Freedom Holding Corp

The financial services industry is highly regulated. In recent years, there has been an increasing incidence of litigation involving the brokerage industry, including customer and shareholder class action suits that generally seek substantial damages, including in some cases punitive damages. Compliance and trading problems that are reported to federal, state and provincial regulators, exchanges or other self-regulatory organizations by dissatisfied customers are investigated by such regulatory bodies, and, if pursued by such regulatory body or such customers, may rise to the level of arbitration or disciplinary action. We are also subject to periodic governmental and regulatory audits and inspections that might result in fines or other charges.

From time to time, we or our subsidiaries may be named as defendants in various routine legal proceedings, claims, and regulatory inquiries arising out of the ordinary course of our business. Management believes that the results of these routine legal proceedings, claims, and regulatory matters will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, or on our operations and cash flows. However, we cannot estimate the legal fees and expenses to be incurred in connection with these routine matters and, therefore, are unable to determine whether these future legal fees and expenses will have a material impact on our operations and cash flows. It is our policy to expense legal and other fees as incurred.

Estate of Toleush Tolmakov Litigation

The Estate of Toleush Tolmakov (the “Estate”) commenced a legal action against Freedom Holding Corp., and our subsidiary FFIN Securities, Inc. in the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County, State of Utah in December 2021. This proceeding relates to cash distributions arising from the 2011 sale of a subsidiary of BMB Munai, Inc. (the predecessor to Freedom Holding Corp.) and shares of common stock of the Company belonging to Toleush Tolmakov, who was a shareholder of the Company at the time he died in 2011, and a now defunct British Virgin Islands corporation, in which Mr. Tolmakov claimed to have an interest. The Company has held these assets since Mr. Tolmakov's death because of unresolved uncertainties about who these assets should be distributed to, and because to date no court has adjudicated legal right of ownership of the assets. On October 21, 2022, in accordance with an order entered into by the Third Judicial District Court of Salt Lake County, we deposited an amount of $8.4 million into the registry of the court, representing the amount of cash distributions claimed by the Estate. We also deposited with the court all of the subject shares that we previously held. The Company continues to deny any and all liability in this matter. The Company does not believe that the outcome of this litigation could be material to our financial condition.