A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc. - Annual Report: 2020 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

☑ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2020

OR

☐TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

Commission File Number: 001-36347

A-MARK PRECIOUS METALS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

2121 Rosecrans Ave. Suite 6300
El Segundo, CA 90245

(Address of principal executive offices)(Zip Code)

(310) 587-1477

(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)

Securities registered under Section 12(b) of the Exchange Act:

Securities registered under Section 12 (g) of the Exchange Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes. ☐   No.  ☑

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes. ☐   No. ☑ 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes. ☑   No. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes. ☑   No. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

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. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes. ☐   No. ☑

Aggregate market value of registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant on December 31, 2019, based upon the closing price of Common Stock on such date as reported by NASDAQ Global Select Market, was approximately $37,549,522. Shares of common stock known to be owned by directors and executive officers of the Registrant subject to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are not included in the computation. No determination has been made that such persons are “affiliates” within the meaning of Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act.

As of September 4, 2020, the registrant had 7,035,089 shares of common stock outstanding, par value $0.01 per share.

Table of Contents

A-MARK PRECIOUS METALS, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

For the Year Ended June 30, 2020

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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PART I — FINANCIAL INFORMATION

ITEM 1.  DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Overview

A-Mark, also referred to (together with its subsidiaries) as "we", "us" and the "Company", is a full-service precious metals trading company. It is a wholesaler of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium bullion and related products, including bars, wafers, grain, and coins. A-Mark also:

A-Mark believes it has one of the largest customer bases in each of its markets and provides one of the most comprehensive offerings of products and services in the precious metals trading industry. Our customers include mints, manufacturers and fabricators, refiners, coin and bullion dealers, e-commerce retailers, banks and other financial institutions, commodity brokerage houses, industrial users of precious metals, investors, collectors, and retail customers. We serve customers on five continents, with over 10% of our customers located outside the United States.

A-Mark believes its businesses largely function independently of the price movement of the underlying commodities. However, factors such as global economic activity or uncertainty and inflationary trends, which affect market volatility, have the potential to impact demand, volumes, and margins.

History

A-Mark was founded in 1965 and has grown into a significant participant in the bullion and coin market. A-Mark became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Spectrum Group International, Inc. ("SGI") in 2005.  In March 2014, SGI distributed all of the shares of common stock of A-Mark to its stockholders, effecting a spinoff of A-Mark from SGI. As a result of this distribution, which we refer to as the spinoff, the Company became a publicly traded company independent from SGI.

Over the years, A-Mark has been steadily expanding its products and services. In 1986, A-Mark became an authorized purchaser of gold and silver bullion coins struck by the United States Mint. Similar arrangements with other sovereign mints followed, so that by the early 1990s, A-Mark had (and continues to have) relationships with all major sovereign mints offering bullion coins and bars internationally.

In 2005, the Company launched Collateral Finance Corporation ("CFC"), a wholly-owned subsidiary, for the purpose of making secured loans primarily collateralized by bullion and numismatic material. CFC has been steadily expanding the value of its aggregate loan portfolio and number of its customers.  CFC has achieved its growth through both loan origination and acquisitions of loan portfolios purchased from wholesale customers of A-Mark.

The Company opened an overseas office in Vienna, Austria in 2009, for the purpose of marketing A-Mark's goods and services in the international markets.  The office operates through A-Mark Trading AG ("AMTAG"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.  In 2012, the Company formed Transcontinental Depository Services, LLC. ("TDS"), a wholly-owned subsidiary, for the purpose of providing customers with turn-key global storage solutions for their precious metals and precious metal products.

In July 2015, the Company launched its Las Vegas-based logistics fulfillment center, A-M Global Logistics, LLC. ("AMGL" or "Logistics"), a wholly-owned subsidiary, for the purpose of  providing our customers a platform of complementary services, including packaging, shipping, handling, receiving, processing, and inventorying of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis.

In August 2016, the Company formed a joint venture, AM&ST Associates, LLC. ("AMST"), with SilverTowne, L.P., an Indiana-based fabricator of silver bullion products, for the purpose of acquiring and operating SilverTowne, L.P.'s minting business unit ("SilverTowne Mint" or the "Mint").  We own a majority interest in AMST. Since the formation of AMST, the Company has invested

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in minting equipment and fabrication tools to expand output capabilities, increase production efficiencies and improve product quality, and has leveraged the Mint’s fabrication capabilities and coin die portfolio to expand our custom coin programs, as well as to introduce new custom products for individual customers.

In August 2017, the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of Goldline, LLC, a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community, and now conducts those operations through its subsidiary Goldline, Inc. ("Goldline"). Goldline LLC. was formed in 1960 and became well-known to collectors and investors for its world-wide distribution of gold, silver, and platinum bullion coins and bars, in part, due to its television, radio, and internet marketing and customer service outreach programs which have historically led to a significant base of repeat customers. Since our acquisition, Goldline has expanded its product offerings, improved its delivery times, and provided additional financing options to its customers  Also, Goldline has initiated a customer service program to re-engage with Goldline LLC's inactive customers and has invested in technological solutions to reduce the cost of its customer service outreach programs. Furthermore, Goldline has implemented a scaled marketing approach to better align with varying levels of market demands, and has consolidated the predecessor-company's trading, hedging, distribution, and customer service functions within A-Mark.

In May 2018, the Company formed AM IP LLC. ("AMIP"), a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldline, for the purpose of managing certain intellectual property (“IP”).  The IP assets managed by AMIP include customer lists and a sales lead data base that was contributed by Goldline.

In September 2018, the Company formed AM Capital Funding, LLC. (“AMCF”), a wholly owned subsidiary of CFC, for the purpose of issuing and administering privately placed notes, which are collateralized by secured  loans (contributed from CFC) and bullion product (purchased from A-Mark).  The notes were Secured Senior Term Notes (collectively, the "Notes"): Series 2018-1, Class A in the aggregate principal amount of $72.0 million and Secured Subordinated Term Notes, Series 2018-1, Class B in the aggregate principal amount of $28.0 million.  The Class A Notes bear interest at a rate of 4.98% and the Class B Notes bear interest at a rate of 5.98%.  The Notes have a maturity date of December 15, 2023.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, Goldline entered into a joint venture agreement with one of the Company's related parties to form Precious Metals Purchasing Partners, LLC, ("PMPP"), a 50% owned subsidiary, primarily for the purpose of purchasing precious metals from the partners' retail customers for resale back into the market place.  PMPP was capitalized in fiscal 2019 and commenced operations in fiscal 2020.  Metals purchased by the joint venture will be sold to the partners or their affiliates per terms of the joint venture agreement.

Business Strategy

Through strategic relationships with its customers and suppliers and vertical integration across its markets, A-Mark seeks to grow its business volume, expand its presence in non-U.S. markets around the globe, and enlarge its offering of complementary products and services. A-Mark seeks to continue its expansion by building on its strengths and what it perceives to be its competitive advantages. These include:

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Business Segments

The Company conducts its operations through three reportable segments: (i) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (ii) Secured Lending, and (iii) Direct Sales. Each of these reportable segments represents an aggregation of operating segments that meets the aggregation criteria set forth in the Segment Reporting Topic 280 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”). (See Note 18 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.)

Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

A-Mark operates through several business units that comprise the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment, including Industrial, Coin and Bar, Trading and Finance, Storage, Logistics, and Mint.

Industrial. Our Industrial unit sells gold, silver, platinum, and palladium to industrial and commercial users. Customers include coin fabricators such as mints and industrial manufacturers, encompassing electronics and component parts companies and refiners. Depending on the intended usage, the metals are either investment or industrial grade and are generally in the form of bars or grains.

Coin and Bar. Our Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 different products, including gold and silver coins from around the world and gold, silver, platinum and palladium bars and ingots in a variety of weights, shapes and sizes. Our customers include coin and bullion dealers, banks and other financial institutions, commodity brokerage houses, manufacturers, investors, investment advisors, and collectors who qualify as “eligible commercial entities” and “eligible contract participants,” as those terms are defined in the Commodity Exchange Act.

We are an authorized distributor (and, in the case of the United States Mint, an authorized purchaser) of gold and silver coins for all of the major sovereign mints and various private mints. The sovereign mints include the United States Mint, the Australian (Perth) Mint, the Austrian Mint, the Royal Canadian Mint, the China Mint, Banco de Mexico, the South African Mint (Rand Refinery) and the Royal Mint (United Kingdom). We purchase and take delivery of coins from the mints for resale to coin dealers, financial institutions, and other qualified purchasers.

Our distribution and purchase agreements with the mints are non-exclusive, and may be terminated by the mints at any time, although in practice our relationship with the mints are long-standing, in some cases, as with the U.S. Mint, extending back for over 20 years. In some cases, we have developed exclusive products with sovereign and private mints for distribution through our dealer network.

In our Industrial and Coin and Bar units, orders are taken telephonically and on an electronic trading platform that can be accessed by qualified wholesale customers at www.amark.com. Pricing is generally based on screen quotes for bullion transactions in the spot market, with two-day settlement, although special pricing and extended settlement terms are also available. For example, a customer can leave an order with A-Mark to purchase at a specified price below the current market price or an order to sell at a specified price above the current market price.  Almost all customers in these units take physical delivery of the precious metal. Product is shipped upon receipt of payment, except where the purchase is financed under credit arrangements between A-Mark and the customer. We have relationships with precious metal depositories around the world to facilitate shipment of product from our inventory to these customers, in many cases for next day delivery. Product may either be shipped to the customer's location or delivered to a depository or other storage facility designated by the customer. The Company also periodically loans metals to customers on a short-term consignment basis, and may charge interest fees based on the value of the metals loaned. Such metal inventories are removed at the time the customers elect to price and purchase the metals, and the Company records a corresponding sale and receivable.

Trading and Finance. Our Trading and Finance units engage in commodity hedging as well as borrowing and lending transactions in support of our Industrial and Coin and Bar units.

The Trading unit hedges the commodity risk on A-Mark's inventory in order to protect A-Mark from market price fluctuations. A-Mark maintains relationships with major market-makers and multiple futures brokers in order to provide a variety of alternatives for its hedging needs. Our traders employ a combination of future and forward contracts to hedge our market exposure. Because it seeks to substantially hedge its market exposure, A-Mark believes that its business largely functions independently of the price movements of the underlying commodities. Through its hedging activities, A-Mark may also earn contango yields, in which futures price are higher than the current spot prices, or backwardation yields, in which futures prices are lower than the spot prices. A-Mark also offers precious metals price quotes in a number of foreign currencies.

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Our Finance unit engages in precious metals borrowing and lending transactions and other customized financial transactions with or on behalf of our customers and other counterparties. These arrangements range from simple hedging structures to complex inventory finance arrangements and forward purchase and sale structures, tailored to the needs of our customers.

