EXHIBIT 99.1

                                  RISK FACTORS

      The risks and uncertainties described below are some of the material risks
that our company faces.

We have significant indebtedness and interest payment obligations.

      We have significantly increased our debt as a result of our recent
transactions. As of March 24, 2000, we have approximately $415.5 million of
consolidated aggregate principal amount of outstanding debt. These calculations
of debt exclude subordinated liabilities related to contributed exchange
memberships. LaBranche & Co. also has the ability to borrow $200.0 million under
a revolving credit facility with The Bank of New York which was originally
entered into in June of 1998 and increased and extended in both June 1999 and
February 2000 (the "Credit Agreement"). We may also need to incur additional
debt in the future for working capital or to complete acquisitions, even though
our principal credit facility imposes some limits on our ability to do so. We
are highly leveraged and our high level of indebtedness could have important
consequences to you, which include the following:

      o our ability to obtain additional financing to fund our growth strategy,
working capital, capital expenditures, debt service requirements or other
purposes may be impaired;

      o our ability to use operating cash flow in other areas of our business
will be limited because we must dedicate a substantial portion of these funds to
make principal and interest payments;

      o we may not be able to compete with others who are not as highly
leveraged; and

      o our substantial degree of leverage may limit our flexibility to adjust
to changing market conditions, changes in our industry and economic downturns.

      Our ability to satisfy our debt obligations will depend upon our future
operating performance and our ability to obtain additional debt or equity
financing. Prevailing economic conditions and financial, business and other
factors, many of which are beyond our control, will affect our ability to make
these payments. If in the future we cannot generate sufficient cash from
operations to meet our debt obligations, we will need to refinance our debt
obligations, obtain additional financing or sell assets. We cannot assure you
that our business will generate cash flow or that we will be able to obtain
funding sufficient to satisfy our debt service requirements.

      Further, LaBranche & Co. is a broker-dealer and a specialist regulated by
the SEC and the NYSE. Such regulations include strict rules regarding capital
requirements and approval requirements for withdrawals of capital from, and in
some cases, other distributions by, the broker-dealer. These regulations could
prevent us from obtaining funds necessary to satisfy our obligations to pay
interest on or repay our indebtedness.

Our ability to take actions may be restricted by the terms of our indebtedness.

      The covenants in our existing debt agreements, including the Credit
Agreement, the note purchase agreements relating to LaBranche & Co.'s existing
senior subordinated indebtedness, the indenture governing our senior notes and
the indenture governing our senior subordinated notes and any future financing
agreements, may adversely affect our ability to finance future operations or
capital needs
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or to engage in other business activities. These covenants limit or restrict our
ability and the ability of our subsidiaries to:

o     incur additional debt;
o     pay dividends and make distributions;
o     repurchase our securities;
o     make certain investments;
o     create liens on our assets;
o     transfer or sell assets;
o     enter into transactions with affiliates;
o     issue or sell stock of subsidiaries; or
o     merge or consolidate.

      In addition, the Credit Agreement and the note purchase agreements also
require LaBranche & Co. to comply with certain financial ratios. LaBranche &
Co.'s ability to comply with these ratios may be affected by events beyond our
or its control. If any of the covenants in our Credit Agreement, the note
purchase agreements, the indenture relating to our senior notes or the indenture
relating to our senior subordinated notes is breached, or if LaBranche & Co. is
unable to comply with required financial ratios, it may be in default under the
Credit Agreement or the note purchase agreements and we may be in default under
the indenture relating to our senior notes or the indenture relating to our
senior subordinated notes. A significant portion of our indebtedness then may
become immediately due and payable. We are not certain whether we would have, or
be able to obtain, sufficient funds to make these accelerated payments.
Compliance with the covenants is also a condition to borrowings under the Credit
Agreement.

We are required to take actions upon the occurrence of a change of control.

