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COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND OTHER | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2016
COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND OTHER |
| (1) | Retail customer transactions are cleared through clearing brokers on a fully disclosed basis. If customers do not fulfill their contractual obligations, the clearing broker may charge Siebert for any loss incurred in connection with the purchase or sale of securities at prevailing market prices to satisfy the customer obligations. Siebert regularly monitors the activity in its customer accounts for compliance with its margin requirements. Siebert is exposed to the risk of loss on unsettled customer transactions if customers are unable to fulfill their contractual obligations. There were no material losses for unsettled customer transactions in 2016, 2015 or 2014. Credit risk represents the potential loss that would occur if counterparties fail to perform pursuant to the terms of their obligations. The Company is subject to credit risk to the extent a custodian or broker with whom it conducts business is unable to fulfill contractual obligations.
| (2) | In the ordinary course of business the Company is named a party to certain claims, suits and complaints. In the opinion of management, pending matters are without merit, and their ultimate outcome will not have a significant effect on the financial position or results of operations of the Company.
| (3) | In July 2013, the Company extended its fully disclosed clearing agreement with its clearing b r oker through July 2017.
| (4) | On October 24, 2016 the Principal Executive Officer of the Company entered into a separation agreement pursuant to the Acquisition Agreement. Upon clos i ng of the transact i on con t emplated by the Acquisit i on Agreement, the Principal Executive Officer received a severance payment of $635,000 and is subject to the customary future cooperation, non-disparagement, confidentiality, employee and customer non-solicitation and re l ease provisions. The severance payment was funded from the proceeds of closing received by t h e Siebert Estate which has been a c counted for a capital contribut i on. The severance payment is included in professional fees and other expenses related to change in control in the income statement. (See Note B)
| (5) | In D ecember 2015, a t hen current employee of the Com p any commenced an arbitrat i on before F I NRA against the Company alleging a single cause of action for employment reta l iation under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. In February 2016, the employee amended his claim to replace the Sarbanes-Oxley claim with a substantially identical claim arising under the Dodd- Frank Act of 2010. On January 3 1, 2017, a settlement agreement was entered into pursuant to which the arbitration was dismissed with prejudice and the employee was paid $825,000 which was funded in January 2017 by KCA, which acquired controlling interest in Company (See N ote B). The settlement has been reflected as a loss in the accompanying financial statements with a corresponding liability. The payment of the liability by KCA will be accoun t e d fo r as a capital contribution.
| (6) | In July 2014, the Company entered into a settlement agreement in regards to a dispute with a former employee, in which the former employee sought, among other things, damages arising from his separation from the Company. The Company asserted counter claims in the arbitration. Pursuant to the settlement, the Company paid $4,300,000 to the former employee, and the claims and counterclaims have been dismissed and released. The accompanying 2014 statement of operations reflects a charge to give effect to the settlement.
| (7) | The Company rents discount retail brokerage and other office space under long-term operating leases expiring in various periods through 2017. These leases call for base rent plus escalations for taxes and operating expenses. In February 2017 the Company closed its New York office at end of its lease term and relocated to newly lease office space. The leases for the newly leased office space expire in September 2018.
|  | The 2017 and 2018 aggregate future minimum base rental payments under these operating leases are approximately $342,000 and $180,000 respectively.
|  | Rent expense, including escalations for operating costs, amounted to approximately $650,000, $776,000, $788,000 and for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. Rent is being charged to expense over the entire lease term on a straight-line basis.
| (8) | Siebert sponsors a defined contribution retirement plan under Section 401(k) of the Internal Revenue Code that covers substantially all employees. Participant contributions to the plan are voluntary and are subject to certain limitations. Siebert may also make discretionary contributions to the plan. No contributions were made by Siebert in 2016, 2015 and 2014.
Siebert, Brandford, Shank Financial LLC and Subsidiary |
COMMITMENTS, CONTINGENCIES AND OTHER | SBS rents office space under long-term operating leases expiring through 2026. These leases call for base rent plus escalations for property taxes and other operating expenses. SBSF rents office space under long-term operating leases expiring through 2020. These leases call for base rent plus escalations for property taxes and other operating expenses. Future minimum base rent under these operating leases as of December 31, 2014 are as follows:
December 31, 2014 |  | Amount |
2015 |  | $ | 1,043,000 |
2016 |  |  | 886,000 |
2017 |  |  | 639,000 |
2018 |  |  | 627,000 |
2019 |  |  | 587,000 |
Thereafter |  |  | 185,000 |
|  | $ | 3,967,000 |
Rent expense, including taxes and operating expenses for 2015 and 2014 amounted to $1,055,944 and $1,186,967, respectively. In prior years, SBS purchased leasehold improvements of approximately $620,000 which were reimbursed by the landlord. SBS recorded such reimbursement as a credit to deferred rent liability, which is being recognized as a reduction of rental expense on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. Rent expense is being charged to operations on a straight-line basis resulting in a deferred rent liability which, including the reimbursement discussed above amounted to $549,287 at December 31, 2014.

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