Storage. Our Transcontinental Depository Services LLC.  ("TDS") subsidiary provides storage solutions for precious metals and numismatic coins for financial institutions, dealers, investors and collectors worldwide. TDS contracts on behalf of our clients with independent secure storage facilities in the United States, Canada, Europe, Singapore and Hong Kong, for either fully segregated or allocated storage. We assist our clients in developing appropriate storage options for their particular requirements, and we manage the operational aspects of the storage with the third party facilities on our clients' behalf.  TDS’s marketing efforts are conducted both in partnership with A-Mark, including though its dedicated website www.tdsvaults.com.

Logistics. Our A-M Global Logistics LLC. ("Logistics") subsidiary, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, supports our wholesale trading business by providing a significant amount of the secured storage and shipping and delivery services that had historically been outsourced to third-party depositories in their various locations. By consolidating those operations into one central location under our control, we have reduced our dependence on third-party service providers while enhancing quality control and reducing operating costs.  Logistics also provides turn-key logistics services to our customers engaged in the retail business. We provide these customers hedging, inventory handling, packaging, storage, and drop-shipping services.

AMTAG. Our A-Mark Trading AG.  ("AMTAG") subsidiary promotes the Company's products and services to international markets.

Mint.  In August 2016, the Company formed AMST, a joint venture with SilverTowne, L.P., an Indiana-based producer of minted silver. AMST acquired the entire minting operations (referred to as SilverTowne Mint or the "Mint" business unit) of SilverTowne, L.P., with the goal of providing greater product selection to our customers and greater pricing stability within the supply chain, as well as to gain increased access to fabricated silver products during volatile market environments.  Since the acquisition, A-Mark has leveraged SilverTowne Mint’s fabrication capabilities and coin-die portfolio to expand its custom coin programs, as well as to introduce new custom products for individual customers.  As of June 30, 2020, the Company and SilverTowne, L.P. owned 69% and 31%, respectively, of AMST. (See Note 19 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.)  The Mint markets the products it produces at www.silvertowne.com.

Secured Lending

The Company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiary, CFC, which in turn owns AMCF.  CFC and AMCF have been operating since fiscal years 2005 and 2019, respectively.

CFC is a California licensed finance lender that originates and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. CFC's customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors, and collectors. As of June 30, 2020, the aggregate balance of CFC's secured loans was approximately $63.7 million. The balance is comprised of approximately 39.1% of loans acquired from third-parties and approximately 60.9% of loans originated by CFC.

AMCF is a special purpose entity whose sole activity consists of operating, owning, and financing indenture assets.  AMCF Notes are primarily payable from, and secured by, (i) precious metals obtained by AMCF, (ii) a portfolio of loans collateralized by precious metals, which loans were originated by either CFC or acquired by CFC from third parties and conveyed by CFC to AMCF, and (iii) cash. The indenture requires AMCF to maintain a specified level of collateral. The indenture also provides that AMCF’s assets are not to be commingled with those of CFC or A-Mark (or any affiliate) and that AMCF is to maintain separate books and records.

General.  The secured loans that CFC issues consist of on-demand loans and loans with a term of three months to 364 days, with a typical term of approximately six months.  Repayment of the loans can be made at any time without penalty.  Because the loans are of relatively short duration, CFC does not have significant exposure to interest rate fluctuations, even in a rising interest rate environment.  Loans carried by CFC range in size from $15,000 to $10.0 million.

All loans are fully secured by bullion or numismatics coins (or in rare cases, by other acceptable collateral.) TDS, on behalf of CFC, takes physical custody of the coins or bullion collateralizing the loans. CFC requires loan-to-value ("LTV") ratios of between 50% and 85%. LTV ratio refers to the principal amount of the loan divided by the liquidation value of the collateral, as conservatively estimated by CFC for numismatic loans and based on daily spot market prices for bullion loans.  The LTV ratio varies with the nature of the collateral, with CFC requiring, for example, a higher LTV ratio for bullion than for rare coins.  If, because of fluctuations in the market price of the pledged collateral, the LTV ratio on a loan increases above a prescribed maximum ratio, typically 85%, CFC can make a margin call on the loan.  If the borrower does not meet the margin call, either by wiring payment or supplying additional

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collateral, CFC is authorized to sell the collateral, which it does through its A-Mark affiliates.  Because of its conservative lending and collateral monitoring practices, CFC has never experienced losses of principal on its loans.

Origination Activity.  CFC's origination activities are complementary to the Company’s coin and bullion businesses, and afford our customers a convenient means of financing their inventory or collections. CFC also attempts to leverage the worldwide storage capabilities of its TDS affiliate by offering clients TDS’s asset protection services in connection with the loans.  CFC’s marketing efforts for its origination activity are conducted both in partnership with A-Mark, particularly with respect to dealers, and independently, including though its dedicated website www.cfcgoldloans.com.  Interest rates on loans originated by CFC are determined based on current market conditions, borrower profile and type or mix of collateral.  CFC also offers a variety of custom loan services to its origination clients, including renewal options, options to increase loan size, financing arrangements tailored to facilitate participation in numismatic auctions, and revolving loan arrangements.  CFC services the loans that it originates.

Acquisition Activity.  CFC also acquires portfolios of loans secured by bullion and numismatics coins from third party originators. The loans acquired by CFC are sold subject to customary representations and warranties for loan portfolios of this type, and must comply with CFC’s criteria for quality of collateral, LTV ratio, term and interest rate.  Upon acquisition of a loan portfolio, CFC takes physical possession of the collateral securing the loans.  In the event that a loan is non-performing, the collateral will typically be liquidated by A-Mark on behalf of the originator in order to retire the loan.  Typically, loan portfolios acquired by CFC are serviced by the originator for a fee.

Financing Activity. CFC has historically financed its loan origination and acquisition activity primarily through A-Mark's demand line of credit with a syndicate of several financial institutions. The Notes, issued by AMCF in September 2018, have provided an additional source of funding for CFC's loan originations and acquisitions of loan portfolios from third parties.

Direct Sales

The Company operates its Direct Sales segment through two business units: Direct-to-Client Sales and Buy-Back Purchases.

Direct-to-Client Sales.  Goldline is a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community. Goldline markets its precious metal products on television, radio, and the internet, as well as through telephonic sales efforts, particularly to Goldline’s repeat customers. Online orders are taken on an electronic trading platform that can be accessed by qualified retail customers at www.goldline.com.

Goldline expands the Company’s distribution capabilities by adding a direct-to-client distribution channel and diversifies the products and services offered to Goldline customers by providing them access to the Company’s wider assortment of precious metal coins and bars, as well as TDS’s storage and asset protection services.

Goldline customers are required to open an account with Goldline and enter into an account agreement.  The agreement specifies the terms and conditions of purchase and explains the availability of certain programs and services offered by Goldline to its customers.

Buy-Back Purchases. Goldline, through its 50%-owned subsidiary PMPP, acquires precious metals from retail customers (known as "buy-back purchases") in order to diversify its supply chain of product offerings and prices for its affiliates.

Liquidity

Our business depends substantially on our ability to obtain financing for our operations.  Sources of cash generated from operating activities include receipts upon the sales of precious metals, and cash collected from interest payments on secured loans.

Sources of cash provided by financing activities are our uncommitted line of credit, fixed interest rate notes, and other structured financing products.  The Company’s line of credit provides it with the liquidity to buy and sell billions of dollars of precious metals annually. As of June 30, 2020, A-Mark's uncommitted line of credit that provides access up to $270.0 million, featuring a $220.0 million base with a $50.0 million accordion option, is used to fund a substantial portion of the operations of the Company.  In addition, the Company issued fixed rate notes in September 2018 with an aggregate principal amount of $100.0 million, having a maturity of December 2023. The proceeds upon issuance of the notes were used to fund the acquisition of CFC's secured loans and other operating activities.  The Company also generates funds from other finance products that include product financing arrangements with customers, whereby the Company sells its inventory with an option to repurchase, and through precious metal borrowing and leasing arrangements with its suppliers.

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Market Making Activity

We act as a principal market maker, maintaining a two-way market for buying and selling precious metals. This means we both sell product to and purchase product from our customers.

Inventory

We maintain a substantial inventory of bullion and coins in order to provide our customers with selection and prompt delivery. We acquire product for our inventory in the course of our trading activities with our customers, directly from government and private mints, mines, and refiners and from commodities brokers and dealers, privately and in transactions on established commodity exchanges.

A-Mark’s precious metals inventories are subject to market value changes created by change in the underlying commodity price, as well as supply and demand of the individual products the Company trades. Our inventory is marked-to-market daily for accounting and financial reporting purposes, except for a relatively insignificant amount of inventory that is accounted for at lower of cost or net realizable value. A-Mark’s policy is to remain substantially hedged as to its inventory position and its individual sale and purchase commitments. A-Mark seeks to minimize the effect of price changes of the underlying commodity through the use of financial derivative instruments, such as forward and futures contracts.

Sales and Marketing

We market our products and services to our wholesale customers primarily through our offices in El Segundo, California, and Vienna, Austria, our websites, and our dealer network, which we believe is the largest of its kind in North America. The dealer network consists of over 800 independent precious metal and coin companies, with whom we transact on a non-exclusive basis. The arrangements with the dealers vary, but generally the dealers acquire product from us for resale to their customers. In some instances, we deliver bullion to the dealers on a consignment basis. We also participate from time to time in trade shows and conventions, at which we promote our products and services. As a vertically integrated precious metals company, a key element of our marketing strategy is being able to cross-sell our products and services to customers within our various business units.

Consistent with the marketing strategy for our wholesale customers, we market our secured loan products and services to customers primarily through our dealer network and by participating in trade shows and conventions.

We market our products and services to our retail customers primarily through our office in Los Angeles, California. The Company reaches its retail investor customer base on television, radio, and the internet, as well as through telephonic sales efforts.

Operational Support

The Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment maintains administrative and operational support related to its trading, hedging, and finance product operations at its headquarters in El Segundo, California. We believe that our existing administrative and operational support infrastructure has the capacity to scale up with our business activities. We store our inventories of bullion and numismatics at third party depositories in major financial centers around the world and at our facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Secured Lending segment also maintains administrative support at its headquarters in El Segundo, California for the processing of its originated loans, including billing of interest, managing margin calls, and tracking of precious metal collateral.  However, for the processing administration of loans that are acquired from a third-party (usually a customer of A-Mark), customer invoices are typically processed by the originating dealer of the loan portfolio, through a servicing arrangement, for a fee based on the interest rate charged to the end-consumer.  The operational support (specifically, the collateral custody and security) is managed by our logistics business unit.  Additionally, A-Mark provides funds to CFC to purchase additional bullion and numismatic secured loans.

The Direct Sales segment maintains administrative and operational support at its office in Los Angeles, California for originating and processing its retail orders. The Company's Trading, Finance, and Logistics business units provide supporting services such as hedging and order fulfillment.

With a third party software developer, we have created a proprietary trading program, referred to as the Metals Trading System ("MTS"). Through MTS we are able to input, process, track and document our trading activity, including complex hedging and similar transactions. Additionally, with the objective of improving transactional ease and efficiency, we have developed and implemented web-portal processing ordering systems that operate 24-hours, 7-days per week.  A-Mark's web-portal processes orders from pre-approved wholesale customers; Goldline's web-portal processes retail customer orders that are below a certain dollar amount; and CFC's web-portal processes secured loan applications.