      Upon the occurrence of a change of control, we will be required to offer
to repurchase all outstanding senior notes and senior subordinated notes at a
price equal to 101% of their principal amount, together with accrued and unpaid
interest, if any, to the date of repurchase. Certain important corporate events,
such as leveraged recapitalizations that would increase our level of
indebtedness, would not constitute a change of control. If a change of control
were to occur, it is possible that we would not have sufficient funds to
repurchase our senior subordinated notes owned by holders seeking to accept our
offer or that restrictions in the Credit Agreement, the note purchase agreements
relating to LaBranche & Co.'s existing senior subordinated indebtedness or the
indenture governing our senior notes will not allow such repurchases.
Furthermore, a change of control will most likely trigger a default under the
Credit Agreement, the note purchase agreements relating to LaBranche & Co.'s
existing senior subordinated indebtedness and the indenture governing our senior
notes. To the extent we do not have sufficient funds to meet our repurchase
obligations and any other obligations in respect of the Credit Agreement, the
note purchase agreements and the indenture relating to our senior notes, we
would necessarily seek third-party financing. However, it is possible that we
will not be able to obtain such financing.


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We may have insufficient capital in the future and may be unable to secure
additional financing when we need it.

      Our business depends on the availability of adequate capital. We cannot be
sure that we will have sufficient capital in the future or that additional
financing will be available on a timely basis, or on terms favorable to us.
Historically, we have satisfied these needs with internally generated funds, our
bank credit facilities and the issuance of subordinated debt by our operating
subsidiaries and the issuance by us of our senior notes and our common stock.
The proceeds of the sale of our senior subordinated notes were used to fully
fund our acquisition of Henderson Brothers and to partially fund our acquisition
of Webco and to pay fees and expenses related to both acquisitions. We currently
anticipate that our available cash resources and credit facilities will be
sufficient to meet our anticipated working capital, regulatory capital and
capital expenditure requirements through the end of 2000.

      We may, however, need to raise additional funds to: o increase the capital
available to us for our inventory positions; o support more rapid expansion; o
acquire complementary businesses; or o respond to unanticipated capital
requirements.

      We may be required to obtain this additional financing on short notice as
a result of rapid, unanticipated developments, such as a steep market decline.

Our revenues may decrease due to changes affecting the economy, such as
increases in interest rates or inflation, or changes affecting the securities
markets, such as decreased volume or liquidity.

      We recently experienced a substantial increase in the revenues we earn
from our specialist activities. An adverse change affecting the economy or the
securities markets could result in a decline in market volume or liquidity. This
would result in lower revenues from our specialist activities. Our recent
increase in revenues was caused primarily by significant increases in the volume
of trading on the NYSE and favorable conditions in the securities markets. The
current favorable business environment may not continue indefinitely.

Sustained declines in price levels of securities could cause us to incur losses.

      Adverse changes in the economy and the securities markets could lead to
lower price levels of securities. Sustained declines in these price levels may
result in: o losses from declines in the market value of securities held in our
inventory; o the failure of buyers and sellers of securities to fulfill their
settlement obligations; and o increases in claims and litigation.

Trading through NYSE specialists could be replaced by alternative trading
systems which could reduce our revenue.


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<PAGE>

      Alternative trading systems could reduce the levels of trading of
NYSE-listed stocks executed through specialists. This, in turn, could have an
adverse effect on our revenues. Over the past few years, a number of alternative
trading systems have developed or emerged which may compete with specialists by
increasing trading in NYSE-listed stocks off the NYSE trading floor in
over-the-counter markets. In the future, similar new systems may continue to be
developed and placed in operation.

New and proposed NYSE initiatives may lower the revenues we earn on trades
executed in shares of our common stock listings.

      The NYSE recently approved the repeal of Rule 390, which generally
prohibited member firms from trading stocks listed before April 26, 1979 other
than on a national exchange. Any stocks for which we act as specialist listed
before April 26, 1979 will now be freely tradable in over-the-counter markets.
We will not receive commissions on trades executed in over-the-counter markets
and will not participate in those trades as principal. Additionally, on December
28, 1999, the NYSE implemented a new initiative which increased from two minutes
to five minutes the window for providing commission-free transactions on orders.
Therefore, any order we execute as agent within five minutes of placement of the
order will not generate any commissions revenue for us. This new initiative has
adversely affected commissions revenue.

Competition from Nasdaq for new listings could adversely affect NYSE trading
volume and, in turn, reduce our revenues.

