Jefferies Financial Group Inc

Our CFO and Global Treasurer are responsible for developing and implementing our liquidity, funding and capital management strategies. These policies are determined by the nature and needs of our day-to-day business operations, business opportunities, regulatory obligations, and liquidity requirements.

Our actual levels of capital, total assets and financial leverage are a function of a number of factors, including asset composition, business initiatives and opportunities, regulatory requirements and cost and availability of both long term and short-term funding. We have historically maintained a balance sheet consisting of a large portion of our total assets in cash and liquid marketable securities. The liquid nature of these assets provides us with flexibility in financing and managing our business.

We also own a legacy portfolio of businesses and investments that are reflected as consolidated subsidiaries, equity investments or securities. During 2023, we have substantially reduced our merchant banking portfolio through a variety of strategic actions. We are continuing the process of further liquidating a significant portion of this portfolio with the intention of selling to third parties or distributing to shareholders this portfolio in an orderly manner over the next few years.

In keeping with our strategy of returning excess liquidity to shareholders, during the year ended November 30, 2023, we returned an aggregate of$985.8 million to common shareholders primarily in the form of$278.6 million in cash dividends and dividends in the form of distribution of capital of$527.0 million with the distribution of our ownership interests in Vitesse Energy on a tax-free pro rata basis to all shareholders. Additionally, we repurchased 4.9 million common shares for a total of$169.4 million at a weighted average price of $34.66 per share.

We maintain modest leverage to support our investment grade ratings. The growth of our balance sheet is supported by our equity and we have quantitative metrics in place to monitor leverage and double leverage. Our capital plan is robust, in order to sustain our operating model through stressed conditions. We maintain adequate financial resources to support business activities in both normal and stressed market conditions, including a buffer in excess of our regulatory, or other internal or external, requirements. Our access to funding and liquidity is stable and efficient to ensure that there is sufficient liquidity to meet our financial obligations in normal and stressed market conditions.

Our Balance Sheet

A business unit level balance sheet and cash capital analysis are prepared and reviewed with senior management on a weekly basis. As a part of this balance sheet review process, capital is allocated to all assets and gross balance sheet limits are adjusted, as necessary. This process ensures that the allocation of capital and costs of capital are incorporated into business decisions. The goals of this process are to protect the firm’s platform, enable our businesses to remain competitive, maintain the ability to manage capital proactively and hold businesses accountable for both balance sheet and capital usage.

We actively monitor and evaluate our financial condition and the composition of our assets and liabilities. We continually monitor our overall securities inventory, including the inventory turnover rate, which confirms the liquidity of our overall assets. A significant portion of our financial instruments are valued on a daily basis and we monitor and employ balance sheet limits for our various businesses.

The following table provides detail on selected balance sheet items (dollars in millions):

Total assets at November 30, 2023 and 2022 were $57.91 billion and $51.06 billion, respectively, an increase of 13.4%. During 2023, average total assets were approximately 5.5% higher than total assets at November 30, 2023.

Our total Financial instruments owned inventory was $21.75 billion and $18.67 billion at November 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively. During the year ended November 30, 2023, our total Financial instruments owned increased primarily due to increases in corporate debt and equity securities, and mortgage- and asset-backed securities. Financial instruments sold, not yet purchased inventory was $11.25 billion at November 30, 2023, an increase of 1.8% from $11.06 billion at November 30, 2022, with the increase primarily driven by increases in corporate debt and equity securities and sovereign obligations, partially offset by decreases in derivative contracts and U.S. government and agency securities. Our overall net inventory position was $10.50 billion and $7.61 billion at November 30, 2023 and 2022, respectively, with the increase primarily due to increases in mortgage and asset-backed securities and derivative contracts.

Our Level 3 financial instruments owned as a percentage of total Financial instruments owned declined to 3.1% at November 30, 2023 from 4.2% at November 30, 2022, primarily due to decreases in investments at fair value and loans and other receivables as certain historical positions in those categories are now eliminated upon the consolidation of Stratos and OpNet. For additional details related to the consolidation of Stratos and OpNet refer to Note 4, Business Acquisitions in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Additionally, we sold a portion of CMBS during the fourth quarter of 2023 that previously were classified within Level 3 assets.