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Supplier and Customer Concentrations

A-Mark buys a majority of its precious metals from a limited number of suppliers. The Company believes that other suppliers are available and would provide similar products on comparable terms.  In addition, through the Company's Mint business unit, it has the capabilities to design and mint silver custom bullion coins to respond to changing market demands.

For the year ended June 30, 2020, the Company had two customers comprising more than 10% of our revenues. (See Note 17 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.) The Company's largest customers generally have significant forward contract sales activity (as opposed to those customers with whom we principally have physical trading activity), which are entered to hedge the Company's commodity holding risks, and not for speculative purposes.

Competition

A-Mark's activities cover a broad spectrum of the precious metals industry, with a concentration on the physical market. We service public, industrial, and private sector consumers of precious metals which include industrial manufacturers, refiners, minting facilities, banks, brokerage houses, and private investors. We frequently face different competitors in each area, and it is not uncommon for a customer and/or a supplier in one market segment to be a competitor in another.

Our Secured Lending segment's market is believed to have limited direct competition. We believe factors, including access to capital, secure storage facilities, bullion and numismatic expertise, and other related services and offerings, provide us a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

Our Direct Sales' market environment is highly competitive and highly concentrated with a significant number of active loyal customers. We seek to expand product and service offerings to increase our customer base.

Our competitors may offer more favorable pricing or services considered to be superior to ours.

Trading Seasonality

While our precious metals trading business is not seasonal, we believe it is directly impacted by the perception of market trends and global economic activity. Historically, higher levels of demand for precious metals are brought on during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty. Typically, factors that impact such uncertainty and correlate with a higher level of demand for precious metals include: volatility in the equity markets, increases in rates of inflation, and devaluation of the U.S. dollar.

Employees

As of June 30, 2020, we had 220 employees, with 218 located in North America, and two located in Europe; all except five of these employees were considered full-time employees. We regard our relations with our employees as good.

Corporate Information

A-Mark was founded in 1965 as a New York corporation. In January 2014, the Company was reincorporated in Delaware.  Our executive offices are located at 2121 Rosecrans Avenue, Suite 6300, El Segundo CA 90245. Our telephone number is (310) 587-1477, and our website is www.amark.com. Through this website, we make available, free of charge, all of our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including those under the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Exchange Act"). Such reports are made available on the same day that they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. In addition, copies of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Employees, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Senior Financial and Other Officers, and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics for Directors are available through our website, along with other information regarding our corporate governance policies.

Geographic Information

See Note 18  of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information about Company's geographic operations.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

Risks Relating to Our Business Generally

Our business is heavily dependent on our credit facility.

Our business depends substantially on our ability to obtain financing for our operations. The Trading Credit Facility (as further described and defined below) provides the Company with the liquidity to buy and sell billions of dollars of precious metals annually. The Trading Credit Facility is an uncommitted demand facility provided by a syndicate of financial institutions (the “Trading Credit Lenders”), and is currently scheduled to mature on March 26, 2021.  A-Mark routinely uses funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to purchase metals from its suppliers and for operating cash flow purposes. Our CFC subsidiary also uses the funds drawn under the Trading Credit Facility to finance its lending activities.

Pursuant to the terms of the Trading Credit Facility, each Trading Credit Lender may, at any time in its sole discretion (subject to certain notice requirements), decline to make loans to us.  If we are unable to access funds under the Trading Credit Facility, we may be limited in the manner in which we conduct our business and we may be unable to engage in favorable business activities or finance future operations or capital needs.

The Trading Credit Facility requires us to maintain certain financial ratios and to comply with various operational and other covenants. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under the Trading Credit Facility that was not cured or waived pursuant to the terms of the Trading Credit Facility, the Trading Credit Lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the Trading Credit Facility to be due and payable immediately.  Further, Trading Credit Lenders holding 50% or more of the indebtedness under the Trading Credit Facility may require us to repay all outstanding indebtedness under the Trading Credit Facility at any time, even if we are in compliance with the financial and other covenants under the Trading Credit Facility.

We cannot assure you that our assets or cash flow would be sufficient to fully repay borrowings under our outstanding debt instruments, including the Trading Credit Facility, upon demand or acceleration, or at maturity, or that we would be able to refinance or restructure the payments under the Trading Credit Facility. The failure of A-Mark to renew or replace the Trading Credit Facility under such circumstances would reduce the financing available to us and could limit our ability to conduct our business, including the lending activity of our CFC subsidiary.  There can be no assurance that we could procure replacement financing on commercially acceptable terms on a timely basis, or at all.  We have pledged a significant portion of our assets as collateral under the Trading Credit Facility, and if we were unable to repay the amounts outstanding thereunder, the administrative agent under the Trading Credit Facility could proceed against the collateral granted to secure such indebtedness.

We are subject to fluctuations in interest rates based on the variable interest terms of the Trading Credit Facility and we may not be able to pass along to our customers and borrowers some or any part of an increase in the interest that we are required to pay under the Trading Credit Facility.  Amounts under the Trading Credit Facility bear interest based on one month LIBOR plus (i)  2.50% for revolving credit line loans and (ii) 4.50% for loans extended in excess of the then-available revolving credit line. The LIBOR was approximately 0.16% as of June 30, 2020.

Uncertainty about the future of LIBOR may adversely affect our business.

Borrowings under our revolving credit agreement bear interest at rates that are calculated based on LIBOR. On July 27, 2017, the Chief Executive of the United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit rates for the calibration of LIBOR to the administrator of LIBOR after 2021. The announcement indicates that the continuation of LIBOR in its current form cannot be assured after 2021. It is impossible to predict whether and to what extent banks will continue to provide LIBOR submissions to the administrator of LIBOR or whether any additional reforms to LIBOR may be enacted in the United Kingdom or elsewhere. In the United States, the Alternative Reference Rates Committee (the “ARRC”) has proposed the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) as an alternative to LIBOR for use in contracts that are currently indexed to United States dollar LIBOR, and has proposed a paced market transition plan to SOFR.  It is not presently known whether SOFR or any other alternative reference rates that have been proposed will attain market acceptance as replacements of LIBOR.

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The Company utilizes its Trading Credit Facility to purchase and finance precious metals and for operating cash flow purposes.  Effective as of March 27, 2020, the Trading Credit Facility was amended to include contingency provisions for the discontinuation of LIBOR.  Under these provisions, the Company and the administrative agent for the facility may jointly select an alternative benchmark rate, giving due consideration to recommendations of replacement rates by governmental bodies and prevailing market conventions. Although alternative reference rates have been proposed, it is unknown whether these alternative reference rates will attain market acceptance as replacements of LIBOR.

If, as currently anticipated, LIBOR is replaced by alternative rates, the method and rate used to calculate our variable-rate debt in the future, particularly under our Trading Credit facility, may result in interest rates and/or payments that are higher than, lower than, or that do not otherwise correlate over time with the interest rates and/or payments that would have been made on our obligations if LIBOR was available in its current form. Because arrangements for the anticipated replacement of LIBOR have not yet been finalized, the potential effect of the replacement of LIBOR on our cost of capital, financial results, and cash flows cannot yet be determined.

We could suffer losses with our financing operations.

We engage in a variety of financing activities with our customers:

Our ability to minimize losses on the credit that we extend to our customers depends on a variety of factors, including:

CFC may in certain circumstances be required to repurchase loans that it has securitized.

CFC has entered into a securitization financing whereby it has transferred, and may continue from time to time to transfer, to its subsidiary AMCF loans secured by precious metal coins or bullion. AMCF has issued 4.98% Class A Notes due 2023 and 5.98% Class B Notes due 2023 which are secured by these loans and related assets.  While the notes are not recourse to the Company or CFC, CFC is required to provide certain warranties concerning the loans and the security interest in the metals collateral securing the loans.  In the event the warranties made with respect to any loan are breached and the breach materially and adversely affects the interests of the noteholders, CFC is required to either cure the breach or repurchase the loan within specified a timeframe.  If CFC were to default on its repurchase obligations, this could materially adversely affect the business of CFC, and could adversely affect the Company’s future ability to access the credit markets.

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CFC and the Company have exposure to the performance of AMCF.

Regulation RR of the SEC requires the sponsor of an asset-backed securitization transaction, or certain of its affiliates, to retain an economic interest in the transaction.  In compliance with this rule, CFC retained the equity interest in AMCF and the Company currently holds $5.0 million of Class B Notes, which are subordinated to the Class A Notes.  In addition, CFC and the Company may, from time to time, also contribute cash or sell precious metals to AMCF in exchange for subordinated, deferred payment obligations from AMCF.  If the performance of AMCF were to suffer such that AMCF were unable to service its notes, CFC and the Company could lose part or all of their investments in AMCF.

Under the terms of the servicing arrangements for the precious metals loan securitization, CFC may be required to liquidate the collateral securing securitized loans, even if this would impair relationships with its customers.

CFC is the servicer for the loans transferred to AMCF in the securitization transaction.  If, under certain circumstances, the equity levels of the obligors on particular loans falls below a specified level and those obligors fail to pay in additional equity, CFC is required to liquidate the metals collateral securing those loans within a specified time period. CFC does not have the flexibility to defer or refrain from the liquidation, even if CFC were to determine that it would be in its best interests to do so. This requirement could impair valuable relationships that the Company may otherwise have with its customers whose loans have been securitized.

Our business is dependent on a concentrated customer base.

One of A-Mark's key assets is its customer base. This customer base provides deep distribution of product and makes A-Mark a desirable trading partner for precious metals product manufacturers, including sovereign mints seeking to distribute precious metals coinage or large refiners seeking to sell large volumes of physical precious metals. Two customers represented 23.4% of A-Mark's revenues for the year ended June 30, 2020.  The same two customers represented 33.4% of A-Mark's revenues for the year ended June 30, 2019.  If our relationships with these customers deteriorated, or if we were to lose these customers, our business would be materially adversely affected.

The loss of a government purchaser/distributorship arrangement could materially adversely affect our business.

A-Mark’s business is heavily dependent on its purchaser/distributorship arrangements with various governmental mints. Our ability to offer numismatic coins and bars to our customers on a competitive basis is based on the ability to purchase products directly from a government source. The arrangements with the governmental mints may be discontinued by them at any time. The loss of an authorized purchaser/distributor relationship, including with the U.S. Mint could have a material adverse effect on our business.

The materials held by A-Mark are subject to loss, damage, theft or restriction on access.

A-Mark has significant quantities of high-value precious metals on site, at third-party depositories and in transit. There is a risk that part or all of the gold and other precious metals held by A-Mark, whether on its own behalf or on behalf of its customers, could be lost, damaged or stolen. In addition, access to A-Mark’s precious metals could be restricted by natural events (such as an earthquake) or human actions (such as a terrorist attack). Although we maintain insurance on terms and conditions that we consider appropriate, we may not have adequate sources of recovery if our precious metals inventory is lost, damaged, stolen or destroyed, and recovery may be limited. Among other things, our insurance policies exclude coverage in the event of loss as a result of terrorist attacks or civil unrest.

