UNITED STATES

SECURITIES  AND  EXCHANGE  COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM  10-K

 

ANNUAL  REPORT  PURSUANT  TO  SECTION  13  OR  15(d)

OF  THE  SECURITIES  EXCHANGE  ACT  OF  1934

 

 

THE  CHARLES  SCHWAB  CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

211 Main Street, San Francisco, CA  94105

(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code:  (415) 667-7000

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ⌧   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐   No ⌧

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ⌧   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes ⌧   No ☐

 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ⌧

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐    No ⌧

 

As of June 30, 2015, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $38.0 billion. For purposes of this information, the outstanding shares of Common Stock owned by directors and executive officers of the registrant, and certain investment companies managed by Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. were deemed to be shares of the voting stock held by affiliates.

 

The number of shares of Common Stock outstanding as of January 29, 2016, was 1,320,522,900.

 

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

 

Part III of this Form 10-K incorporates certain information contained in the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders, to be held May 17,  2016, by reference to that document.

 

 

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Annual Report On Form 10-K

For Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2015

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

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PART I

 

 

 

General Corporate Overview 

 

The Charles Schwab Corporation (CSC) is a savings and loan holding company, headquartered in San Francisco, California. CSC was incorporated in 1986 and engages, through its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as the Company), in wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, money management, custody, and financial advisory services. At December 31, 2015, the Company had $2.51 trillion in client assets, 9.8 million active brokerage accounts,  1.5 million corporate retirement plan participants, and 1.0 million banking accounts.

 

Significant business subsidiaries of CSC include the following:  

 

The Company provides financial services to individuals and institutional clients through two segments – Investor Services and Advisor Services. The Investor Services segment provides retail brokerage and banking services, retirement plan services, and other corporate brokerage services. The Advisor Services segment provides custodial, trading, and support services as well as retirement business services. These services are further described in the segment discussion below. For financial information by segment for the three years ended December 31, 2015, see “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 24. Segment Information.”

 

As of December 31, 2015, the Company had full-time, part-time and temporary employees, and persons employed on a contract basis that represented the equivalent of about 15,300 full-time employees.

 

Business Acquisitions

 

In December 2012, the Company acquired ThomasPartners®, Inc., a growth and dividend income-focused asset management firm.

 

In September 2011, the Company acquired optionsXpress Holdings, Inc. (optionsXpress), an online brokerage firm primarily focused on equity options and futures. The optionsXpress® brokerage platform provides active investors and traders with trading tools, analytics and education to execute a variety of investment strategies. optionsXpress, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of optionsXpress, is a securities broker-dealer.

 

Business Strategy and Competitive Environment

 

Recognizing the benefits of having a clear strategy, management has developed a framework that consists of a purpose, vision, and values guided by the Company’s “Through Clients’ Eyes” strategy. The Company’s stated purpose is to champion every client’s goals with passion and integrity, believing the best long-term strategy is one that puts clients’ perspectives, needs, and desires at the forefront. The Company’s vision is to be the most trusted leader in investment services.

 

Because investing plays a fundamental role in building financial security, the Company strives to deliver a better investing experience for its clients – individual investors and the people and institutions who serve them – by disrupting longstanding industry practices on their behalf and providing superior service. The Company aims to offer a broad range of products and solutions to choose from, including relevant and actionable advice, with a focus on transparency and convenience. In addition, management works to leverage the Company’s scale and resources, as well as expense discipline, to help keep costs

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low and ensure that client solutions are both affordable and responsive to needs. Finally, the Company works to be a good steward of stockholder capital and aims to maximize the Company’s value and returns over time.

 

The Company’s competition in serving individual investors includes a wide range of brokerage, wealth management, and asset management firms, as well as banks and trust companies. In serving investors and competing for a growing percentage of the investable wealth in the United States (U.S.), the Company offers a multi-channel service delivery model, which includes online, mobile, telephone, and branch capabilities. Under this model, the Company can offer personalized service at competitive prices while giving clients the choice of where, when, and how they do business with the Company. Schwab’s branches and regional telephone service centers are staffed with trained and experienced financial consultants (FCs) focused on building and sustaining client relationships. The Company offers the ability to meet client investing needs through a single ongoing point of contact, even as those needs change over time. Management believes that the Company’s ability to provide those clients seeking help, guidance, or advice with an individually tailored solution – ranging from occasional consultations to an ongoing relationship with a Schwab FC or an independent investment advisor (IA) – is a competitive strength compared to the more fragmented or limited offerings of other firms.

