IT E M 1A. RISK FACTORS.

You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. If any of these risks actually occur, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be adversely affected. The risks and uncertainties described below constitute all of the material risks of the Company of which we are currently aware; however, the risks and uncertainties described below may not be the only risks the Company will face. Additional risks and uncertainties of which we are presently unaware, or that we do not currently deem to be material, may become important factors that affect us and could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and the trading price of our securities. Investing in the Company’s securities involves risk and the following risk factors, together with the other information contained in this report and the other reports and documents filed by us with the SEC, should be considered carefully.

Risks Related to Our Business

Difficult market conditions have adversely affected our business in many ways and may continue to adversely affect our business in a manner which could materially reduce our revenues.

Our business has been and will continue to be materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets and economic conditions throughout the world. The past several years have been extremely volatile and have presented many challenges including declines in the housing and credit markets in the U.S. and Europe and heightened concerns over the creditworthiness of various financial institutions. Global credit markets have continued to experience illiquidity and wider credit spreads. These factors have resulted in significant declines in the performance of financial assets in general with even more severe pressure on securitized financial assets.

Our Capital Markets segment has been and continues to be materially and directly affected by conditions in the global financial markets. As a result of various acquisitions and bankruptcies stemming from the credit crisis, consolidation in certain sectors of the financial services industry has created pricing pressures in our Capital Markets segment as some of our competitors seek to increase market share by reducing prices and institutional investors have reduced the amounts they are willing to pay for our services.

Our asset management revenues and investments in collateralized debt obligations have been and continue to be materially and directly affected by conditions in the global securitization markets. Further, since a significant portion of our asset management contracts and collateralized debt obligation investments relate to entities that are collateralized by securities issued by banks and insurance companies, and real estate-related securities, we have been and continue to be directly and materially affected by adverse changes in those sectors. During the past few years of unfavorable market and economic conditions, including loss of confidence of ratings agencies, the credit quality of certain assets underlying collateralized debt obligations has been adversely affected and investors have been and continue to be unwilling to invest in collateralized debt obligations. As a result, our profitability has been adversely affected, and these same factors may continue to adversely affect our business. The future market and economic climate may further deteriorate due to factors beyond our control, including rising interest rates or inflation, increasing unemployment, continued turmoil in the global credit markets, terrorism or political uncertainty.

In addition, since the collapse of the new issue securitization market, our new issue revenues have been a much smaller component of our overall revenues. If we are unable to increase these revenues, or replace them with new or other sources of revenue, our results of operations could continue to be adversely affected.

A prolonged economic slowdown, volatility in the markets, a recession, declining real estate values and increasing interest rates could impair our investments and harm our operating results.

Our investments are, and will continue to be, susceptible to economic slowdowns, recessions and rising interest rates, which may lead to financial losses in our investments and a decrease in revenues, net income and asset values. These events may reduce the value of our investments, reduce the number of attractive investment opportunities available to us and harm our operating results, which, in turn, may adversely affect our cash flow from operations.

Our ability to raise capital in the long-term or short-term debt capital markets or the equity markets, or to access secured lending markets, has been and could continue to be adversely affected by conditions in the U.S. and international markets and the economy. Global market and economic conditions have been, and continue to be, disrupted and volatile. In particular, the cost and availability of funding have been and may continue to be adversely affected by illiquid credit markets and wider credit spreads. As a result of concern about the stability of the markets generally and the strength of counterparties specifically, many lenders and institutional investors have reduced and, in some cases, ceased to provide funding to borrowers. Continued turbulence in the U.S. and international markets and economy may adversely affect our liquidity and financial condition and the willingness of certain counterparties to do business with us.

We may experience further write downs of financial instruments and other losses related to the volatile and illiquid market conditions.

The credit markets in the U.S. began suffering significant disruption in the summer of 2007. Available liquidity, particularly through ABS, collateralized debt obligations and other securitizations, declined precipitously during 2007, continued to decline in 2008 and remains significantly depressed. Concerns about the capital adequacy of financial services companies, disruptions in global credit markets, volatility in commodities prices and price declines in the U.S. housing market have led to further disruptions in the financial markets, adversely affecting regional banks, and have exacerbated the longevity and severity of the credit crisis. The disruption in these markets generally, and in the U.S. and European real estate markets in particular, has directly impacted and may continue to directly impact our business because our investment portfolio includes investments in MBS, residential mortgages, leveraged loans and bank and insurance company debt. Furthermore, the asset management revenues we derive from collateralized debt obligations that hold these types of investments are based on the outstanding performing principal balance of those investments. Therefore, as adverse market conditions result in defaults within these collateralized debt obligations, our management fees have declined and may continue to decline. We have exposure to these markets and products, and if market conditions continue to worsen, the fair value of our investments and our management fees could further deteriorate. In addition, market volatility, illiquid market conditions and disruptions in the global credit markets have made it extremely difficult to value certain of our securities. Subsequent valuations, in light of factors then prevailing, may result in significant changes in the values of these securities, and when such securities are sold, it may be at a price materially lower than the current fair value. Any of these factors could require us to take further write downs in the fair value of our investment portfolio or cause our management fees to decline, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations in future periods.

We have incurred losses for the period covered by this report and in the recent past, and may incur losses in the future.

The Company recorded net losses of $19.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2013 and of $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2012. We may incur additional losses in future periods. If we are unable to finance future losses, those losses may have a significant effect on our liquidity as well as our ability to operate our business.

In addition, the Company may incur significant expenses in connection with initiating new business activities or in connection with any expansion or reorganization of our businesses. We may also engage in strategic acquisitions and investments for which we may incur significant expenses. Accordingly, we may need to increase our revenue at a rate greater than our expenses in order to achieve and maintain our profitability. If our revenue does not increase sufficiently, or even if our revenue does increase but we are unable to manage our expenses, we will not achieve and maintain profitability in future periods.

We have experienced difficulties in our Capital Markets segment over the past several years due to intense competition in our industry, which has resulted in significant strain on our administrative, operational and financial resources. These difficulties may continue in the future.

The financial services industry and all of our businesses are intensely competitive, and we expect them to remain so. We compete with commercial banks, brokerage firms, insurance companies, sponsors of mutual funds, hedge funds and other companies offering financial services in the United States, globally, and through the internet. We compete on the basis of several factors, including transaction execution, capital or access to capital, products and services, innovation, reputation, risk appetite and price. Over time, certain sectors of the financial services industry have become more concentrated as institutions involved in a broad range of financial services have been acquired by or merged into other firms or have declared bankruptcy. These developments could result in our competitors gaining greater capital and other resources such as a broader range of products and services and geographic diversity. We have experienced and may continue to experience pricing pressures in our Capital Markets segment as a result of these factors and as some of our competitors seek to increase market share by reducing prices.

During 2011,  2012 and 2013, both margins and volumes in certain products and markets within the corporate bond brokerage business have decreased materially as competition has increased and general market activity has declined. Further, we expect that competition will increase over time, resulting in continued margin pressure. These challenges have materially adversely affected our Capital Markets segment’s results of operations and may continue to do so.

We intend to focus on improving the performance of our Capital Markets segment, which could place additional demands on our resources and increase our expenses. Improving the performance of our Capital Markets segment will depend on, among other things, our ability to successfully identify groups and individuals to join our firm. It may take more than a year for us to determine whether we have successfully integrated new individuals and capabilities into our operations. During that time, we may incur significant expenses and expend significant time and resources toward training, integration and business development. In addition, our membership agreement with FINRA limits the number of representatives who have direct contact with our public customers without FINRA review and approval. The need to obtain such approval could slow or prevent our growth. If we are unable to hire and retain senior management or other qualified personnel, such as sales people and traders, we will not be able to grow our business and our financial results may be materially and adversely affected.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully improve the operations of our Capital Markets segment, and any failure to do so could have a material adverse effect on our ability to generate revenue and control expenses.

The failure of the Company to successfully integrate the operations of CCPR and JVB may not result in improved profitability and could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition and operating results.

On January 31, 2014, the Company completed the merger of its two registered broker-dealer subsidiaries, CCPR and JVB, into a single broker-dealer subsidiary which now operates under the JVB brand.  In connection with the merger, the Company reduced the size of its workforce by approximately 20%, which has placed and will continue to place a burden on our management, systems and resources, and will generally increase our dependence on key persons and reduce functional back-ups.  Many of the employees who were terminated possessed specific knowledge or expertise, and we may be unable to transfer that knowledge or expertise to our remaining employees.  In that case, the absence of such employees may create significant operational difficulties.  As a result, our ability to respond to unexpected challenges may be impaired, and we may be unable to take advantage of new opportunities.  Further, the measures which we have adopted may not result in the improved profitability which we are seeking to achieve.

In addition, we will continue to need to overcome significant challenges to realize the expected benefits and synergies of the merger of CCPR and JVB. These challenges include:

• integrating the management teams, strategies, cultures, technologies and operations of the two broker-dealers;

• retaining and assimilating the key personnel of the two broker-dealers;

• retaining clients of the two broker-dealers;

• implementing uniform standards, controls, procedures, policies and information systems; and

• achieving revenue growth.

There is no assurance that the two broker-dealers will be successfully integrated. It is possible that the integration process could result in the disruption of the ongoing businesses or inconsistencies in standards, procedures and policies due to possible cultural conflicts or differences of opinions on technical decisions and product road maps that adversely affect the Company’s ability to maintain relationships with clients, suppliers and employees or to achieve the anticipated benefits of such acquisitions.

