Leases

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2021

4. Leases

In the first quarter of 2019, the Company adopted ASU 2016-02, "Leases". The ASU requires the recognition of a right-of-use asset and lease liability on the condensed consolidated balance sheet by lessees for those leases classified as operating leases under previous guidance. The Company elected the modified retrospective method which did not result in a cumulative-effect adjustment at the date of adoption.

The Company and its subsidiaries have operating leases for office space and equipment expiring at various dates through 2034. The Company leases its corporate headquarters at 85 Broad Street, New York, New York which houses its executive management team and many administrative functions for the firm as well as its research, trading, investment banking, and asset management divisions and an office in Troy, Michigan, which among other things, houses its payroll and human resources departments. In addition, the Company has 92 retail branch offices in the United States as well as offices in London, England, St. Helier, Isle of Jersey, Geneva, Switzerland, Munich, Germany, Tel Aviv, Israel and Hong Kong, China.

The Company is constantly assessing its needs for office space and, on a rolling basis, has many leases that expire in any given year.

The majority of the leases are held by the Company's subsidiary, Viner Finance Inc., which is a consolidated subsidiary and 100% owned by the Company.

Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; the Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Most leases include an option to renew and the exercise of lease renewal options is at the Company's sole discretion. The Company did not include the renewal options as part of the right of use assets and liabilities.

The depreciable life of assets and leasehold improvements is limited by the expected lease term. The Company's lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees or material restrictive covenants.

As of March 31, 2021, the Company had right-of-use operating lease assets of $155.7 million (net of accumulated amortization of $56.8 million) which are comprised of real estate leases of $153.2 million (net of accumulated amortization of $52.6 million) and equipment leases of $2.5 million (net of accumulated amortization of $4.2 million). As of March 31, 2021, the Company had operating lease liabilities of $194.8 million which are comprised of real estate lease liabilities of $192.3 million and equipment lease liabilities of $2.5 million. As of March 31, 2021, the Company had not made any cash payments for amounts included in the measurement of operating lease liabilities or right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease obligations. The Company had no finance leases or embedded leases as of March 31, 2021.

As most of the Company's leases do not provide an implicit rate, the Company uses the incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments. The Company used the incremental borrowing rate on January 1, 2019 for operating leases that commenced prior to that date. The Company used the incremental borrowing rate as of the lease commencement date for the operating leases that commenced subsequent to January 1, 2019.

The following table presents the weighted average lease term and weighted average discount rate for the Company's operating leases as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively:


	As of
	March 31, 2021	December 31, 2020

Weighted average remaining lease term (in years)	7.66	7.84
Weighted average discount rate	7.32%	7.43%

The following table presents operating lease costs recognized for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, respectively, which are included in occupancy and equipment costs on the condensed consolidated income statements:


(Expressed in thousands)
	For the Three Months Ended March 31,
		2021		2020
Operating lease costs:
Real estate leases - Right-of-use lease asset amortization		$	6,056	$	5,740
Real estate leases - Interest expense		3,596		3,911
Equipment leases - Right-of-use lease asset amortization		445		473
Equipment leases - Interest expense		39		54

The maturities of lease liabilities as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 are as follows:


(Expressed in thousands)
	As of
	March 31, 2021		December 31, 2020
2021	$	31,480	$	40,981
2022	38,610		36,999
2023	35,592		33,984
2024	30,916		29,425
2025	25,377		23,872
After 2025	94,474		92,069
Total lease payments	$	256,449	$	257,330
Less interest	(61,678)		(63,957)
Present value of lease liabilities	$	194,771	$	193,373

As of March 31, 2021, the Company had $18.7 million of additional operating leases that have not yet commenced ($19.2 million as of December 31, 2020).