XML 18 R7.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.22.1
Organization
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization

1. Organization

Overview

Siebert Financial Corp., a New York corporation, incorporated in 1934, is a holding company that conducts the following lines of business through its wholly-owned and majority-owned subsidiaries:

Retail brokerage business through Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc. (“MSCO”), a Delaware corporation and broker-dealer registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and the Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”), the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (“SIPC”), and the National Futures Association (“NFA”). MSCO engages in the business of providing brokerage services for retail customers and trading securities for its own account.

Investment advisory services through Siebert AdvisorNXT, Inc. (“SNXT”), a New York corporation registered with the SEC as a Registered Investment Adviser (“RIA”) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. SNXT engages in providing investment advisory services to retail and high net worth clients.

Insurance services through Park Wilshire Companies, Inc. (“PW”), a Texas corporation and licensed insurance agency. PW provides insurance agency services to retail and institutional accounts.

Robo-advisory technology development through Siebert Technologies, LLC (“STCH”), a Nevada limited liability company.  

Prime brokerage services through RISE Financial Services, LLC (“RISE”), formerly known as WPS Prime Services, LLC (“WPS”), a Delaware limited liability company and a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and NFA. RISE is a woman-owned and operated financial services firm that offers a comprehensive suite of prime brokerage services aligned with the growing mission-driven Environmental Social and Governance (“ESG”) initiatives of institutional investors.

StockCross Digital Solutions, Ltd. (“STXD”), an inactive subsidiary headquartered in Bermuda.

For purposes of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the terms “Siebert,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Siebert Financial Corp., MSCO, SNXT, PW, STCH, RISE, and STXD collectively, unless the context otherwise requires.

The Company is headquartered in New York, NY, with primary operations in New Jersey, Florida, and California. The Company has 12 branch offices throughout the U.S. and clients around the world. The Company’s SEC filings are available through the Company’s website at www.siebert.com, where investors can obtain copies of the Company’s public filings free of charge. The Company’s common stock, par value $.01 per share, trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “SIEB.”

The Company primarily operates in the securities brokerage and asset management industry and has no other reportable segments. All of the Company's revenues for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 were derived from its operations in the U.S.

As of December 31, 2021, the Company is comprised of a single operating segment based on the factors related to management’s decision-making framework as well as management evaluating performance and allocating resources based on assessments of the Company from a consolidated perspective.

Transaction with Tigress Holdings, LLC

On November 16, 2021, the Company entered into an agreement with Tigress, a Delaware limited liability company. As part of the agreement, (i) Tigress transferred to the Company limited liability company membership interests representing twenty-four percent (24%) of the outstanding membership interests in Tigress; and (ii) the Company transferred to Tigress limited liability company membership interests representing twenty-four percent (24%) of the outstanding membership interests of RISE and 1,449,525 shares of the Company’s common stock. The common stock was issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

Siebert 2021 Form-10K 43


As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, Siebert holds a controlling financial interest in RISE and therefore consolidates RISE within its financial statements. Siebert owns the majority of RISE’s membership interest which has voting rights in proportion to its ownership interest in RISE. Siebert’s ownership percentage of RISE as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 was 76% and 100%, respectively. These consolidated financial statements reflect the results of operations and financial position of RISE, including consolidation of its investment in RISE. The noncontrolling interests in RISE are reported as a component of total equity in the consolidated statement of financial condition.

As part of the transaction, WPS Prime Services, LLC was renamed to RISE Financial Services, LLC, and Tigress’ founder, Cynthia DiBartolo, will continue as CEO of Tigress, and assumed the position as CEO of RISE. Gloria E. Gebbia, one of the Company’s and RISE’s directors, assumed the position of Chief Impact Officer at RISE. Ms. DiBartolo was appointed to the Company’s and RISE’s Board of Directors and Ms. Gebbia was appointed to Tigress’ Board of Directors.

RISE relaunched its business as a woman-owned and operated prime brokerage with a specific emphasis on aligning the mission-driven initiatives with the technological needs of institutional customers.

Arrangements with JonesTrading and Goldman Sachs

On August 30, 2021, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC ("GSCO") notified RISE that its clearing arrangement with RISE will be terminated.

Due to the termination of RISE’s clearing arrangement with GSCO, substantially all the revenue producing customers of RISE have transitioned to other prime service providers. Revenue from customers that have transitioned to other prime service providers was approximately $12.6 million and $13.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. Pre-tax income from these customers was approximately $1.8 million and $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, and 2020, respectively.

As a result of this development, the Company recorded a full impairment of the RISE customer relationships intangible asset of $699,000 and RISE collected its clearing deposit from GSCO of approximately $2 million as of December 31, 2021. In addition, RISE’s institutional customer assets under management were significantly reduced in the year ended December 31, 2021.

On October 7, 2021, RISE signed an agreement with JonesTrading Institutional Services, LLC (“JonesTrading”) to transfer certain customers of RISE to JonesTrading. In exchange, JonesTrading agreed to pay RISE a percentage of the net revenue produced by those clients less any related expenses. The percentage paid to RISE related to this agreement will decline every year and the arrangement will end in October 2024. For the year ended December 31, 2021, this agreement resulted in a net expense of $22,000 as RISE was in the process of transitioning customers to JonesTrading.

COVID-19

The challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy increased significantly starting in the first quarter of 2020. COVID-19 spread across the globe during 2020 and impacted economic activity worldwide. In response to COVID-19, national and local governments around the world instituted certain measures, including travel bans, prohibitions on group events and gatherings, shutdowns of certain businesses, curfews, shelter-in-place orders and recommendations to practice social distancing.

The primary financial impact on the Company from the COVID-19 pandemic for both the year ended December 31, 2021 and 2020 was lower interest revenue resulting from lower benchmark interest rates beginning in early 2020.

The Company is actively monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on its business, financial condition, liquidity, operations, employees, clients and business partners. Based on management’s assessment as of December 31, 2021, the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows is dependent on future developments, including the duration of the pandemic and the related length of its impact on the global economy, which are uncertain and cannot be predicted at this time.

Siebert 2021 Form-10K 44


Acquisition of StockCross

On January 25, 2019, the Company purchased approximately 15% of the outstanding shares of StockCross Financial Services, Inc. (“StockCross”). Subsequently, the Company acquired the remaining 85% of StockCross’ outstanding shares in exchange for 3,298,774 shares of the Company’s common stock. The Company’s common stock was issued pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Effective January 1, 2020, StockCross was merged with and into MSCO, and as of January 1, 2020, all clearing and other services provided by StockCross were performed by MSCO.

Prior to and as of the date of the Company’s acquisition of StockCross, the Company and StockCross were entities under common control of Gloria E. Gebbia, the Company’s principal stockholder, and members of her immediate family (collectively, the “Gebbia Family”). The acquisition represented a change in reporting entity.