DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS |
3 Months Ended |
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Sep. 30, 2022 | |
| Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
| Description of business | DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS Overview
Freedom Holding Corp. (the "Company" or "FRHC") is a corporation organized in the United States under the laws of the State of Nevada that through its operating subsidiaries provides financial services including retail securities brokerage, research, investment counseling, securities trading, market making, retail banking, corporate investment banking and underwriting services, commercial banking and insurance products. The Company is headquartered in Almaty, Kazakhstan, with supporting administrative office locations in Cyprus, the United States and Russia (with the Russian business classified as discontinued operations pending sale). The Company has retail locations in Kazakhstan, Russia (with the Russian business classified as discontinued operations pending sale), Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Cyprus, the UK, Greece, Spain, France, Germany, United Arab Emirates and Turkey. The Company also owns a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") registered broker dealer. The Company's common stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
As of September 30, 2022, the Company owned directly, or through subsidiaries, the following companies:
•Freedom Finance JSC, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based securities broker-dealer ("Freedom KZ");
•Freedom Finance Global PLC, an Astana International Financial Centre-based securities broker-dealer ("Freedom Global");
•Bank Freedom Finance Kazakhstan JSC, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based bank ("Freedom Bank KZ");
•Freedom Finance Life JSC, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based life/health insurance company ("Freedom Life");
•Freedom Finance Insurance JSC, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based general insurance company ("Freedom Insurance");
•Freedom Finance Special Purpose Company LTD, an Astana International Financial Centre-based special purpose company ("Freedom SPC");
•Freedom Finance Commercial LLP, a Kazakhstan-based sales consulting company ("Freedom Commercial");
•Freedom Finance Europe Limited, a Limassol, Cyprus-based broker-dealer ("Freedom EU");
•Freedom Finance Technologies Ltd, a Limassol, Cyprus-based IT development company ("Freedom Technologies");
•Freedom Finance Germany GmbH, a Berlin, Germany-based tied agent of Freedom EU ("Freedom GE");
•Freedom UK Prime Limited, a London, United Kingdom-based financial intermediary company ("Prime UK");
•Freedom Finance Uzbekistan LLC, a Tashkent, Uzbekistan-based broker-dealer ("Freedom UZ");
•Freedom Finance Azerbaijan LLC, an Azerbaijan-based financial educational center ("Freedom AZ");
•Freedom Finance Armenia LLC, an Armenia-based broker-dealer ("Freedom AR");
•Prime Executions, Inc., a New York City, New York-based NYSE institutional brokerage, that is also approved to engage in certain capital markets and investment banking activities ("PrimeEx");
•FFIN Securities, Inc., a currently-dormant Nevada corporation ("FFIN");
•Freedom Finance Ltd., a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based financial intermediary company ("Freedom UAE");
•ITS Tech Limited, an Astana International Financial Centre-based, IT-support company ("ITS Tech");
•Ticketon Events LLP, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based online ticket sales company ("Ticketon");
•Insurance Company London Almaty JSC, an Almaty, Kazakhstan-based general insurance company ("London Almaty");
•Waytrust Trading Ltd, a Cyprus-based asset management company ("Waytrust");
•Freedom Finance Turkey LLC, an Istanbul based financial consulting company ("Freedom TR");
•Investment Company Freedom Finance LLC, a Moscow, Russia-based securities broker-dealer ("Freedom RU");
•FFIN Bank LLC, a Moscow, Russia-based bank ("Freedom Bank RU"); and
•Freedom Finance Auto LLC, a Russia-based car loans company ("Freedom Auto").
The Company also owns a 9% interest in Freedom Finance Ukraine LLC, a Kiev, Ukraine-based broker-dealer ("Freedom UA"). The remaining 91% interest in Freedom UA is controlled by Askar Tashtitov, the Company's president. The Company has entered into a series of contractual arrangements with Freedom UA and Mr. Tashtitov, including a consulting services agreement, an operating agreement and an option agreement.
Because such agreements obligate the Company to guarantee the performance of all Freedom UA obligations and provide Freedom UA sufficient funding to cover all Freedom UA operating losses and net capital requirements, enable the
Company to receive 90% of the net profits of Freedom UA after tax, and require the Company to provide Freedom UA the management competence, operational support, and ongoing access to the Company's significant assets, necessary technology resources and expertise to conduct the business of Freedom UA, the Company determined that Freedom UA is a variable interest entity ("VIE"). Accordingly, the Company consolidated Freedom UA into the financial statements of the Company.
Prior to July 2021, the Company controlled approximately 32.9% of Freedom UA, but due to changes to Ukrainian regulations to restrict foreign ownership of registered Ukrainian broker-dealers, in July 2021, the Company was required to sell approximately 23.9% of its equity interest in Freedom UA to Mr. Tashtitov, reducing the Company's direct ownership interest in Freedom UA to approximately 9%.
The Company has entered into an agreement to sell its Russian subsidiaries, Freedom RU and Freedom Bank RU. For financial information regarding the Company's Russian subsidiaries see Note 25 - Assets and Liabilities held for sale and Divestiture of our Russian Subsidiaries in the Overview section of Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in this quarterly report on Form 10-Q. In addition, the Company intends to sell its Freedom Finance Auto LLC subsidiary, which is not material in the context of its operations. The sale of Freedom Finance Auto LLC by the Company is a condition precedent in the agreement to sell Freedom RU and Freedom Bank RU.
Through its subsidiaries, the Company is a professional participant, with a license to provide one or more types of services, on a number of stock exchanges, including the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE), Astana International Stock Exchange (AIX), Moscow Exchange (MOEX), Saint-Petersburg Exchange (SPBX), Ukrainian Exchange (UX), Republican Stock Exchange of Tashkent (UZSE), Uzbek Republican Currency Exchange (UZCE) and is a member of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and Nasdaq Stock Exchange (Nasdaq). The Company also own a 24.3% interest in the UX. Freedom EU provides the Company's clients with operations support and access to the investment opportunities, relative stability, and integrity of the U.S. and European securities markets.
Unless otherwise specifically or contextually indicated, the “Company” refers to FRHC, together with its consolidated subsidiaries.
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