Legal Proceedings

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Legal Proceedings

Legal Proceedings

We are subject to legal proceedings, claims and investigations that arise in the ordinary course of our business. These include the matters described in Part I, Item 3 “Legal Proceedings” and Note 15 to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of our 2018 Form 10-K. We establish accruals for those matters in circumstances when a loss contingency is considered probable and the related amount is reasonably estimable. Any such accruals may be adjusted as circumstances change. Assessments of losses are inherently subjective and involve unpredictable factors. We do not believe that the resolution of

these legal matters, including the matters described below, will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations, or liquidity. It is possible, however, that future results of operations for any particular quarterly or annual period could be materially and adversely affected by any developments relating to the legal proceedings, claims and investigations.

LIBOR Litigation

On January 15, 2019 and January 31, 2019, two virtually identical purported class action complaints were filed by, respectively, Putnam Bank, a savings bank based in Putnam, Connecticut, and two municipal pension funds affiliated with the City of Livonia, Michigan in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against ICE and several of its subsidiaries, including ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (“IBA”) (the “ICE Defendants”), as well as 18 multinational banks and various of their respective subsidiaries and affiliates (the “Panel Bank Defendants”). On March 4, 2019, a virtually identical complaint was filed on behalf of four retirement and benefit funds affiliated with the Hawaii Sheet Metal Workers Union. IBA is the administrator for various regulated benchmarks, including the ICE LIBOR benchmark that is calculated daily based upon the submissions from a reference panel (which includes the Panel Bank Defendants). On July 1, 2019, the various plaintiffs referenced above filed a consolidated amended complaint against the ICE and Panel Bank Defendants.

The plaintiffs seek to litigate on behalf of a purported class of all U.S.-based persons or entities who transacted with a Panel Bank Defendant by receiving a payment on an interest rate indexed to a one-month or three-month USD LIBOR-benchmarked rate during the period February 1, 2014 to the present. The plaintiffs allege that the ICE and Panel Bank Defendants engaged in a conspiracy to set the LIBOR benchmark at artificially low levels, with an alleged purpose and effect of depressing payments by the Panel Bank Defendants to members of the purported class. 

As with the individual complaints, the consolidated amended complaint asserts a claim for violations of the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and seeks unspecified treble damages and other relief. The ICE and Panel Bank Defendants intend to file motions to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint, and under the current schedule such motions are due on August 30, 2019. ICE intends to vigorously defend the matter.

City of Providence Litigation

In the City of Providence litigation, the district court entered an order on May 28, 2019 denying the motions to dismiss filed by the defendant exchanges (which include New York Stock Exchange LLC and NYSE Arca, Inc., two of our subsidiaries). The exchanges filed a motion in the district court on June 17, 2019 asking the court to certify the matter for an immediate appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; on July 16, 2019 the court denied the motion. On July 25, 2019, the exchanges filed answers to the second amended complaint, denying the principal allegations of the plaintiffs, denying liability in the matter, and asserting various affirmative defenses. For further information on the City of Providence litigation, see our 2018 Form 10-K.