NOTE 6 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES
On January 12, 2024, the Company announced that it had entered into a $5 million contract with R&I Trading of New York (“R&I Trading”). The purpose of the agreement was to provide supply chain management services to a NATO member state. Following June 30, 2024, R&I Trading issued a notice of termination and initiated arbitration proceedings concerning disputed payment amounts under the contract. The Company considers the termination to be unlawful and has demanded that R&I Trading fulfil its contractual obligations. Furthermore, the Company believes R&I Trading’s claims lack merit and intends to vigorously
defend itself should formal proceedings commence. The Company is currently engaged in arbitration with R&I Trading. Both parties submitted their statements of claim on January 6, 2025. R&I Trading is seeking full restitution of the amounts it paid under the agreement. In contrast, the Company alleges that R&I Trading breached the contract and has requested the arbitrator to allocate remedies, particularly in the event that the Company incurs additional expenses from suppliers and employees not yet reflected in its damage estimate. The Company has also raised claims for loss of business opportunities and requested declaratory relief in its favor. On March 6, 2025, the parties filed a request for the approval of a mutual procedural arrangement, under which, among other things, R&I Trading will file an affidavit stating that it is not using the Company’s IP rights and has no intention of violating the Company’s IP rights; the Company will withdraw the motion for a declaration and amend its statement of claim accordingly by March 30, 2025; the statements of defense will be filed by April 21, 2025; and the statements of reply will be filed by May 12, 2025. On March 7, 2025, the arbitrator approved the request, and on March 23, 2025, R&I Trading filed its affidavit. On February 24, 2026, the arbitrator ordered each party to provide security for the arbitrator’s fees in the amount of NIS 50,000. The Company paid its portion of the required security on March 1, 2026. On May 18, 2026, the arbitrator granted reciprocal applications filed by the parties and ordered each party to deposit security in the amount of $50 to secure the other party’s costs in the arbitration proceedings. Following the arbitrator’s decision, the parties entered into discussions and agreed to suspend the arbitration proceedings. The parties continue to engage in discussions and have undertaken to update the arbitrator should circumstances change. The most recent status notice to the arbitrator was filed on June 18, 2026.
At this stage of the proceedings, management, based on advice received from external legal counsel, is unable to reliably assess the likelihood of success of the respective claims or the ultimate outcome of the arbitration. Accordingly, no provision has been recognized in the financial statements in respect of this matter, other than amounts deposited as security where applicable.
SMX (SECURITY MATTERS) PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY NOTES TO THE UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (US$ in thousands except share and per share data) |
NOTE 23 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES:
As part of the Board’s ongoing regulatory compliance process, the Board continues to monitor legal and regulatory developments and their potential impact on the Company. Management is not aware of any contingencies that may have a significant impact on the financial position of the Company.
| A. | In
January 2015, the Company entered an agreement with Isorad Ltd. (a company wholly owned by
the State of Israel with rights to exclusively commercialize the Soreq Research Center technology
for civilian uses), according to which the Company was granted technological license in return
for future royalties based on 2.2% of gross sales by the Company and its affiliates and after
25 years the license becomes royalty-free. Upon the occurrence of an M&A event (as such
event is defined in the agreement to include mergers, sale of all or substantially all the
assets of ours and similar event), in the first M&A event, the Company is to pay a consideration
equal to 1% of the amount received or transferred and in the second M&A event, a consideration
equal to 2% of the amount received or transferred. This will not apply to any future offer
of shares, merger or sale of assets thereafter. In January 2023, the Company signed an amendment to the agreement that determine the following: |
(1) for the BCA with Lionheart, Isorad was issued (a) options to purchase shares of the Company, the options were issued in January 2023 and valued using the Black-Scholes pricing model. The main assumptions which were used are: (1) risk-free rate: %; (2) expected volatility: %; (3) expected term: up to years; and (4) expected dividend yield: %;
The fair value of these options was $ and recognized as a technology license intellectual property.
