Note 17 - Employee Benefits

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

17

. Employee Benefits

All salaried employees of the Company are eligible to participate in the JMP Group

401

(k) Plan after

three

months of employment. Participants

may

contribute up to the limits set by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Effective

January 1, 2015,

t

he Company contributes a match of

100%

of each participant’s contributions to the JMP Group

401

(k) Plan up to a maximum of

3%

of the participant’s compensation plus

50%

of the participant’s elective deferrals between

3%

and

5%.

All participants are immediately vested

100%

on matched contributions. The Company recorded JMP Group

401

(k) Plan matching expense of

$1.4

million and

$1.6

 million for the years ended

December 31, 2019

and

2018

, respectively.