 

The Company’s online, mobile, telephone and branch channels provide quick and efficient access to an extensive array of information, research, tools, trade execution, and administrative services, which clients can access according to their needs. For example, clients that trade more actively can use these channels to access highly competitive pricing, expert tools, and extensive service capabilities – including experienced, knowledgeable teams of trading specialists and integrated product offerings. Individuals investing for retirement through 401(k) plans can take advantage of the Company’s bundled offering of multiple investment choices, education, and third-party advice. Management also believes the Company is able to compete with the wide variety of financial services firms striving to attract individual client relationships by complementing these capabilities with the extensive array of investment, banking, and lending products and services described in the section below.

 

In the IA arena, the Company competes with institutional custodians, traditional and discount brokers, banks, investment advisory firms, and trust companies. Management believes that its Advisor Services segment can maintain its market leadership position primarily through the efforts of its sales and support teams, which are dedicated to helping IAs grow, compete, and succeed in serving their clients. In addition to focusing on superior service, Advisor Services competes by utilizing technology to provide IAs with a highly-developed, scalable platform for administering their clients’ assets easily and efficiently. Advisor Services sponsors a variety of national, regional, and local events designed to help IAs identify and implement better ways to grow and manage their practices efficiently.

 

An important aspect of the Company’s ability to compete is its ongoing focus on efficiency and productivity, as lower costs give the Company greater flexibility in its approach to pricing and investing for growth. Management believes that this flexibility remains important in light of the competitive environment, in which a number of competitors offer reduced online trading commission rates and low expense ratios on certain classes of mutual funds and exchange-traded funds. Additionally, the Company’s nationwide marketing effort is an important competitive tool because it reinforces the attributes of the Schwab® brand.

 

The Company’s earnings growth strategy is based upon the belief that developing trusted relationships with clients will lead to strong business performance. The Company has been and continues to be committed to offering its clients more value and a better investing experience which the Company believes will translate into more assets from both new and existing clients which ultimately drive revenue in terms of asset management and administration fees, net interest revenue and trading revenue.

 

Sources of Net Revenues

 

The Company’s major sources of net revenues are asset management and administration fees, net interest revenue, and trading revenue. The Company generates the majority of asset management and administration fees through its proprietary and third-party mutual fund and ETF offerings, as well as fee-based advisory solutions. A portion of asset management and administration fees comes from client cash balances placed in the Company’s money market mutual funds. Net interest revenue is the difference between interest generated on interest-earning assets and interest paid on funding sources, the majority of which is derived from client cash balances in deposit and brokerage accounts. The Company generates trading revenue through commissions earned for executing trades for clients and principal transaction revenue earned primarily from trading activity in client fixed income securities.

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Products and Services

 

The Company offers a broad range of products to address individuals’ varying investment and financial needs. Examples of these product offerings include the following:

 

The Company’s full array of investing services are made available through its two segments – Investor Services and Advisor Services. The Company’s major sources of revenues are generated by both of the Company’s reportable segments. Revenue is attributable to a reportable segment based on which segment has the primary responsibility for serving the client. The accounting policies of the Company’s reportable segments are the same as those described in “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.” For financial information related to the Company’s reportable segments, see “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Results of Operations – Segment Information” and “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements – 24. Segment Information.”

 

Investor Services

 

Through the Investor Services segment, the Company provides retail brokerage and banking services, retirement plan services, and other corporate brokerage services. The Company offers research, analysis tools, online portfolio planning tools, performance reports, market analysis, and educational material to all clients. Schwab’s FCs can provide wealth management and financial planning assistance to clients to help them reach their financial goals. Investors looking for more guidance have access to professional advice from Schwab’s portfolio consultants who can help develop an investment strategy and carry out investment and portfolio management decisions, as well as a range of fully delegated managed solutions that provide ongoing portfolio management.

 

Schwab strives to educate and assist clients in reaching their financial goals. Educational tools include workshops, interactive courses, and online information about investing, from which Schwab does not earn revenue. Additionally, Schwab provides various online research and analysis tools that are designed to help clients achieve better investment outcomes. As an example of such tools, Schwab Equity Ratings® is a quantitative model-based stock rating system that provides all clients with ratings on approximately 3,000 stocks, assigning each equity a single grade: A, B, C, D, or F. Schwab Equity Ratings International®, an international ranking methodology, covers approximately 4,000 stocks in 27 foreign equity markets.

