SWS Group, Inc. operates as a securities and banking company in the United States and internationally. It provides a range of investment, commercial banking, and related financial services to individual, corporate, and institutional investors; broker/dealers; governmental entities; and financial intermediaries. The company operates in four segments: Clearing, Retail, Institutional, and Banking. The Clearing segment provides clearing and execution services for other broker/dealers, including general securities broker/dealers, bank affiliated firms, and firms specializing in high volume trading. The Retail segment include retail securities products and services, such as equities, mutual funds, and fixed income products; insurance products; and managed accounts. This segment also involves in the securities broking operations comprising purchase and sale of securities, options, commodities, and futures contracts traded on various securities and commodities exchanges or in the over-the-counter market for retail investors; sale of insurance and annuities through its registered representatives; and provision of managed accounts. The Institutional segment provides securities lending, investment banking and public finance, fixed income sales and trading, proprietary trading, and agency execution services to institutional customers. The Banking segment offers a range of deposit products, including checking, savings, money market, and certificates of deposit; business and consumer loans, and commercial and commercial real estate loans, as well as residential mortgages through conventional and government loans; Internet banking; online bill payment services; and factoring of commercial accounts. This segment also involves in the purchase of participations in newly originated residential loans, including sub-prime loans from various mortgage bankers. The company was founded in 1972 and is headquartered in Dallas, Texas.