Stephen B. Shankman

Jefferies LLC is a global investment bank and institutional securities firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1962 and is a subsidiary of Jefferies Group LLC, ultimately held by Jefferies Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF). Jefferies provides corporate clients with research and execution services in equity, fixed income, and foreign exchange markets, as well as a full range of investment banking services such as underwriting, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and recapitalization, and other advisory services, with all businesses operating in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

H. C. Wainwright & Co. LLC (H. C. Wainwright) is a full-service broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1868 and is a subsidiary of HCWHC, Inc. H. C. Wainwright delivers industry insights and real-time execution to both public and private small and middle-sized global emerging market companies. With a focus on identifying buyers and sellers in illiquid and difficult to trade equities, the firm specializes in block trading and providing liquidity in these securities with as little market impact as possible.

Brean Capital is an independent investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1973 and provides equity research, corporate finance and advisory investment banking, equity institutional sales and trading, and asset management to institutional investors and corporate clients. Their fixed income business provides sales, trading, research and banking services on a wide range of mortgage and asset-backed, US Treasury and government agency securities, structured products, corporate bonds, and municipal debt. The fixed income sales team employs a highly analytical approach to bond selection, trade execution, and overall bond portfolio management. Under the guidance of fixed income strategists, the fixed income team uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to create custom investment portfolios and develop targeted, executable bond trading strategies to complement their clients? balance sheets.

Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC (Credit Suisse Securities USA) is the broker/dealer division of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, an investment banking company headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Credit Suisse (USA), Inc., ultimately owned by Credit Suisse Group AG (SWX: CSGN) in Switzerland. Credit Suisse Securities USA offers a suite of equities, solutions and credit products and services which includes global securities sales, trading and execution, prime brokerage and comprehensive investment research. Their clients include financial institutions, corporations, governments, institutional investors, such as pension funds and hedge funds, and private individuals around the world.

Founded in 1984, Noble Financial Capital Markets is a broker/dealer headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. The firm is a subsidiary of Noble Financial Group, Inc. Noble Financial Capital Markets' sales & trading team provides strategic insight and reliable solutions to nearly 500 of the dominant small-cap money managers in North America. They are members FINRA, SIPC and MSRB. Noble Financial Capital Markets offers a full array of investment services with a particular focus on under-followed, undervalued, out-of-favor small-cap emerging growth companies. Their research coverage universe includes healthcare, business services & software, defense/defense technology, energy, enterprise hardware, and media & entertainment.

Carnegie Mellon University is an American school that operates as a college or university. It is located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC is the US-based securities broker/dealer and futures commission merchant arm of Mizuho Americas LLC, ultimately held by Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (TYO: 8411, NYSE: MFG) in Japan. Headquartered in New York City, the firm was founded in 1994 and provides institutional and corporate clients access to commodity and financial markets around the world. Mizuho Securities USA covers the following industries: Consumer, Energy, Financial Institutions, Financial Sponsors, Healthcare, Industrial & Diversified Industries, Power, Utilities & Infrastructure, Real Estate, and Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT). The firm and their affiliates hold memberships on all major futures and options exchanges worldwide.

Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. (DBSI) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1971 and is a wholly-owned investment banking and brokerage arm of DB U.S. Financial Markets Holding Corp., ultimately held by Deutsche Bank AG (NYSE: DB, FRA: DBK) in Germany. DBSI provides securities brokerage and investment advisory services to domestic and international private clients and institutions. They are also a primary dealer in US government securities as designated by the Federal Reserve.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) is a securities brokerage firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1927, the firm is a subsidiary of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS). GS&Co. provides services to help hedge funds manage risk, monitor portfolios, maintain liquidity and build their businesses. They offer clients access to global equity and derivatives markets, as well as foreign exchange, commodities, European Lefts, rates and credit across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The firm proactively monitors capital markets, searching for pockets of liquidity and news that may require changes to those strategies. Integration with the Goldman Sachs network gives clients access to the firm's sectored block trades and their insights into price discovery. Their electronic trading program provides clients with tools to manage their trades from pre-trade analytics to post-trade analysis.

Citizens JMP Securities LLC (Citizens JMP) is a full-service investment bank and broker/dealer headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was founded by Joseph Jolson in 2002 and was formerly JMP Securities LLC. The firm is a subsidiary of JMP Holding LLC, ultimately held by Citizens Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: CFG). Citizens JMP provides equity research, institutional brokerage, and investment banking services to public and private growth companies and their investors. They are a research-driven, growth-oriented firm that provides services to small- and mid-sized companies and the institutions that invest in them. The firm specializes in four high-growth sectors of the economy: technology, healthcare, financial services, and real estate.

Seaport Global Securities LLC is a full service investment bank, capital markets advisory and research platform headquartered in New York City with offices across the US and in Europe. They are a subsidiary of Seaport Global Holdings LLC. The firm offers access to a broad selection of fixed income and equity products, as well as the market intelligence to provide insight to dynamic opportunities for its clients. Seaport Global Securities provides clients access to innovative trading solutions, competitive rates, quality execution, and superior service. Their equity trading team focuses on identifying liquidity in US, Canadian and European markets. The fixed income distribution platform covers all areas of the credit spectrum.

UBS Securities LLC is an investment bank and registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1998 as UBS Warburg LLC. They are a subsidiary of UBS Americas Holding LLC, ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG, NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. UBS Securities is a primary dealer in US Government securities and provides a full range of investment banking services which includes corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, trading and sales, fixed-income, equity research, private banking, underwriting and prime brokerage operations. The firm also provides advisory services and access to capital markets for corporate, institutional, intermediary and alternative asset management clients.