The following table summarizes Level 3 assets by operating segment (in millions, except percentages):

(1)At November 30, 2023 and November 30, 2022, $121.4 million and $218.7 million, respectively, are attributed to merchant banking investments within in our Asset Management operating segment.

Securities financing assets and liabilities include financing for our financial instruments trading activity and matched book transactions. Matched book transactions accommodate customers by providing financing and access to securities. The aggregate outstanding balance of our securities financing assets and liabilities increase or decrease from period to period depending on fluctuations in the level of our client activity and the level of our own trading activity. Our average month end balance of total reverse repos and stock borrows during 2023 were 23.0% higher than the November 30, 2023 balance. Our average month end balance of total repos and stock loans during 2023 were 19.7% higher than the November 30, 2023 balance.

The following table presents our period end balance, average balance and maximum balance at any month end within the periods presented for Securities purchased under agreements to resell and Securities sold under agreements to repurchase (dollars in millions):

Fluctuations in the balance of our repurchase agreements from period to period and intraperiod are dependent on business activity in those periods. Additionally, the fluctuations in the balances of our securities purchased under agreements to resell are influenced in any given period by our clients’ balances and our clients’ desires to execute collateralized financing arrangements via the repurchase market or via other financing products. Average balances and period end balances will fluctuate based on market and liquidity conditions and we consider the fluctuations intraperiod to be typical for the repurchase market.

Leverage Ratios

The following table presents total assets, total equity, total Jefferies Financial Group Inc. shareholders’ equity and tangible Jefferies Financial Group Inc. shareholders’ equity with the resulting leverage ratios (dollars in millions):

(1)Leverage ratio equals total assets divided by total equity.

(2)Tangible gross leverage ratio (a non-GAAP financial measure) equals total assets less goodwill and identifiable intangible assets divided by tangible Jefferies Financial Group Inc. shareholders’ equity. The tangible gross leverage ratio is used by rating agencies in assessing our leverage ratio.

Liquidity Management

The key objectives of the liquidity management framework are to support the successful execution of our business strategies while ensuring sufficient liquidity through the business cycle and during periods of financial and idiosyncratic distress. Our liquidity management policies are designed to mitigate the potential risk that we may be unable to access adequate financing to service our financial obligations without material franchise or business impact.

The principal elements of our liquidity management framework are our Cash Capital Policy, our assessment of Modeled Liquidity Outflow (“MLO”) and our Contingency Funding Plan (“CFP”).

Liquidity Management Framework. Our Liquidity Management Framework is based on a model of a potential liquidity contraction over a one-year time period. This incorporates potential cash outflows during a market or our idiosyncratic liquidity stress event, including, but not limited to, the following:

•Repayment of all unsecured debt maturing within one year and no incremental unsecured debt issuance;

•Maturity rolloff of outstanding letters of credit with no further issuance and replacement with cash collateral;

•Higher margin requirements than currently exist on assets on securities financing activity, including repurchase agreements and other secured funding including central counterparty clearing houses;

•Liquidity outflows related to possible credit downgrade;

•Lower availability of secured funding;

•Client cash withdrawals;

•The anticipated funding of outstanding investment and loan commitments; and

•Certain accrued expenses and other liabilities and fixed costs.

Cash Capital Policy. We maintain a cash capital model that measures long-term funding sources against requirements. Sources of cash capital include our equity, mezzanine equity and the noncurrent portion of long-term borrowings. Uses of cash capital include the following:

•Illiquid assets such as equipment, goodwill, net intangible assets, exchange memberships, deferred tax assets and certain investments;

•A portion of securities inventory and other assets not expected to be financed on a secured basis in a credit stressed environment (i.e., margin requirements); and

•Drawdowns of unfunded commitments.

To ensure that we do not need to liquidate inventory in the event of a funding stress, we seek to maintain surplus cash capital. Our total long-term capital of $17.70 billion at November 30, 2023 exceeded our cash capital requirements.

