R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC, the Chicago derivatives brokerage, is back in the hands of its founders after two private equity firms opted to sell back the control acquired in 2007 at the height of a flurry of deal-making in the sector.

The firm is one of the largest independent U.S. futures brokers, started in 1914 as a cash butter and egg specialist called John V. McCarthy & Co., and part of a coterie that developed Chicago’s role as the self-styled risk-management capital of the world. Get the full story »