17. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Shelf Registration Statement

On September 25, 2020, the Company filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form S-3, which was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 4, 2021, on which the Company registered for sale up to $150.0 million of any combination of its debt securities, shares of common stock, shares of preferred stock, rights, warrants, units and/or purchase contracts from time to time and at prices and on terms that the Company may determine. After a public offering of common stock in March 2021, approximately $69.5 million of securities remain available for issuance under this shelf registration statement. Securities may be offered or sold under this registration statement until March 2024.

Dividends

On August 18, 2022, the Company's board of directors declared a non-recurring special dividend of $1.00 per common share to stockholders of record at the close of business on September 12, 2022. The dividend was paid on September 26, 2022 and totaled $23.4 million. On August 18, 2022, the Company's board of directors also declared the initial quarterly regular cash dividend of $0.20 per common share to stockholders of record at the close of business on October 10, 2022. The dividend totaling $4.7 million was accrued at September 30, 2022 and paid on October 24, 2022 (see Note 20).

Share Repurchase Program

In April 2018, the Company's board of directors approved a share repurchase program which authorizes the Company to purchase up to 1,000,000 shares (as adjusted for the two-for-one split of A-Mark’s common stock in the form of a stock dividend in fiscal 2022) of its common stock from time to time, either in the open market or in block purchase transactions. The amount and timing of specific repurchases are subject to market conditions, applicable legal requirements, and other factors. As of September 30, 2022, no shares had been repurchased under the program.

2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan

The Company's amended and restated 2014 Stock Award and Incentive Plan (the "2014 Plan") was approved by the Company's stockholders on November 2, 2017. As of September 30, 2022, 1,644,126 stock options and 75,481 restricted stock units were outstanding, and 668,148 shares were available for issuance of new awards under the 2014 Plan.

Under the 2014 Plan, the Company may grant options and other equity awards as a means of attracting and retaining officers, employees, non-employee directors and consultants, to provide incentives to such persons, and to align the interests of such persons with the interests of stockholders by providing compensation based on the value of the Company's stock. Awards under the 2014 Plan may be granted in the form of incentive or non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights ("SARs"), restricted stock, restricted stock units ("RSUs"), dividend equivalent rights, other stock-based awards (which may include outright grants of shares) and cash incentive awards. The 2014 Plan also authorizes grants of awards with performance-based conditions and market-based conditions. The 2014 Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of the board of directors, which, in its discretion, may select officers and other employees, directors (including non-employee directors) and consultants to the Company and its subsidiaries to receive grants of awards. The board of directors itself may perform any of the functions of the Compensation Committee under the 2014 Plan.

Under the 2014 Plan, the exercise price of options and base price of SARs, as set by the Compensation Committee, generally may not be less than the fair market value of the shares on the date of grant, and the maximum term of stock options and SARs is 10 years. The 2014 Plan limits the number of share-denominated awards that may be granted to any one eligible person in any fiscal year to 500,000 shares plus the participant's unused annual limit at the close of the previous year. Also, in the case of non-employee directors, the 2014 Plan limits the maximum grant-date fair value at $300,000 of stock-denominated awards granted to a director in a given fiscal year, except for a non-employee Chairman of the Board whose grant-date fair value maximum is $600,000 per fiscal year. The 2014 Plan will terminate when no shares remain available for issuance and no awards remain outstanding; however, the authority to grant new awards will terminate on November 2, 2027.

Stock Options

The Company uses the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which uses various inputs such as the common share price and estimates that include the risk-free interest rate, volatility, expected life and dividend yield. As of September 30, 2022 there were no stock options outstanding with performance conditions or awards with market conditions.

During the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company incurred $0.3 million and $0.3 million of compensation expense related to stock options, respectively. As of September 30, 2022, there was total remaining compensation expense of $1.6 million related to employee stock options, which will be recorded over a weighted average vesting period of approximately 1.2 years.

A required adjustment to outstanding stock options was triggered as a result of the non-recurring special dividend declared on August 18, 2022. In accordance with the terms of the Company’s equity award plans under which the options were issued, an adjustment was required to protect the holders of such stock options from decreases in the value of the stock options due to payment of the non-recurring special dividends. This event decreased the exercise price of outstanding stock options by $1.00 per option share, effective as of the ex-dividend date (September 9, 2022). The fair value of the options before and after this event was unchanged, and therefore no incremental stock-based compensation expense was recorded.

Restricted Stock Units

RSUs granted by the Company are not transferable and automatically convert to shares of common stock on a one-for-one basis as the awards vest or at a specified date after vesting.

A required adjustment to certain outstanding RSUs was triggered as a result of the non-recurring special dividend declared on August 18, 2022. In accordance with the terms of the Company’s RSU agreements under which the RSUs were issued, the holders of the RSUs were entitled to credits equivalent to dividends that would have been paid if the RSUs had been outstanding shares as of the applicable record date. In the case of RSUs with terms not permitting crediting of dividend equivalents in cash, this event resulted in crediting of additional RSUs, increasing the number of RSUs by approximately 194 RSUs as of the payment date (September 26, 2022). The fair value of the RSUs before and after this event was unchanged, and therefore no incremental stock-based compensation expense was recorded.

During the three months ended September 30, 2022 and 2021, the Company incurred $0.2 million and $0.1 million of compensation expense related to RSUs, respectively. As of September 30, 2022, there is $1.2 million remaining compensation expense related to RSUs, which will be recorded over a weighted average vesting period of approximately 2.7 years. RSUs granted to a non-US citizen are referred to as "deferred stock units" or "DSUs".

Common Stock

In fiscal 2023, a portion of the fiscal 2022 annual bonuses was paid in the form of common stock to the Chief Executive Officer and President. The Company issued 10,500 shares (in the aggregate) of common stock, after deducting 3,184 shares of common stock to satisfy tax withholding obligations relating to the President's award.

Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions

The Company’s certificate of incorporation and by-laws 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 its Board. 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 or impose various procedural and other requirements which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions.