Freedom Holding Corp. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

LEASES

LEASES

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023

At March 31, 2023, the Company was obligated under a number of noncancellable leases, predominantly operating leases of office space, which expire at various dates through 2033. Our primary involvement with leases is in the capacity as a lessee where we lease premises to support our business.

The Company determines whether a contract is or contains a lease at inception of the contract and whether that lease meets the classification criteria of a finance or operating lease. Operating lease liabilities and ROU assets are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of the future minimum lease payments over the lease term. The future lease payments are discounted at a rate that estimates the Company’s collateralized borrowing rate for financing instruments of a similar term and are included in accounts payable and other liabilities. The operating lease ROU asset, included in premises and equipment, also includes any lease prepayments made, plus initial direct costs incurred, less any lease incentives received. Rental expense associated with operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and generally included in occupancy expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. Certain of these leases also have extension or termination options, and we assess the likelihood of exercising such options. If it is reasonably certain that we will exercise the options to extend, then we include the impact in the measurement of our right-of-use assets and lease liabilities.

When readily determinable, the Company uses the rate implicit in the lease to discount lease payments to present value; however, the rate implicit on most of the Company's leases are not readily determinable. Therefore, the Company must discount lease payments based on an estimate of its incremental borrowing rate.

The table below presents the lease related assets and liabilities recorded on the Company's consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2023:


	Classification on Balance Sheet	March 31, 2023
Assets
Operating lease assets	Right-of-use assets	$	30,345
Total lease assets		$	30,345

Liabilities
Operating lease liability	Operating lease obligations	$	30,320
Total lease liability		$	30,320

The following table presents as of March 31, 2023, the annual maturities of the lease liabilities:


Twelve months ending March 31,
2024	$	9,413
2025	7,971
2026	7,543
2027	6,629
2028	4,766
Thereafter	4,199
Total payments	40,521
Less: amounts representing interest	(10,201)
Lease liability	$	30,320
Weighted average remaining lease term (in months)	21
Weighted average discount rate	13		%

Lease commitments for short-term operating leases as of March 31, 2023 was approximately $457. The Company's rent expense for office space was $2,038 for the year ended March 31, 2023, $1,026 for the year ended March 31, 2022 and $624 for the year ended March 31, 2021 respectively.

The company has leases that involve variable payments tied to an index, which are considered in the measurement of operating lease right-of-use (ROU) assets and operating lease liabilities.