Fair Value of Financial Instruments

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

The following tables present our financial assets and financial liabilities that were measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019.


	December 31, 2020								December 31, 2019
	Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
	(in millions)								(in millions)
Assets at Fair Value
European government debt securities	$	156	$	156	$	—	$	—	$	157	$	157	$	—	$	—
Corporate debt securities	2		—		2		—		34		—		34		—
State owned enterprises and municipal securities	15		—		15		—		24		—		24		—
Swedish mortgage bonds	22		—		22		—		19		—		19		—
Time deposits	—		—		—		—		57		—		57		—
Total assets at fair value	$	195	$	156	$	39	$	—	$	291	$	157	$	134	$	—

Financial Instruments Not Measured at Fair Value on a Recurring Basis

Some of our financial instruments are not measured at fair value on a recurring basis but are recorded at amounts that approximate fair value due to their liquid or short-term nature. Such financial assets and financial liabilities include: cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash and cash equivalents, receivables, net, certain other current assets, accounts payable and accrued expenses, Section 31 fees payable to SEC, accrued personnel costs, commercial paper and certain other current liabilities.

Our investment in OCC is accounted for under the equity method of accounting. We have elected the measurement alternative for the majority of our equity securities, which primarily represent various strategic investments made through our corporate venture program. See “Equity Method Investments,” and “Equity Securities,” of Note 6, “Investments,” for further discussion.

We also consider our debt obligations to be financial instruments. As of December 31, 2020, the majority of our debt obligations were fixed-rate obligations. We were exposed to changes in interest rates as a result of borrowings under our 2017 Credit Facility and we are exposed to changes in interest rates under our 2020 Credit Facility, as the interest rates on these facility have a variable interest rate. We are also exposed to changes in interest rates as a result of the amounts outstanding from the sale of commercial paper under our commercial paper program. As of December 31, 2020, we had no outstanding borrowings under our 2020 Credit Facility or commercial paper program. The fair value of our debt obligations utilizing prevailing market rates for our fixed rate debt was $5.9 billion as of December 31, 2020 and the fair value of our debt obligations, utilizing discounted cash flow analyses for our floating rate debt and prevailing market rates for our fixed rate debt was $3.6 billion as of December 31, 2019. The discounted cash flow analyses are based on borrowing rates currently available to us for debt with similar terms and maturities. The fair value of our commercial paper as of December 31, 2019 approximated the

carrying value since the rates of interest on this short-term debt approximated market rates. Our commercial paper and our fixed rate and floating rate debt are categorized as Level 2 in the fair value hierarchy.

For further discussion of our debt obligations, see Note 9, “Debt Obligations.”

Non-Financial Assets Measured at Fair Value on a Non-Recurring Basis

Our non-financial assets, which include goodwill, intangible assets, and other long-lived assets, are not required to be carried at fair value on a recurring basis. Fair value measures of non-financial assets are primarily used in the impairment analysis of these assets. Any resulting asset impairment would require that the non-financial asset be recorded at its fair value. Nasdaq uses Level 3 inputs to measure the fair value of the above assets on a non-recurring basis. As of December 31, 2020 and December 31, 2019, there were no non-financial assets measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis.

- 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.

+ References + Details