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Organization and Basis of Presentation
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Organization and Basis of Presentation

1. Organization and Basis of Presentation

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 subsidiaries:

Retail brokerage business through Muriel Siebert & Co., Inc. (“MSCO”), a Delaware corporation and broker-dealer registered with the SEC

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, as amended

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

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

Prime brokerage services through WPS Prime Services, LLC (“WPS”), a Delaware limited liability company and a broker-dealer registered with the SEC

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

For purposes of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, the terms “Siebert,” “Company,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to Siebert Financial Corp., MSCO, SNXT, PW, STCH, WPS, 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 15+ 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 three and six months ended June 30, 2021 and 2020 were derived from its operations in the U.S.

As of June 30, 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.

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. 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.

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 the three months ended June 30, 2021 was lower interest revenue resulting from lower benchmark interest rates.

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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 June 30, 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.

Refer to Part I, Item 2 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of this Report for additional detail on COVID-19 and its impact on the Company.

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements (“financial statements”) of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. (“GAAP”) for interim financial information with the instructions for Form 10-Q and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete annual financial statements. In the opinion of management, the financial statements contain all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring entries) necessary to fairly present such interim results. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of the results of operations which may be expected for a full year or any subsequent period. These financial statements should be read in conjunction with the financial statements and notes thereto in the Company’s 2020 Form 10-K. The financial statements include the accounts of Siebert and its wholly-owned subsidiaries and upon consolidation, all intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated. The U.S. dollar is the functional currency of the Company and numbers are rounded for presentation purposes.

Significant Accounting Policies

The Company’s significant accounting policies are included in Note 2 – Summary of Significant Accounting Policies in the Company’s 2020 Form 10-K, and any updates as of June 30, 2021 are listed below.

Investments, Cost

Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-01, Financial Instruments – Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, generally requires entities to measure equity investments (other than equity method investments, controlling financial interests that result in consolidation of the investee and certain other investments) at fair value and recognize any changes in fair value in net income. However, entities will be able to elect a measurement alternative for equity investments that do not have readily determinable fair values and do not qualify for the practical expedient in ASC 820 to estimate fair value using the net asset value (NAV) per share.

Pursuant to ASU 2016-01, the Company has made an accounting policy election to measure equity securities without readily determinable fair value at cost, less any impairment, adjusted for any changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer.

Other than the updates described above, there have been no material changes to the Company’s significant accounting policies.