Risk and Uncertainties

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

NOTE 24 — RISK AND UNCERTAINTIES

The Company is exposed to the following concentrations of risk:

(a)	Major customers

For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the customers who accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s revenues and its outstanding receivable balances at year-end dates, are presented as follows:

	For the year ended December 31, 2024					As of December 31, 2024
Customer	Revenues		Percentage of revenues			Accounts receivable
Customer A	$	4,726		17	%	$	141
Customer B	$	3,841		14	%	$	—

	For the year ended December 31, 2023					As of December 31, 2023
Customer	Revenues		Percentage of revenues			Accounts receivable
Customer A	$	14,452		27	%	$	1,092
Customer B	$	5,961		11	%	$	61
Customer C	$	5,923		11	%	$	2

(b)	Credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to credit risk consist of cash equivalents, restricted cash, accounts receivable, loans receivable, and notes receivables. Cash equivalents are maintained with high credit quality institutions, the composition and maturities of which are regularly monitored by management. As of December 31, 2024, the Company maintained a total of approximately $17.26 million at financial institutions, consisting of approximately $15.86 million held in Hong Kong, including a cash balance of approximately $1.66 million and escrow funds of approximately $14.20 million, of which approximately $15.86 million was subject to credit risk, and approximately $1.40 million in cash held in the United States. These balances are protected by the Hong Kong Deposit Protection Board, which provides coverage up to a limit of HK$0.8 million (approximately $0.1 million) if the bank with which an individual/a company hold its eligible deposit fails, effective from October 1, 2024, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) in the United States. While management considers these financial institutions to be of high credit quality, it continuously monitors their creditworthiness.

For accounts receivable and loans and notes receivables, the Company determines, on a continuing basis, the probable losses and sets up an allowance for expected credit losses based on the estimated realizable value. Credit of money lending business is controlled by the application of credit approvals, limits and monitoring procedures.

The Company uses internally-assigned risk grades to estimate the capability of borrowers to repay the contractual obligations of their loan agreements as scheduled or at all. The Company’s internal risk grade system is based on experiences with similarly graded loans and the assessment of borrower credit quality, such as, credit risk scores, collateral and collection history. Individual credit scores are assessed by credit bureau, such as TransUnion. Internal risk grade ratings reflect the credit quality of the borrower, as well as the value of collateral held as security. To minimize credit risk, the Company requires collateral arrangements to all mortgage loans and has policies and procedures for validating the reasonableness of the collateral valuations on a regular basis. Management believes that these policies effectively manage the credit risk from advances.

(c)	Economic and political risk

The Company’s major operations are conducted in Hong Kong and the United States of America. Accordingly, the political, economic, and legal environments in Hong Kong and the United States of America, as well as the general state of their economies may influence the Company’s business, financial condition, and results of operations.

In February 2022, the Russian Federation and Belarus commenced a military action with the country of Ukraine. As a result of this action, various nations, including the United States, have instituted economic sanctions against the Russian Federation and Belarus. Further, the impact of this action and related sanctions on the world economy are not determinable as of the date of these consolidated financial statements. The specific impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows is also not determinable as of the date of these consolidated financial statements.

(d)	Exchange rate risk

The Company cannot guarantee that the current exchange rate will remain steady; therefore there is a possibility that the Company could post the same amount of profit for two comparable periods and because of the fluctuating exchange rate actually post higher or lower profit depending on exchange rate of HKD converted to US$ and Sterling on that date. The exchange rate could fluctuate depending on changes in political and economic environments without notice.

For the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, the Company recorded the foreign exchange loss of approximately $0.70 million and foreign exchange gain of approximately $0.91 million, respectively, mainly attributable from the long-term investments which are mostly denominated in Sterling.

(e)	Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Company will not be able to meet its financial obligations as they become due. The Company’s policy is to ensure that it has sufficient cash to meet its liabilities when they become due, under both normal and stressed conditions, without incurring unacceptable losses or risking damage to the Company’s reputation. A key risk in managing liquidity is the degree of uncertainty in the cash flow projections. If future cash flows are fairly uncertain, the liquidity risk increases.