If we fail to manage our cost reductions effectively, our business could be disrupted and our financial results could be adversely affected.

In response to the financial market disruption, the Company implemented restructuring objectives to reduce infrastructure costs and reposition itself in the financial services industry. Beginning in 2010 and continuing into 2013, the Company executed initiatives that created efficiencies within its business and decreased operating expenses through a reduction in workforce, realignment of operating facilities, a merger of its two registered U.S. broker-dealer subsidiaries, and restructuring of operating systems and system support. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, we curtailed our investment in brokerage and market data and analytics services, including investments in personnel, technology and infrastructure. If these objectives do not have the desired effects or result in the projected increased efficiencies, the Company may incur additional or unexpected expenses, reputation damage, or loss of customers which would adversely affect the Company’s operations and revenues.

In addition, during 2013, we further reduced our headcount. Our cost reduction initiatives have placed and will continue to place a burden on our management, systems and resources, and will generally increase our dependence on key persons and reduce functional back-ups. Many of the employees who were terminated possessed specific knowledge or expertise, and we may be unable to transfer that knowledge or expertise to our remaining employees. In that case, the absence of such employees may create significant operational difficulties. Further, the reduction in workforce may reduce employee morale and create concern among potential and existing employees about job security, which may lead to difficulty in hiring and increased turnover in our current workforce, and place undue strain upon our operational resources. In addition, we may experience further reductions in our workforce, which would compound the risks we face. As a result, our ability to respond to unexpected challenges may be impaired, and we may be unable to take advantage of new opportunities.

We must retain, train, supervise and manage our remaining employees effectively during this period of change in our business, and our ability to retain our employees may become more difficult as we face an increasingly competitive landscape.

In response to changes in industry and market conditions, the Company may be required to further strategically realign its resources and consider restructuring, disposing of, or otherwise exiting businesses. We cannot assure you that we will be able to:

• Expand our capabilities or systems effectively;

• Successfully develop new products or services;

• Allocate our human resources optimally;

• Identify, hire or retain qualified employees or vendors;

• Incorporate effectively the components of any business that we may acquire in our effort to achieve growth;

• Sell businesses or assets at their fair market value; or

• Effectively manage the costs associated with exiting a business.

Our Capital Markets segment depends significantly on a limited group of customers.

From time to time, based on market conditions, a small number of our customers may account for a significant portion of our revenues earned in our Capital Markets segment. None of our customers is obligated contractually to use our services. Accordingly, these customers may direct their activities to other firms at any time. The loss of or a significant reduction in demand for our services from any of these customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

If we do not retain our senior management and continue to attract and retain qualified personnel, we may not be able to execute our business strategy.

The members of our senior management team have extensive experience in the financial services industry. Their reputations and relationships with investors, financing sources and members of the business community in our industry, among others, are critical elements in operating and expanding our business. As a result, the loss of the services of one or more members of our senior management team could impair our ability to execute our business strategies, which could hinder our ability to achieve and sustain profitability.

The Operating LLC has entered into an employment agreement (including non-competition provisions) with each of Mr. Daniel G. Cohen, our Vice Chairman, Mr. Lester R. Brafman, our Chief Executive Officer, and Mr. Joseph W. Pooler, Jr., our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, and the term of each such employment agreement ends on December 31, 2014. The employment agreements with Mr. Cohen and Mr. Pooler provide that the term will be renewed automatically for additional one-year periods, unless terminated by either of the parties in accordance with the terms of each of the employment agreements. There can be no assurance that the terms of the employment agreements will provide sufficient incentives for each of the executive officers to continue employment with us.

We depend on the diligence, experience, skill and network of business contacts of our executive officers and employees in connection with (1) our Capital Markets segment, (2) our asset management operations, (3) our investment activities, and (4) the evaluation, negotiation, structuring and management of our investment funds, permanent capital vehicles, and structured products. Our business depends on the expertise of our personnel and their ability to work together as an effective team and our success depends substantially on our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Competition for employees with the necessary qualifications is intense, and we may not be successful in our efforts to recruit and retain the required personnel. The inability to retain and recruit qualified personnel could affect our ability to provide an acceptable level of service to our clients and funds, attract new clients, and develop new lines of business, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Payment of severance could strain our cash flow.

Certain members of our senior management have agreements that provide for substantial severance payments. Should several of these senior managers leave our employ under circumstances entitling them to severance, or become disabled or die, the need to pay these severance benefits could put a strain on our cash flow.

Our business will require a significant amount of cash, and if it is not available, our business and financial performance will be significantly harmed.

We require a substantial amount of cash to fund our investments, pay our expenses and hold our assets. More specifically, we require cash to:

• meet our working capital requirements and debt service obligations;

• make seed investments in investment vehicles;

• make incremental investments in our Capital Markets segment;

• hire new employees; and

• meet other needs.

Our primary sources of working capital and cash are expected to consist of:

• revenue from operations, including net trading revenue, asset management revenue, new issue and advisory revenue, interest income and dividends from our investment portfolio and potential monetization of principal investments;

• interest income from temporary investments and cash equivalents;

• sales of assets; and

• proceeds from future borrowings or any offerings of our equity or debt securities.

We may not be able to generate a sufficient amount of cash from operations and investing and financing activities in order to successfully execute our business strategy.

Failure to obtain or maintain adequate capital and funding would adversely affect the growth and results of our operations and may, in turn, negatively affect the market price of our common stock par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”).

Liquidity is essential to our businesses. We depend upon the availability of adequate funding and capital for our operations. In particular, we may need to raise additional capital in order to significantly grow our business. Our liquidity could be substantially adversely affected by our inability to raise funding in the long-term or short-term debt capital markets or the equity capital markets or our inability to access the secured lending markets. Factors that we cannot control, such as continued or additional disruption of the financial markets, or negative views about the financial services industry generally, have limited and may continue to limit our ability to raise capital. In addition, our ability to raise capital could be impaired if lenders develop a negative perception of our long-term or short-term financial prospects. Such negative perceptions could be developed if we incur large trading losses, we suffer a decline in the level of our business activity, we suffer material litigation losses, regulatory authorities take significant action against us, or we discover significant employee misconduct or illegal activity, among other reasons. Sufficient funding or capital may not be available to us in the future on terms that are acceptable, or at all. If we are unable to raise funding using the methods described above, we would likely need to finance or liquidate unencumbered assets, such as our investment and trading portfolios, in order to meet our maturing liabilities. We may be unable to sell some of our assets, or we may have to sell assets at a discount from market value, either of which could adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. In addition, in May 2014, some or all of the holders of our 10.50% contingent convertible senior notes due 2027 may exercise their right to require us to repurchase up to $3.1 million aggregate principal amount of their notes. Our liquidity could be constrained if we are unable to obtain financing to pay for such repurchases on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to meet our funding needs on a timely basis, our business would be adversely affected and there may be a negative impact on the market price of our Common Stock.

The lack of liquidity in certain investments may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We hold investments in securities of private companies, investment funds, collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations. A portion of these securities may be subject to legal and other restrictions on resale or may otherwise be less liquid than publicly traded securities. The illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult for us to sell such investments if the need arises.

If we are unable to manage the risks of international operations effectively, our business could be adversely affected.

We provide services and products to clients in Europe, through offices in London, Paris and Madrid and may seek to further expand our international operations in the future. There are certain additional risks inherent in doing business in international markets, particularly in the regulated brokerage and asset management industries. These risks include:

• additional regulatory requirements;

• difficulties in recruiting and retaining personnel and managing the international operations;

• potentially adverse tax consequences, tariffs and other trade barriers;

• adverse labor laws; and

• reduced protection for intellectual property rights.

If we are unable to manage any of these risks effectively, our business could be adversely affected.

In addition, our international operations expose us to the risk of fluctuations in currency exchange rates generally and fluctuations in the exchange rates for the Euro and the British Pound Sterling in particular. Although we may hedge our foreign currency risk, we may not be able to do so successfully and may incur losses that could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

The securities settlement process exposes us to risks that may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We provide brokerage services to our clients in the form of “matched principal transactions” or by providing liquidity by purchasing securities from them on a principal basis.  In “matched principal transactions” we act as a “middleman” by serving as a counterparty to both a buyer and a seller in matching reciprocal back-to-back trades. These transactions, which generally involve bonds, are then settled through clearing institutions with which we have a contractual relationship. There is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain existing contractual relationships with clearing institutions on favorable terms or that we will be able to establish relationships with new clearing institutions on favorable terms, or at all.

In executing matched principal transactions, we are exposed to the risk that one of the counterparties to a transaction may fail to fulfill its obligations, either because it is not matched immediately or, even if matched, one party fails to deliver the cash or securities

it is obligated to deliver upon settlement. In addition, some of the products we trade or may trade in the future are in less commoditized markets which may exacerbate this risk because transactions in such markets may not to settle on a timely basis. Adverse movements in the prices of securities that are the subject of these transactions can increase our risk. In addition, widespread technological or communication failures, as well as actual or perceived credit difficulties, or the insolvency of one or more large or visible market participants, could cause market-wide credit difficulties or other market disruptions. These failures, difficulties or disruptions could result in a large number of market participants not settling transactions or otherwise not performing their obligations.

