jefferies does the other 364 days in a year is far more important in deciding whether it’s worthy of praise.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:49 pm
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”