 

Clients may need specific investment recommendations, either from time to time or on an ongoing basis. The Company provides clients seeking advice with personalized solutions. The Company’s approach to advice is based on long-term investment strategies and guidance on portfolio diversification and asset allocation. This approach is designed to be offered consistently across all of Schwab’s delivery channels.

 

Schwab Private Client™ features a personal advice relationship with a designated portfolio consultant, supported by a team of investment professionals who provide individualized service, a customized investment strategy developed in collaboration with the client, and ongoing guidance and execution.

 

For clients seeking a relationship in which investment decisions are fully delegated to a financial professional, the Company offers several alternatives. The Company provides investors access to professional investment management in a diversified account that is invested exclusively in either mutual funds or ETFs through the Schwab Managed Portfolios™ and Windhaven Investment Management, Inc. (Windhaven®), or equity securities through ThomasPartners® programs. The

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Company also refers investors who want to utilize a specific third-party money manager to direct a portion of their investment assets to the Schwab Managed Account program. In addition, clients who want the assistance of an independent professional in managing their financial affairs may be referred to IAs in the Schwab Advisor Network®. These IAs provide personalized portfolio management, financial planning, and wealth management solutions.

 

To meet the specific needs of clients who trade actively, Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. both offer integrated web- and software-based trading platforms, which incorporate intelligent order routing technology, real-time market data, options trading, premium stock or futures research, and multi-channel access, as well as sophisticated account and trade management features, risk management tools, decision support tools, and dedicated personal support.

 

For U.S. clients wishing to invest in foreign equities, the Company offers a suite of global investing capabilities, including online access to certain foreign equity markets with the ability to trade in their local currencies. In addition, the Company serves both foreign investors and non-English-speaking U.S. clients who wish to trade or invest in U.S. dollar-based securities. In the U.S., the Company serves Mandarin-, Cantonese-, Spanish-, and Vietnamese-speaking clients through a combination of its branch offices and Web-based and telephonic services.

 

The Investor Services segment also includes the Retirement Plan Services, Stock Plan Services, Compliance Solutions, Mutual Fund Clearing Services and Off-Platform Sales business units.

 

Retirement Plan Services offers a bundled 401(k) retirement plan product that provides plan sponsors a wide array of investment options, trustee or custodial services, and participant-level recordkeeping. Plan design features, which increase plan efficiency and achieve employer goals, are also offered, such as automatic enrollment, automatic fund mapping at conversion, and automatic contribution increases. The Company offers Schwab Index Advantage®, a unique 401(k) plan utilizing low cost index mutual funds and ETFs, combined with a managed investing service to help participants reach their retirement goals. Services also include support for Roth 401(k) accounts, profit sharing and defined benefit plans. The Company provides a robust suite of tools to plan sponsors to manage their plans, including plan-specific reports, studies and research, access to legislative updates and benchmarking reports that provide perspective on their plan’s features compared with overall industry and segment-specific plans. Participants in bundled plans serviced by the Company receive targeted education materials, have access to electronic tools and resources, may attend onsite and virtual seminars, and can receive third-party advice delivered by Schwab. This third-party advice service is delivered online, by phone, or in person, including recommendations based on the core investment fund choices in their retirement plan and specific recommended savings rates.

 

Stock Plan Services offers equity compensation plan sponsors full-service recordkeeping for stock plans, stock options, restricted stock, performance shares and stock appreciation rights. Specialized services for executive transactions and reporting, grant acceptance tracking, and other services are offered to employers to meet the needs of administering the reporting and compliance aspects of an equity compensation plan.

 

Compliance Solutions provides solutions for compliance departments of regulated companies and firms with special requirements to monitor employee personal trading, including trade surveillance technology.

 

Mutual Fund Clearing Services provides mutual fund clearing services and recordkeeping to banks, brokerage firms and trust companies.

 

Off-Platform Sales offers proprietary mutual funds, ETFs, and collective trust funds outside the Company.

 

Advisor Services

 

Through the Advisor Services segment, the Company provides custodial, trading, and support services as well as retirement business services.