In addition, with the establishment of our Logistics facility and the transfer of our wholesale storage operations from third party depositories to that facility, we are assuming greater potential liability for any loss suffered in connection with the stored inventory.  Among other things, our insurance, rather than the third-party depository’s, is now the primary risk policy.  While we believe we have adequate insurance coverage covering these operations, in the event of any loss in excess of our coverage, we may be held liable for that excess.

Our business is subject to the risk of fraud and counterfeiting.

The precious metals (particularly bullion) business is exposed to the risk of loss as a result of “materials fraud” in its various forms. We seek to minimize our exposure to this type of fraud through a number of means, including third-party authentication and verification, reliance on our internal experts and the establishment of procedures designed to detect fraud. However, there can be no assurance that we will be successful in preventing or identifying this type of fraud, or in obtaining redress in the event such fraud is detected.

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Our business is influenced by political conditions and world events.

The precious metals business is especially subject to global political conditions and world events.  Precious metals are viewed by some as a secure financial investment in times of political upheaval or unrest, particularly in developing economies, which may drive up pricing.  The volatility of the commodity prices for precious metals is also likely to increase in politically uncertain times.  Conversely, during periods of relative international calm precious metal volatility is likely to decrease, along with demand, and the prices of precious metals may retreat.  Because our business is dependent on the volatility and pricing of precious metals, we are likely to be influenced by world events more than businesses in other economic sectors.

Our business could be adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that infections of COVID-19 had become pandemic, and on March 13, the U.S. President declared a national emergency on account of the spread of the disease in the United States.  The COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant disruption in the financial markets both globally and in the United States, and has severely constricted the level of economic activity worldwide. While there have been certain positive effects of the market reaction to the outbreak on our business, as precious metals prices have experienced increased volatility resulting in enhanced pricing spreads and improved profitability, we cannot tell how long these effects will continue or predict their future magnitude.  The disruption in the financial markets has also had, and could in the future, have adverse effects on our businesses, including the following:

We have significant operations outside the United States.

We derive a significant portion of our revenues from business outside the United States, including from customers in developing countries.  Business operations outside the U.S. are subject to political, economic and other risks inherent in operating in foreign countries.  These include risks of general applicability, such as the need to comply with multiple regulatory regimes; trade protection measures and import or export licensing requirements; and fluctuations in equity, revenues and profits due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates.  Currently, we do not conduct substantial business with customers in developing countries.  However, if our business in these areas of the world were to increase, we would also face risks that are particular to developing countries, including the difficulty of enforcing agreements, collecting receivables, protecting inventory and other assets through foreign legal systems, limitations on the repatriation of earnings, currency devaluation and manipulation of exchange rates, and high levels of inflation.

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We try to manage these risks by monitoring current and anticipated political, economic, legal and regulatory developments in the countries outside the United States in which we operate or have customers and adjusting operations as appropriate, but there can be no assurance that the measures we adopt will be successful in protecting the Company’s business interests.

We are dependent on our key management personnel and our trading experts.

Our performance is dependent on our senior management and certain other key employees. We have employment agreements with Greg Roberts, our CEO, and Brian Aquilino, our COO, which both expire on June 30, 2023, and Thor Gjerdrum, our President, which expires on June 30, 2022. These and other employees have expertise in the trading markets, have industry-wide reputations, and perform critical functions for our business.  We cannot offer assurance that we will be able to negotiate acceptable terms for the renewal of the employment agreements or otherwise retain our key employees.  Also, there is significant competition for skilled precious metals traders and other industry professionals.  The loss of our current key officers and employees, without the ability to replace them, would have a materially adverse effect on our business.

We are focused on growing our business, but there is no assurance that we will be successful.

We expect to grow both organically and through opportunistic acquisitions. We have devoted considerable time, resources and efforts over the past few years to our growth strategy. We may not be successful in implementing our growth initiatives, which could adversely affect our business.

Liquidity constraints may limit our ability to grow our business.

To accomplish our growth strategy, we will require adequate sources of liquidity to fund both our existing business and our expansion activity.  Currently, our main sources of liquidity are the cash that we generate from operations, our borrowing availability under the Trading Credit Facility and the proceeds from our securitization transaction through AMCF. There can be no assurance that these sources will be adequate to support the growth that we are hoping to achieve or that additional sources of financing for this purpose, in the form of additional debt or equity financing, will be available to us, on satisfactory terms or at all.  Also, the Trading Credit Facility contains, and any future debt financing is likely to contain, various financial and other restrictive covenants. The need to comply with these covenants may limit our ability to implement our growth initiatives.

We expect to grow in part through acquisitions, but an acquisition strategy entails risks.

We expect to grow in part through acquisitions. We will consider potential acquisitions of varying sizes and may, on a selective basis, pursue acquisitions or consolidation opportunities involving other public companies or privately held companies. However, it is possible that we will not realize the expected benefits from our acquisitions or that our existing operations will be adversely affected as a result of acquisitions. Acquisitions entail certain risks, including: unrecorded liabilities of acquired companies that we fail to discover during our due diligence investigations; difficulty in assimilating the operations and personnel of the acquired company within our existing operations or in maintaining uniform standards; loss of key employees of the acquired company; and strains on management and other personnel time and resources both to research and integrate acquisitions.

We expect to pay for future acquisitions using cash, capital stock, notes and/or assumption of indebtedness. To the extent that our existing sources of cash are not sufficient to fund future acquisitions, we will require additional debt or equity financing and, consequently, our indebtedness may increase or shareholders may be diluted as we implement our growth strategy.

Our Logistics depository is subject to authorization.

Our Trading Credit Lenders have approved our Logistics facility as an authorized depository.  If that approval were to be withdrawn for any reason, we would no longer be able to keep inventory at that location, which would substantially limit our ability to conduct business from that facility.

We are subject to laws and regulations.

We are subject to various laws, litigation, regulatory matters and ethical standards, and our failure to comply with or adequately address developments as they arise could adversely affect our reputation and operations. Our policies, procedures and practices and the technology we implement are designed to comply with federal, state, local and foreign laws, rules and regulations, including those imposed by the SEC and other regulatory agencies, the marketplace, the banking industry and foreign countries, as well as responsible business, social and environmental practices, all of which may change from time to time. Significant legislative changes, including those that relate to employment matters and health care reform, could impact our relationship with our workforce, which could increase our expenses and adversely affect our operations. In addition, if we fail to comply with applicable laws and regulations or implement responsible business, social and environmental practices, we could be subject to damage to our reputation, class action

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lawsuits, legal and settlement costs, civil and criminal liability, increased cost of regulatory compliance, restatements of our financial statements, disruption of our business and loss of customers. Any required changes to our employment practices could result in the loss of employees, reduced sales, increased employment costs, low employee morale and harm to our business and results of operations. In addition, political and economic factors could lead to unfavorable changes in federal and state tax laws, which may increase our tax liabilities. An increase in our tax liabilities could adversely affect our results of operations. We are also regularly involved in various litigation matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. Litigation or regulatory developments could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

There are various federal, state, local and foreign laws, ordinances and regulations that affect our trading business.  For example, we are required to comply with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and a variety of anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules in response to the USA Patriot Act.

The SEC has promulgated rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act regarding disclosure, on an annual basis, of the use of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold, known as conflict minerals, in products manufactured by public companies. These rules require due diligence to determine whether such minerals originated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (the "DRC") or an adjoining country and whether such minerals helped finance the armed conflict in the DRC.

The Company has concluded that it is not currently subject to the conflict minerals rules because it is not a manufacturer of conflict minerals under the definitions set forth in the rules.  Depending on developments in the Company’s business, it could become subject to the rules at some point in the future.  In that event, there will be costs associated with complying with these disclosure requirements, including costs to determine the origin of gold used in our products. In addition, the implementation of these rules could adversely affect the sourcing, supply and pricing of gold used in our products. Also, we may face disqualification as a supplier for customers and reputational challenges if the due diligence procedures we implement do not enable us to verify the origins for the gold used in our products or to determine that the gold is conflict free.

CFC operates under a California Finance Lenders License issued by the California Department of Business Oversight.  CFC is required to submit a finance lender law annual report to the state which summarizes certain loan portfolio and financial information regarding CFC.  The Department of Business Oversight may audit the books and records of CFC to determine whether CFC is in compliance with the terms of its lending license.  In addition, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and other federal and state agencies may assert oversight over aspects of CFC's operations.

There can be no assurance that the regulation of our trading and lending businesses will not increase or that compliance with the applicable regulations will not become more costly or require us to modify our business practices.

Changes in U.S. tax law could adversely affect our business and financial condition.

The laws, rules, and regulations dealing with U.S. federal, state, and local income taxation are constantly under review by persons involved in the legislative process and by the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Treasury Department. Changes to tax laws (which changes may have retroactive application) could adversely affect us or holders of our common stock. In recent years, many changes have been made to applicable tax laws and changes are likely to continue to occur in the future.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, or the TCJA, was enacted in 2017 and made significant changes to corporate taxation, including the reduction of the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, the limitation of the tax deduction for net interest expense to 30% of adjusted taxable income (except for certain small businesses), the limitation of the deduction for net operating losses from taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 to 80% of current year taxable income and the elimination of net operating loss carrybacks generated in taxable years ending after December 31, 2017 (though any such net operating losses may be carried forward indefinitely), tax incentive which allows U.S. corporations that earn income from qualifying sale, lease, or license of goods and services abroad in the form of a foreign derived intangible income (“FDII”) deduction which effectively taxes FDII at an effective rate of 13.125%, and the modification or repeal of many business deductions and credits. In addition, on March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act” or the CARES Act, which included certain changes in tax law intended to stimulate the U.S. economy in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak, including temporary beneficial changes to the treatment of net operating losses, interest deductibility limitations, and payroll tax matters.

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It cannot be predicted whether, when, in what form, or with what effective dates, new tax laws may be enacted, or regulations and rulings may be enacted, promulgated or issued under existing or new tax laws, which could result in an increase in our tax liability or require changes in the manner in which we operate in order to minimize or mitigate any adverse effects of changes in tax law or in the interpretation thereof.

One or more states or municipalities could assert that the Company is liable for sales and use, commerce, or similar type of taxes, which could adversely affect our business.

In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al ("Wayfair"), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states may charge tax on purchases made from out-of-state sellers, even if the seller does not have a physical presence in the taxing state. The effect of Wayfair was to uphold economic nexus principles in determining sales and use tax nexus.  As a result of the decision, most states have adopted laws that require an out-of-state retailer to register and collect sales and use or other non-income type taxes upon meeting certain economic nexus standards regardless of whether the company has physical presence in the state.  Although the Company believes it is complying with these new requirements, our interpretation and application of the newly enacted legislation may differ from the states, which could result in the states' attempt to impose additional tax liabilities, including potential penalties and interest.  Furthermore, the requirements by state or local governments on out-of-state sellers to collect sales and use taxes could deter futures sales, which could have an impact on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

The business of buying and selling precious metals is global and highly competitive. The Company competes with precious metals trading firms and banks throughout North America, Europe and elsewhere in the world, some of whom have greater financial and other resources, and greater name recognition, than the Company.  We believe that, as a full service firm devoted exclusively to precious metals trading, we offer pricing, product availability, execution, financing alternatives and storage options that are attractive to our customers and allow us to compete effectively. We also believe that our purchaser/distributorship arrangements with various governmental mints give us a competitive advantage in our coin distribution business.  However, given the global reach of the precious metals trading business, the absence of intellectual property protections and the availability of numerous, evolving platforms for trading in precious metals, we cannot assure you that A-Mark will be able to continue to compete successfully or that future developments in the industry will not create additional competitive challenges.