MLO. Our businesses are diverse, and our liquidity needs are determined by many factors, including market movements, collateral requirements and client commitments, all of which can change dramatically in a difficult funding environment. During a liquidity stress, credit-sensitive funding, including unsecured debt and some types of secured financing agreements, may be unavailable, and the terms (e.g., interest rates, collateral provisions and tenor) or availability of other types of secured financing may change. As a result of our policy to ensure we have sufficient funds to cover what we estimate may be needed in a liquidity stress, we hold more cash and unencumbered securities and have greater long-term debt balances than our businesses would otherwise require. As part of this estimation process, we calculate an MLO that could be experienced in a liquidity stress. MLO is based on a scenario that includes both a market-wide stress and firm-specific stress, characterized by some or all of the following elements:

•Global recession, default by a medium-sized sovereign, low consumer and corporate confidence, and general financial instability.

•Severely challenged market environment with material declines in equity markets and widening of credit spreads.

•Damaging follow-on impacts to financial institutions leading to the failure of a large bank.

•A firm-specific crisis potentially triggered by material losses, reputational damage, litigation, executive departure, and/or a ratings downgrade.

The following are the critical modeling parameters of the MLO:

•Liquidity needs over a 30-day scenario.

•A two-notch downgrade of our long-term senior unsecured credit ratings.

•No support from government funding facilities.

•A combination of contractual outflows, such as upcoming maturities of unsecured debt, and contingent outflows (e.g., actions though not contractually required, we may deem necessary in a crisis). We assume that most contingent outflows will occur within the initial days and weeks of a stress.

•No diversification benefit across liquidity risks. We assume that liquidity risks are additive.

The calculation of our MLO under the above stresses and modeling parameters considers the following potential contractual and contingent cash and collateral outflows:

•All upcoming maturities of unsecured long-term debt, promissory notes and other unsecured funding products assuming we will be unable to issue new unsecured debt or rollover any maturing debt.

•Repurchases of our outstanding long-term debt in the ordinary course of business as a market maker.

•A portion of upcoming contractual maturities of secured funding activity due to either the inability to refinance or the ability to refinance only at wider haircuts (i.e., on terms which require us to post additional collateral). Our assumptions reflect, among other factors, the quality of the underlying collateral and counterparty concentration.

•Collateral postings to counterparties due to adverse changes in the value of our over-the-counter (“OTC”) derivatives and other outflows due to trade terminations, collateral substitutions, collateral disputes, collateral calls or termination payments required by a two-notch downgrade in our credit ratings.

•Variation margin postings required due to adverse changes in the value of our outstanding exchange-traded derivatives and any increase in initial margin and guarantee fund requirements by derivative clearing houses.

•Liquidity outflows associated with our prime services business, including withdrawals of customer credit balances, and a reduction in customer short positions.

•Liquidity outflows to clearing banks to ensure timely settlements of cash and securities transactions.

•Draws on our unfunded commitments considering, among other things, the type of commitment and counterparty.

•Other upcoming large cash outflows, such as employee compensation, tax and dividend payments, with no expectation of future dividends from any subsidiaries.

Based on the sources and uses of liquidity calculated under the MLO scenarios, we determine, based on a calculated surplus or deficit, additional long-term funding that may be needed versus funding through the repurchase financing market and consider any adjustments that may be necessary to our inventory balances and cash holdings. At November 30, 2023, we had sufficient excess liquidity to meet all contingent cash outflows detailed in the MLO for at least 30 days without balance sheet reduction. We regularly refine our model to reflect changes in market or economic conditions and our business mix.

CFP. Our CFP ensures the ability to access adequate liquid financial resources to meet liquidity shortfalls that may arise in emergency situations. The CFP triggers the following actions:

•Sets out the governance for managing liquidity during a liquidity crisis;

•Identifies key liquidity and capital early warning indicators that will help guide the response to the liquidity crisis;

•Identifies the actions and escalation procedures should we experience a liquidity crisis including coordination amongst senior management and the Board of Directors;

•Sets out the sources of funding available during a liquidity crisis;

•Sets out the communication plan during a liquidity crisis for key external stakeholders including regulators, relationship banks, rating agencies and funding counterparties; and

•Sets out an action plan to source additional funding.