We are subject to financing risk in these circumstances because if a transaction does not settle on a timely basis, the resulting unmatched position may need to be financed, either directly by us or through one of our clearing organizations at our expense. These charges may not be recoverable from the failing counterparty. Finally, in instances where the unmatched position or failure to deliver is prolonged or widespread due to rapid or widespread declines in liquidity for an instrument, there may also be regulatory capital charges required to be taken by us which, depending on their size and duration, could limit our business flexibility or even force the curtailment of those portions of our business requiring higher levels of capital. Credit or settlement losses of this nature could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

In the process of executing matched principal transactions, miscommunications and other errors by our clients or by us can arise whereby a transaction is not completed with one or more counterparties to the transaction, leaving us with either a long or short unmatched position. If the unmatched position is promptly discovered and there is a prompt disposition of the unmatched position, the risk to us is usually limited. If the discovery of an out trade is delayed, the risk is heightened by the increased possibility of intervening market movements prior to disposition. Although out trades usually become known at the time of, or later on the day of, the trade, it is possible that they may not be discovered until later in the settlement process. When out trades are discovered, our policy will generally be to have the unmatched position disposed of promptly, whether or not this disposition would result in a loss to us. The occurrence of unmatched positions generally rises with increases in the volatility of the market and, depending on their number and amount, such out trades have the potential to have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

From time to time we may also provide brokerage services in the form of agency transaction. In agency transactions, we charge a commission for connecting buyers and sellers and assisting in the negotiation of the price and other material terms of the transaction. After all material terms of a transaction are agreed upon, we identify the buyer and seller to each other and leave them to settle the trade directly. We are exposed to credit risk for commissions we bill to clients for agency brokerage services.

Participation in matched principal, principal, or agency transactions subjects us to disputes, counterparty credit risk, lack of liquidity, operational failure or other market wide or counterparty specific risks. Any losses arising from such risks could adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations. In addition, the failure of a significant number of counterparties or a counterparty that holds a significant amount of derivatives exposure, or which has significant financial exposure to, or reliance on, the mortgage, asset-backed or related markets, could have a material adverse effect on the trading volume and liquidity in a particular market for which we provide brokerage services or on the broader financial markets.

We have policies and procedures to identify, monitor and manage these risks, through reporting and control procedures and by monitoring credit standards applicable to our clients. These policies and procedures, however, may not be fully effective. Some of our risk management methods will depend upon the evaluation of information regarding markets, clients or other matters that are publicly available or otherwise accessible by us. That information may not, in all cases, be accurate, complete, up-to-date or properly evaluated. If our policies and procedures are not fully effective or we are not always successful in monitoring or evaluating the risks to which we may be exposed, our financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. In addition, we may not be able to obtain insurance to cover all of the types of risks we face and any insurance policies we do obtain may not provide adequate coverage for covered risks.

We are exposed to the risk that third parties that are indebted to us will not perform their obligations.

Credit risk refers to the risk of loss arising from borrower or counterparty default when a borrower, counterparty or obligor does not meet its obligations. We incur significant credit risk exposure through our Capital Markets segment. This risk may arise from a variety of business activities, including but not limited to extending credit to clients through various lending commitments; providing short or long-term funding that is secured by physical or financial collateral whose value may at times be insufficient to fully cover the loan repayment amount; entering into swap or other derivative contracts under which counterparties have obligations to make payments to us; and posting margin and/or collateral to clearing houses, clearing agencies, exchanges, banks, securities firms and other financial counterparties. We incur credit risk in traded securities and loan pools whereby the value of these assets may fluctuate based on realized or expected defaults on the underlying obligations or loans.

There is a possibility that continued difficult economic conditions may further negatively impact our clients and our current credit exposures. Although we regularly review our credit exposures, default risk may arise from events or circumstances that are difficult to detect or foresee.

We are exposed to various risks related to margin requirements under repurchase agreements and securities financing arrangements and are highly dependent on our clearing relationships.  

We maintain repurchase agreements with various third party financial institutions and other counterparties.  Under those repurchase agreements we act as both a buyer and a seller of the subject securities. Our business related to these repurchase agreements is predominantly matched, meaning that we do not purchase or sell securities unless there is another institution prepared to simultaneously purchase or sell securities to or from us, as applicable. There are limits to the amount of securities that may be transferred pursuant to these agreements, and available lines both for us and our counterparties for whom we purchase securities are approved on a case-by-case basis after each counterparty has gone through a credit review process. The repurchase agreements we execute with our counterparties include substantive provisions other than those covenants and other customary provisions contained in standard master repurchase agreements. However, while these additional provisions may work to mitigate some of the risks related to repurchase agreement transactions, these additional substantive provisions do not guarantee the performance of a counterparty or alleviate all of the potential risks we could face from entering into repurchase agreement transactions. 

The repurchase agreements generally require the seller under such repurchase agreement to transfer additional securities to the counterparty who is acting as the buyer under the repurchase agreement in the event that the value of the securities then held by the buyer falls below specified levels. The repurchase agreements contain events of default in cases where a counterparty breaches its obligations under the agreements. When we are acting in the capacity of a seller under these agreements we receive margin calls from time to time in the ordinary course of business, and no assurance can be given that we will be able to satisfy requests from our counterparties to post additional collateral in the future. Similarly, when we are acting in the capacity of a buyer under these agreements we make margin calls from time to time to our seller counterparties in the ordinary course of business and no assurance can be given that our counterparties will have adequate funds or collateral to satisfy such margin call requirements. Generally, if there were an event of default under the repurchase agreements, such event of default would provide the non-defaulting counterparty with the option to terminate all outstanding repurchase transactions with us and make all amounts due from the defaulting counterparty immediately payable. However, there can be no assurance that any such defaulting counterparty will have the funds or collateral needed to fully satisfy any such margin call or other amount due.  Generally, repurchase obligations are full recourse obligations and  if we were to default under a repurchase obligation, the counterparty would have recourse to our other assets if the collateral was not sufficient to satisfy the obligation in full.

In addition, our clearing brokers provide securities financing arrangements including margin arrangements and securities borrowing and lending arrangements. These arrangements generally require us to transfer additional securities or cash to the clearing broker in the event that the value of the securities then held by the clearing broker in the margin account falls below specified levels, and contain events of default in cases where we breach our obligations under such agreements. An event of default under a clearing agreement would give the clearing broker the option to terminate the clearing arrangement and any amounts owed to the clearing broker would be immediately due and payable. These obligations are recourse to us.

Furthermore, we are highly dependent on our relationships with our clearing brokers. Any termination of our clearing arrangements whether due to a breach of the agreement or any default, bankruptcy or reorganization of our clearing brokers would result in a significant disruption to our business as we clear all trades through these entities. Any such termination would have a significant negative impact on our dealings and relationship with our customers.

We have market risk exposure from unmatched principal transactions entered into by our brokerage desks, which could result in substantial losses to us and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.    

We allow certain of our brokerage desks access to limited capital to enter into unmatched principal transactions in the ordinary course of business for the purpose of facilitating clients’ execution needs for transactions initiated by such clients or to add liquidity to certain illiquid markets. As a result, we have market risk exposure on these unmatched principal transactions. Our exposure will vary based on the size of the overall positions, the terms and liquidity of the instruments brokered, and the amount of time the positions will be held before we dispose of the position.

We do not expect to track our exposure to unmatched positions on an intra-day basis. These unmatched positions are intended to be held short-term. Due to a number of factors, including the nature of the position and access to the market on which we trade, we may not be able to match the position or effectively hedge our exposure and often may be forced to hold a position overnight that has not been hedged. To the extent these unmatched positions are not disposed of intra-day, we mark these positions to market. Adverse movements in the securities underlying these positions or a downturn or disruption in the markets for these positions could result in our sustaining a substantial loss. In addition, any principal gains and losses resulting from these positions could on occasion have a disproportionate effect, positive or negative, on our financial condition and results of operations for any particular reporting period.

Pricing and other competitive pressures may impair the revenues and profitability of our brokerage business.  

In recent years, we have experienced significant pricing pressures on trading margins and commissions, primarily in debt trading. In the fixed income market, regulatory requirements have resulted in greater price transparency, leading to increased price competition and decreased trading margins. The trend toward using alternative trading systems is continuing to grow, which may result in decreased commission and trading revenue, reduce our participation in the trading markets and our ability to access market

information, and lead to the creation of new and stronger competitors. Additional pressure on sales and trading revenue may impair the profitability of our brokerage business. We believe that price competition and pricing pressures in these and other areas will continue as institutional investors continue to reduce the amounts they are willing to pay, including reducing the number of brokerage firms they use, and some of our competitors seek to obtain market share by reducing fees, commissions or margins.

Increase in capital commitments in our trading business increases the potential for significant losses.  

We may enter into transactions in which we commit our own capital as part of our trading business. The number and size of these transactions may materially affect our results of operations in a given period. We may also incur significant losses from our trading activities due to market fluctuations and volatility from quarter to quarter. We maintain trading positions in the fixed income market to facilitate client-trading activities. To the extent that we own security positions, in any of those markets, a downturn in the value of those securities or in those markets could result in losses from a decline in value. Conversely, to the extent that we have sold securities we do not own in any of those markets, an upturn in those markets could expose us to potentially unlimited losses as we attempt to acquire the securities in a rising market. Moreover, taking such positions in times of significant volatility can lead to significant unrealized losses, which further impact our ability to borrow to finance such activities.