We rely extensively on computer systems to execute trades and process transactions, and we could suffer substantial damages if the operation of these systems were interrupted.

We rely on our computer and communications hardware and software systems to execute a large volume of trading transactions each year.  It is therefore critical that we maintain uninterrupted operation of these systems, and we have invested considerable resources to protect our systems from physical compromise and security breaches and to maintain backup and redundancy. Our systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches, including breaches of our transaction processing or other systems, catastrophic events such as fires, tornadoes and hurricanes, and usage errors by our employees. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace them, we may suffer interruptions in our ability to provide quotations or trading services in the interim, and we may face costly litigation.

If our customer data were breached, we could suffer damages and loss of reputation.

By the nature of our business, we maintain significant amounts of customer data on our systems.  Moreover, certain third party providers have access to confidential data concerning the Company in the ordinary course of their business relationships with the Company. In recent years, various companies, including companies that are significantly larger than us, have reported breaches of their computer systems that have resulted in the compromise of customer data.  Any compromise or breach of customer or company data held or maintained by either the Company or our third party providers could significantly damage our reputation and result in costs, lost trades, fines and lawsuits. The regulatory environment related to information security and privacy is increasingly rigorous, with new and constantly changing requirements applicable to our business, and compliance with those requirements could result in additional costs. There is no guarantee that the procedures that we have implemented to protect against unauthorized access to secured data are adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches.

Compliance with new data protection/privacy statutes could increase our costs and expose the Company to possible sanctions for violation.

In 2016, the European Union ("EU") adopted a comprehensive overhaul of its data protection regime from the current national legislative approach to a single European Economic Area Privacy Regulation, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which went into effect in May 2018. The EU data protection regime expands the scope of the EU data protection law to all foreign

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companies processing personal data of EU residents, imposes a strict data protection compliance regime with severe penalties of up to the greater of 4% of worldwide turnover or €20 million, and includes new rights such as the “portability” of personal data. Although the GDPR will apply across the EU without a need for local implementing legislation, EU member states have the ability to interpret the GDPR opening clauses, which permit region-specific data protection legislation and have the potential to create inconsistencies on a country-by-country basis.

The Company has an office in Vienna, Austria that provides marketing support services for our international (including EU) customers.  Although our international operations are currently modest compared to our business in the United States, our international business could grow over time.  We have evaluated the new regulation and its requirements, and believe we are currently in compliance with the GDPR in all material respects. Going forward, however, the expansion of our international operations could require us to change our business practices and may increase the costs and complexity of compliance.  Also, a violation by the Company of the new regulation could expose us to penalties and sanctions under the regulation.

On June 28, 2018, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), effective on January 1, 2020. The new law provides California consumers with a greater level of transparency and broader rights and choices with respect to their personal information than those contained in any existing state and federal laws in the U.S. The “personal information” regulated by CCPA is broadly defined to include identification or association with a California consumer or household, including demographics, usage, transactions and inquiries, preferences, inferences drawn to create a profile about a consumer, and education information. Compliance with CCPA requires the implementation of a series of operational measures such as preparing data maps, inventory, or other records of all personal information pertaining to California residents, households and devices, as well as information sources, usage, storage, and sharing, maintaining and updating detailed disclosures in privacy policies, establishing mechanisms (including, at a minimum, a toll-free telephone number and an online channel) to respond to consumers’ data access, deletion, portability, and opt-out requests, providing a clear and conspicuous “Do Not Sell My Personal Information” link on the home page of the business’ website, etc. CCPA prohibits businesses from discriminating against consumers who have opted out of the sale of their personal information, subject to a narrow exception. It allows companies to provide financial incentives to California consumers in order to obtain their consent to the collection and use of their personal information. Violations of CCPA will result in civil penalties up to $7,500 per violation. CCPA further allows consumers to file lawsuits against a business if a data breach has occurred and the California Attorney General does not prosecute the business.

In addition, on May 29, 2019, Nevada’s governor approved a bill (the “Amendment Bill”), effective on October 1, 2019. The Amendment Bill provides amendments to an existing law that requires operators of websites and online services to post a notice on their websites regarding their privacy practices. The Amendment Bill requires operators of internet websites or online services to establish a designated request address through which a consumer may submit a verified request directing such operators not to make any sale of covered information collected about the consumer. The “covered information” regulated by the Amendment Bill is defined to include an enumerated list of items of personally identifiable information (including names, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers and identifiers that allow a specific person to be contacted).

The changes introduced by the CCPA and the Amendment Bill, and any similar regulations enacted by other jurisdictions, will subject the Company to additional costs and complexity of compliance, by requiring, among other things, changes to the Company’s security systems, policies, procedures and practices. In addition, a violation by the Company of the new regulations could expose us to penalties and sanctions.

Our implementation of a new enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system may adversely affect our business and results of operations or the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting.

One of our longer-term goals is to implement a new ERP system across our segments. ERP implementations are complex and time-consuming projects that involve substantial expenditures on system software and implementation activities over a significant period of time. If we do not effectively implement the ERP system or if the system does not operate as intended, it could adversely affect our financial reporting systems and our ability to produce financial reports, the effectiveness of internal controls over financial reporting, and our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We have in the past engaged, and continue to engage, in transactions with Stack’s Bowers, an affiliate of the Company, which could be perceived as not being made at arms-length.

Stack’s-Bowers Numismatics LLC. ("Stack's Bowers"), which is primarily engaged in the business of auctions of high-value and rare coins and in coin retailing, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGI, our former parent and a related party.  We have engaged in the past, and continue to engage, in transactions with Stack’s Bowers, some of which are presently on-going.  These transactions include secured lending transactions in which Stack’s Bowers is the borrower, and other transactions involving the purchase and sale of rare coins. The Company and SGI have two officers and a director in common.  In addition, a majority of the board of directors of the Company has retained an ownership interest in SGI that in the aggregate represents a controlling interest in SGI.   All transactions

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between the Company and Stack’s Bowers are approved by our Audit Committee, and we believe that all such transactions are on terms no less favorable to the Company than would be obtained from an unaffiliated third party.  Nonetheless, these transactions could be perceived as being conflicted.

The Company’s direct-to-client sales business could be subject to accusations of improper sales practices.

Through its Goldine subsidiary, the Company sells precious metals and numismatics directly to the retail investor community. Goldline markets its precious metal products on television, radio, and over the internet, and through telephonic sales efforts.  Prior to its acquisition by the Company, Goldline had been accused of improper sales practices, and was the subject of a state enforcement action that was subsequently settled.  Other retailers of precious metal products have similarly been the subject of accusations regarding their sales practices, including claims of misrepresentation, excessive product markups, pressured sales tactics and product switching.  The Company believes that the sales practices of its Goldline subsidiary conform to applicable legal and ethical standards, and that there is no material basis for claims against Goldline in this regard.  Nevertheless, given the nature of the retail precious metals business, the possibility that investors in precious metals may lose a substantial portion of their investment as a result of adverse market trends and the vulnerability of certain retail precious metal investors to economic loss, there can be no assurance that claims will not be made regarding Goldline’s business practices or that, if made, such claims will not attract the attention of governmental and private sector consumer advocates.  Were this to occur, the Company could suffer adverse publicity, be subject to governmental enforcements actions or be forced to modify the sales and marketing practices of its direct-to-client sales business.  

The Company’s joint venture, Precious Metals Purchasing Partners LLC, is subject to risks which may affect our ability to successfully operate the joint venture.

The Company owns 50% of Precious Metals Purchasing Partners LLC, ("PMPP"), a joint venture which commenced operations in the first quarter of fiscal year 2020. PMPP purchases products from primarily from end-user retail customers, which are then sold to the Company, related parties of the Company or third parties.

The Company’s interest in PMPP is subject to the risks customarily associated with the conduct of joint ventures, including the risk of (i) failure to agree on strategic decisions requiring the approval of both parties, (ii) failure of the joint venture partner to meet its obligations, and (iii) disputes between the joint venturers or litigation regarding joint venture matters. Each of these risks could have a material adverse impact on the viability of PMPP, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s future cash flows, earnings, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, because PMPP engages in transaction with retail customers, it could be subject to risks and accusations similar to those discussed above with respect to the Company’s direct-to-client sales business.

The Company is subject to risks relating to its AMST fabrication joint venture.

In August 2016, the Company formed a joint venture, AM&ST Associates, LLC. ("AMST"), with SilverTowne, L.P., an Indiana-based fabricator of silver bullion products, for the purpose of acquiring and operating SilverTowne, L.P.'s minting business unit ("SilverTowne Mint" or the "Mint").  The Company owns a majority interest in AMST.

AMST depends on critical pieces of equipment which may be out of service occasionally for scheduled upgrades or maintenance or as a result of unanticipated failures or business interruptions. AMST’s facilities are subject to equipment failures and the risk of catastrophic loss due to unanticipated events such as fires, earthquakes, accidents or violent weather conditions. AMST has insurance to cover certain of the risks associated with equipment damage and resulting business interruption, but there are certain events that would not be covered by insurance and there can be no assurance that insurance will continue to be available on acceptable terms. Interruptions in AMST’s processing and production capabilities and shutdowns resulting from unanticipated events could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

The Company is a party to an exclusive distribution agreement with AMST with respect to the silver products produced by AMST.  Under this agreement, which terminates in August 2021 unless automatically renewed for an additional two years (subject to early termination under certain circumstances) the Company is currently required to order no less than 500,000 ounces of silver products per week (which amount is subject to re-evaluation every 60 days.) The price paid per ounce is mutually determined by the parties, and is subject to adjustments every six months during the term.

The market for fabricated silver products and refined silver is highly competitive and fragmented. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to retain existing clients to sell the silver products it is required to purchase from AMST or any excess production of the Mint at a profit.

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AMST's ability to continue to expand the scope of its services and customer base depends in part on its ability to increase the size of its skilled labor force. The inability to employ or retain skilled technical personnel could adversely affect AMST’s operating results. In the past, the demand for skilled personnel has been high and the supply limited.

Risks Relating to Commodities

A-Mark’s business is heavily influenced by volatility in commodities prices.

A primary driver of A-Mark’s profitability is volatility in commodities prices, which leads to wider bid and ask spreads. Among the factors that can impact the price of precious metals are supply and demand of precious metals; political, economic, and global financial events; movement of the U.S. dollar versus other currencies; and the activity of large speculators such as hedge funds. If commodity prices were to stagnate, there would likely be a reduction in trading activity, resulting in less demand for the services A-Mark provides, which could materially adversely affect our business, liquidity and results of operations.

