Note 19 - Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

19

. Commitments and Contingencies

  In connection with its underwriting activities, JMP Securities

 may, 

from time to time, enter into firm commitments for the purchase of securities in return for a fee. These commitments require JMP Securities to purchase securities at a specified price. Securities underwriting exposes JMP Securities to market and credit risk, primarily in the event that, for any reason, securities purchased by JMP Securities cannot be distributed at anticipated price levels. 

At both 

December 31, 2019

and

2018

,

JMP Securities had

no

 open underwriting commitments. 

The marketable

securities owned and the restricted cash, as well as the cash held by the clearing broker 

may

be used to maintain margin requirements. The Company had

$0.3

 m

illion of cash on deposit with JMP Securities’ clearing broker at both 

December 31, 2019

and

2018

.

Furthermore, the marketable securities owned

may

be hypothecated or borrowed by the clearing broker.

Unfunded commitments are agreements to lend to a borrower, provided that all conditions have been met. The Company had unfunded commitments to lend of $

0.8

million and

$28.7

million as of

December 31, 2019

and

2018

,

respectively. Using the average market bid and ask quotation obtained from a loan pricing service, the Company determined the fair value of the unfunded commitments to be

$0.8

million and

$27.0

million as of

December 31, 2019

and

2018

,

respectively.