Raymond James Financial, Inc. is an American multinational independent investment bank and financial services company providing financial services to individuals, corporations, and municipalities through its subsidiary companies that engage primarily in investment and financial planning, in addition to investment banking and asset management. Headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida, Raymond James is one of the largest banking institutions in the United States. History Raymond James was founded in 1962 when St. Petersburg broker, Robert James, formed Robert A. James Investments. In 1964, it merged with Raymond & Associates, founded by Edward Raymond in 1963, to form Raymond James & Associates. Robert James' son, Tom James, joined in 1966 and assumed leadership of the firm in 1970. The firm planned to go public in 1969, but market conditions delayed its plan until 1983. Tom turned over the CEO's post to Paul Reilly in 2010, and his title as Chairman of the Board to Paul Reilly in 2016. He remains on the leadership team as Chairman Emeritus. In 2012, the firm purchased the Canadian assets of Allied Irish Bank. In April 2012, they merged with Morgan Keegan & Company, creating one of the country's largest full-service wealth management and investment banking firms not headquartered in New York. As of the fiscal quarter ending September 30, 2021, the firm had delivered 135 consecutive quarters of profitability. In June 2016, it was listed as a Fortune 500 company for the first time. In September 2016, the firm announced its acquisition of Deutsche Bank Wealth Management's US private client services unit, Alex Brown & Sons. As of September 30, 2021, Raymond James has approximately 8,400 financial advisors throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. Total client assets under management are approximately $1.18 trillion. Current operations Raymond James has four main lines of operation: private client group, capital markets (made up of equity and fixed income capital markets as well as public finance), asset management group (made up of asset management services and Carillon tower advisers) and banking. Controversies SEC v. Dennis Herula In 2004, the SEC fined Raymond James Financial Services, Inc. $6.9 million for failure to supervise former broker Dennis Herula. Herula was accused of participating with others in a Ponzi scheme that raised about $44.5 million from investors in 1999-2000. Herula himself raised about $16.5 million of investor funds, most of which was later transferred to his wife's brokerage account at Raymond James. He