Our principal trading and investments expose us to risk of loss.  

A significant portion of our revenues is derived from trading in which we act as principal. The Company may incur trading losses relating to the purchase, sale or short sale of corporate and asset-backed fixed income securities and other securities for our own account and from other principal trading. In any period, we may experience losses as a result of price declines, lack of trading volume, general market conditions, employee inexperience, errors or misconduct, and illiquidity. From time to time, we may engage in a large block trade in a single security or maintain large position concentrations in a single security, securities of a single issuer, or securities of issuers engaged in a specific industry. In general, any downward price movement in these securities could result in a reduction of our revenues and profits.

In addition, we may engage in hedging transactions and strategies that may not properly mitigate losses in our principal positions. If the transactions and strategies are not successful, we could suffer significant losses.

Our principal investments are concentrated in a few investments and may represent a significant portion of our invested capital

As of December 31, 2013, we have $26.9 million of other investments, at fair value representing our principal investment portfolio. Of this amount, $19.9 million, or 74%, was comprised of our investments in Star Asia and Star Asia Special Situations Fund which were sold in February 2014.  Further, $6.5 million, or 24%, was comprised of our investments in two separate investment funds and permanent capital vehicles: EuroDekania and Tiptree.  Although the amount of our invested capital related to principal investments will decline substantially with the sale of Star Asia and Star Asia Special Situations Fund, we may use the proceeds to make additional principal investments.  Our results of operations and financial condition may be significantly impacted by the financial results of these investments.

We may not realize gains or income from our investments.

Certain of our investments have declined in value and may continue to decline in value, and the financings that we originated and the securities in which they invest have defaulted, or may default in the future, on interest and/or principal payments. Accordingly, we may not be able to realize gains or income from our investments. Any gains that we do realize may not be sufficient to offset any other losses we experience. Any income that we realize may not be sufficient to offset our expenses.

As of the date of this filing, our investment portfolios have been directly impacted by the disruption in various markets including in the U.S. and Europe due to investments in, among other things, MBS, residential mortgages, leveraged loans and bank and insurance company debt. We continue to have significant exposure to these markets and products, and as market conditions continue to evolve, the fair value of these investments could further deteriorate. Any of these factors could require us to take additional write downs in the fair value of our investment portfolios, which may have an adverse effect on our results of operations in future periods.

If the investments we make on behalf of our investment funds, permanent capital vehicles and collateralized debt obligations perform poorly, we will suffer a decline in our asset management revenue and earnings because some of our fees are subject to the credit performance of the portfolios of assets. In addition, the investors in our investment funds and collateralized debt obligations and, to a lesser extent, our permanent capital vehicles may seek to terminate our management agreements based on poor performance. Any of these results could adversely affect our results of operations and our ability to raise capital for future investment funds, permanent capital vehicles and collateralized debt obligations.

Our revenue from our asset management business is derived from fees earned for managing our collateralized debt obligations and management fees paid by the permanent capital vehicles and investment funds we manage. Our collateralized debt obligations will generate three types of fees: (1) senior fees that are generally paid to us before interest is paid on any of the securities in the capital structure; (2) subordinated fees that are generally paid to us after interest is paid on securities in the capital structure; and

(3) incentive fees that are generally paid to us after a period of years in the life of the collateralized debt obligation and after the holders of the most junior collateralized debt obligation securities have been paid a specified return.

In the case of the permanent capital vehicles and investment funds, our management fees are based on the equity of and net income earned by the vehicles, which is substantially based on the performance of our collateralized debt obligations or other securities in which they invest.

Furthermore, in the event that our collateralized debt obligations, investment funds or permanent capital vehicles perform poorly, our asset management revenues and earnings will suffer a decline and it will be more difficult for us to structure new collateralized debt obligations and raise funds for the existing or future permanent capital vehicles or investment funds. Our management contracts may be terminated for various reasons.

We could lose management fee income from the collateralized debt obligations we manage or client assets under management as a result of the triggering of certain structural protections built into such collateralized debt obligations.

The collateralized debt obligations we manage generally contain structural provisions including, but not limited to, over-collateralization requirements and/or market value triggers that are meant to protect investors from deterioration in the credit quality of the underlying collateral pool. In certain cases, breaches of these structural provisions can lead to events of default under the indentures governing the collateralized debt obligations and, ultimately, acceleration of the notes issued by the collateralized debt obligation and liquidation of the underlying collateral. In the event of a liquidation of the collateral underlying a collateralized debt obligation, we will lose client assets under management and therefore management fees, which could have a material adverse effect on our earnings.

We may need to offer new investment strategies and products in order to continue to generate revenue.

The asset management industry is subject to rapid change. Strategies and products that had historically been attractive may lose their appeal for various reasons. Thus, strategies and products that have generated fee revenue for us in the past may fail to do so in the future, in which case we would have to develop new strategies and products. It could be both expensive and difficult for us to develop new strategies and products, and we may not be successful in this regard. Recently, we have been unable to expand our offerings which has inhibited our growth and harmed our competitive position in the asset management industry, and this may continue in the future.

If our risk management systems for our businesses are ineffective, we may be exposed to material unanticipated losses.

We seek to manage, monitor, and control our operational, legal and regulatory risk through operational and compliance reporting systems, internal controls, management review processes and other mechanisms, and may not fully mitigate the risk exposure of our businesses in all economic or market environments or protect against all types of risk. Further, our risk management methods may not effectively predict future risk exposures, which could be significantly greater than the historical measures indicate. In addition, some of our risk management methods are based on an evaluation of information regarding markets, clients, and other matters that are based on assumptions that may no longer be accurate. A failure to adequately manage our growth, or to effectively manage our risk, could materially and adversely affect our business and financial condition. Our risk management processes include addressing potential conflicts of interest that arise in our business. We have procedures and controls in place to address conflicts of interest. Management of potential conflicts of interest has become increasingly complex as we expand our business activities through more numerous transactions, obligations and interests with and among our clients. The failure to adequately address, or the perceived failure to adequately address, conflicts of interest could affect our reputation, the willingness of clients to transact business with us, or give rise to litigation or regulatory actions. Therefore, there can be no assurance that conflicts of interest will not arise in the future, and such conflicts could cause material harm to us.

Our failure to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest could damage our reputation and adversely affect our business.

As we expanded our business, we increasingly confronted potential conflicts of interest relating to the investment activities of the entities we manage. As a result, certain of our permanent capital vehicles and our investment funds may have overlapping investment objectives, which may create conflicts of interest issues for us. These entities will have different fee structures and potential conflicts may arise with respect to our decisions regarding how to allocate investment opportunities among those entities.

It is possible that potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to investor dissatisfaction or litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest would have a material adverse effect on our reputation, which could materially and adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including as a result of sales of stock by investors in our permanent capital vehicles, an inability to raise additional funds, a reluctance of counterparties to do business with us and the costs of defending litigation.

We are highly dependent on information and communications systems. Systems failures could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, negatively affect our operating results.

Our business will depend, to a substantial degree, on the proper functioning of our information and communications systems and our ability to retain the employees and consultants who operate and maintain these systems. Any failure or interruption of our systems, due to systems failures, staff departures or otherwise, could result in delays, increased costs or other problems which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. A disaster, such as water damage to an office, an explosion or a prolonged loss of electrical power, could materially interrupt our business operations and cause material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm or legal liability. In addition, if security measures contained in our systems are breached as a result of third party action, employee error, malfeasance or otherwise, our reputation may be damaged and our business could suffer. We have developed a business continuity plan, however, there are no assurances that such plan will be successful in preventing, timely and adequately addressing, or mitigating the negative effects of any failure or interruption.

There can be no assurance that our information systems and other technology will continue to be able to accommodate our operations, or that the cost of maintaining the systems and technology will not materially increase from the current level. A failure to accommodate our operations, or a material increase in costs related to information systems and technology, could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We may not be able to keep pace with continuing changes in technology.

Our market is characterized by rapidly changing technology. To be successful, we must adapt to this rapidly changing environment by continually improving the performance, features, and reliability of our services. We could incur substantial costs if we need to modify our services or infrastructure or adapt our technology to respond to these changes. A delay or failure to address technological advances and developments or an increase in costs resulting from these changes could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Failure to protect client data or prevent breaches of our information systems could expose us to liability or reputational damage .

The secure transmission of confidential information over public networks is a critical element of our operations.  We are dependent on information technology networks and systems to securely process, transmit and store electronic information and to communicate among our locations and with our clients and vendors.  As the breadth and complexity of this infrastructure continue to grow, the potential risk of security breaches and cyber-attacks increases.  As a financial services company, we may be subject to cyber-attacks by third parties.  In addition, vulnerabilities of our external service providers and other third parties could pose security risks to client information.  Such breaches could lead to shutdowns or disruptions of our systems and potential unauthorized disclosure of confidential information.

