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Did Dodd-Frank Kill WJB Capital?

A trusted brokerage stops operations immediately and questions are raised.

NEW YORK -- The brokers at NYC brokerage WJB Capital had a brusque New Year's welcome back to work. Instead of free bagels, they were told that the firm was shutting down operations immediately.

According to a source of Advanced Trading, who asked to remain anonymous, WJB employees were told to "clean their desks" and they would not be operating any longer.

At press time, the WJB Capital web page was not loading.

The AT source says that the brokerage may have closed shop due to the Dodd-Frank Act that regulates capital markets in the US. He says it was most likely "too onerous" for the brokerage to operate in the new regulatory environment.

According to Bloomberg:

"A decision was made -- and I might say it was a very painful decision -- that it would terminate its broker-dealer operations, and it has done so," said Mark Skolnick, general counsel for the company at law firm Platzer, Swergold, Karlin, Levine, Goldberg & Jaslow LLP. The firm has some non-brokerage operations and is exploring "other possibilities," he said.

WJB Capital was "unable to resolve its financial issues in a manner that would have allowed it to continue its operations under the current economic climate and the constraints that would've been placed on the corporation and its investors," he said.

The AT source says he was "shocked" that WJB Capital shut down ops this morning, adding that "they made money last year."

To highlight the abrupt nature of the closing, the brokerage announced the hiring of four new equity research analysts in early December 2011.

According to news reports, WJB Capital was founded in 1993 with two agency brokers on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and had roughly 100 employees with offices in five US cities.

Details and updates TK.

Phil Albinus is the former editor-in-chief of Advanced Trading. He has nearly two decades of journalism experience and has been covering financial technology and regulation for nine years. Before joining Advanced Trading, he served as editor of Waters, a monthly trade journal ... View Full Bio

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