EXHIBIT 31.1

RULE 13a-14(a) CERTIFICATION OF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

I, Richard J. Lampen, certify that:

1. I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services Inc.;

2. Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact

necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report;

3. Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all

material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods

presented in this report;

4. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and

procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as

defined in Exchange Act rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

(a) Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed

under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated

subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is

being prepared;

(b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be

designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the

preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles;

(c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant’s disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our

conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this

report based on such evaluation; and

(d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the

registrant’s most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has

materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting;

and

5. The registrant’s other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over

financial reporting, to the registrant’s auditors and the audit committee of registrant’s board of directors (or persons

performing the equivalent functions):

(a) All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial

reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report

financial information; and

(b) Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the

registrant’s internal control over financial reporting.

Date: May 9, 2018

/s/ Richard J. Lampen     

Richard J. Lampen

President and Chief Executive Officer

(Principal Executive Officer)