      Nasdaq continues to grow and gain in popularity, attracting companies
which might otherwise have listed on the NYSE. If more companies decide to be
quoted on Nasdaq as opposed to listing their stocks on the NYSE, or if companies
choose to delist using recently relaxed delisting procedures, trading volume on
the NYSE could be adversely affected. This, in turn, could adversely affect our
trading revenue. In recent years, many high technology companies have opted to
be quoted on Nasdaq, even though many of them would have qualified for NYSE
listing. In addition, the SEC recently approved a revision to NYSE Rule 500
which makes it easier for a company to delist its shares from the NYSE. The
original rule required supermajority shareholder approval before a listed
company could delist from the NYSE. Under the recently approved amendment of
Rule 500, a company can delist from the NYSE if it obtains the approval of a
majority of the company's board of directors and the company's audit committee.
The company would then provide its 35 largest shareholders with written notice
of the proposed delisting and allow a 20-40 day waiting period to elapse.

Our quarterly results may fluctuate significantly.

      Our revenues may fluctuate significantly based on factors relating to the
securities markets. These factors include:

      o a decrease in trading volume on the NYSE;

      o volatility in the equity securities markets; and

      o changes in the value of our securities positions.

      Many elements of our cost structure do not decline if we experience
quarterly reductions in our revenues. As a result, if market conditions cause
our revenues to decline, we may be unable to adjust our cost structure on a
timely basis and we could suffer losses.


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Risks associated with our trading transactions could result in trading losses.

      A majority of our specialist-related revenues are derived from trading by
us as principal. We may incur trading losses relating to these activities since
each primarily involves the purchase, sale or short sale of securities for our
own account. In any period, we may incur trading losses in a significant number
of our specialist stocks for a variety of reasons, including price declines of
our specialist stocks, lack of trading volume in our specialist stocks and the
required performance of our specialist obligations. From time to time, we have
large position concentrations in securities of a single issuer or issuers
engaged in a specific industry. In general, because our inventory of securities
is marked to market on a daily basis, any downward price movement in these
securities will result in a reduction of our revenues and operating profits. We
also operate a proprietary trading desk separately from our NYSE specialist
operations, which represented 3.3% of our total revenues in 1999. We may incur
trading losses as a result of these trading activities.

      Although we have adopted risk management policies, we cannot be sure that
these policies have been formulated properly to identify or limit our risks.
Even if these policies are formulated properly, we cannot be sure that we will
successfully implement these policies. As a result, we may not be able to manage
our risks successfully or avoid trading losses.

NYSE specialist rules may require us to make unprofitable trades or to refrain
from making profitable trades.

      When we trade as principal, we attempt to derive a profit from the
difference between the prices at which we buy and sell securities. Our role as a
specialist, at times, requires us to make trades that adversely affect our
profitability. In addition, as a specialist, we are at times required to refrain
from trading for our own account in circumstances in which it may be to our
advantage to trade. For example, we may be obligated to act as a principal when
buyers or sellers outnumber each other. In those instances, we may take a
position counter to the market, buying or selling shares to support an orderly
market in the affected stocks. In order to perform these obligations, we hold
varying amounts of securities in inventory. In addition, specialists generally
may not trade for their own account when public buyers are meeting public
sellers in an orderly fashion and may not compete with public orders at the same
price. By having to support an orderly market, maintain inventory positions and
refrain from trading under some favorable conditions, we are subjected to a high
degree of risk. Additionally, the NYSE periodically amends its rules and may
make the rules governing our activities as a specialist more stringent or may
implement changes which could adversely affect our trading revenues.

We may have difficulty successfully managing our growth.

      Since 1994, we have experienced significant growth in our business
activities and the number of our employees. We cannot assure you that we will be
able to manage our growth successfully. Our inability to do so could have an
adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or operating results.
The growth of our business has increased the demands upon our management and
operations and we expect it to continue to do so in the future. This growth has
required, and will continue to require, us to increase our investment in
management personnel, financial and management systems and controls, and
facilities. The scope of procedures for assuring compliance with applicable
rules and regulations has changed as the size and complexity of our business has
increased. In response, we have implemented formal compliance procedures which
are regularly updated. Our future operating results will depend on our ability
to continue:


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<PAGE>

      o to improve our systems for operations, financial control, and
communication and information management;

      o to refine our compliance procedures and enhance our compliance
oversight; and

      o to recruit, train, manage and retain our employees.

