false 0001094831 0001094831 2020-08-14 2020-08-14

 

 

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): August 14, 2020

 

BGC Partners, Inc.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

 

 

Delaware

0-28191

13-4063515

(State or other jurisdiction

of incorporation)

(Commission
File Number)

(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)

499 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 610-2200

  

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Title of each class

 

Trading

Symbol(s)

 

Name of each exchange on which registered

Class A Common Stock, $0.01 par value

 

BGCP

 

The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

 

 


 


 

Item 5.02.  DEPARTURE OF DIRECTORS OR CERTAIN OFFICERS; ELECTION OF DIRECTORS; APPOINTMENT OF CERTAIN OFFICERS; COMPENSATORY ARRANGEMENTS OF CERTAIN OFFICERS.

 

On August 14, 2020, BGC Partners, Inc. (the “Registrant,” “BGC Partners,” “BGC,” or the “Company”) announced that Shaun D. Lynn has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Company, effective October 1, 2020, and will transition from his current role of President through September 2020. Mr. Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, will continue to manage the day-to-day activities of the business alongside the Company’s other executives and senior management. In his new role, Mr. Lynn will no longer serve as an executive officer of the Company.

 

A copy of the press release announcing these changes is filed as Exhibit 99.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K and is incorporated by reference herein.

 

On August 14, 2020, in connection with Mr. Lynn’s appointment to Vice Chairman of the Company, Mr. Lynn entered into an amended deed of adherence (the “Amended Deed”) with BGC Services (Holdings) LLP (the “U.K. Partnership”) which amends the Amended and Restated Deed of Adherence, dated December 14, 2016, between Mr. Lynn and the U.K. Partnership (the “Lynn Deed”). The Amended Deed amends the Lynn Deed by, among other things, (i) stating that effective as of October 1, 2020, Mr. Lynn shall no longer be responsible for the day-to-day operations of the brokerage business of BGC Partners, Inc.; (ii) reducing the target allocation of profit for each Financial Period (as that term is defined in the Lynn Deed) during the term of the Deed, effective October 1, 2020, from 300% to 100% of annualized Allocation Monthly Advanced Drawings (as that term is defined in the Lynn Deed); and (iii) adjusting the portion paid in cash and non-cash grants effective on the same date. The Compensation Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors approved the Amended Deed.

 

The foregoing description of the Amended Deed does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of such document that is filed as Exhibit 10.1, to this Current Report on Form 8-K and incorporated herein by reference.

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about BGC

Statements in this document and the attached press release regarding BGC that are not historical facts are “forward-looking statements” that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, results, financial position, liquidity and outlook, which may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently expected. Except as required by law, BGC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.


 


 

Item 9.01. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits.

 

The exhibit index set forth below is incorporated by reference in response to this Item 9.01.


 


 

EXHIBIT INDEX

 

Exhibit

Number

 

Description

 

 

10.1

 

Deed of Amendment, dated August 14, 2020, between Shaun D. Lynn and BGC Services (Holdings) LLP

 

 

 

99.1

 

BGC Partners, Inc. press release dated August 14, 2020

 

 

 

104

 

The cover page from this Current Report on Form 8-K, formatted in Inline XBRL


 


 

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report on Form 8-K to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BGC Partners, Inc.

 

 

 

 

Date: August 14, 2020

 

 

 

By:

 

/s/ Howard W. Lutnick

 

 

 

 

Name:

 

Howard W. Lutnick

 

 

 

 

Title:

 

Chairman of the Board and Chief  Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Signature Page to Form 8-K, dated August 14, 2020, regarding Shaun Lynn]  

 

 

EXHIBIT 10.1

 

 

THIS DEED OF AMENDMENT is made the 14th day of August 2020

 

 

BETWEEN:

(1)

BGC SERVICES (HOLDINGS) LLP (the “Partnership”), of Five Churchill Place, Canary Wharf, London E14 5RD; and

(2)

SHAUN LYNN (the “Individual Member”).

With effect from the date hereof the Deed made between the Individual Member and BGC Services (Holdings) LLP dated 14 December 2016 (the “Deed”) shall be varied and amended as follows:

SCHEDULE 1: INDIVIDUAL MEMBER’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS

1.

ROLE:

With effect from 1 October 2020 the reference to “Role: President” is hereby deleted in its entirety.

2.