 

To attract and serve IAs, the Company has a dedicated sales force and service teams assigned to meet their needs. IAs who custody client accounts at Schwab may use proprietary software that provides them with up-to-date client account information, as well as trading capabilities. The Advisor Services website is the core platform for IAs to conduct daily business activities online with Schwab, including viewing and managing client account information and accessing news and market information. The website provides account servicing capabilities for IAs, including account opening, money movement, transfer of assets, trading, checking status and communicating with the Schwab service team. The site provides multi-year archiving of statements, trade confirms, and tax reports, along with document search capabilities.

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To help IAs grow and manage their practices, the Company offers a variety of services, including business management and technology and operations consulting on a variety of topics critical to an IA’s success including strategic business planning, client segmentation, growth strategies, technological strategies and succession planning. The Advisor Services website provides interactive tools, educational content, and research reports to assist advisors thinking about establishing and managing their own independent practices.

 

The Company offers an array of services to help advisors establish their own independent practices through the Business Start-up Solutions package. These services include access to dedicated service teams and outsourcing of back-office operations, as well as third-party firms who provide assistance with real estate, errors and omissions insurance, and company benefits.

 

The Company offers a variety of educational materials, programs, and events to IAs seeking to expand their knowledge of industry issues and trends, as well as sharpen their individual expertise and practice management skills. The Company updates and shares market research on an ongoing basis, and it holds a series of events and conferences every year to discuss topics of interest to IAs, including business strategies and best practices. The Company sponsors the annual IMPACT® conference, which provides a national forum for the Company, IAs, and other industry participants to gather and share information and insights, as well as a multitude of smaller events across the country each year.

 

IAs and their clients have access to a broad range of the Company’s products and services, including individual securities, mutual funds, ETFs, managed accounts, and cash products.

 

The Advisor Services segment also includes the Retirement Business Services and Corporate Brokerage Retirement Services business units. Retirement Business Services provides trust, custody, and retirement business services to independent retirement plan advisors and independent recordkeepers. Plan assets are held at the Business Trust division of Schwab Bank. The Company and independent retirement plan providers work together to serve plan sponsors, combining the consulting and administrative expertise of the administrator with the Company’s investment, technology, trust, and custodial services. Retirement Business Services also offers the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account®, a self-directed brokerage offering for retirement plans.

 

Corporate Brokerage Retirement Services serves plan sponsors, advisors and independent recordkeepers seeking a brokerage-based account to hold retirement plan assets. Plans held at Schwab are either self-trusteed or trusteed by a separate, independent trustee. Corporate Brokerage Retirement Services also offers the Schwab Personal Choice Retirement Account®, and the Company Retirement Account, both of which are self-directed brokerage-based solutions designed to hold the assets of company-sponsored retirement plans.

 

Regulation

 

As a participant in the securities, banking and financial services industries, the Company is subject to extensive regulation under both federal and state laws by governmental agencies, supervisory authorities, and self-regulatory organizations (SROs). The Company is also subject to oversight by regulatory bodies in other countries in which the Company operates. These regulations affect the Company’s business operations and impose capital, client protection and market conduct requirements.

 

The financial services industry has been subject to enhanced levels of regulatory oversight in recent years, and the Company expects this trend to continue for the foreseeable future. As a result of the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in 2010 (Dodd-Frank), the adoption of implementing regulations by the federal regulatory agencies, and other recent regulatory reforms, the Company has experienced significant changes in the laws and regulations that apply to it, how it is regulated, and regulatory expectations in the areas of compliance, risk management, corporate governance, operations, capital and liquidity.

 

Holding Company and Bank Regulation

 

CSC is a savings and loan holding company and Schwab Bank, CSC’s depository institution subsidiary, is a federal savings bank. CSC is regulated, examined and supervised by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Federal Reserve), and Schwab Bank is regulated, examined and supervised by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC),

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the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). CSC and Schwab Bank are also subject to regulation and various requirements and restrictions under state and other federal laws.

 

This regulatory structure establishes a comprehensive framework designed to protect depositors and consumers, the safety and soundness of depository institutions and their holding companies, and the stability of the banking system as a whole. This framework affects the activities and investments of CSC, Schwab Bank and CSC’s non-bank subsidiaries and gives the regulatory authorities broad discretion in connection with their supervisory, examination and enforcement activities and policies.

 

Financial Regulatory Reform

 

As a result of the enactment of Dodd-Frank, the adoption by the federal banking agencies of implementing regulations and other regulatory reforms, the financial services industry is currently experiencing a period of unprecedented change in financial regulation. The changes that have been enacted under Dodd-Frank and other regulatory reforms that are significant for CSC and Schwab Bank are highlighted below.