We may fail to integrate our recent acquisitions.

      We cannot assure you that we will be able to integrate the businesses of
Henderson Brothers or Webco with our current business. The acquisitions may
result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures. They may also
require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for
ongoing development of our business. Moreover, we cannot assure you that the
anticipated benefits of these acquisitions will be realized. As a result of the
acquisitions, we will incur amortization expenses related to goodwill and other
intangible assets. In addition, we may incur contingent liabilities of which we
are not aware.

      As part of our acquisition of Henderson Brothers, we acquired its clearing
operations. We have no experience operating a clearing business and may not be
familiar with all of the risks associated with the clearing business. We cannot
assure you that we will successfully operate and manage this business.

Our success depends on our ability to accurately process and record our
transactions, and any failure to do so could subject us to losses.

      Our specialist activities require us to accurately record and process a
very large number of transactions on a daily basis. Any failure or delay in
recording or processing transactions could cause substantial losses for brokers,
their customers and/or us and could subject us to claims for losses. We rely on
our staff to operate and maintain our information and communications systems
properly, and we depend on the integrity and performance of those systems. Our
recording and processing of trades is subject to human and processing errors.
Moreover, extraordinary trading volume or other events could cause our
information and communications systems to operate at an unacceptably low speed
or even fail. Any significant degradation or failure of our information systems
or any other systems in the trading process could cause us to fail to complete
transactions or could cause brokers who place trades through us to suffer delays
in trading.

Our management information systems may fail and interrupt our business.

      Any information or communication systems failure or decrease in
information or communications systems performance that causes interruptions in
our operations could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition
and/or operating results. Our systems may fail as a result of:

      o hardware or software failure; or

      o power or telecommunications failure.

      Although we have established a back-up disaster recovery center in
Hoboken, New Jersey, it may not be effective in preventing an interruption of
our business.

We depend on the NYSE and clearing and depository institutions to effect trades,
and their failure to perform could subject us to losses.


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<PAGE>

      We are dependent on the proper and timely function of complex information
and communications systems maintained and operated by or for the NYSE and
clearing and depository institutions. Failures or inadequate or slow performance
of any of those systems could adversely affect our ability to operate and
complete trades. The failure to complete trades on a timely basis could subject
us to losses and claims for losses of brokers and their customers.

Our future success will depend on our ability to upgrade our information and
communications systems, and any failure to do so could harm our business and
profitability.

      The development of complex communications and new technologies, including
Internet-based technologies, may render our existing information and
communications systems outdated. In addition, our information and communications
systems must be compatible with those of the NYSE. As a result, if the NYSE
upgrades its systems, we will need to make corresponding upgrades. Our future
success will depend on our ability to respond to changing technologies on a
timely and cost-effective basis. We cannot be sure that we will be successful in
upgrading our information and communications systems on a timely or
cost-effective basis. Our failure to do so could have an adverse effect on our
business, financial condition and/or operating results.

      The NYSE's ability to develop information and communications systems and
complex computer and other technology systems has been instrumental in its
recent growth and success. We are dependent on the continuing development of
technological advances by the NYSE, a process over which we have no control. If
the NYSE for any reason is unable to continue its recent history of
computer-related and other technological developments and advances, it could
have an adverse effect on the success of the NYSE, including its ability to
grow, to manage its trading volumes or to attract new listings. Any such
developments can be expected to adversely affect our operations, financial
condition and operating results.

If we lose the services of our key personnel or cannot hire additional qualified
personnel, our business will be harmed.

      Our future success depends on the continued service of key employees,
particularly George M.L. LaBranche, IV (Michael LaBranche), our Chairman, Chief
Executive Officer and President. The loss of the services of any of our key
personnel or the inability to identify, hire, train and retain other qualified
personnel in the future could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition and/or operating results. We have employment agreements with Mr.
LaBranche and other key employees. We also maintain "key person" life insurance
policies on Mr. LaBranche and other key employees. Competition for key personnel
and other highly qualified management, trading, compliance and technical
personnel is intense. We cannot assure you that we will be able to attract new
or retain currently employed highly qualified personnel in the future.