DUTIES:

The provision relating to “Duties” is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

“DUTIES: The Individual Member shall be involved in the Business of the Partnership and oversee the businesses of any of its Affiliates, both as are assigned to the Individual Member by the Chairman (as defined below) in his sole and both absolute discretion from time to time and shall include/exclude such further business(es) and/or personnel to conduct such business as the Chairman shall determine and assign to the Individual Member from time to time in his sole and absolute discretion but consistent with the business of the Partnership and/or any Affiliate at the time. For the avoidance of doubt, as of 1 October 2020, the Individual Member shall no longer be responsible for the day to day operations of the brokerage business of BGC Partners, Inc. (“BGCP”) (as opposed to strategic initiatives and corporate development).”

3.

WORKING REQUIREMENTS:

Clause 2.3 is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:

 

“2.3

The Individual Member shall hold the position of President of BGCP until 30 September 2020 and thereafter will hold the position of Vice Chairman of BGCP or work in such other capacity as the Partnership or the Chairman may reasonably require. The Individual Member shall report directly to the Chairman. For the purposes of this clause 2.3, “Chairman” shall mean the Chairman and/or Chief Executive Officer of BGCP.”

 


 

4.

PROFIT ALLOCATION AND ADVANCE DRAWINGS:

Profit Allocation

With effect from 1 October 2020 the words “300% of annualised Allocated Monthly Advance Drawings” in clause 3.3 shall be replaced with the words “100% of annualised Allocated Monthly Advance Drawings” and clause 3.3 shall hereby be amended and construed accordingly save excepted that for the 2020 calendar year only in which the Individual Member’s role changes from President of BGCP to Vice Chairman of BGCP (“the Change Year”), the Individual Member shall be entitled to receive a target allocation of profit in the amount of 300% of annualised Allocated Monthly Advance Drawings on a pro-rata basis to the number of complete months of the Change Year in which he held the role of President of BGCP (9 months).

Subject to the terms of the Deed, the total target profit allocation for the Change Year shall therefore comprise the sum of:

(i) 9/12 x US$3m = US$2,250,000 (the “Pre-Change Allocation”) and

(ii) 3/12 x US$1m = US$250,000 (the “Post-Change Allocation”)

Total target profit allocation = $2,500,000 (the “2020 Target Allocation”)

The Individual Member acknowledges and agrees that, notwithstanding any other provision of the Deed: (a) the first US$750,000 of the Pre-Change Allocation shall be paid in cash with the remaining portion of US$1,500,000 payable as a contingent non-cash grant subject to such terms relating to non-cash grants as set out at clause 3.5 of the Deed; and (b) the first US$125,000 of the Post-Change Allocation shall be paid in cash with the remaining portion of US$125,000 payable as a contingent non-cash grant subject to such terms relating to non-cash grants as set out at clause 3.5 of the Deed, resulting in, in aggregate, US$875,000 of the 2020 Target Allocation being paid in cash and US$1,625,000 payable as a contingent non-cash grant subject to such terms relating to non-cash grants as set out at clause 3.5 of the Deed.

With effect from 1 October 2020, with respect to clause 3.5 of the Deed, the words “the first US$1,000,000” shall be replaced by “the first US$500,000” and clause 3.5 is hereby deemed amended accordingly.

Notwithstanding any other provision of the Deed but without prejudice to clause 4, where the Individual Member’s membership in the Partnership terminates during a calendar year (the “Leave Year”), the Individual Member’s profit allocation pursuant to clause 3.3 for that year will be adjusted on a pro-rata basis with reference to the number of complete months of the Leave Year in which the Individual Member remained a member of the Partnership.  For the avoidance of doubt, the Individual Member’s pro-rata profit allocation for the Leave Year pursuant to clause 3.3 shall be paid in such cash/non-cash grant portions to ensure that the Individual Member’s total profit allocation for the Leave Year (inclusive of both the pro-rated Allocated Monthly Advance Drawings and pro-rated target profit allocation) shall have been paid 75% in cash and 25% as a contingent non-cash grant subject to such terms relating to non-cash grants as set out in clause 3.5 (save for calendar year 2020, which shall be in accordance with the applicable Pre-Change/Post-Change Allocation).

All other terms and conditions of the Individual Member’s membership are unaffected and remain as set out in the Deed and the Partnership Deed. In particular, the Individual Member acknowledges and agrees that he will be bound by all the obligations set out in clause 16.3 of the Partnership Deed (Restrictions during and after ceasing to be a Member), as amended under clause 8.6 of the Deed, and clause 20 (Confidential Information) of the Partnership Deed.

2  

 


 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the parties have executed this Deed the day and year first above written.