This volatility may drive fluctuation of our revenues, as a consequence of which our results for any one period may not be indicative of the results to be expected for any other period. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

Our business is exposed to commodity price risks, and our hedging activity to protect our inventory is subject to risks of default by our counterparties.

A-Mark’s precious metals inventory is subject to market value changes created by change in the underlying commodity price, as well as supply and demand of the individual products the Company trades. In addition, open sale and purchase commitments are subject to changes in value between the date the purchase or sale is fixed (the trade date) and the date metal is delivered or received (the settlement date). A-Mark seeks to minimize the effect of price changes of the underlying commodity through the use of financial derivative instruments, such as forward and futures contracts. A-Mark’s policy is to remain substantially hedged as to its inventory position and its individual sale and purchase commitments. A-Mark’s management monitors its hedged exposure daily. However, there can be no assurance that these hedging activities will be adequate to protect the Company against commodity price risks associated with A-Mark’s business activities.

Furthermore, even if we are fully hedged as to any given position, there is the risk of default by our counterparties to the hedge. Any such default could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

Increased commodity pricing could limit the inventory that we are able to carry.

We maintain a large and varied inventory of precious metal products, including bullion and coins, in order to support our trading activities and provide our customers with superior service.  The amount of inventory that we are able to carry is constrained by the borrowing limitations and working capital covenants under the Trading Credit Facility. If commodity prices were to rise substantially, and we were unable to modify the terms of the Trading Credit Facility to compensate for the increase, the quantity of product that we could finance, and hence maintain in our inventory, would fall.  This would likely have a material adverse effect on our operations.

We rely on the efficient functioning of commodity exchanges around the world, and disruptions on these exchanges could adversely affect our business.

The Company buys and sells precious metals contracts on commodity exchanges around the world, both in support of its customer operations and to hedge its inventory and transactional exposure against fluctuations in commodity prices.  The Company’s ability to engage in these activities would be compromised if the exchanges on which the Company trades or any of their clearinghouses were to discontinue operations or to experience disruptions in trading, due to computer problems, unsettled markets or other factors. The Company may also experience risk of loss if futures commission merchants or commodity brokers with whom the Company deals were to become insolvent or bankrupt.

Risks Relating to Our Common Stock

Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley could have a material adverse effect on our business.

As a public company, we are required to document and test our internal control over financial reporting in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.

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We are required to implement standalone policies and procedures to comply with the requirements of Section 404. During the course of our testing of our internal controls and procedures, we may identify deficiencies which we may not be able to remediate in time to comply with Section 404. Testing and maintaining internal controls can divert our management’s attention from other matters that are also important to the operation of our business. We may not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. If we are unable to conclude that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting, then investors could lose confidence in our reported financial information, which would likely have a negative effect on the trading price of our common stock. In addition, if we do not maintain effective internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report our financial information on a timely basis, which could harm the trading price of our common stock, impair our ability to raise additional capital, or jeopardize our continued listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market or any other stock exchange on which common stock may be listed.

We are not currently paying regular dividends and may not pay any dividends in the future.

The Company suspended its regular dividend policy in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.  The declaration of cash dividends is subject to the determination each quarter by the Board of Directors, based on its assessment of a number of factors, including the Company’s financial performance, available cash resources, cash requirements, bank covenants, and alternative uses of cash that the Board of Directors may conclude would represent an opportunity to generate a greater return on investment for the Company.

See Note 19 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information about a special dividend declared by the Board of Directors in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

There can be no assurance that the Company will resume paying dividends on a regular basis.  If the Board of Directors were to determine not to pay dividends in the future, shareholders would not receive any further return on an investment in our capital stock in the form of dividends, and may obtain an economic benefit from the common stock only after an increase in its trading price and only by selling the common stock.

Provisions in our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and of Delaware law may prevent or delay an acquisition of the Company, which could decrease the trading price of our common stock.

Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law contain certain anti-takeover provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult for a third party to acquire, or of discouraging a third party from attempting to acquire, control of the Company without negotiating with our board of directors. Such provisions could limit the price that certain investors might be willing to pay in the future for the Company’s securities. Certain of such provisions allow the Company to issue preferred stock with rights senior to those of the common stock, impose various procedural and other requirements which could make it more difficult for Shareholders to effect certain corporate actions and set forth rules regarding how shareholders may present proposals or nominate directors for election at shareholder meetings.

We believe these provisions protect our shareholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirors to negotiate with our Board of Directors and by providing our Board of Directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. However, these provisions apply even if an acquisition offer may be considered beneficial by some shareholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that our Board of Directors determines is not in the best interests of our Company and our Shareholders. Accordingly, in the event that our board determines that a potential business combination transaction is not in the best interests of our Company and our Shareholders, but certain shareholders believe that such a transaction would be beneficial to the Company and its Shareholders, such Shareholders may elect to sell their shares in the Company and the trading price of our common stock could decrease.

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

Your percentage ownership in A-Mark potentially could be diluted in the future because of additional equity awards that we expect will be granted to our directors, officers and employees. We have established an equity incentive plan that provides for the grant of common stock-based equity awards to our directors, officers and other employees. In addition, we may issue equity in order to raise capital or in connection with future acquisitions and strategic investments, which could dilute your percentage ownership.

Our board and management beneficially own a sizeable percentage of our common stock and therefore have the ability to exert substantial influence as shareholders.

Members of our board and management beneficially own approximately 37% of our outstanding common stock. Acting together in their capacity as shareholders, the board members and management could exert substantial influence over matters on which a shareholder vote is required, such as the approval of business combination transactions.  Also because of the size of their beneficial ownership, the board members and management may be in a position effectively to determine the outcome of the election of directors

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and the vote on shareholder proposals. The concentration of beneficial ownership in the hands of our board and management may therefore limit the ability of our public shareholders to influence the affairs of the Company.

ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

As of June 30, 2020, the Company owned or leased properties in El Segundo, California; Los Angeles, California; Las Vegas, Nevada; Carson City, Nevada; Winchester, Indiana; and Vienna, Austria; as described below:

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

We are from time to time involved in legal proceedings, claims, or investigations that are incidental to the conduct of our business.

Although the ultimate outcome of any legal matter cannot be predicted with certainty, based on current information, including our assessment of the merits of the particular claim, we do not expect that these legal proceedings or claims will have any material adverse impact on our future consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

None.

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PART II — OTHER INFORMATION

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Market Information

SGI effected the spinoff of A-Mark on March 14, 2014.  On March 17, 2014, A-Mark’s shares of common stock commenced trading on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "AMRK."

As of September 4, 2020, there were 139 registered stockholders of record of our common stock, and the last reported sale price of our stock as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market was $24.60.

The following table sets forth the range of high and low closing prices for our common stock for each full quarterly period during fiscal years 2020 and 2019, as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market. These quotations below reflect inter-dealer closing prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down, or commission and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

On April 26, 2018, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program for up to 500,000 shares of the Company’s stock.  The actual number of shares repurchased and the timing of repurchases will be determined by the Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including stock price, trading volume, general market conditions, working capital requirements, general business conditions, and other factors. The stock repurchase program has no time limit and may be modified, suspended, or terminated at any time.

As of September 4, 2020, there have been no repurchases of equity securities under the above-referenced stock repurchase program.

Dividend Policy

 The Board of Directors assesses the Company's capital resources on a quarterly basis and makes a determination whether to declare a dividend based on that assessment. The assessment addresses a number of factors, including the Company’s financial performance, available cash resources, cash requirements, bank restrictive covenants, alternative uses of cash and such other factors as the Board of Directors deems relevant.  The Company suspended its regular dividend policy in the third quarter of fiscal 2019.

See Note 19 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information about a special dividend declared by the Board of Directors in the first quarter of fiscal 2021.

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Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table provides information as of June 30, 2020, with respect to the shares of our common stock that may be issued under existing equity compensation plans.

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

Not applicable for a smaller reporting company.

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT PURSUANT TO THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This Annual Report on Form 10-K ("Form 10-K") contains statements that are considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give the Company's current expectations and forecasts of future events. All statements other than statements of current or historical fact contained in this Annual Report, including statements regarding the Company's future financial position, business strategy, budgets, projected costs and plans, and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. The words “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on the Company's current plans, and the Company's actual future activities and results of operations may be materially different from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made. Any or all of the forward-looking statements in this Annual Report may turn out to be inaccurate. The Company has based these forward-looking statements largely on its current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that it believes may affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy, and financial needs. The forward-looking statements can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events occurring after the date hereof. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained in this Form 10-K.

In addition to the risks and uncertainties that may ordinarily influence our business, the Company is exposed to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The extent to which this outbreak ultimately impacts our results of operations, cash flows and financial condition will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and unpredictable, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity and duration of this outbreak and the actions taken by governmental authorities and us to contain it or treat its impact.

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes contained elsewhere in this Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that reflect our plans, estimates and beliefs. Our actual results could differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to these differences include those factors discussed below and elsewhere in this Annual Report, particularly in “Risk Factors.”

INTRODUCTION

Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes to aid in the understanding of our results of operations and financial condition. Our discussion is organized as follows:

for the comparable periods.

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EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Our Business

We conduct our operations in three reportable segments: (i) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (ii) Secured Lending and (iii) Direct Sales.

Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services Segment

The Company operates its Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment through A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, A-Mark Trading AG (“AMTAG”), Transcontinental Depository Services ("TDS" or “Storage”), and A-M Global Logistics, LLC. (“AMGL” or "Logistics"), and its partially-owned subsidiary, AM&ST Associates, LLC. ("AMST" or "SilverTowne" or the "Mint").

The Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment operates as a full-service precious metals trading company. We offer gold, silver, platinum, and palladium in the form of bars, plates, powder, wafers, grain, ingots, and coins. Our Industrial unit services manufacturers and fabricators of products utilizing or incorporating precious metals. Our Coin and Bar unit deals in over 200 coin and bar products in a variety of weights, shapes, and sizes for distribution to dealers and other qualified purchasers. We have a marketing support office in Vienna, Austria, and a trading center in El Segundo, California.  The trading center, for buying and selling precious metals, is available to receive orders 24 hours every day, even when many major world commodity markets are closed. In addition to wholesale trading activity, A-Mark offers its customers a variety of services, including financing, storage, consignment, logistics, and various customized financial programs.  As a U.S. Mint-authorized purchaser of gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins, A-Mark purchases product directly from the U.S. Mint and other sovereign mints for sale to its customers.

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, AMTAG, the Company promotes A-Mark's products and services throughout the European continent. Through our wholly-owned subsidiary TDS, we offer a variety of managed storage options for precious metals products to financial institutions, dealers, investors, and collectors around the world. Our storage business generated less than 1% of total revenues for each of the periods presented.

The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, AMGL, is based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and provides our customers an array of complementary services, including receiving, handling, inventorying, processing, packing, and shipping of precious metals and custom coins on a secure basis.  Our logistics business generated less than 1% of the total revenues for each of the periods presented.