In providing services to clients, we manage, utilize and store sensitive and confidential client data, including personal data.  As a result, we are subject to numerous laws and regulations designed to protect this information, such as U.S. federal and state laws and foreign regulations governing the protection of personally identifiable information.  These laws and regulations are increasing in complexity and number, change frequently and sometimes conflict.  If any person, including any of our employees, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to client date, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines and/or criminal prosecution in one or more jurisdictions.  Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client data, whether through systems failure, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients.  Similarly, unauthorized access to or through our information systems, whether by our employees or third parties, including a cyber-attack by computer programmers and hackers who may deploy viruses, worms or other malicious software programs, could result in negative publicity, significant remediation costs, legal liability, financial responsibility under our security guarantee to reimburse clients for losses resulting from unauthorized activity in their accounts and damage to our reputation and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.  In addition, our liability insurance might not be sufficient in type or amount to cover us against claims related to security breaches, cyber-attacks and other related breaches.

We depend on third-party software licenses and the loss of any of our key licenses could adversely affect our ability to provide our brokerage services.

We license software from third parties, some of which is integral to our electronic brokerage systems and our business. Such licenses are generally terminable if we breach our obligations under the licenses or if the licensor gives us notice in advance of the termination. If any of these relationships were terminated, or if any of these third parties were to cease doing business, we may be forced to spend significant time and money to replace the licensed software. These replacements may not be available on reasonable terms, or at all. A termination of any of these relationships could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our substantial level of indebtedness could adversely affect our financial health and ability to compete. In addition, our failure to satisfy the financial covenants in our debt agreements could result in a default and acceleration of repayment of the indebtedness thereunder.

Our balance sheet includes approximately $59.5 million par value of recourse indebtedness. Our indebtedness could have important consequences to our stockholders. For example, our indebtedness could:

• make it more difficult for us to pay our debts as they become due during general adverse economic and market industry conditions because any related decrease in revenues could cause our cash flows from operations to decrease and make it difficult for us to make our scheduled debt payments;

• limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate and consequently, place us at a competitive disadvantage to our competitors with less debt;

• require a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to be used for debt service payments, thereby reducing the availability of our cash flow to fund working capital, capital expenditures, acquisitions and other general corporate purposes;

• limit our ability to borrow additional funds to expand our business or alleviate liquidity constraints, as a result of financial and other restrictive covenants in our indebtedness; and

• result in higher interest expense in the event of increases in interest rates since some of our borrowings are and will continue to be, at variable rates of interest.

Under the junior subordinated notes related to the Alesco Capital Trust, we are required to maintain a total debt to capitalization ratio of less than 0.95 to 1.0. Also, because the aggregate amount of our outstanding subordinated debt exceeds 25% of our net worth, we are unable to issue any further subordinated debt.

In addition, our indebtedness imposes restrictions that limit our discretion with regard to certain business matters, including our ability to engage in consolidations and mergers and our ability to transfer and lease certain of our properties. Such restrictions could make it more difficult for us to expand, finance our operations and engage in other business activities that may be in our interest.

Our ability to comply with these and any other provisions of such agreements will be affected by changes in our operating and financial performance, changes in business conditions or results of operations, adverse regulatory developments or other events beyond our control. The breach of any of these covenants could result in a default, which could cause our indebtedness to become due and payable. If the maturity of our indebtedness were accelerated, we may not have sufficient funds to pay such indebtedness. Any additional indebtedness we may incur in the future may subject us to similar or even more restrictive conditions.

In addition, in May 2014, some or all of the holders of our 10.50% contingent convertible senior notes due 2027 may exercise their right to require us to repurchase up to $3.1 million aggregate principal amount of their notes. Our liquidity could be constrained if we are unable to obtain financing to pay for such repurchases on acceptable terms, or at all. If we are unable to meet our funding needs on a timely basis, our business would be adversely affected and there may be a negative impact on the market price of our Common Stock.

If we fail to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures in the future, we may not be able to accurately report our financial results, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

If our internal controls over financial reporting and disclosure controls and procedures are not effective, we may not be able to provide reliable financial information. Because we are a non-accelerated filer, we are not required to obtain, nor have we voluntarily obtained, an auditor attestation regarding the effectiveness of our controls as of December 31, 2013. Therefore, as of December 31, 2013, we have only performed management’s assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls and management has determined that our internal controls are effective as of December 31, 2013. Any failure to maintain effective controls in the future could adversely affect our business or cause us to fail to meet our reporting obligations. Such non-compliance could also result in an adverse reaction in the financial marketplace due to a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. In addition, perceptions of our business among customers, suppliers, rating agencies, lenders, investors, securities analysts and others could be adversely affected.

Accounting rules for certain of our transactions are highly complex and involve significant judgment and assumptions. Changes in accounting interpretations or assumptions could adversely impact our financial statements.

Accounting rules for transfers of financial assets, income taxes, compensation arrangements including share based compensation, securitization transactions, consolidation of variable interest entities, determining the fair value of financial instruments and other aspects of our operations are highly complex and involve significant judgment and assumptions. These complexities could lead to delay in preparation of our financial information. Changes in accounting interpretations or assumptions could materially impact our financial statements.

We may change our investment strategy, hedging strategy, asset allocation and operational policies without our stockholders’ consent, which may result in riskier investments and adversely affect the market value of our Common Stock.

We may change our investment strategy, hedging strategy, asset allocation and/or operational policies at any time without the consent of our stockholders. A change in our investment or hedging strategy may increase our exposure to interest rate, exchange rate, and real estate market fluctuations. Furthermore, our board of directors will determine our operational policies and may amend or revise our policies, including polices with respect to our acquisitions, growth, operations, indebtedness, capitalization and distributions, or our board may approve transactions that deviate from these policies without a vote of, or notice to, our stockholders. Operational policy changes could adversely affect the market value of our Common Stock.

Maintenance of our Investment Company Act exemption imposes limits on our operations, and loss of our Investment Company Act exemption would adversely affect our operations.

We seek to conduct our operations so that we are not required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act. Section 3(a)(l)(C) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”), defines an “investment company” as any issuer that is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(l) or Section 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act.

We are a holding company that conducts our business primarily through the Operating LLC as a majority owned subsidiary. Whether or not we qualify under the 40% test is primarily based on whether the securities we hold in the Operating LLC are investment securities. If we were required to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, we would become subject to substantial regulation with respect to our capital structure (including our ability to use leverage), management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) and other matters. Such limitations could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations. As of December 31, 2013, we are in compliance with and meet the Section 3(a)(1)(C) exclusion.

Insurance may be inadequate to cover risks facing the Company.

Our operations and financial results are subject to risks and uncertainties related to our use of a combination of insurance, self-insured retention and self-insurance for a number of risks, including most significantly: property and casualty, workers’ compensation, errors and omissions liability, general liability and the portion of employee-related health care benefits plans we fund, among others.

While we endeavor to purchase insurance coverage that is appropriate to our assessment of risk, we are unable to predict with certainty the frequency, nature or magnitude of claims for direct or consequential damages. Our business may be negatively affected if in the future our insurance proves to be inadequate or unavailable. In addition, insurance claims may harm our reputation or divert management resources away from operating our business.

Risks Related to Our Industry

The soundness of other financial institutions and intermediaries affects us .  

We face the risk of operational failure, termination or capacity constraints of any of the clearing agents, exchanges, clearing houses or other financial intermediaries that we use to facilitate our securities transactions. As a result of the consolidation over the years among clearing agents, exchanges and clearing houses, our exposure to certain financial intermediaries has increased and could affect our ability to find adequate and cost-effective alternatives should the need arise. Any failure, termination or constraint of these intermediaries could adversely affect our ability to execute transactions, service our clients and manage our exposure to risk.

Our ability to engage in routine trading and funding transactions could be adversely affected by the actions and commercial soundness of other financial institutions. Financial services institutions are interrelated as a result of trading, clearing, funding, counterparty or other relationships. We have exposure to many different industries and counterparties, and we routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial banks, investment banks, mortgage originators and other institutional clients. Furthermore, although we do not hold any EU sovereign debt, we may do business with and be exposed to financial institutions that have been affected by the recent EU sovereign debt crisis. As a result, defaults by, or even rumors or questions about the financial condition of, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have historically led to market-wide liquidity problems and could lead to losses or defaults by us or by other institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. In addition, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us cannot be realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the loan or derivative exposure due us. Although we have not suffered any material or significant losses as a result of the failure of any financial counterparty, any such losses in the future may materially adversely affect our results of operations.

We operate in a highly regulated industry and may face restrictions on, and examination of, the way we conduct certain of our operations.

Our business is subject to extensive government and other regulation, and our relationship with our broker-dealer clients may subject us to increased regulatory scrutiny. These regulations are designed to protect the interests of the investing public generally rather than our stockholders and may result in limitations on our activities. Governmental and self-regulatory organizations, including the SEC, FINRA, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other agencies and securities exchanges such as the NYSE and NYSE MKT regulate the U.S. financial services industry, and regulate certain of our operations in the U.S. Some of our international operations are subject to similar regulations in their respective jurisdictions, including rules promulgated by the FCA, which apply to entities which are authorized and regulated by the FCA. These regulatory bodies are responsible for safeguarding the integrity of the securities and other financial markets and protecting the interests of investors in those markets. In addition, all records of registered investment advisors and broker-dealers are subject at any time, and from time to time, to examination by the SEC. Some aspects of the business that are subject to extensive regulation and/or examination by regulatory agencies, include:

• sales methods, trading procedures and valuation practices;

• investment decision making processes and compensation practices;

• use and safekeeping of client funds and securities;

• the manner in which we deal with clients;

• capital requirements;

• financial and reporting practices;

• required record keeping and record retention procedures;

• the licensing of employees;

• the conduct of directors, officers, employees and affiliates;

• systems and control requirements;

• conflicts of interest;

• restrictions on marketing, gifts and entertainment; and

• client identification and anti-money laundering requirements.