      In connection with our reorganization transactions, our managing directors
received substantial amounts of our common stock in exchange for their interests
in LaB Investing Co. L.L.C. Because the shares of common stock were received in
exchange for membership interests, ownership of the shares is not dependent upon
the continued employment of those managing directors. In addition, employees who
are not managing directors received grants of stock options and restricted stock
units. The steps we have taken to encourage the continued service of these
individuals, who include key senior personnel in our specialist activities, may
not be effective.


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We depend significantly on revenues from our specialist activities for a small
group of listed companies, and the loss of any of them could reduce our
revenues.

      Historically, a small number of listed companies have accounted for a
significant portion of our revenues from our specialist trading activities. The
loss of any of these listed companies could have an adverse effect on our
revenues. For the years ended December 31, 1998 and 1999, transactions in our 10
most actively traded specialist stocks accounted for approximately 39.0% and
44.2% of our total revenues, respectively. We cannot assure you that we will be
able to retain these or other listed companies. We can lose these listed
companies if they cease to be traded on the NYSE as a result of being acquired
or otherwise delisted. In addition, if the NYSE were to determine that we have
failed to fulfill our obligations as specialist for a listed company, our
registration as a specialist for that listed company could be cancelled or
suspended.

We depend almost entirely on our specialist activities, and if they fail to grow
as anticipated, it would harm our revenues.

      We derive substantially all of our revenues from specialist activities. If
demand for our specialist services fails to grow, grows more slowly than we
currently anticipate, or declines, our revenues would be adversely affected. We
expect our specialist activities to continue to account for substantially all of
our revenues for the foreseeable future. Our future success will depend on:

      o continued growth in the volume of trading and the number of listings on
the NYSE;

      o our ability to be chosen as specialist for additional listing companies;

      o our ability to respond to regulatory and technological changes; and

      o our ability to respond to changing demands in the marketplace.

We are subject to intense competition for new listings, and our profitability
will suffer if we do not compete effectively.

      We cannot be sure that we will be able to compete effectively with current
or future competitors. Our failure to compete effectively would have an adverse
effect on our profitability. We obtain all of our new listings on the NYSE by
going through an allocation process. Under this process either a committee of
the NYSE or the listing company chooses the specialist. The competition for
obtaining new listing companies is intense. We expect competition to continue
and to intensify in the future. Some of our competitors may have significantly
greater financial and other resources than we have and may have greater name
recognition. These competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or
evolving opportunities and listing company requirements. They may also be able
to undertake more extensive promotional activities to attract new listing
companies. In addition, the specialist industry has recently been consolidating.
The combined companies resulting from this consolidation may have a stronger
capital base. This trend has intensified the competition in our industry.
Finally, the NYSE retains the ability to name new specialist firms.

The failure by us or our employees to comply with applicable laws and
regulations could result in substantial fines and other penalties.

      The securities industry is subject to extensive regulation under both
federal and state laws. In addition, the SEC, the NYSE, other self-regulatory
organizations, commonly referred to as SROs, and


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state securities commissions require strict compliance with their respective
rules and regulations. Failure to comply with any of these laws, rules or
regulations could result in serious adverse consequences. We and our officers
and employees may be subject in the future to claims arising from acts in
contravention of these laws, rules and regulations. An adverse ruling against us
and/or our officers and other employees as a result of any of these claims could
result in us and/or our officers and other employees being required to pay a
substantial fine or settlement. It could also result in the suspension or
revocation of our registration with the SEC as a broker-dealer or our suspension
or expulsion as a member of the NYSE. If this occurred, we would be unable to
operate our business.

The regulatory environment in which we operate may change, making it difficult
for us to remain in compliance.

      The regulatory environment in which we operate is subject to change which
we cannot predict. It may be difficult for us to comply with new or revised
legislation or regulations imposed by the SEC, other U.S. or foreign
governmental regulatory authorities and SROs, including the NYSE. Failure to
comply would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or
operating results. Changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws
and rules by the SEC, these governmental authorities, SROs and the NYSE could
also have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or
operating results.