Susquehanna International Group LLP engages in the provision of investment and other financial services. It offers institutional brokerage, trading, research, and market making services for equities. The company was founded by Lon Taylor and Gordon Apple in 1987 and is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, PA.

Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. (Broker) (Oppenheimer-Broker) is the global full-service brokerage division of Oppenheimer & Co., Inc., an investment boutique headquartered in New York City with additional offices nationwide. Founded in 1975, the firm is owned directly by Viner Finance Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Oppenheimer Holdings Inc. (NYSE: OPY). Oppenheimer-Broker offers a full array of brokerage services to retail, institutional, and corporate clients.

Clarksons Securities, Inc. is an SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 1992 and formerly known as RS Platou Markets, Inc. and Clarksons Platou Securities, Inc. They are a wholly owned subsidiary of Clarksons Securities AS, which is ultimately owned by Clarkson Plc (LON: CKN) in Great Britain. Clarksons Securities executes trades globally in equities, bonds, convertible notes, derivatives, OTC securities and certain forward freight instruments (FFA). They also offer foreign exchange services (FX) to existing clients. Clarksons Securities serves institutional investors globally.

UBS Financial Services, Inc. is a registered investment advisor and wealth management firm headquartered in Weehawken, New Jersey. The firm is a wholly-owned subsidiary of UBS Americas Inc., ultimately held by UBS Group AG (SWX: UBSG; NYSE: UBS) in Switzerland. Founded in 1969, UBS Financial Services provides investment advisory services to individuals, banks, thrift institutions, mutual funds and other investment companies, pension and employee benefit plans, trusts, estates, charities, corporations and other business and government entities.

Clarkson Capital Markets LLC (dba Clarksons Platou Securities) is a SEC-registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded in 2001 as CIS Capital Markets LLC. They are a subsidiary of Clarkson USA, Inc., ultimately held by Clarkson Plc (LON: CKN) in Great Britain. Clarksons Platou Securities offers services such as equity and fixed income sales and trading, equity and credit research, corporate access and corporate finance services, including advising clients on a range of equity and debt capital markets and M&A transactions. They have a broad and diverse global institutional client base, specializing in the Clarksons Group’s core maritime, oil services and natural resources sectors.

Encompass Capital Advisors LLC (Encompass) is an independent, SEC-registered investment advisor and hedge fund management firm headquartered in New York City. The firm was founded by Todd Kantor in 2012. Encompass serves as an investment manager and provides investment advisory services on a discretionary basis to private pooled investment vehicles that are offered to investors satisfying the applicable eligibility and suitability requirements, either in private offerings within the US or in offshore transactions.

Evalueserve, Inc. is a global provider of AI-enhanced managed services. Its solutions uniquely combine expert services with domain-specific AI and have been recognized by analysts such as Forrester and Chartis. Evalueserve’s solutions include data analytics, insights & advisory, intellectual property & R&D, investment banking services, lending services, private equity services, and risk & compliance. These solutions are powered by Evalueserve’s modular AIRA (AI for Research and Analytics) ecosystem, which includes domain-specific accelerators, products, and platforms. Evalueserve experts use these tools to reduce time to value and integrated new solutions into existing workflows. Notable products and platforms include Insightsfirst, Insightloupe, Publishwise, Spreadsmart, and Compsbuilder. The company supports three categories of firms: financial services, corporates, and professional services. Specifically, this includes Investment Banks, Corporate & Commercial Banks, Asset & Wealth Management Firms, Private Equity & Venture Capital Firms, Index Providers, Technology & Telecom, Life Sciences & Healthcare, Manufacturing & Industrial Goods, Energy, Chemicals, CPG & Retail, Logistics & Transportation, Professional Service Firms, Consultancy & Advisory Firms, Legal Firms, Real Estate Firms, Education & EdTech Firms. The company was founded by Alok Aggarwal & Marc Vollenweider in 2000 and is headquartered in Raleigh, NC.

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC provides assurance, tax and advisory services. Its services include audit and assurance, consulting, deals, human resources, legal, tax, and family business. The firm also offers accountability, risk management, structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and performance and process improvement. The company was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Buffalo, NY.

Hapoalim Securities USA, Inc. (Hapoalim Securities) is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of PCM-HSU Holdings, Inc., which is owned by Bank Hapoalim BM (TLV: POLI) in Israel. Founded in 1993, Hapoalim Securities specializes in value added investment strategy services and products for institutional and high net-worth private investors. The firm combines a full product offering with international capability. They seek to provide investors with access to Israeli financial markets and companies.

Founded in 1958, Merrill Lynch Piece Fenner & Smith, Inc. is an SEC registered broker/dealer located in New York City. The firm is a subsidiary of BAC North America Holding Co. and their ultimate parent is Bank of America Corp. (NYSE BAC).

Piper Sandler & Co. (Broker) (PSC-Broker) is the full-service brokerage division of Piper Sandler & Co., a financial service firm headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are a subsidiary of Piper Sandler Companies (NYSE: PIPR). The firm was founded in 1969 and previously known as Piper Jaffray & Co. They became Piper Sandler & Co. when Piper Jaffray Companies and Sandler O’Neill & Partners, L.P. merged to become Piper Sandler Companies in 2020. PSC-Broker provides brokerage and investment banking services to financial institutions, corporations and other financial investors. Their core focus sectors are Agriculture, renewables & cannabis, Business services, Chemicals & Materials, Consumer, Diversified industrials & services, Energy, Financial services, financial sponsors, Healthcare, and Technology.

Wells Fargo Securities LLC (WFS) is the broker/dealer subsidiary of EVEREN Capital Corp., ultimately owned by Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE: WFC). Headquartered in New York, WFS delivers a comprehensive suite of banking, capital markets and advisory solutions, such as a full complement of sales, trading and research capabilities, to corporate, government and institutional clients.