(2) Additionally, Isorad will be entitled to 1% of any amount actually received against equity or other funding convertible into equity at the closing of the transaction and until 13 months thereafter to be paid after reaching an aggregated received amount of 27 million, or at the end of such 13 months, the earlier thereof).
As of December 31, 2025, and 2024, based on the funds the Company actually received during the 13 month period after the BCA, the Company recognized a technology license intellectual property at the amount of $180 and $158, respectively against a liability. The change in the provision derives from exchange rate differences.
(3) Exit fee - in the occurrence of the first M&A event (as such event is defined in such agreement to include mergers, sale of all or substantially all the assets of the Company and similar event) after the closing of the BCA, the Company is to pay a cash amount equal to 1.5% of the amount received or transferred. This will not apply to any future offer of shares, merger or sale of assets thereafter.
SMX (SECURITY MATTERS) PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (US$ in thousands, except share and per share data) |
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NOTE 23 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES (CONT.):
| B. | On January 12, 2024, the Company announced that it entered into a $5 million contract with R&I Trading of New York (“R&I Trading”). The intention of the agreement with R&I Trading was to provide a service on supply chain management to a NATO member state. Subsequent to June 30, 2024, R&I Trading sent a termination notice to the Company and a demand for arbitration with respect to disputed payment amounts under the contract. The Company believes the termination of the contract is unlawful and has demanded that R&I Trading honor its obligations under the contract. The Company further intends to defend any action, if and when commenced, vigorously.
The Company is currently engaged in an arbitration process with R&I Trading. The statements of claim by the parties to the arbitration proceedings were filed on January 6, 2025. R&I Trading’s statement of claim demands full restitution of the amounts paid by it under the agreement. The Company’s statement of claim alleges that R&I Trading breached the agreement and has requested the arbitrator to grant relief for the division of remedies in the event that the Company is presented with further expenses by suppliers and employees that have not yet been included in its damage estimate. The Company also raised claims regarding loss of opportunities and requested declaratory relief in favor of the Company.
Prior to filing the statement of claim, on December 26, 2024, the Company filed a motion for declaratory relief. On January 9, 2025, R&I Trading responded to the motion. The Company had until January 23, 2025, to submit reply papers in connection with this motion practice.
On March 6, 2025, the parties filed a request for the approval of a mutual procedural arrangement, under which, among other things, R&I Trading will file an affidavit stating that it is not using the Company’s IP rights and has no intention of violating the Company’s IP rights; the Company will withdraw the motion for a declaration and amend its statement of claim accordingly by March 30, 2025; the statements of defense will be filed by April 21, 2025; and the statements of reply will be filed by May 12, 2025.
On March 7, 2025, the arbitrator approved the request, and on March 23, 2025, R&I Trading filed its affidavit. On May 11, 2025, the parties filed their statements of defense. On June 26, 2025, the parties filed their reply to the statement of defense. An arbitration hearing was scheduled for July 21, 2025. The parties exchanged general affidavits of disclosure and requests for responses to questionnaires and for disclosure of documents and R&I’s request and the Company’s response for deposit of a security to guarantee the costs. On February 3, 2026, another preliminary arbitration hearing was held, at which it was determined that the Company was required to file an update regarding its position on the mutual provision of security to secure the arbitrator’s fees. The Company filed its response to the arbitrator’s request on February 10, 2026, and R&I Trading was ordered to file its response by March 5, 2026. The parties were ordered to file a joint notice advising whether they have reached agreements that render their mutual disputes unnecessary to determine whether they maintain their respective applications for determination. By March 31, 2026, both parties are required to file their responses to the other party’s submission regarding the conduct of the preliminary proceedings and document disclosure and are also required to file their respective lists of witnesses and experts. At this preliminary stage, it is not possible to assess the chances of the Company’s claim and the outcome of the arbitration proceedings.
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SMX (SECURITY MATTERS) PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (US$ in thousands, except share and per share data) |
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