21. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Shareholders Lawsuit (LaBelle and Janzen) 

The LaBelle case is a putative securities class action filed in January 2024 and is pending in the District of New Jersey. Denise LaBelle (“Plaintiff”) alleges that the Company and certain of its officers violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act by making materially false or misleading statements in the company’s public filings and disclosures relating to the former Chief Executive Officer of the Company, Mr. Shanchun Huang and charges filed by the SEC against Mr. Shanchun Huang with manipulative trading in the stock of the Company using an offshore account shortly before he became the Company’s CEO in 2020 and failing to disclose his beneficial ownership. Mr. Huang has denied the allegations of trading before he became CEO. Plaintiff claims that these alleged misstatements caused the Company’s stock to trade at artificially inflated prices, harming investors when the truth was revealed. The lead plaintiff and lead counsel were appointed in September 2024. The Company was served in September 2024. On July 28, 2025, the Plaintiff filed an amended complaint. Defendants (Future FinTech, Huang, and individual officers) filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss the amended complaint, later submitting an errata/amended version of the motion. Mr. Huang asserts in his Motion to Dismiss that service of process was defective because Plaintiff failed to comply with the Hague Convention despite knowing Huang’s foreign residence, thus depriving the Court of personal jurisdiction under Rule 12(b)(5). Among other arguments, all Defendants assert in their Motions to Dismiss that the Amended Complaint fails to meet the heightened pleading standards of the PSLRA and Rules 9(b) and 12(b)(6) because it merely repackages unproven SEC allegations and does not plausibly allege that Mr. Huang executed or knew of any trades, engaged in manipulative conduct, or acted with scienter.

The Janzen action is a consolidated shareholder derivative case filed by Jeff Janzen on May 31, 2024, also pending in the District of New Jersey, brought nominally on behalf of Future FinTech. Plaintiff alleges that certain current and former officers and directors breached fiduciary duties by allowing or failing to prevent the same alleged misconduct at issue in LaBelle, including mismanagement and misleading public disclosures. The derivative case has been stayed by stipulation, pending resolution of the anticipated motion to dismiss in LaBelle, but plaintiff has reserved the right to participate in mediation and settlement discussions relating to the class action.