 

Basel III Capital and Liquidity Framework

 

In July 2013, the U.S. Federal banking agencies finalized a rule to implement strengthened regulatory capital requirements for U.S. banking organizations consistent with Basel III (Final Regulatory Capital Rules). The Final Regulatory Capital Rules established Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) Capital as a new capital standard, increased minimum required risk-based capital ratios, narrowed the eligibility criteria for regulatory capital instruments, provided for new regulatory capital deductions and adjustments, and modified methods for calculating risk-weighted assets (the denominator of risk-based capital ratios). See “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity” and “Capital Management,” and “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 23. Regulatory Requirements” for the new capital ratio requirements.

 

The Final Regulatory Capital Rules provided for a one-time election which CSC and Schwab Bank made to exclude accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) from the calculation of CET1 Capital. The Final Regulatory Capital Rules also introduced a capital conservation buffer that limits a banking organization’s ability to make capital distributions and discretionary bonus payments to executive officers if a banking organization fails to maintain a capital conservation buffer of more than 2.5%, on a fully phased-in basis, in excess of all of its minimum risk-based capital ratio requirements.

 

The Final Regulatory Capital Rules provide for a “standardized approach” framework for the calculation of a banking organization’s regulatory capital and risk-weighted assets. Depository institutions and their holding companies with consolidated total assets of $250 billion or more, or total on-balance-sheet foreign exposures of $10 billion or more, are also required to calculate their regulatory capital requirements using an “advanced approaches” framework to determine their risk-weighted assets. Such companies must also maintain a minimum supplementary leverage ratio of at least 3.0% and are subject to certain other enhanced provisions. CSC and Schwab Bank are currently only subject to the “standardized approach” framework.

 

The new capital requirements under the Final Regulatory Capital Rules became effective on January 1, 2015, for CSC, which had not previously been subject to any consolidated capital requirements, and Schwab Bank. The required minimum capital conservation buffer is being phased in incrementally; it started at .625% on January 1, 2016 and will increase to 1.25% on January 1, 2017, 1.875% on January 1, 2018 and 2.5% on January 1, 2019.

 

In September 2014, U.S. Federal banking agencies issued an inter-agency final rule that imposes a quantitative liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) requirement on large banking organizations. The purpose of the LCR is to require banking organizations to hold minimum amounts of high-quality liquid assets (HQLA) based on a percentage of their projected net cash outflows over a 30-day period. Banking organizations with $250 billion or more in total consolidated assets or foreign exposures of $10 billion or more must hold HQLA in an amount equal to at least 100% of their projected net cash outflows over a 30-day period. Other bank and savings and loan holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more, such as CSC, are subject to a modified LCR rule requiring them to hold HQLA in an amount equal to at least 70% of their projected net cash outflows over a 30-day period. The modified LCR rule went into effect on January 1, 2016, with holding companies subject to the rule required to hold at least 90% of the necessary amount of HQLA in 2016 and at least 100% starting on January 1, 2017.

 

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Capital Stress Testing

 

In October 2012, the OCC issued final rules implementing provisions of Dodd-Frank that require national banks and federal savings banks with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion to conduct annual company-run stress tests. Under the Dodd-Frank Act Stress Test (D-FAST) rules, Schwab Bank must conduct annual stress tests using certain scenarios and prescribed stress-testing methodologies, report the results to the OCC and the Federal Reserve and publish a summary of the results of its stress tests. In March 2015, Schwab Bank submitted its company-run stress test results to the OCC. In June 2015 Schwab Bank publicly disclosed a summary of its stress test results under the severely adverse scenario prescribed by the OCC based upon a nine-quarter timeframe beginning on October 1, 2014 and ending on December 31, 2016. In its summary, Schwab Bank reported that its 7.2% Tier 1 leverage ratio at the beginning of the forecast period declined to a low of 6.5% during the nine-quarter forecast horizon and was 7.0% at the end.

 

Under the final Federal Reserve D-FAST regulations, CSC will be required to conduct its first stress test using financial statement data as of December 31, 2016, report the results of that stress test to the Federal Reserve by April 5, 2017, and publicly disclose a summary of its stress test results between June 15 and June 30, 2017. CSC is not subject to the annual Comprehensive Capital Analysis and Review (CCAR) process, which requires certain financial institutions to submit annual capital plans to the Federal Reserve. However, CSC is taking steps to implement policies, procedures, systems and governance structures that are designed to be consistent with regulatory expectations for a firm of its size and complexity.