Sources of Liquidity

The following are financial instruments that are cash and cash equivalents or are deemed by management to be generally readily convertible into cash, marginable or accessible for liquidity purposes within a relatively short period of time (dollars in thousands):

(1)Average balances are calculated based on weekly balances.

(2)At November 30, 2023 and 2022, $5.90 billion and $7.14 billion, respectively, was invested in U.S. government money funds that invest primarily in cash, securities issued by the U.S. government and U.S. government-sponsored entities, and repurchase agreements that are fully collateralized by cash or government securities. The remaining balance at November 30, 2023 and 2022 are primarily invested in AAA-rated prime money funds. The average balance of U.S. government money funds for the quarter ended November 30, 2023 was $4.55 billion.

(3)Consists of high-quality sovereign government securities and reverse repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities and other high quality sovereign government securities; deposits with a central bank within the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland or the U.S.; and securities issued by a designated multilateral development bank and reverse repurchase agreements with underlying collateral composed of these securities.

(4)Other includes unencumbered inventory representing an estimate of the amount of additional secured financing that could be reasonably expected to be obtained from our Financial instruments owned that are currently not pledged after considering reasonable financing haircuts.

In addition to the cash balances and liquidity pool presented above, the majority of financial instruments (both long and short) in our trading accounts are actively traded and readily marketable. At November 30, 2023, we had the ability to readily obtain repurchase financing for 81.4% of our inventory at haircuts of 10% or less, which reflects the liquidity of our inventory. In addition, as a matter of our policy, all of these assets have internal capital assessed, which is in addition to the funding haircuts provided in the securities finance markets. Additionally, certain of our Financial instruments owned primarily consisting of loans and investments are predominantly funded by long term capital. Under our cash capital policy, we model capital allocation levels that are more stringent than the haircuts used in the market for secured funding; and we maintain surplus capital at these more stringent levels. We continually assess the liquidity of our inventory based on the level at which we could obtain financing in the marketplace for a given asset. Assets are considered to be liquid if financing can be obtained in the repurchase market or the securities lending market at collateral haircut levels of 10% or less.

The following summarizes our financial instruments by asset class that we consider to be of a liquid nature and the amount of such assets that have not been pledged as collateral at November 30, 2023 and 2022 (in thousands):

(1)Consists solely of agency mortgage-backed securities issued by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) and the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”).

(2)Unencumbered liquid balances represent assets that can be sold or used as collateral for a loan but have not been.

In addition to being able to be readily financed at reasonable haircut levels, we estimate that each of the individual securities within each asset class above could be sold into the market and converted into cash within three business days under normal market conditions, assuming that the entire portfolio of a given asset class was not simultaneously liquidated. There are no restrictions on the unencumbered liquid securities, nor have they been pledged as collateral.

Sources of Funding and Capital Resources

Our assets are funded by equity capital, senior debt, securities loaned, securities sold under agreements to repurchase, customer free credit balances, bank loans and other payables.

Secured Financing

We rely principally on readily available secured funding to finance our inventory of financial instruments owned and financial instruments sold. Our ability to support increases in total assets is largely a function of our ability to obtain short- and intermediate term secured funding, primarily through securities financing transactions. We finance a portion of our long inventory and cover some of our short inventory by pledging and borrowing securities in the form of repurchase or reverse repurchase agreements (collectively “repos”), respectively. During 2023, an average of approximately 68.1% of our cash and noncash repurchase financing activities used collateral that was considered eligible collateral by central clearing corporations. Central clearing corporations are situated between participating members who borrow cash and lend securities (or vice versa); accordingly, repo participants contract with the central clearing corporation and not one another individually. Therefore, counterparty credit risk is borne by the central clearing corporation which mitigates the risk through initial margin demands and variation margin calls from repo participants. The comparatively large proportion of our total repo activity that is eligible for central clearing reflects the high quality and liquid composition of the inventory we carry in our trading books. For those asset classes not eligible for central clearing house financing, we seek to execute our bi-lateral financings on an extended term basis and the tenor of our repurchase and reverse repurchase agreements generally exceeds the expected holding period of the assets we are financing. The weighted average maturity of cash and noncash repurchase agreements for non-clearing corporation eligible funded inventory is approximately six months at November 30, 2023.