The SEC, FINRA, the FCA and various other domestic and international regulatory agencies also have stringent rules and regulations with respect to the maintenance of specific levels of net capital by broker-dealers. Generally, in the U.S., a broker-dealer’s net capital is defined as its net worth, plus qualified subordinated debt, less deductions for certain types of assets. If these net capital rules are changed or expanded, or if there is an unusually large charge against net capital, our operations that require the intensive use of capital would be limited. Also, our ability to withdraw capital from our regulated subsidiaries is subject to restrictions, which in turn could limit our ability or that of our subsidiaries to pay dividends, repay debt, make distributions and redeem or purchase shares of our Common Stock or other equity interests in our subsidiaries. A large operating loss or charge against net capital could adversely affect our ability to expand or even maintain our expected levels of business, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. In addition, we may become subject to net capital requirements in other foreign jurisdictions in which we operate. While we expect to maintain levels of capital in excess of regulatory minimums, we cannot predict our future capital needs or our ability to obtain additional financing.

If we or any of our subsidiaries fail to comply with any of these laws, rules or regulations, we or such subsidiary may be subject to censure, significant fines, cease-and-desist orders, suspension of business, suspensions of personnel or other sanctions, including revocation of registrations with FINRA, withdrawal of authorizations from the FCA or revocation of registrations with other similar international agencies to whose regulation we are subject, which would have a material adverse effect on our business. The adverse publicity arising from the imposition of sanctions against us by regulators, even if the amount of such sanctions is small, could harm our reputation and cause us to lose existing clients or fail to gain new clients.

The authority to operate as a broker-dealer in a jurisdiction is dependent on the registration or authorization in that jurisdiction or the maintenance of a proper exemption from such registration or authorization. Our ability to comply with all applicable laws and rules is largely dependent on our compliance, credit approval, audit and reporting systems and procedures, as well as our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Any growth or expansion of our business may create additional strain on our compliance, credit approval, audit and reporting systems and procedures and could result in increased costs to maintain and improve such systems and procedures.

In addition, new laws or regulations or changes in the enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to us and our clients may adversely affect our business, and our ability to function in this environment will depend on our ability to constantly monitor and react to these changes. Such changes may cause us to change the way we conduct our business, both in the U.S. and internationally. The government agencies that regulate us have broad powers to investigate and enforce compliance and punish

noncompliance with their rules, regulations and industry standards of practice. If we and our directors, officers and employees fail to comply with the rules and regulations of these government agencies, we and they may be subject to claims or actions by such agencies.

Legislation passed during the last few years may result in changes to rules and regulations applicable to our business, which may negatively impact our business and financial results.

In July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law by President Obama. The Dodd-Frank Act contains a comprehensive set of provisions designed to govern the practices and oversight of financial institutions and other participants in the financial markets.  Section 619 of the Dodd-Frank Act (Volker Rule) and section 716 of the Dodd-Frank Act (swaps push-out rule) limit proprietary trading of certain securities and swaps by banking entities such as banks, bank holding companies and similar institutions.  Although we are not a banking entity and are not otherwise subject to these rules, some of our clients and many of our counterparties are banks or entities affiliated with banks and will be subject to these restrictions.  These sections of the Dodd-Frank Act and the regulations that are adopted to implement them could negatively affect the swaps and securities markets by reducing their depth and liquidity and thereby affect pricing in these markets.  Other negative effects could result from an expansive extraterritorial application of the Dodd-Frank Act in general or the Volker Rule in particular and/or insufficient international coordination with respect to adoption of rules for derivatives and other financial reforms in other jurisdictions.  We will not know the exact impact that these changes in the markets will have on our business until after the final rules are implemented.

The Dodd-Frank Act, in addressing systemic risks to the financial system, charges the Federal Reserve with drafting enhanced regulatory requirements for the systemically important bank holding companies and certain other nonbank financial companies designated as systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council.  The enhanced requirements proposed by the Federal Reserve include capital requirements, liquidity requirements, limits on credit exposure concentrations and risk management requirements.  We do not believe that we will be deemed to be a systemically important nonbank financial company under the new legislation and therefore will not be directly impacted.  However, there will be an indirect impact to us to the extent that the new regulations apply to our competitors, counterparts and certain of our clients.

Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action could have material adverse financial effects or cause significant reputational harm, either of which could seriously harm our business.

We face substantial regulatory and litigation risks and conflicts of interests, and may face legal liability and reduced revenues and profitability if our business is not regarded as compliant or for other reasons. We are subject to extensive regulation, and many aspects of our business will subject us to substantial risks of liability. We engage in activities in connection with (1) the evaluation, negotiation, structuring, sales and management of our investment funds, permanent capital vehicles and structured products, including collateralized debt obligations, (2) our Capital Markets segment, (3) our asset management operations, and (4) our investment activities. Our activities may subject us to the risk of significant legal liabilities under securities or other laws for material omissions or material false or misleading statements made in connection with securities offerings and other transactions. In addition, to the extent our clients, or investors in our investment funds, permanent capital vehicles and structured products, suffer losses, they may claim those losses resulting from our or our officers’, directors’, employees’, or agents’ or affiliates’ breach of contract, fraud, negligence, willful misconduct or other similar misconduct, and may bring actions against us under federal or state securities or other applicable laws. Dissatisfied clients may also make claims regarding quality of trade execution, improperly settled trades, or mismanagement against us. We may become subject to these claims as the result of failures or malfunctions of electronic trading platforms or other brokerage services, including failures or malfunctions of third party providers’ systems which are beyond our control, and third parties may seek recourse against us for any losses. In addition, investors may claim breaches of collateral management agreements, which could lead to our termination as collateral manager under such agreements.

In recent years, the volume of claims and amount of damages claimed in litigation and regulatory proceedings against financial advisors and asset managers has been increasing. With respect to the asset management business, we make investment decisions on behalf of our clients that could result in, and in some instances in the past have resulted in, substantial losses. In addition, all of the permanent capital vehicles that we manage rely on exemptions from regulation under the Investment Company Act and some of them are structured to comply with certain provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. As the manager of these vehicles, we are responsible for their compliance with regulatory requirements. Investment decisions we make on behalf of the vehicles could cause the vehicles to fail to comply with regulatory requirements and could result in substantial losses to such vehicles. Although the management agreements relating to such vehicles generally include broad indemnities and provisions designed to limit our exposure to legal claims relating to our services, these provisions may not protect us or may not be enforced in all cases.

In addition, we are exposed to risks of litigation or investigation relating to transactions which present conflicts of interest that are not properly addressed. In such actions, we could be obligated to bear legal, settlement and other costs (which may be in excess of available insurance coverage). Also, with a workforce consisting of many very highly paid professionals, we may face the risk of lawsuits relating to claims for compensation, which may individually or in the aggregate be significant in amount. Similarly, certain corporate events, such as a reduction in our workforce or employee separations, could also result in additional litigation or arbitration. In addition, as a public company, we are subject to the risk of investigation or litigation by regulators or our public stockholders

arising from an array of possible claims, including investor dissatisfaction with the performance of our business or our share price, allegations of misconduct by our officers and directors or claims that we inappropriately dealt with conflicts of interest or investment allocations. In addition, we may incur significant expenses in defending claims, even those without merit. If any claims brought against us result in a finding of substantial legal liability and/or require us to incur all or a portion of the costs arising out of litigation or investigation, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected. Such litigation or investigation, whether resolved in our favor or not, could cause significant reputational harm, which could seriously harm our business.

The competitive pressures we face as a result of operating in a highly competitive market could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.

A number of entities conduct asset management, origination, investment and broker-dealer activities. We compete with public and private funds, REITS, commercial and investment banks, savings and loan institutions, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, institutional bankers, governmental bodies, commercial finance companies, traditional asset managers, brokerage firms and other entities.

Many firms offer similar and/or additional products and services to the same types of clients that we target or may target in the future. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have more relevant experience, have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources, and have more personnel than we have. There are few barriers to entry, including a relatively low cost of entering these lines of business, and the successful efforts of new entrants into our expected lines of business, including major banks and other financial institutions, may result in increased competition. Other industry participants may, from time to time, seek to recruit our investment professionals and other employees away from us.

With respect to our asset management activities, our competitors may have more extensive distribution capabilities, more effective marketing strategies, more attractive investment vehicle structures and broader name recognition than we do. Further, other investment managers may offer services at more competitive prices than we do, which could put downward pressure on our fee structure. With respect to our origination and investment activities, some competitors may have a lower cost of funds, enhanced operating efficiencies, and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than we can. The competitive pressures we face, if not effectively managed, may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations.

Also, as a result of this competition, we may not be able to take advantage of attractive asset management, origination and investment opportunities and, therefore, may not be able to identify and pursue opportunities that are consistent with our business objectives. Competition may limit the number of suitable investment opportunities offered to us. It may also result in higher prices, lower yields and a narrower spread of yields over our borrowing costs, making it more difficult for us to acquire new investments on attractive terms. In addition, competition for desirable investments could delay the investment in desirable assets, which may in turn reduce our earnings per share.

