Mr. Evans, age 40, joined the Company as Chief Integration Officer on May 6, 2019.  Prior to joining GWG Holdings, Inc., Mr. Evans was Chief of Staff for The Beneficient Company Group, L.P. where he had also served as Vice President and Deputy General Counsel since February 2018.  Prior to joining Beneficient, Mr. Evans was an attorney for the SEC for six years, where he served as a trial attorney and a counsel to the Director of Enforcement.  Mr. Evans was an associate in the Dallas office of Thompson & Knight LLP for four years before joining the SEC.  He received his Juris Doctorate, summa cum laude, from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2008.  Prior to practicing as an attorney, Mr. Evans was an accountant for three years with SMG, a public facility management company.  He previously held an Arkansas CPA license but is not currently licensed by the Arkansas State Board of Public Accountancy.  He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Bachelor of Arts – Economics in 2001.

"Tim was extensively involved in developing the accounting systems and controls of Beneficient, as well as the production and audit of its financial statements. We believe that Tim's prior executive experience with Beneficient, combined with his recent experience as our Chief Integration Officer, will enable a smooth transition of Bill's prior duties and responsibilities." said Murray Holland, GWGH's Chief Executive Officer. 

On August 5, 2019, GWGH received notice from its then-independent registered public accounting firm, Baker Tilly Virchow Krause, LLP, that Baker Tilly would decline to stand for re-appointment as GWGH's independent registered public accounting firm for fiscal year 2019. None of Baker Tilly's audit reports for the years ended December 31, 2018 or 2017 contained an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, nor was any such report qualified or modified.

"Due to the significance of Beneficient to our consolidated financial statements, we and Beneficient's management believed it would significantly improve both time and cost efficiency to have the same independent auditor for both companies," said Murray Holland, GWGH's Chief Executive Officer. "Having served as the independent auditor for Beneficient in the past, Whitley Penn has a deep understanding of Beneficient's business model and a history of working with Beneficient's management team. We believe this arrangement will result in a better and more comprehensive audit for both companies."

As a result of the very recent change from Baker Tilly to Whitley Penn, we were not able to timely file our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 with the SEC, which was due on August 14, 2019. Consequently, we expect to receive a letter from the Listing Qualifications Department of the Nasdaq Stock Market indicating that we are not in compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing and requiring that we issue a press release regarding such non-compliance upon receipt of such letter.  Under Nasdaq's procedures, we expect that we will be given 60 days to submit a plan to regain compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing. If we submit an acceptable compliance plan, Nasdaq is permitted to grant an extension of up to 180 days from the Form 10-Q filing due date for us to regain compliance with Nasdaq's filing requirements for continued listing.  We are working diligently with Whitley Penn to complete this filing as expeditiously as possible and expect the filing to be made within any Nasdaq extension period.

On April 15, 2019, Jon R. Sabes, GWGH's former Chief Executive Officer and a former director, and Steven F. Sabes, a former GWGH director, entered into a Purchase and Contribution Agreement with, among others, Beneficient. Under the Purchase and Contribution Agreement, Jon and Steven Sabes agreed to transfer all 3,952,155 of the shares of GWGH's outstanding common stock held directly or indirectly by them to Beneficient Capital Company, L.L.C., a subsidiary of Beneficient, and AltiVerse Capital Markets, L.L.C. GWGH was not a party to the Purchase and Contribution Agreement; however, the closing of the transactions contemplated by the Purchase and Contribution Agreement was subject to certain conditions that were dependent upon GWGH taking, or refraining from taking, certain actions. The closing of the Purchase and Contribution Transaction occurred on April 26, 2019.

Management is evaluating the accounting treatment for the Purchase and Contribution Transaction. The evaluation may result in a conclusion that a change in control event occurred under ASC 805, Business Combinations. Depending on the entity deemed to be the accounting acquirer, the transaction may result in a requirement for GWGH to consolidate Beneficient and its subsidiaries or vice versa in the second quarter of 2019. If GWGH is determined to be the accounting acquiree, we will be required to consider an accounting policy election with regards to pushdown accounting. If we were to elect to apply pushdown accounting, our assets and liabilities would be recorded at fair value as of the transaction date.

If our management concludes that a change of control event under ASC 805 occurred, the resulting accounting impact (regardless of which entity is deemed to be the acquiring party) could have a material impact on our financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2019.  While the accounting change will not affect the accuracy or reliability of the financial statements included in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter (filed with the SEC on August 5, 2019) and Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2018 (filed with the SEC on July 9, 2019), it could affect the comparability of such financial statements with our financial statements for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 and subsequent periods

GWG Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: GWGH), the parent company of GWG Life, Life Epigenetics and YouSurance, is a leading provider of liquidity to consumers owning life insurance policies, an owner of a portfolio of alternative assets, and the developer of epigenetic technology for the life insurance and related industries. GWG Life provides value to consumers owning illiquid life insurance products across America, delivering $568 million more for their policies since 2006 than the cash surrender value on those policies. GWG Life owns a life insurance policy portfolio of $2.1 billion in face value of policy benefits as of June 30, 2019. Life Epigenetics is working to commercialize epigenetic technology for the life insurance and related industries. YouSurance, a digital life insurance agency, is working to embed epigenetic testing into life insurance purchasing to provide consumers a value-added ecosystem that supports their health and wellness while reducing the cost of their insurance. GWGH also has a strategic investment in The Beneficient Company Group, L.P., a financial services company providing proprietary liquidity solutions to owners of alternative assets.

For more information about GWG Holdings, email [email protected] or visit www.gwgh.com.

We have not yet finalized our financial statement close process for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, nor have we finalized our assessment of the impact of the Purchase and Contribution Transaction. As a result, the financial information as of and for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 in this press release is preliminary and based upon information available to us as of the date of this press release. Furthermore, our preliminary results have been prepared by, and are the responsibility of, our management and have not been reviewed or audited or subject to any other procedures by our new independent registered public accounting firm. Accordingly, our independent registered public accounting firm does not express an opinion or any other form of assurance with respect to these preliminary results. In connection with the finalization process and the incorporation of the impact of the Purchase and Contribution Transaction, we may identify items that would require adjustments to its preliminary financial results announced above. Our financial results could be different, and those differences could be material. The preliminary financial information should not be viewed as a substitute for full financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this press release regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenue, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "would," "target" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements, including, but not limited to the risks that we may not be able to file our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the second quarter within the currently expected timeframe, risks that we may not regain compliance with NASDAQ continued listing requirements within the applicable grace period and risks associated with analysis and determination regarding the appropriate accounting treatment for the Purchase and Contribution Transaction, as well as the other risks set forth in our filings with the SEC. We may not actually achieve the expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements that we make. More information about potential factors that could affect our business and financial results is contained in our filings with the SEC. Additional information will also be set forth in our future quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, annual reports on Form 10-K and other filings that we make with the SEC. We do not intend, and undertake no duty, to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein.