The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. operates as an investment banking, securities and derivatives trading, and clearance and brokerage company serving governments, corporations, institutions, and individuals worldwide. It operates through three segments: Capital Markets, Global Clearing Services, and Wealth Management. The Capital Markets segment comprises equities, fixed income, and investment banking operations. Equities provide global institutional investing customers with trade execution and liquidity on global securities exchanges, prime brokerage services, and clearing services. Fixed income operations include participating in the auction of, and maintaining proprietary positions in, U.S. treasury bills, notes, bonds, and stripped principal and coupon securities; purchase and origination of commercial and residential mortgage loans; dealing in tax-exempt and taxable municipal securities and instruments; offering hedging and arbitrage services; and trading, making markets, and taking proprietary positions in both dollar and non-dollar investment-grade and non-investment-grade corporate debt securities, commercial loans, sovereign and agency securities. The investment banking operations comprise the provision of services in capital raising, strategic advice, mergers and acquisitions, and merchant banking. The Global Clearing Services segment provides trade execution, securities clearing, custody, financing, securities lending, and technology solutions principally to hedge funds, broker-dealers, registered investment advisors, and high-net-worth individuals. The Wealth Management segment offers private client services, such as the provision of high-net-worth individuals with an institutional level of transactional, wealth management, and advisory services; and asset management services across various asset classes, including money markets, fixed income, currencies, and equities. The company was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in New York, New York.