Our ability to finance our inventory via central clearinghouses and bi-lateral arrangements is augmented by our ability to draw bank loans on an uncommitted basis under our various banking arrangements. At November 30, 2023, short-term borrowings, which must be repaid within one year or less include bank loans, overdrafts and borrowings under revolving credit facilities. Letters of credit are used in the normal course of business mostly to satisfy various collateral requirements in favor of exchanges in lieu of depositing cash or securities. Average daily short-term borrowings outstanding were $787.9 million for 2023.

At November 30, 2023 and 2022, our borrowings under credit facilities classified within bank loans in Short-term borrowings in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition were $937.1 million and $517.0 million, respectively. Our borrowings include credit facilities that contain certain covenants that, among other things, require us to maintain a specified level of tangible net worth, require a minimum regulatory net capital requirement for our U.S. broker-dealer, Jefferies LLC, and impose certain restrictions on the future indebtedness of certain of our subsidiaries that are borrowers. Interest is based on rates at spreads over the federal funds rate or other adjusted rates, as defined in the various credit agreements, or at a rate as agreed between the bank and us in reference to the bank’s cost of funding. At November 30, 2023, we were in compliance with all covenants under these credit facilities.

For additional details on our short-term borrowings, refer to Note 18, Short-Term Borrowings in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

In addition to the above financing arrangements, we issue notes backed by eligible collateral under master repurchase agreements, which provides an additional financing source for our inventory (our “repurchase agreement financing program”). The notes issued under the program are presented within Other secured financings in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. At November 30, 2023, the outstanding notes were $1.43 billion, bear interest at a spread over the Secured Overnight Funding Rate (“SOFR”) or the Euro Short-Term Rate (“ESTER”) and mature from December 2023 to July 2025.

For additional details on our repurchase agreement financing program, refer to Note 10, Variable Interest Entities in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Total Long-Term Capital

At November 30, 2023 and 2022, we had total long-term capital of $17.70 billion and $17.49 billion, respectively, resulting in a long-term debt to equity capital ratio of 0.81:1 and 0.68:1, respectively. See “Equity Capital” herein for further information on our change in total equity. Our total long-term capital base at November 30, 2023 and 2022 was as follows (in thousands):

(1)The amounts at November 30, 2023 and 2022 exclude our secured long-term debt and exclude $51.0 million and $13.2 million, respectively, of structured notes that will mature within one year. Additionally, the amount at November 30, 2023 excludes $544.2 million of our 1.000% Euro Medium Term Notes as these are mature within one year. The amount at November 30, 2022 excludes $393.0 million of our 5.500% Senior Notes as this note matured on October 18, 2023.

Long-Term Debt

During 2023, long-term debt increased by $924.7 million to $9.70 billion at November 30, 2023, as presented in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. This increase is primarily due:

•$990.6 million from the issuance of our 5.875% Senior Notes with a principal amount of $1.0 billion, due 2028;

•$290.2 million from additional issuances, net of repayments;

•Addition of$75.4 million of Tessellis debt due to the OpNet consolidation; and

•Partially offset by decreases of $393.0 million from the maturity of our 5.500% Senior Note as well as the reclassification of long-term debt to liabilities held for sale related to Foursight. For additional details related to Foursight and OpNet, refer to Note 5, Assets Held for Sale in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

At November 30, 2023 and 2022, our borrowings under several credit facilities classified within Long-term debt in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition amounted to $735.2 million and$933.5 million, respectively. Interest on these credit facilities is based on an adjusted SOFR plus a spread or other adjusted rates, as defined in the various credit agreements. The credit facility agreements contain certain covenants that, among other things, require us to maintain specified levels of tangible net worth and liquidity amounts, and impose certain restrictions on future indebtedness of and require specified levels of regulated capital and cash reserves for certain of our subsidiaries. At November 30, 2023, we were in compliance with all covenants under theses credit facilities.