Through our partially-owned subsidiary, AMST, the Company designs and produces minted silver products. The Company operates the Mint pursuant to a joint venture agreement with SilverTowne, L.P.  The Company and SilverTowne L.P. own 69% and 31%, respectively, of AMST.  AMST acquired the entire minting operations (referred to as SilverTowne Mint) of SilverTowne, L.P., with the goal of providing greater product selection to our customers and greater pricing stability within the supply chain, as well as to gain increased access to silver during volatile market environments, which have historically resulted in higher demand for precious metals products.

Secured Lending Segment

The Company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Collateral Finance Corporation LLC. ("CFC") and AM Capital Funding, LLC. (“AMCF”).

CFC is a California licensed finance lender that originates and acquires commercial loans secured by bullion and numismatic coins. CFC's customers include coin and precious metal dealers, investors, and collectors. As of June 30, 2020, CFC and AMCF had, in aggregate, approximately $63.7 million in secured loans outstanding, of which approximately 39.1% were acquired from third-parties (some of which may be customers of A-Mark) and approximately 60.9% were originated by CFC.

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AMCF, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CFC, was formed for the purpose of securitizing eligible secured loans of CFC.  AMCF issued, administers, and owns Secured Senior Term Notes: Series 2018-1, Class A, with an aggregate principal amount of $72.0 million and Secured Subordinated Term Notes, Series 2018-1, Class B in the aggregate principal amount of $28.0 million.  The Class A Notes bear interest at a rate of 4.98%, and the Class B Notes bear interest at a rate of 5.98% (collectively referred to as the "Notes").  The Notes have a maturity date of December 15, 2023. For additional information regarding this securitization. (See Note 14 of the notes to consolidated financial statements.)

Direct Sales Segment

The Company operates its Direct Sales segment through its wholly-owned subsidiaries Goldline Inc. (“Goldline”) and AM IP LLC. ("AMIP"), and through its 50%-owned subsidiary Precious Metals Purchasing Partners, LLC, ("PMPP").

The Company acquired Goldline in August 2017 through an asset purchase transaction with Goldline LLC. Goldline LLC. had been in operation since 1960. Goldline is a direct retailer of precious metals to the investor community. Goldline markets its precious metal products on television, radio, and the internet, as well as through telephonic sales efforts. Goldline's business has enhanced the Company’s distribution capabilities by adding a direct-to-client distribution channel that has diversified the product and services offered to Goldline's customers, through access to the Company’s wider assortment of precious metal coins and bars, including TDS’s storage and asset protection services.

AMIP, a wholly owned subsidiary of Goldline, manages its intellectual property.

In fiscal 2019, the Company formed and capitalized PMPP, a 50%-owned subsidiary of Goldline, pursuant to terms of a joint venture agreement, for the purpose of purchasing precious metals from the partners' retail customers, and then reselling the acquired products back to affiliates of the partners.  In fiscal 2020, PMPP commenced its operations.

Our Strategy

The Company was formed in 1965 and has grown into a significant participant in the bullion and coin markets, with approximately $5.5 billion in revenues for fiscal year 2020. Our strategy continues to focus on growth, including the volume of our business, our geographic presence, and the scope of complementary products, services, and technological tools that we offer to our customers.  We intend to promote our growth by leveraging off the strengths of our existing integrated operations:

Our Customers

Our customers include financial institutions, bullion retailers, industrial manufacturers and fabricators, sovereign mints, refiners, coin and metal dealers, investors, and collectors. The Company makes a two way market, which results in many customers also operating as our suppliers.  This diverse base of customers purchases a variety of products from the Company in a multitude of grades, primarily in the form of coins and bars.

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Factors Affecting Revenues, Gross Profits, Interest Income, and Interest Expense

Revenues.  The Company enters into transactions to sell and deliver gold, silver, platinum, and palladium to industrial and commercial users, coin and bullion dealers, mints, and financial institutions. The metals are investment or industrial grade and are sold in a variety of shapes and sizes.

The Company also sells precious metals on forward contracts at a fixed price based on current prevailing precious metal spot prices with a certain delivery date in the future (up to six months from inception date of the forward contract).  The Company also uses other derivative products (primarily futures contracts) or a combinations thereof to hedge commodity risks. We enter into these forward and future contracts as part of our hedging strategy to mitigate our price risk of holding inventory; they are not entered into for speculative purposes.

However, unlike futures contracts which do not impact the Company’s revenue, forward sales contracts by their nature are required to be included in revenues. The decision to use a forward contract verses another derivative type product (e.g., a futures contract) for hedging purposes is based on the economics of the transaction.  Since the volume of hedging can be significant, the movement in and out of forwards can substantially impact revenues, either positively or negatively, from period to period.  For this reason, the Company believes ounces sold (excluding ounces sold on forward sales contracts) is a meaningful metric to assess our top line performance.

In addition, the Company earns revenue by providing storage solutions for precious metals and numismatic coins for financial institutions, dealers, investors and collectors worldwide and by providing storage and order-fulfillment services to our retail customers.  These revenue streams are complementary to our trading activity, and represent less than 1% of our revenues.

The Company operates in a high volume/low margin industry.  Revenues are impacted by three primary factors: product volume, market prices and market volatility. A material change in any one or more of these factors may result in a significant change in the Company’s revenues.   A significant increase or decrease in revenues can occur simply based on changes in the underlying commodity prices and may not be reflective of an increase or decrease in the volume of products sold.

Gross Profit.  Gross profit is the difference between our revenues and the cost of our products sold.  Since we quote prices based on the current commodity market prices for precious metals, we enter into a combination of forward and futures contracts to effect a hedge position equal to the underlying precious metal commodity value, which substantially represents inventory subject to price risk.  We enter into these derivative transactions solely for the purpose of hedging our inventory, and not for speculative purposes.  Our gross profit includes the gains and losses resulting from these derivative instruments.  However, the gains and losses on the derivative instruments are substantially offset by the gains and losses on the corresponding changes in the market value of our precious metals inventory.  As a result, our results of operations generally are not materially impacted by changes in commodity prices.

Volatility also affects our gross profit.  Greater volatility typically causes the premium spreads to widen resulting in an increase in the gross profit. Product supply constraints during extended periods of higher volatility have historically resulted in a heightening of wider premium spreads resulting in further improvement in the gross profit.

Interest Income.  The Company enters into secured loans and secured financing structures with its customers under which it charges interest. CFC acquires loan portfolios and originates loans that are secured by precious metal bullion and numismatic material owned by the borrowers and held by the Company for the term of the loan.  Additionally, AMCF acquires certain loans from CFC that are secured by precious metal bullion to meet the collateral requirements of the Notes.  Also, the Company offers a number of secured financing options to its customers to finance their precious metals purchases including consignments and other structured inventory finance products whereby the Company earns a fee based on the underlying value of the precious metal ("repurchase arrangements with customers").

Interest Expense.  The Company incurs interest expense associated with its: lines of credit, notes, related-party debt,  product financing agreements for the transfer and subsequent re-acquisition of gold and silver at a fixed price with a third-party finance company ("product financing arrangements"), and short-term precious metal borrowing arrangements with our suppliers ("liabilities on borrowed metals").

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Performance Metrics

In addition to financial statement indicators, management also utilizes certain key operational metrics to assess the performance of our business.

Gold and Silver Ounces Sold and Delivered to Customers.  We look at the number of ounces of gold and silver sold and delivered to our customers (excluding ounces recorded on forward contracts).  These metrics reflect our business volume without regard to changes in commodity pricing, which impacts revenue but can mask actual business trends.

The primary purpose of entering into forward sales transactions is to hedge commodity price risk. Although the revenues realized from these forward sales transactions are often significant, they generally have negligible impact to gross margins.  As a result, the Company excludes the ounces recorded on forward contracts from its performance metrics, as the Company does not enter into forward sales transactions for speculative purposes.

Wholesale Trading Ticket Volume and Direct Sales Ticket Volume.  Another measure of our business that is unaffected by changes in commodity pricing, is ticket volume. Ticket volume for the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services and Direct Sales segments measures the total number of orders processed by our trading desks.  In periods of higher volatility, there is generally increased trading in the commodity markets, causing increased demand for our products, resulting in higher business volume. Generally, the ounces sold on a per-trading-ticket basis is substantially higher for orders placed telephonically compared to those placed on our online portal platform.

Inventory Turnover.  Inventory turnover is another performance measure on which we are focused, and is calculated as the cost of sales divided by the average inventory during the relevant period.  Inventory turnover is a measure of how quickly inventory has moved during the period.  A higher inventory turnover ratio, which we typically experience during periods of higher volatility when trading is more robust, typically reflects a more efficient use of our capital.

The period of time that inventory is held by the Company varies depending upon the nature of our inventory commitments with customers and suppliers.  (See Note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements for a description of our classifications of inventory by type.)  When management analyzes inventory turnover on a period over period basis, consideration is given to each inventory type and its corresponding impact on the inventory turnover calculation.  Management's analysis includes the following:

Additionally, our inventory turnover ratio can be affected by hedging activity, as the period over period change of the inventory turnover ratio may be significantly impacted by a period over period change in hedging volume.  For example, if trading activity were to remain constant over two periods, but there were significantly higher forward sales in the current period compared to a prior period, the calculated inventory turnover ratio would indicate an increase in the ratio rather than remaining constant.

Number of Secured Loans.  Finally, as a measure of the size of our secured lending segment, we look at the number of outstanding secured loans to customers (that are primarily collateralized by precious metals) at the end of each quarter. Typically, the number of loans increases during periods of increasing precious metal pricing and decreases during periods of declining precious metal prices.

The Company calculates its loan-to-value ("LTV") ratio as the principal amount of the loan divided by the liquidation value of the collateral, which is based on daily spot market prices of precious metal bullion. When the market price of the pledged collateral decreases and thereby increases the LTV ratio of a loan above a prescribed maximum ratio, usually 85%, the Company has the option to make a margin call on the loan.  As a result, a decline of precious metal market prices may cause a decrease in the number of loans outstanding in a period.

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COVID-19

On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization announced that infections of COVID-19 had become pandemic, and on March 13, the U.S. President declared a national emergency due to the spread of the disease in the United States.  The COVID-19 outbreak has caused significant disruption in the financial markets both globally and in the United States, and has severely constricted the level of economic activity worldwide.  The resulting macroeconomic events contributed to an increase in the business conducted by the Company, but also pose certain risks and uncertainties for the Company. It is challenging to predict how long the COVID-19 pandemic will continue, the extent to which the effects that the Company has experienced from the pandemic thus far will persist, or whether other effects on the Company and its businesses will materialize in the short or long term.

Macroeconomic events positively affected the Company’s trading revenues and gross profit as the volatility of the price of precious metals and numismatics resulted in a material increase the spread between bid and ask prices on these products. We also experienced substantially increased demand for products in each of our coin and bar, industrial and retail (Goldline) businesses, which we attribute to certain customers seeking to assure a supply of precious metals necessary for the operation of their businesses, and other customers’ seeking the safety of investments in precious metals.  In response to the heightened demand, in certain cases prices for the products we sell have also risen.

We have also experienced certain negative effects in the precious metals market.  Through our CFC finance subsidiary, we make loans to our customers secured by coins and precious metals.  Numerous CFC loans were paid off when the market experienced a temporary drop in precious metal prices, reducing collateral coverage.  This had the effect of decreasing the size of our loan portfolio and the interest earned on the portfolio.  It has also required us to substitute cash and our own precious metals inventory as collateral under our AMCF securitization program, as the pool of loans securing the program has declined.  While we did not experience any related losses, there is no assurance that this might not occur in the future.

Fiscal Year

Our fiscal year end is June 30 each year.  Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than to calendar years.

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RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

Consolidated Results of Operations

The operating results of our business for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:

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Revenues

Revenues for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $677.9 million, or 14.2% to $5.461 billion from $4.783 billion in 2019.  Excluding a decrease of $936.4 million of forward sales, our revenues increased $1.614 billion due to an increase in the total amount of gold and silver ounces sold and higher selling prices of gold and silver.

Gold ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased 382,000 ounces, or 21.2%, to 2,181,000 ounces from 1,799,000 ounces in 2019.  Silver ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased 22,765,000 ounces, or 33.7%, to 90,385,000 ounces from 67,620,000 ounces in 2019. On average, the selling prices for gold increased by 23.8% and selling prices for silver increased by 8.4% during the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared to 2019.

A key factor that contributed to the increase in demand for precious metals was the recent volatility in precious metal prices caused by macroeconomic and other events.  A combination of price volatility, increased demand, and supply constraints led to a significant expansion in premium spreads in the precious metals market during the second half of fiscal year 2020. These conditions are not representative of normal market conditions, and we are uncertain of the duration of these conditions.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased by $35.0 million, or 109.6%, to $67.0 million from $32.0 million in 2019.  The overall gross profit increase was due to higher gross profits from the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services and Direct Sales segments.

The Company’s overall gross margin percentage increased by 55.8 basis points to 1.226% from 0.668% in 2019. The increase in gross margin percentage was mainly attributable to significantly wider premium spreads due to increased demand, higher trading profits due to higher volatility; and lower forward sales.  Forward sales increase revenues but are associated with negligible gross margins that can significantly affect the gross margin percentage. The Company enters into forward contracts to hedge its precious metals price risk exposure and not for speculative purposes.

Our inventory turnover rate for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased by 6.0%, to 17.6 from 16.6 in 2019.  The increase in our inventory turnover ratio was primarily due to higher volume of ounces sold of precious metals, partially offset by lower volume of ounces sold on forward contracts as well as higher average inventory balances during the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared to 2019.

Selling, General and Administrative Expense

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Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $4.3 million, or 13.1%, to $36.8 million from $32.5 million in 2019. The change was primarily due to increases in compensation expense (including performance-based accruals) of $4.5 million, computer software expense of $0.5 million, and depreciation and amortization expense of $0.4 million, which were partially offset by decreases in operating expenses of $1.1 million associated with our Direct Sales segment, and consulting expense of $0.4 million.

Interest Income

Interest income for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $2.0 million, or 10.2%, to $21.2 million from $19.3 million in 2019.  The aggregate increase in interest income was primarily due to interest income earned by our Secured Lending Segment and other finance product income.

The interest income from our Secured Lending segment increased by $1.6 million or by 14.6%, which represents approximately 79.1% of the aggregate increase in interest income compared with the prior year.  The increase in interest income earned from the segment’s secured loan portfolio was primarily due to higher average monthly loan balances during the current period as compared to the average monthly loan balances for the comparable period.

The number of secured loans outstanding decreased by 74.4% to 717 as of June 30, 2020 from 2,806 as of June 30, 2019.  Typically, the number of loans increases during periods of increasing precious metal prices and decreases during periods of declining precious metal prices.  Silver prices declined significantly in the quarter ended March 31, 2020, resulting in an increase in margin calls and borrower loan liquidations due to a decline in the value of the precious metals collateral. The Company did not incur loan losses related to the margin calls or borrower loan liquidations during this or the comparable period. During the quarter ended June 30, 2020 silver prices rebounded and new loans were originated and acquired.

The interest income from our other finance product income increased by $0.4 million in comparison to the same year-ago period.

Interest Expense

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Interest expense for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $1.7 million, or 10.0% to $18.9 million from $17.1 million in 2019.  The increase in interest expense was related primarily to our notes payable (which was issued in September of 2018), loan servicing fees, product financing arrangements, and liabilities on borrowed metals, partially offset by reductions in interest expense related to a Trading Credit Facility, and the Goldline Credit Facility. As compared to the same year-ago period, the amount of interest expense that increased by component included: (i) $1.4 million notes payable (including debt amortization costs), (ii) $0.6 million of product financing arrangements, (iii) $0.4 million of loan servicing costs and (iv) $0.4 million of liabilities on borrowed metals, which were partially offset by reductions of (v) $0.6 million of Trading Credit Facility (including debt amortization costs) expenses and (vi) $0.3 million related to the Goldline Credit Facility (including debt amortization costs).  The Goldline Credit Facility was paid off in full during the second quarter of fiscal year 2019.

Other income, net

Other income, net for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $3.5 million, or 208.0% to $5.2 million from $1.7 million in 2019. The aggregate increase was primarily due to: (i) an increase in the Company’s proportionate share of our equity-method investees' earnings of $3.7 million compared to the prior year, (ii) an increase of $0.5 million in royalties earned, (iii) $0.2 million of fees related to the payoff of the Goldline Credit Facility that was recorded as other expense during the year ended June 30, 2019, partially offset by (iv) an earn-out revaluation adjustment of $0.6 million that was recorded as other income and recognized during the year ended June 30, 2019, and (v) $0.2 million of costs recorded as other expense associated with the settlement of our purchase of Goldline that was recognized during the year ended June 30, 2020.

Provision for Income Taxes

Our income tax expense was $6.4 million and $1.0 million for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  Our effective tax rate was approximately 16.9% and 31.0% for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  For the year ended June 30, 2020, our effective tax rate differs from the federal statutory rate primarily due to state taxes (net of federal tax benefit), Section 162(m) executive compensation disallowance, offset by the exclusion of profits related to the Company's minority interests, special deduction relating to foreign-derived intangible income, and income tax rate benefit from the carryback of the Company’s fiscal years 2019 and 2018 net operating losses (“NOLs”) to prior years under the CARES Act, which allows the NOLs to be availed at the higher corporate tax rate of 35% versus 21%.

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SEGMENT RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The Company conducts its operations in three reportable segments: (i) Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services, (ii) Secured Lending and (iii) Direct Sales. Each of these reportable segments represents an aggregation of operating segments that meets the aggregation criteria set forth in the Segment Reporting Topic 280 of the FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”).

Results of Operations — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services Segment

The Company operates its Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment through A-Mark Precious Metals, Inc., and its wholly-owned subsidiaries, A-Mark Trading AG (“AMTAG”), Transcontinental Depository Services ("TDS"), and A-M Global Logistics, LLC. ("Logistics"), and its partially-owned subsidiary, AM&ST Associates, LLC. ("AMST" or "SilverTowne" or the "Mint"). Also, the Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment includes the consolidating eliminations of inter-segment transactions.

Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

— Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services Segment

The operating results of our Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services segment for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:

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Revenues — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Revenues for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $0.627 billion, or 13.2%, to $5.361 billion from $4.734 billion in 2019.  Excluding a decrease of $936.4 million of forward sales, our revenues increased $1.564 billion due to an increase in the total amount of gold and silver ounces sold and higher selling prices of gold and silver.

Gold ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased 353,000 ounces, or 19.8%, to 2,136,000 ounces from 1,783,000 ounces in 2019.  Silver ounces sold for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased 23,059,000 ounces, or 34.6%, to 89,612,000 ounces from 66,553,000 ounces in 2019. On average, the selling prices for gold increased by 23.6% and selling prices for silver increased by 8.7% during the year ended June 30, 2020 as compared to 2019.

A key factor that contributed to the increase in demand for precious metals was the recent volatility in precious metal prices caused by macroeconomic and other events.  A combination of price volatility, increased demand, and supply constraints led to a significant expansion in premium spreads in the precious metals market during the second half of fiscal year 2020. These conditions are not representative of normal market conditions, and we are uncertain of the duration of these conditions.

Gross Profit — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Gross profit for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased by $30.6 million, or 116.6%, to $56.9 million from $26.3 million in 2019.  The overall gross profit increase was primarily due to higher sales volumes and increased premium spreads.

This segment’s profit margin percentage increased by 50.7 basis points to 1.062% from 0.555% in 2019. The increase in gross margin percentage was mainly attributable to significantly wider premium spreads due to increased demand, higher trading profits due to higher volatility, and lower forward sales. Forward sales increase revenues but are associated with negligible gross margins. The Company enters into forward contracts to hedge its precious metals price risk exposure and not for speculative purposes.

The wholesale trading ticket volume for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased by 22,433 tickets, or 18.7%, to 142,690 tickets from 120,257 tickets in 2019.  The increase in our trading ticket volume is indicative of increased trading activity due to higher demand as compared to 2019.

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Selling, General and Administrative Expenses — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $4.9 million, or 21.9%, to $27.2 million from $22.3 million in 2019. The change was primarily due to increases in compensation expense (including performance-based accruals) of $4.5 million and computer software expense of $0.5 million, which were partially offset by decrease in consulting expense of $0.4 million.

Interest Income — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Interest income for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $0.4 million, or 4.9%, to $9.0 million from $8.6 million in 2019.  The overall increase is primarily due to $0.4 million of finance fees earned from repurchase arrangements with customers and $0.4 million of interest income earned from a note receivable issued in the current year, partially offset by reductions in interest earned from spot deferred trade orders and other fees.

Interest Expense — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Interest expense for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $0.9 million, or 9.4% to $10.5 million from $9.6 million in 2019. The increase was primarily due to activity related to product financing arrangements, and liabilities on borrowed metals. As compared to the same year-ago period, the amount of interest expense that increased by component included: (i) $0.6 million of product financing arrangements, and (ii) $0.4 million of liabilities on borrowed metals.

Other income, net — Wholesale Trading & Ancillary Services

Other income, net for the year ended June 30, 2020 increased $3.1 million, or 178.3% to $4.9 million from $1.7 million in 2019. The aggregate increase was primarily related to an increase in the Company’s proportionate share of our equity-method investees' earnings by $3.7 million compared to the prior comparable year-to-date period offset by a decrease in an earn-out revaluation adjustment of $0.6 million that was recognized during the year ended June 30, 2019.

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Results of Operations — Secured Lending Segment

The Company operates its Secured Lending segment through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Collateral Finance Corporation LLC. ("CFC") and AM Capital Funding, LLC. (“AMCF”).  AMCF was formed in September 2018, and its financial activity was incorporated into the Secured Lending segment's results thereafter.

Overview of Results of Operations for the Years Ended June 30, 2020 and 2019

—  Secured Lending Segment

The operating results of our Secured Lending segment for the years ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 are as follows:

Interest Income — Secured Lending