With respect to our broker-dealer activities, our revenues could be adversely affected if large institutional clients that we have increase the amount of trading they do directly with each other rather than through our broker-dealers, decrease the amount of trading they do with our broker-dealers because they decide to trade more with our competitors, decrease their trading of certain over-the-counter (“OTC”) products in favor of exchange-traded products, or hire in-house professionals to handle trading that our broker-dealers would otherwise be engaged to do.

We have experienced intense price competition in our brokerage business in recent years. Some competitors may offer brokerage services to clients at lower prices than we offer, which may force us to reduce our prices or to lose market share and revenue. In addition, we intend to focus primarily on providing brokerage services in markets for less commoditized financial instruments. As the markets for these instruments become more commoditized, we could lose market share to other inter-dealer brokers, exchanges and electronic multi-dealer brokers who specialize in providing brokerage services in more commoditized markets. If a financial instrument for which we provide brokerage services becomes listed on an exchange or if an exchange introduces a competing product to the products we broker in the OTC market, the need for our services in relation to that instrument could be significantly reduced. Further, the recent consolidation among exchange firms, and expansion by these firms into derivative and other non-equity trading markets, will increase competition for customer trades and place additional pricing pressure on commissions and spreads.

Financial problems experienced by third parties could affect the markets in which we provide brokerage services. In addition, a disruption in the credit derivatives market could affect our net trading revenues.

Problems experienced by third parties could affect the markets in which we provide brokerage services. For example, in recent years, hedge funds have increasingly begun to make use of credit and other derivatives as part of their trading strategies. As a result, an increasing percentage of our business, directly or indirectly, resulted from trading activity by institutional investors. For example, hedge funds typically employ a significant amount of leverage to achieve their results and, in the past, certain hedge funds have had

difficulty managing this leverage, which has resulted in market-wide disruptions. If one or more hedge funds that is a significant participant in a credit derivatives market experiences similar problems in the future, including as a result of the volatility in such market, that credit derivatives market could be adversely affected and, accordingly, our trading revenues in that credit derivatives market could decrease.

In addition, in recent years, reports in the U.S. and United Kingdom have suggested weaknesses in the way credit derivatives are assigned by participants in the credit derivatives markets. Such reports expressed concern that, due to the size of the credit derivatives market, the volume of assignments and the suggested weaknesses in the assignment process, one or more significant defaults by corporate issuers of debt may lead to further market-wide disruption or result in the bankruptcy or operational failure of hedge funds or other market participants which could adversely affect our business and revenues.

Employee misconduct or error, which can be difficult to detect and deter, could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain clients and by subjecting us to significant legal liability and reputational harm.

There have been a number of highly-publicized cases involving fraud, trading on material non-public information, or other misconduct by employees and others in the financial services industry, and there is a risk that our employees could engage in misconduct that adversely affects our business. For example, we may be subject to the risk of significant legal liabilities under securities or other laws for our employees’ material omissions or materially false or misleading statements in connection with securities and other transactions. In addition, our advisory business requires that we deal with confidential matters of great significance to our clients. If our employees were to improperly use or disclose confidential information provided by our clients, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and could suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position, current client relationships and ability to attract future clients. We are also subject to extensive regulation under securities laws and other laws in connection with our asset management business. Failure to comply with these legislative and regulatory requirements by any of our employees could adversely affect us and our clients. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and any precautions taken by us to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in all cases.

Furthermore, employee errors, including mistakes in executing, recording or reporting transactions for clients (such as entering into transactions that clients may disavow and refuse to settle) could expose us to financial losses and could seriously harm our reputation and negatively affect our business. The risk of employee error or miscommunication may be greater for products that are new or have non-standardized terms.

Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure and Ownership of Our Common Stock

We are a holding company whose primary asset is membership units in the Operating LLC, and we are dependent on distributions from the Operating LLC to pay taxes and other obligations.

We are a holding company whose primary asset is membership units in the Operating LLC. Since the Operating LLC is a limited liability company taxed as a partnership, we, as a member of the Operating LLC, could incur tax obligations as a result of our allocable share of the income from the operations of the Operating LLC. In addition, we have convertible senior debt and junior subordinated notes outstanding. The Operating LLC will pay distributions to us in amounts necessary to satisfy our tax obligations and regularly scheduled payments of interest in connection with our convertible senior debt and our junior subordinated notes, and we are dependent on these distributions from the Operating LLC in order to generate the funds necessary to meet these obligations and liabilities. Industry conditions and financial, business and other factors will affect our ability to generate the cash flows we need to make these distributions. There may be circumstances under which the Operating LLC may be restricted from paying dividends to us under applicable law or regulation (for example due to Delaware limited liability company act limitations on the Operating LLC’s ability to make distributions if liabilities of the Operating LLC after the distribution would exceed the value of the Operating LLC’s assets).

As a holding company that does not conduct business operations in its own right, substantially all of the assets of the Company are comprised of our majority ownership interest in the Operating LLC. The Company’s ability to pay dividends to our stockholders will be dependent on distributions we receive from the Operating LLC and subject to the Operating LLC’s operating agreement (the “Operating LLC Agreement”). The amount and timing of distributions by the Operating LLC will be at the discretion of the Operating LLC’s board of managers, which is comprised of the same individuals that serve on our Board of Directors.

Certain subsidiaries of the Operating LLC have restrictions on the withdrawal of capital and otherwise in making distributions and loans. JVB is subject to net capital restrictions imposed by the SEC and FINRA, which require certain minimum levels of net capital to remain in JVB. In addition, these restrictions could potentially impose notice requirements or limit the Company’s ability to withdraw capital above the required minimum amounts (excess capital) whether through distribution or loan. CCFL is regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom and must maintain certain minimum levels of capital but will allow withdrawal of excess capital without restriction.

Daniel G. Cohen, our Vice Chairman, may have ownership interests in the Operating LLC and competing duties to other entities that could create potential conflicts of interest and may result in decisions that are not in the best interests of other IFMI stockholders.

The Operating LLC Agreement prevents the Operating LLC from undertaking certain actions without the affirmative approval of IFMI and a majority of voting power of the Operating LLC members, other than IFMI, having a percentage interest of at least 10% of the Operating LLC membership units. Daniel G. Cohen, our Vice Chairman, through an entity he wholly owns, Cohen Bros. Financial, LLC (“CBF”) has a majority of the voting power of the Operating LLC members other than IFMI having a percentage interest of at least 10% of the Operating LLC membership units and these actions are subject to his approval. As a result, it is possible that Mr. Cohen, in his capacity as a the Operating LLC member with approval rights over the actions identified above, could disapprove actions that would be in the best interests of IFMI even though, Mr. Cohen as Vice Chairman of IFMI, will have fiduciary duties to IFMI.

Daniel G. Cohen, Jack J. DiMaio, Jr., Christopher Ricciardi and other executive officers and directors may exercise significant influence over matters requiring stockholder approval.

In addition to the 9.9% of our Common Stock outstanding beneficially owned by Daniel G. Cohen, our Vice Chairman, Mr. Cohen beneficially owns 4,983,557 shares of our Series E preferred stock, which have no economic rights, but entitle him to vote together with our stockholders on all matters presented to the stockholders.  So, when factoring in the Series E preferred stock, Mr. Cohen can exercise approximately 32.6% of total shares outstanding that are entitled to vote.  Further, Mr. Jack J. DiMaio, Jr., our Chairman, and Mr. Christopher Ricciardi, a member of our Board of Directors, are the beneficial owners of 974,585 and 1,959,466 shares of our Common Stock, respectively, representing 4.9% and 9.9% of our total shares outstanding that are entitled to vote, respectively.  Except with respect to certain agreements relating to the election of Messrs. Cohen, DiMaio and Ricciardi to our Board of Directors, there are no voting agreements or other arrangements or understandings among Messrs. Cohen, DiMaio, Ricciardi and our other directors and executive officers with respect to our equity securities; however, to the extent that Messrs. Cohen, DiMaio, Ricciardi and our other directors and executive officers vote their shares in the same manner, their combined stock ownership and voting rights will have a significant or even decisive effect on the election of all of the directors and the approval of matters that are presented to our stockholders. Their ownership may discourage someone from making a significant equity investment in us, even if we needed the investment to operate our business. The size of their combined stock holdings could be a significant factor in delaying or preventing a change of control transaction that other of our stockholders may deem to be in their best interests, such as a transaction in which the other stockholders would receive a premium for their shares over their then current market prices. 

On several occasions, our Board of Directors has declared cash dividends. Any future distributions to our stockholders will depend upon certain factors affecting our operating results, some of which are beyond our control.

Our ability to make and sustain cash distributions is based on many factors, including the return on our investments, operating expense levels and certain restrictions imposed by Maryland law. Some of these factors are beyond our control and a change in any such factor could affect our ability to make distributions in the future. We may not be able to make distributions. Our stockholders should rely on increases, if any, in the price of our Common Stock for any return on their investment. Furthermore, we are dependent on distributions from the Operating LLC to be able to make distributions. See the risk factor above titled “We are a holding company whose primary asset is membership units in the Operating LLC and we are dependent on distributions from the Operating LLC to pay taxes and other obligations.”

Future sales of our Common Stock in the public market could lower the price of our Common Stock and impair our ability to raise funds in future securities offerings.

Future sales of a substantial number of shares of our Common Stock in the public market, or the perception that such sales may occur, could adversely affect the then prevailing market price of our Common Stock and could make it more difficult for us to raise funds in the future through a public offering of our securities.

