Ellington Financial (EFC) Form 4 Ellington Financial / Chris Smernoff ownership change

SEC Form 4

FORM 4

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person^*

Smernoff Chris

(Last) (First) (Middle)

53 FOREST AVENUE

(Street)

OLD GREENWICH CT 06870

(City) (State) (Zip)

2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
Ellington Financial LLC [ EFC ]

5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)

	Director	10% Owner
X	Officer (give title below)	Other (specify below)
Chief Accounting Officer

3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
12/11/2018

4. If Amendment, Date of Original Filed (Month/Day/Year)

6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing (Check Applicable Line)

X	Form filed by One Reporting Person
	Form filed by More than One Reporting Person

Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1. Title of Security (Instr. 3)	2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	3. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed Of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)			5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 3 and 4)	6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
			Code	V	Amount	(A) or (D)	Price

Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 3)	2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year)	3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year)	4. Transaction Code (Instr. 8)		5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D) (Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		7. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 3 and 4)		8. Price of Derivative Security (Instr. 5)	9. Number of derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s) (Instr. 4)	10. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 4)	11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 4)
				Code	V	(A)	(D)	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares
OP LTIP Units(1)	(2)	12/11/2018		A		6,782		(2)	(2)	Common Units	6,782	(2)	6,782	D
LTIP Units(3)	(4)							(4)	(4)	Common shares rep. limited liabiilty company interests	12,881		12,881	D

Explanation of Responses:

1. Represents a separate non-voting class of limited liability company interests, which are structured as profits interests ("OP LTIP Units") of Ellington Financial Operating Partnership LLC (the "Operating Partnership"), the operating partnership of Ellington Financial LLC (the "Company").

2. 3,391 of the OP LTIP Units will vest one year from the date of grant and the remaining 3,391 of the OP LTIP units will vest two years from the date of grant. The OP LTIP Units may be converted, upon lapse of the vesting restrictions described above, at the election of the holder, or at any time at the election of the Company, into limited liability company interests of the Operating Partnership designated as common units ("Common Units") on a one-for-one basis. Subject to certain conditions, the Common Units are redeemable by the holder for an equivalent number of common shares representing limited liability company interests of the Company ("Common Shares") or for the cash value of such Common Shares, at the Company's election. The OP LTIP Units were issued pursuant to, and are subject to the terms and conditions of, the Company's 2017 Equity Incentive Plan (the "2017 Plan").

3. Represents a separate non-voting class of limited liability company interests (the "EFC LTIP Units") of the Company, which are structured as profits interests.

4. All of the EFC LTIP Units have vested. The EFC LTIP Units may be converted at the election of the holder into Common Shares on a one-for-one basis. The EFC LTIP Units were issued pursuant to, and are subject to the terms and conditions of, the Company's 2007 Incentive Plan for Individuals or the 2017 Plan, as applicable. The right to convert EFC LTIP Units into Common Shares does not have an expiration date.

Remarks:

Exhibit 24 - Power of Attorney

	/s/ Jason Frank, as attorney-in-fact for Christopher Smernoff	12/13/2018
	** Signature of Reporting Person	Date
Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.
* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4 (b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
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