In addition, one of our subsidiaries has a Loan and Security Agreement with a bank for a term loan (“Secured Bank Loan”). At November 30, 2023, borrowings under the Secured Bank Loan amounted to$100.0 million and are also classified within Long-term debt in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. The Secured Bank Loan matures on September 13, 2024, and is collateralized by certain trading securities with an interest rate of SOFR plus 1.25%. The agreement contains certain covenants that, among other things, restricts lien or encumbrance upon any of the pledged collateral. At November 30, 2023, we were in compliance with all covenants under the Secured Bank Loan.

HomeFed funds certain of its real estate projects in part by raising funds under the Immigrant Investor Program administered by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act (“EB-5 Program”). This debt is secured by certain real estate of HomeFed. At November 30, 2023, HomeFed was in compliance with all debt covenants which include, among other requirements, limitations on incurrence of debt, collateral requirements and restricted use of proceeds. Primarily all of HomeFed’s EB-5 Program debt matures in 2024 through 2028.

At November 30, 2023, HomeFed has a construction loan with an aggregate committed amount of $62.0 million. The proceeds are being used for construction at certain of its real estate projects. The outstanding principal amount of the loan bears interest based on the SOFR plus 2.75%, subject to adjustment on the first of each calendar month. At November 30, 2023, the weighted average interest rate on this loan was 8.07%. The loan matures in May 2024 and is collateralized by the property underlying the related project with a guarantee by HomeFed. At November 30, 2023 and November 30, 2022, $48.2 million and $57.0 million, respectively, was outstanding under the construction loan agreement.

At November 30, 2023, our unsecured long-term debt has a weighted average maturity of approximately 8.7 years.

For further information, see Note 19, Long-Term Debt, in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our long-term debt ratings at November 30, 2023 are as follows:

(1) On December 11, 2023, Fitch Ratings revised our rating of BBB to BBB+ and revised our rating outlook from positive to stable.

At November 30, 2023, the long-term debt ratings on our principal subsidiaries, Jefferies LLC, Jefferies International Limited (a U.K. broker-dealer) and Jefferies GmbH are as follows:

Access to external financing to finance our day-to-day operations, as well as the cost of that financing, is dependent upon various factors, including our debt ratings. Our current debt ratings are dependent upon many factors, including industry dynamics, operating and economic environment, operating results, operating margins, earnings trend and volatility, balance sheet composition, liquidity and liquidity management, our capital structure, our overall risk management, business diversification and our market share and competitive position in the markets in which we operate. Deterioration in any of these factors could impact our credit ratings. While certain aspects of a credit rating downgrade are quantifiable pursuant to contractual provisions, the impact on our business and trading results in future periods is inherently uncertain and depends on a number of factors, including the magnitude of the downgrade, the behavior of individual clients and future mitigating action taken by us.

In connection with certain over-the-counter derivative contract arrangements and certain other trading arrangements, we may be required to provide additional collateral to counterparties, exchanges and clearing organizations in the event of a credit rating downgrade. At November 30, 2023, the amount of additional collateral that could be called by counterparties, exchanges and clearing organizations under the terms of such agreements in the event of a downgrade of our long-term credit rating below investment grade was $58.3 million. For certain foreign clearing organizations, credit rating is only one of several factors employed in determining collateral that could be called. The above represents management’s best estimate for additional collateral to be called in the event of a credit rating downgrade. The impact of additional collateral requirements is considered in our Contingency Funding Plan and calculation of MLO, as described above.

Equity Capital

Common Stock

At November 30, 2023 and 2022, we had 565,000,000 authorized shares of voting common stock with a par value of $1.00 per share. At November 30, 2023, we had outstanding 210,626,642 common shares, 15,216,591 share-based awards that do not require the holder to pay any exercise price and 5,064,740 stock options that require the holder to pay a weighted average exercise price of $22.69 per share. The 15,216,591 share-based awards include the target number of shares under the senior executive award plan until the performance period is complete.

The Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of common stock under a share repurchase program. Additionally, treasury stock repurchases include repurchases of common stock for net-share withholding under our equity compensation plan.

The table below presents information about common stock repurchases pursuant to our share repurchase program during the year ended November 30, 2023 (in thousands, except share and per share amounts):

In January 2024, the Board of Directors increased the share repurchase authorization back up to $250.0 million.

