Richard H. Litton

SWS Group, Inc. is a diversified financial services holding company. The company delivers investment banking, commercial banking and related financial services to individual, corporate and institutional investors, broker/dealers, governmental entities and financial intermediaries. It operates through four segments: Clearing, Retail Brokerage, Institutional Brokerage and Banking. The Clearing segment provides clearing and execution services for general securities broker/dealers, for bank affiliated firms and firms specializing in high volume trading. The Retail Brokerage segment includes retail securities products and services, insurance products and managed accounts and encompasses the activities of its employee registered representatives and independent representatives. The Institutional Brokerage segment serves institutional customers in securities lending, investment banking and public finance, fixed income sales and trading, proprietary trading and agency execution services. The Banking segment offers traditional banking products and services and focuses on small business lending and short-term funding for mortgage bankers. SWS Group was founded by Donald A. Buchholz in 1972 and is headquartered in Dallas, TX.

Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. provided wealth management, securities trading and sales, corporate finance and investment banking services. Merrill Lynch was a global trader and underwriter of securities and derivatives across a range of asset classes and serve as a strategic advisor to governments, institutions and individuals worldwide. The company was founded in 1913 and was headquartered in Charlotte, NC.

Hilltop Securities, Inc. (dba HilltopSecurities) is a broker/dealer firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The firm was founded in 1946 as Southwest Securities, Inc. and they a subsidiary of Hilltop Securities Holdings LLC. Hilltop Securities provides a full array of trading and execution services for their clients.