1. Introduction
LEX Markets LLC (“LEX”) is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and FINRA, and is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Additional information about LEX is available at https://brokercheck.finra.org/. This document sets forth certain disclosures and other information about the brokerage services LEX offers its retail customers.
2. Relationships and Services
What investment services and advice can you provide me?
LEX provides investment services and advise solely with respect to the commercial real estate securities LEX offers as placement agent (the “LEX Securities”). You cannot invest in any securities other than LEX Securities through LEX.
LEX provides an electronic user interface (the “LEX UI”) for investors to research and choose themselves which LEX Securities they would like to invest in. LEX does not provide any individualized advice or recommendations as to which LEX Securities are best suited for any particular investor, or as to whether LEX Securities are suitable for any particular investor at all. Any investment advice or recommendations contained on the LEX UI are applicable to all investors generally, and include numerous risk factors and disclaimers.
LEX does not monitor its customers investments and does not accept discretionary authority to act on its customers’ behalf. Each LEX customer must make all investment decisions on his or her own behalf.
LEX does not require any minimum balance to open an account. LEX Securities are initially priced at $100 per share and an investor is permitted to purchase only one share.
Additional information about LEX and its services is available at https://www.LEX-Markets.com/.
“Given my financial situation, should I choose a brokerage service? Why or whynot?”
LEX offers only a narrow range of brokerage services and is intended for use only by investors wishing to invest in commercial real estate who are comfortable making their own investment decisions. If you would like to invest in other types of securities or would like individualized assistance in selecting your investments, you should use a different brokerage service.
“How will you choose investments to recommend to me?”
LEX does not choose or recommend any particular investments for any particular customer. All offerings and recommendations made by LEX are directed to all investors generally.
“What is your relevant experience, including your licenses, education and other qualifications? What do these qualifications mean?”
LEX’s financial professionals are each licensed by FINRA and have successfully completed various qualification examinations to obtain those licenses. Additional information about LEX’s leadership team’s experience is available at https://www.LEX-Markets.com/.
3. Fees, Costs, Conflicts, and Standard of Conduct
“What fees will I pay?”
LEX earns revenue from three sources: (a) placement fees for its work on initial offerings of LEX Securities; (b) annual platform fees charged to issuers to have their shares included on the LEX platform; and (c) access fees charged to brokers who execute secondary trades on LEX’s Alternative Trading System (ATS).
Retail investors do not pay placement fees; those fees are paid by an affiliate of each issuer and are “no load” to the purchasers of LEX Securities. Retail investors pay platform fees indirectly; those fees are paid by each issuer, reducing the quarterly dividends paid to the holders of LEX Securities, which include retail investors. Retail investors may pay access fees for secondary trades on the LEX ATS, depending on whether their broker passes those fees along to their customers. For LEX’s brokerage customers, LEX absorbs the access fees charged by the LEX ATS and does not pass them along to brokerage customers.
LEX does not charge any trading commissions other than the fees described above.
You will pay the above fees and costs whether you make or lose money on your investments. The above fees and costs will reduce any amount of money you make on your investments over time. Please make sure you understand what fees and costs you are paying.
“Help me understand how these fees and costs might affect my investments. If I give you $10,000 to invest, how much will go to fees and costs, and how much will be invested for me?”
If you give LEX $10,000 to invest, 100% of that amount will be invested in LEX Securities held in your name. If the LEX Security you invest in pays 6% in annual income/dividends, that amount will be net of an additional 1% platform fee that the issuer of that LEX Security pays to LEX (in the absence of the platform fee, the LEX Security would have paid 7% in annual income/dividends).
“What are your legal obligations to me when providing recommendations? How else does your firm make money and what conflicts of interest do you have?”
LEX does not provide any individualized recommendations to any investors. LEX is not affiliated with any issuers of LEX Securities. LEX does not buy or sell any LEX Securities for its own account. LEX does not make money from any activities of the issuers or of LEX’s retail customers other than as set forth above.
“How might your conflicts of interest affect me, and how will you address them?”
LEX has structured its business model to minimize conflicts of interest. LEX makes nearly all of its money from issuers, not from retail investors, and LEX Securities are deliberately structured to minimize costs to investors.
“How do your financial professionals make money?”
LEX’s financial professionals are paid salaries plus discretionary bonuses. They are not compensated based on transaction volume.
4. Disciplinary History
“Do you or your financial professionals have legal or disciplinary history?”
No. Current reports of any legal or disciplinary history of LEX’s financial professionals are available at https://brokercheck.finra.org/.
“As a financial professional, do you have any disciplinary history? For what type of conduct?”
No. Current reports of any legal or disciplinary history of LEX’s financial professionals are available at https://brokercheck.finra.org/.
5. Additional Information
Additional information about LEX and the most current version of this Form CRS is available at https://www.LEX-Markets.com/ or by calling 212-655-9816.
“Who is my primary contact person? Is he or she a representative of an investment adviser or a broker-dealer? Who can I talk to if I have concerns about how this person is treating me?”
LEX customers do not have dedicated representatives. If you have any questions or concerns about the brokerage services offered by LEX, please email support@LEX-Markets.com.