SIGNED and DELIVERED as a

 

)

 

DEED by BGC SERVICES

 

)

 

(HOLDINGS) LLP acting by:

 

):

 

 

 

/s/ James Lightbourne

 

 

 

James Lightbourne

 

 

 

Director

 

 

 

 

 

Witnessed

 

/s/ Surangee Roshini Samarasinghe

 

 

 

Surangee Roshini Samarasinghe

 

 

 

Solicitor

 

Name:

 

 

 

 

 

5 Churchill Place

 

Address:

 

London, E14 5RD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SIGNED and DELIVERED as a

 

)

 

DEED by SHAUN LYNN

 

)

 

 

 

)

 

 

 

/s/ Shaun Lynn

 

 

 

Shaun Lynn

 

 

 

 

 

Witnessed

 

/s/ Faye Eden

 

 

 

Miss Faye Eden

 

Name:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BGC

 

Address:

 

5 Churchill Place

 

 

 

Canary Wharf

 

 

 

E14 5RD

Personal Assistant

 

 

[Signature Page to Deed of Amendment between Shaun Lynn and BGC Services (Holdings) LLP, dated as of 14 August 2020]

3  

 

EXHIBIT 99.1

 

 

Shaun Lynn appointed Vice Chairman of BGC Partners and will transition from role as President

 

NEW YORK, NY – August 14, 2020 BGC Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ: BGCP) (“BGC Partners” or “BGC” or the “Company”), a leading global brokerage and financial technology company, today announced that Shaun Lynn has been appointed Vice Chairman of the Company, and will transition from his current role of President, effective October 1, 2020. Mr. Lynn will continue to work for the Company on matters including strategy and corporate development.

 

Howard Lutnick, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of BGC, alongside the team Shaun appointed and developed, including Sean Windeatt, Chief Operating Officer; Steve Bisgay, Chief Financial Officer; Jean-Pierre Aubin, Anthony Warner and Julian Swain, Co-Heads of Global Brokerage, will continue to manage day-to-day operations of the business.

 

Mr. Lutnick commented, “I want to thank Shaun for his incredible contributions as a founder and leader of BGC Partners. During his tenure, Shaun leveraged his expertise to help BGC grow dramatically and drive forward our many strategic initiatives.”

 

“Shaun has been a vital partner and builder of our management team. We are grateful for his contributions and leadership throughout his tenure including his stewardship throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the invaluable role he played in Cantor Fitzgerald’s recovery after the events of September 11, 2001. I look forward to continuing to work with him on the strategic vision of the firm and to advance our business objectives in his new capacity as Vice Chairman.”

 

Mr. Lynn stated, “I have been fortunate to be a part of BGC’s tremendous global growth since its inception, and I am proud to see how far the Company has come. It has been an honor working with such a talented management team for more than three decades.”

 

About BGC Partners, Inc.
BGC Partners is a leading global brokerage and financial technology company. BGC specializes in the brokerage of a broad range of products, including fixed income (rates and credit), foreign exchange, equities, energy and commodities, shipping, insurance, and futures. BGC also provides a wide variety of services, including trade execution, brokerage, clearing, trade compression, post-trade, information, and other back-office services to a broad range of financial and non-financial institutions. Through brands including Fenics, BGC Trader, Capitalab, Lucera, and Fenics Market Data, BGC offers financial technology solutions, market data, and analytics related to numerous financial instruments and markets. BGC, BGC Trader, GFI, Fenics, Fenics Market Data, Capitalab, and Lucera are trademarks/service marks and/or registered trademarks/service marks of BGC Partners, Inc. and/or its affiliates.

BGC's customers include many of the world's largest banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, corporations, and investment firms. BGC's Class A common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol "BGCP". BGC Partners is led by Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer Howard W. Lutnick. For more information, please visit http://www.bgcpartners.com. You can also follow BGC at https://twitter.com/bgcpartnershttps://www.linkedin.com/company/bgc-partners and/or http://ir.bgcpartners.com/Investors/default.aspx.

 


 

Discussion of Forward-Looking Statements about BGC
Statements in this document regarding BGC that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These include statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's business, results, financial position, liquidity and outlook, which may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impact may differ, possibly materially, from what is currently expected. Except as required by law, BGC undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see BGC's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including, but not limited to, the risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information set forth in these filings and any updates to such risk factors and Special Note on Forward-Looking Information contained in subsequent reports on Form 10-K, Form 10-Q or Form 8-K.

Media Contact:
Karen Laureano-Rikardsen
+1 212-829-4975

Investor Contact:
Jason McGruder
+1 212-610-2426