In February 2023, our mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred shares were converted into 4,654,362 common shares.

The following table sets forth the declaration dates, record dates, payment date and per common share amounts for the dividends declared during the years ended November 30, 2023 and 2022.

On January 8, 2024, the Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.30 per common share to be paid on February 27, 2024 to common shareholders of record at February 16, 2024.

As compared to November 30, 2022, the decrease to total Jefferies Financial Group Inc. shareholders’ equity at November 30, 2023 is primarily attributed to purchases of common shares for treasury and dividends paid, partially offset by increases from net earnings and contributions from noncontrolling interests.

Non-Voting Common Stock

On June 28, 2023, shareholders approved an Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, which authorized the issuance of non-voting common stock with a par value of $1.00 per share (the “Non-Voting Common Shares”). The Non-Voting Common Shares are entitled to share equally, on a per share basis, with the voting common stock, in dividends and distributions. Upon the effectiveness of the Amended and Restated Certificate of Corporation on June 30, 2023, the number of authorized shares of common stock remains at 600,000,000 shares, comprised of 565,000,000 shares of voting common stock and 35,000,000 shares of Non-Voting Common Shares.

Series B Preferred Stock

On April 27, 2023, we established Series B Non-Voting Convertible Preferred Shares with a par value of $1.00 per share (“Series B Preferred Stock”) and designated 70,000 shares as Series B Preferred Stock. The Series B Preferred Stock has a liquidation preference of $17,500 per share and rank senior to our voting common stock upon dissolution, liquidation or winding up of Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Each share of Series B Preferred Stock is automatically convertible into 500 shares of non-voting common stock, subject to certain anti-dilution adjustments, three years after issuance. The Series B Preferred Stock participates in cash dividends and distributions alongside our voting common stock on an as-converted basis.

Additionally, on April 27, 2023, we entered into an Exchange Agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”), which entitles SMBC to exchange shares of our voting common stock for shares of the Series B Preferred Stock at a rate of 500 shares of voting common stock for one share of Series B Preferred Stock. The Exchange Agreement is limited to 55,125 shares of Preferred Stock and SMBC will pay $1.50 per share of voting common stock so exchanged. During the third quarter of 2023, SMBC exchanged 21.0 million shares of voting common stock for 42,000 shares of Series B Preferred Stock and we received cash of $31.5 million in connection with the exchange. As a result of the exchange, our equity attributed to our voting common stock decreased by $21.0 million, our equity attributed to the Series B Preferred Stock increased by $42,000 and additional paid-in capital increased by $52.4 million, resulting in a $31.5 million net increase in our shareholders’ equity, or $0.12 per common share on an as-converted, fully-diluted, basis. During the year ended November 30, 2023, we paid $12.6 million of cash dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock.

Other

In January 2023, we distributed all of our ownership interests in Vitesse Energy on a tax-free pro rata basis to all of our shareholders, resulting in a distribution of capital of $527.0 million. In addition, in February 2023, $125.0 million of mandatorily redeemable convertible preferred shares were converted to 4,654,362 common shares.

Net Capital

Jefferies LLC is a broker-dealer registered with the SEC and a member firm of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and is subject to the SEC Uniform Net Capital Rule (“Rule 15c3-1”), which requires the maintenance of minimum net capital, and has elected to calculate minimum capital requirements using the alternative method permitted by Rule 15c3-1 in calculating net capital. Jefferies LLC, as a dually-registered U.S. broker-dealer and futures commission merchant (“FCM”), is also subject to Regulation 1.17 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) under the Commodity Exchange Act (“CEA”), which sets forth minimum financial requirements. The minimum net capital requirement in determining excess net capital for a dually-registered U.S. broker-dealer and FCM is equal to the greater of the requirement under SEA Rule 15c3-1 or CFTC Regulation 1.17.