We cannot predict the effect a proposed public offering by the NYSE would have
on our business.

      The NYSE announced that it is considering offering shares of its capital
stock to the public. We are unable to predict what effect, if any, such an
offering would have on our business and the specialist industry.

Failure to comply with net capital and net liquid asset requirements may result
in the revocation of our registration with the SEC or our expulsion from the
NYSE.

      The SEC, the NYSE and various other regulatory agencies have stringent
rules with respect to the maintenance of minimum levels of capital and net
liquid assets by securities brokers-dealers as well as specialist firms. Subject
to SEC approval, the NYSE recently increased its minimum net liquid asset
requirements. Currently, we are required to maintain minimum net liquid assets
of $284.3 million. Failure to maintain compliance with these required minimum
levels may subject us to suspension or revocation of registration by the SEC and
suspension or expulsion as a member of the NYSE and other regulatory bodies. If
this occurred, we would be unable to operate our business. In addition, a change
in these rules, the imposition of new rules or any unusually large requirement
or charge against our regulatory capital could limit any of our operations that
require the intensive use of capital. These rules could also restrict our
ability to withdraw capital from LaBranche & Co. Any limitation on our ability
to withdraw capital from LaBranche & Co. could limit our ability to receive
distributions from LaBranche & Co. and LaB Investing Co. L.L.C., which, in turn,
could limit our ability to pay cash dividends, repay debt and repurchase shares
of our outstanding stock. A substantial market decline, a significant operating
loss or any unusually large requirement or charge against regulatory capital
could adversely affect our ability to expand or even maintain our present levels
of business, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial
condition and/or operating results.

Employee misconduct is difficult to detect and deter and could result in losses.

      There have been a number of highly publicized cases involving fraud, stock
manipulation or other misconduct by employees in the financial services industry
in recent years, and we run the risk that


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employee misconduct could occur. Misconduct by employees could include binding
us to transactions that exceed authorized limits or present unacceptable risks,
or hiding from us unauthorized or unsuccessful activities, which, in either
case, may result in unknown and unmanaged risks or losses. Employee misconduct
could also involve the improper use or disclosure of confidential information,
which could result in regulatory sanctions and serious reputational or financial
harm. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct and the precautions
we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases.

      In connection with our recent acquisitions, we have employed nearly 100
additional employees. As a result of the increased number of employees and our
lack of experience working with these employees, the risk that we will not
detect or deter employee misconduct will increase.

We are subject to risk relating to litigation and potential securities laws
liability.

      Many aspects of our business involve substantial risks of liability. A
specialist is exposed to substantial risks of liability under federal and state
securities laws, other federal and state laws and court decisions, as well as
rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC and the NYSE. We are also subject
to the risk of litigation and claims that may be without merit. We could incur
significant legal expenses in defending ourselves against such lawsuits or
claims. An adverse resolution of any future lawsuits or claims against us could
have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or operating
results.

Counterparties may fail to pay us.

      As a specialist of listed stocks, the majority of our securities
transactions are conducted as principal with broker-dealer counterparties
located in the United States. The NYSE and the clearing houses monitor the
credit standing of the counterparties with which we conduct business. However,
we cannot assure you that any of these counterparties will not default on their
obligations. If any do, our business, financial condition and/or operating
results could be adversely affected.

Some of our executive officers are in a position to control matters requiring a
stockholder vote.

      Our managing directors currently own approximately 71.2% of our
outstanding common stock. These stockholders have entered into a stockholders'
agreement under which they have agreed, among other things, that their shares of
our common stock will be voted, for as long as they own their shares, as
directed by a majority vote of Michael LaBranche, our Chairman, Chief Executive
Officer and President, James G. Gallagher and Alfred O. Hayward, Jr., each an
executive officer and director. Accordingly, these individuals have the ability
to control all matters requiring approval by our stockholders. These matters
include the election and removal of directors and the approval of any merger,
consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of our assets. In addition,
they are able to dictate the management of our business and affairs. This
concentration of ownership could have the effect of delaying, deferring or
preventing a change in control, a merger or consolidation, a takeover or another
business combination.


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