The payment of dividends is subject to the discretion of our
Board of Directors and depends upon general business
conditions and other factors that our Board of Directors may
deem to be relevant.
Non-Voting Common Stock
On June 28, 2023, shareholders approved an Amended and
Restated Certificate of Incorporation, which authorized the
issuance of 35,000,000 shares of non-voting common stock with
a par value of $1.00 per share (the “Non-Voting Common
Shares”). The Non-Voting Common Shares are entitled to share
equally, on a per share basis, with the voting common stock, in
dividends and distributions. Upon the effectiveness of the
Amended and Restated Certificate of Corporation on June 30,
2023, the number of authorized shares of common stock
remains at 600,000,000 shares, composed of 565,000,000 shares
of voting common stock and 35,000,000 shares of Non-Voting
Common Shares.
Series B Preferred Stock
On April 27, 2023, we established Series B Non-Voting
Convertible Preferred Shares with a par value of $1.00 per share
(“Series B Preferred Stock”) and designated 70,000 shares as
Series B Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock has a
liquidation preference of $17,500 per share and rank senior to our
voting common stock upon dissolution, liquidation or winding up
of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Each share of Series B Preferred
Stock is automatically convertible into 500 shares of non-voting
common stock, subject to certain anti-dilution adjustments, three
years after issuance. The Series B Preferred Stock participates in
cash dividends and distributions alongside our voting common
stock on an as-converted basis.
Additionally, on April 27, 2023, we entered into an Exchange
Agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”),
which entitles SMBC to exchange shares of our voting common
stock for shares of the Series B Preferred Stock at a rate of 500
shares of voting common stock for one share of Series B
Preferred Stock. The Exchange Agreement is limited to 55,125
shares of Preferred Stock and SMBC is required to pay $1.50 per
share of voting common stock so exchanged. As of November
30, 2024, SMBC had cumulatively exchanged approximately 27.6
million shares of voting common stock for 55,125 shares of
Series B Preferred Stock. Following this exchange, SMBC
increased its ownership of our common stock on an as-converted
basis and fully-diluted, as-converted basis. As a result, the CEO of
Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. was elected and now
serves on our Board of Directors. On September 19, 2024, SMBC
purchased 9.2 million shares of our common stock. At May 31,
2025, SMBC owns approximately 15.7% of our common stock on
an as-converted basis and 14.5% on a fully-diluted, as-converted
basis. Refer to Note 22, Related Party Transactions for further
information regarding transactions with SMBC.
During the three and six months ended May 31, 2025, we paid
cash dividends of $11.0 million and $22.1 million, respectively,
compared to $6.3 million and $12.6 million for the three and six
months ended May 31, 2024, respectively, to the Series B
Preferred stockholder.
Net Capital
Jefferies LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a
member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(“FINRA”) and is subject to the SEC Uniform Net Capital Rule
(“Rule 15c3-1”), which requires the maintenance of minimum net
capital, and has elected to calculate minimum capital
requirements using the alternative method permitted by Rule
15c3-1 in calculating net capital. Jefferies LLC, as a dually-
registered U.S. broker-dealer and futures commission merchant
(“FCM”), is also subject to Regulation 1.17 of the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) under the Commodity
Exchange Act (“CEA”), which sets forth minimum financial
requirements. The minimum net capital requirement in
determining excess net capital for a dually registered U.S. broker-
dealer and FCM is equal to the greater of the requirement under
SEA Rule 15c3-1 or CFTC Regulation 1.17. Accordingly, FINRA is
the designated examining authority for Jefferies LLC and the
National Futures Association (“NFA”) is the designated self-
regulatory organization (“DSRO”) for Jefferies LLC as an FCM
Jefferies Financial Services, Inc. (“JFSI”) is registered with the
SEC as a Security-Based Swap Dealer (“SBS Dealer”) and an OTC
Derivatives Dealer (“OTCDD”) subject to the SEC’s SBS dealer
regulatory rules and the SEC’s net capital requirements pursuant
to Rule 18a-1. JFSI is also registered as a swap dealer with the
CFTC and is subject to the CFTC’s regulatory capital
requirements pursuant to the minimum financial requirements for
swap dealers under CFTC Regulation 23.101. Additionally, as a
registered member firm, JFSI is subject to the net capital
requirements of the NFA. Accordingly, the SEC is the designated
examining authority for JFSI in its capacity as an SBS Dealer and
OTCDD, while the NFA is the DSRO for JFSI, as a CFTC registered
swap dealer.
Certain non-U.S. subsidiaries are subject to capital adequacy
requirements as prescribed by the regulatory authorities in their
respective jurisdictions. This includes Jefferies International
Limited which is subject to the regulatory supervision and
requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) in the
U.K. Jefferies International Limited’s’ own funds requirement
represents the highest of the permanent minimum capital
requirement, fixed overheads requirement and k-factor
requirements set out in the Investment Firms Prudential Regime
(“IFPR”) under the FCA’s MIFIDPRU sourcebook.
At May 31, 2025, Jefferies LLC’s and JFSI’s net capital and
excess net capital were as follows (in thousands):
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Jefferies LLC ................................................................. | | |
JFSI - SEC ...................................................................... | | |
JFSI - CFTC ................................................................... | | |
In addition, the equivalent capital requirements for Jefferies
International Limited, on a consolidated basis, is a total capital of
$1.94 billion and an excess capital of $1.11 billion at May 31,
2025.
At May 31, 2025, Jefferies LLC, JFSI and JIL are in compliance
with their applicable requirements.
The regulatory capital requirements referred to above may
restrict our ability to withdraw capital from our regulated
subsidiaries.
Customer Protection and Segregation Requirement
As a registered broker dealer that clears and carries customer
accounts, Jefferies LLC is subject to the customer protection
provisions under SEC Rule 15c3-3 and is required to compute a
reserve formula requirement for customer accounts and deposit
cash or qualified securities into a special reserve bank account
for the exclusive benefit of customers. At May 31, 2025, Jefferies
LLC had $164.3 million in cash and qualified U.S. Government
securities on deposit in special reserve bank accounts for the
exclusive benefit of customers.