Jefferies Financial Services, Inc. (“JFSI”) is a registered swap dealer subject to the CFTC’s regulatory capital requirements and is a registered security-based swap dealer with the SEC subject to the SEC’s security-based swap dealer regulatory rules and is approved by the SEC as an OTC derivatives dealer subject to compliance with the SEC’s net capital requirements. At November 30, 2023, JFSI is in compliance with these SEC and CFTC requirements. Additionally, JFSI is subject to the net capital requirements of the National Futures Association (“NFA”), as a member of the NFA. JFSI is required to maintain minimum net capital, as defined under SEA Rule 18a-1 of not less than the greater of 2% of the risk margin amount, as defined, or $20 million. Under CFTC Regulation 23.101, JFSI is required to maintain minimum net capital of not less than the greater of 2% of the uncleared swap margin, as defined in CFTC Regulation 23.100, or $20 million.

At November 30, 2023, Jefferies LLC and JFSI’s net capital and excess net capital were as follows (in thousands):

FINRA is the designated examining authorityfor Jefferies LLC and the National Futures Association is the designated self-regulatory organization for Jefferies LLC as an FCM.

Certain other U.S. and non-U.S. subsidiaries are subject to capital adequacy requirements as prescribed by the regulatory authorities in their respective jurisdictions, including Jefferies International Limited which is subject to the regulatory supervision and requirements of the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K.

The regulatory capital requirements referred to above may restrict our ability to withdraw capital from our regulated subsidiaries.

Customer Protection and Segregation Requirement

As a registered broker dealer that clears and carries customer accounts, Jefferies LLC is subject to the customer protection provisions under SEC Rule 15c3-3 and is required to compute a reserve formula requirement for customer accounts and deposit cash or qualified securities into a special reserve bank account for the exclusive benefit of customers. At November 30, 2023, Jefferies LLC had $640.9 million in cash and qualified U.S. Government securities on deposit in special reserve bank accounts for the exclusive benefit of customers.

As a registered broker dealer that clears and carries proprietary accounts of brokers (commonly referred to as “PAB”), Jefferies is also required to compute a reserve requirement for PABs pursuant to SEC Rule 15c3-3. At November 30, 2023, Jefferies had $53.1 million in cash and qualified U.S. Government securities in special reserve bank accounts for the exclusive benefit of PABs.

Other Developments

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. Following Russia’s invasion, the U.S., the U.K., and the European Union governments, among others, developed coordinated financial and economic sanctions targeting Russia that, in various ways, constrain transactions with numerous Russian entities, including major Russian banks and individuals; transactions in Russian sovereign debt; and investment, trade and financing to, from, or in Ukraine. We do not have any operations in Russia or any clients with significant Russian operations and we have minimal market risk related to securities of companies either domiciled or operating in Russia. We continue to closely monitor the status of global sanctions and restrictions, trading conditions related to Russian securities and the credit risk and nature of our counterparties.

In October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel. Our investments and assets in our growing Israeli business could be negatively affected by consequences from the geopolitical and military conflict in the region. We continue to closely monitor the status of global sanctions and restrictions arising from the conflict.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements and Contractual Obligations

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We have contractual commitments arising in the ordinary course of business for securities loaned or purchased under agreements to resell, repurchase agreements, future purchases and sales of foreign currencies, securities transactions on a when-issued basis, purchases and sales of corporate loans in the secondary market and underwriting. Each of these financial instruments and activities contains varying degrees of off-balance sheet risk whereby the fair values of the securities underlying the financial instruments may be in excess of, or less than, the contract amount. The settlement of these transactions is not expected to have a material effect upon our consolidated financial statements.

In the normal course of business, we engage in other off balance-sheet arrangements, including derivative contracts. Neither derivatives’ notional amounts nor underlying instrument values are reflected as assets or liabilities in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. Rather, the fair values of derivative contracts are reported in our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition as Financial instruments owned or Financial instruments sold, not yet purchased as applicable. Derivative contracts are reflected net of cash paid or received pursuant to credit support agreements and are reported on a net by counterparty basis when a legal right of offset exists under an enforceable master netting agreement. For additional information about our accounting policies and our derivative activities, see Note 2, Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Note 6, Fair Value Disclosures and Note 7, Derivative Financial Instruments in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Contractual Obligations

Subsequent to November 30, 2023 and on or before January 31, 2024, we expect to make cash payments of $1.36 billion related to year-end compensation awards for fiscal 2023. See Note 15, Compensation Plans in our consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.