Your percentage ownership in the Company may be diluted in the future.

Your percentage ownership in the Company may be diluted in the future because of equity awards that have been, or may be, granted to our directors, officers and employees. We have adopted equity compensation plans that provide for the grant of equity based awards, including restricted stock, stock options and other equity-based awards to our directors, officers and other employees, advisors and consultants. At December 31, 2013, we had 181,275 shares of restricted stock, 632,450 of restricted units, and 3,000,000 stock options (including 2,500,000 subject to stockholder approval) outstanding to employees and directors of the Company and there were 1,549,145 (presuming stockholder approval of 2,500,000 aforementioned options) shares available for future awards under our equity compensation plans. Vesting of restricted stock and stock option grants is generally contingent upon performance conditions and/or service conditions. Vesting of those shares of restricted units and stock would dilute the ownership interest of existing stockholders. Equity awards will continue to be a source of compensation for employees and directors.

If we raise additional capital, we expect it will be necessary for us to issue additional equity or convertible debt securities. If we issue equity or convertible debt securities, the price at which we offer such securities may not bear any relationship to our value, the net tangible book value per share may decrease, the percentage ownership of our current stockholders would be diluted, and any equity securities we may issue in such offering or upon conversion of convertible debt securities issued in such offering, may have rights, preferences or privileges with respect to liquidation, dividends, redemption, voting and other matters that are senior to or more advantageous than our Common Stock. If we finance acquisitions by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, our existing stockholders will also be diluted.

The issuance of the shares of the Company’s Common Stock upon the conversion, if any, of the notes purchased by Mead Park Capital and EBC, as assignee of CBF, may cause substantial dilution to our existing stockholders and may cause the price of our Common Stock to decline.

In connection with the investments by Mead Park Capital Partners, LLC (“Mead Park Capital”) and EBC 2013 Family Trust (“EBC”), as assignee of CBF, in September 2013 pursuant to the definitive agreements, the Company issued $8,247,501 in aggregate principal amount of the 8% convertible senior promissory notes (the “8.0% Convertible Notes”).  The 8.0% Convertible Notes are convertible into a maximum aggregate amount of 4,086,308 shares of the Company’s Common Stock assuming none of the interest under the 8.0% Convertible Notes is paid to the holders thereof in cash.  If the holders of the 8.0% Convertible Notes elect to convert such notes into shares of our Common Stock, our existing stockholders may be substantially diluted and the price of our Common Stock may decline.

The resale of the shares of our Common Stock by Mead Park Capital and/or EBC could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales.

In connection the registration rights agreement, dated May 9, 2013, which the Company entered into with Mead Park Capital and CBF, the Company filed a registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission  registering the resale of all of the shares of our Common Stock issued or issuable to Mead Park Capital and EBC, as assignee of CBF, under the definitive agreements and the 8.0% Convertible Notes, respectively.  The resale of such shares of our Common Stock by Mead Park Capital and/or EBC could make it more difficult for us to sell equity or equity-related securities in the future at a time and at a price that we might otherwise wish to effect sales.

The Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”), provisions in our charter and bylaws, and our stockholder rights plan may prevent takeover attempts that could be beneficial to its stockholders.

Provisions of the MGCL and our charter and bylaws could discourage a takeover of us even if a change of control would be beneficial to the interests of its stockholders. These statutory, charter and bylaw provisions include the following:

• the MGCL generally requires the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all votes entitled to be cast on the matter to approve a merger, consolidation, or share exchange involving us or the transfer of all or substantially all of its assets;

• our board has the power to classify and reclassify authorized and unissued shares of our Common Stock or preferred stock and, subject to certain restrictions in the Operating LLC Agreement, authorize the issuance of a class or series of Common Stock or preferred stock without stockholder approval;

• Our charter may be amended only if the amendment is declared advisable by its Board of Directors and approved by the affirmative vote of the holders of our Common Stock entitled to cast at least two-thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter;

• a director may be removed from office at any time with or without cause by the affirmative vote of the holders of our Common Stock entitled to cast at least two-thirds of the votes of the stock entitled to be cast in the election of directors;

• an advance notice procedure for stockholder proposals to be brought before an annual meeting of our stockholders and nominations of persons for election to our Board of Directors at an annual or special meeting of its stockholders;

• no stockholder is entitled to cumulate votes at any election of directors; and

• our stockholders may take action in lieu of a meeting with respect to any actions that are required or permitted to be taken by its stockholders at any annual or special meeting of stockholders only by unanimous consent.

The Operating LLC Agreement prevents the Operating LLC from undertaking certain actions that may be in the best interest of the Operating LLC and IFMI without the affirmative approval of IFMI and the affirmative approval of a majority of the Operating LLC members, other than IFMI, having a percentage interest of at least 10% of the Operating LLC membership units.

The Operating LLC Agreement prevents the Operating LLC from undertaking the following actions without the affirmative approval of IFMI and a majority of voting power of the Operating LLC members, other than IFMI, having a percentage interest of at least 10% of the Operating LLC membership units (the “Designated Non-Parent Members”): 

• enter into or suffer a transaction constituting a change of control of the Operating LLC;

• amend the Operating LLC’s certificate of formation, if such amendment adversely affects the Designated Non-Parent Members; or

• adopt any plan of liquidation or dissolution, or file a certificate of dissolution.

Daniel G. Cohen, our Vice Chairman, through an entity which he wholly-owns, CBF, has a majority of the voting power of the Designated Non-Parent Members and each of the actions set forth above is subject to his approval. As a result, it is possible that Mr. Cohen, in his capacity as a member of the Operating LLC with approval rights over the matters identified above, could disapprove actions that would be in the best interests of IFMI even though, as Vice Chairman of IFMI, he will owe IFMI a fiduciary duty.

The market price of our Common Stock may be volatile and may be affected by market conditions beyond our control.

The market price of our Common Stock is subject to significant fluctuations in response to, among other factors:

• variations in our operating results and market conditions specific to our business;

• changes in financial estimates or recommendations by securities analysts;

• the emergence of new competitors or new technologies;

• operating and market price performance of other companies that investors deem comparable;

• changes in our board or management;

• sales or purchases of our Common Stock by insiders;

• commencement of, or involvement in, litigation;

• changes in governmental regulations; and

• general economic conditions and slow or negative growth of related markets.

In addition, if the market for stocks in our industry, or the stock market in general, experience a loss of investor confidence, the market price of our Common Stock could decline for reasons unrelated to our business, financial condition or results of operations. If any of the foregoing occurs, it could cause the price of our Common Stock to fall and may expose us to lawsuits that, even if unsuccessful, could be costly to defend and a distraction to the Board of Directors and management.

Our Common Stock may be delisted, which may have a material adverse effect on the liquidity and value of our Common Stock.

To maintain our listing on the NYSE MKT, we must meet certain financial and liquidity criteria. In addition, we may be subject to delisting by the NYSE MKT if our Common Stock sells for a substantial period of time at a low price per share, and we fail to effect a reverse split within a reasonable time after being notified that the NYSE MKT deems such action to be appropriate. The market price of our Common Stock has been and may continue to be subject to significant fluctuation as a result of periodic variations in our revenues and results of operations. If we violate the NYSE MKT listing requirements, we may be delisted. If we fail to meet any of the NYSE MKT’s listing standards, we may be delisted. In addition, our board may determine that the cost of maintaining our listing on a national securities exchange outweighs the benefits of such listing. Delisting of our Common Stock could have a material adverse effect on the liquidity and value of our Common Stock.

In addition, the holders of our outstanding $3.1 million aggregate principal amount of convertible senior debt will have the right to require us to repurchase their notes at 100% of their principal amount together with accrued but unpaid interest thereon if, among other things, our Common Stock ceases to be listed on the NYSE MKT, another established national securities exchange or an automated OTC trading market in the U.S. If our Common Stock is delisted due to a failure to meet any of the NYSE MKT’s listing standards and we are unable to list our Common Stock on another established national securities exchange or an automated OTC trading market, some or all of the holders of our convertible notes may exercise their right to require us to repurchase up to $3.1 million aggregate principal amount of their notes.

Because our Common Stock is deemed a low-priced “penny” stock, an investment in our Common Stock should be considered high risk and subject to marketability restrictions.

Since our Common Stock is a penny stock, as defined in Rule 3a51-1 under the Securities Exchange Act, it will be more difficult for investors to liquidate their investment in our Common Stock. Until the trading price of our Common Stock rises above $5.00 per share, if ever, trading in our Common Stock is subject to the penny stock rules of the Securities Exchange Act specified in Rules 15g-1 through 15g-10. Those rules require broker-dealers, before effecting transactions in any penny stock, to:

• Deliver to the customer, and obtain a written receipt for, a disclosure document;

• Disclose certain price information about the stock;

• Disclose the amount of compensation received by the broker-dealer or any associated person of the broker-dealer;

• Send monthly statements to customers with market and price information about the penny stock; and

• In some circumstances, approve the purchaser’s account under certain standards and deliver written statements to the customer with information specified in the rules.

Consequently, the penny stock rules may restrict the ability or willingness of broker-dealers to sell our Common Stock and may affect the ability of holders to sell their Common Stock in the secondary market and the price at which such holders can sell any such securities. These additional procedures could also limit our ability to raise additional capital in the future.