Gaucho Group Holdings, Inc. Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2014

8.	INVESTMENTS AND FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. In determining fair value, the Company often utilizes certain assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability, including assumptions about risk and/or the risks inherent in the inputs to the valuation technique. These inputs can be readily observable, market corroborated, or developed by the Company. The fair value hierarchy ranks the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values. Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value are classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1 -

Valued based on quoted prices at the measurement date for identical assets or liabilities trading in active markets. Financial instruments in this category generally include actively traded equity securities.

Level 2 -

Valued based on (a) quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets; (b) quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active; (c) inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability; or (d) from market corroborated inputs. Financial instruments in this category include certain corporate equities that are not actively traded or are otherwise restricted.

Level 3 -

Valued based on valuation techniques in which one or more significant inputs is not readily observable. Included in this category are certain corporate debt instruments, certain private equity investments, and certain commitments and guarantees.

Investments – Related Parties at Fair Value:

As of December 31, 2014		Level 1			Level 2			Level 3			Total
Warrants- Affiliates		$	-		$	-		$	294,653		$	294,653

As of December 31, 2013		Level 1			Level 2			Level 3			Total
Warrants- Affiliates		$	-		$	-		$	318,195		$	318,195

A reconciliation of Level 3 assets is as follows:

	Warrants

Balance - December 31, 2012	$	326,049
Received		97,125
Allocated to employees as compensation		(67,995)
Unrealized loss		(36,984)
Balance - December 31, 2013		318,195
Received		-
Allocated to employees as compensation		-
Unrealized loss		(23,542)
Balance - December 31, 2014	$	294,653

Accumulated unrealized gains related to investments at fair value at 12/31/14	$	114,188

It is the Company’s policy to distribute part or all of the warrants CAP earns through serving as placement agent on various private placement offerings for a related but independent entity under common management, to registered representatives or other employees who provided investment banking services. The total compensation expense (fair value) recorded related to these distributed warrants is $0 and $67,995 for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013, respectively, and is classified as general and administrative expense in the consolidated statements of operations. Warrants retained by the Company’s broker-dealer subsidiary are marked to market at each reporting date using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

The fair value of the warrants was determined based on the Black-Scholes option pricing model, which requires the input of highly subjective assumptions, including the expected share price volatility. Given that such shares were not publicly-traded, the Company developed an expected volatility figure based on a review of the historical volatilities, over a period of time, of similarly positioned public companies within the industry.

The Company’s short term financial instruments include cash, accounts receivable, advances and loans to registered representatives, accounts payable, accrued expenses and other current liabilities, each of which approximate their fair values based upon their short term nature. The Company’s other financial instruments include loans payable and convertible debt obligations. The carrying value of these instruments approximate fair value, as they bear terms and conditions comparable to market, for obligations with similar terms and maturities.

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

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