 

Insured Depository Institution Resolution Plans

 

In September 2011 and January 2012, the FDIC issued interim final and final rules requiring insured depository institutions with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more to submit to the FDIC periodic plans providing for their resolution by the FDIC in the event of failure (resolution plans or so-called “living wills”) under the receivership and liquidation provisions of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act. Under these rules, Schwab Bank is required to file with the FDIC an annual resolution plan demonstrating how the bank could be resolved in an orderly and timely manner in the event of receivership such that the FDIC would be able: to ensure that the bank’s depositors receive access to their deposits within one business day; to maximize the net present value of the bank’s assets when disposed of; and to minimize losses incurred by the bank’s creditors. Schwab Bank submitted its most recent resolution plan to the FDIC on December 31, 2015.

 

Consumer Financial Protection

 

In July 2011, pursuant to Dodd-Frank, the CFPB began operations and was given rulemaking authority for a wide range of federal consumer protection laws as well as broad powers to supervise compliance with and enforce those laws. As a federal savings bank with $10 billion or more in consolidated total assets, Schwab Bank is subject to examination, supervision and regulation by the CFPB. The CFPB has proposed and finalized many consumer protection rules since its creation and has authority to promulgate regulations, issue orders, draft policy statements, conduct examinations and bring enforcement actions. The creation of the CFPB has led to enhanced enforcement of consumer protection laws. Although the ultimate impact of this heightened scrutiny is uncertain, it could result in changes to pricing, practices, products and procedures.

 

Deposit Insurance Assessments

 

The FDIC’s Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF) provides insurance coverage for certain deposits, generally up to $250,000 per depositor per account ownership type, and is funded by quarterly assessments on insured depository institutions. In February 2011, the FDIC established a risk-based deposit premium assessment system that, for large insured depository institutions with at least $10 billion in total consolidated assets, such as Schwab Bank, uses a scorecard method based on a number of factors, including the institution’s regulatory ratings, asset quality and brokered deposits. The deposit insurance assessment base is calculated as average consolidated total assets minus average tangible equity.

 

The Dodd-Frank Act (i) raised the minimum reserve ratio for the DIF to 1.35% (from the former minimum of 1.15%) and (ii) required that the DIF’s reserve ratio reach 1.35% by September 30, 2020.

 

In October 2015, the FDIC issued a proposed rule that would impose a flat-rate surcharge on the quarterly assessments of insured depository institutions with total assets of $10 billion or more to pay for the increase. See “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Current Regulatory Environment and Other Developments.”

 

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Community Reinvestment Act

 

The Community Reinvestment Act of 1977 (CRA) requires Schwab Bank’s primary federal bank regulatory agency, the OCC, to assess the bank’s record in meeting the credit needs of the communities served by the bank, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods and persons. Institutions are assigned one of four ratings: “Outstanding,” “Satisfactory,” “Needs to Improve” or “Substantial Noncompliance.” This assessment is reviewed in connection with any acquisition, merger or branch office application.

 

Source of Strength

 

The Dodd-Frank Act codified the Federal Reserve’s long-held position that a depository institution holding company must serve as a source of financial strength for its subsidiary depository institutions, the so-called “source of strength doctrine.” In effect, the holding company may be compelled to commit resources to support the subsidiary in the event the subsidiary is in financial distress. It is anticipated that in 2016 the Federal Reserve will issue guidance as to how it will implement and apply the doctrine in situations where a holding company’s depository institution subsidiaries are in a troubled condition.

 

Broker-Dealer and Investment Advisor Regulation

 

CSC’s principal broker-dealers are Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. Schwab is registered as a broker-dealer with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. optionsXpress, Inc. is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC, the fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Schwab and CSIM are registered as investment advisors with the SEC. Additionally, Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. are regulated by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) with respect to the commodity futures and commodities trading activities they conduct as an introducing broker and futures commission merchant, respectively.

 

Much of the regulation of broker-dealers has been delegated to SROs. Schwab is a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB), NYSE Arca, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange. optionsXpress, Inc. is also a member of FINRA and the MSRB. In addition to the SEC, the primary regulators of Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. are FINRA and, for municipal securities, the MSRB. The National Futures Association (NFA) is Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc.’s primary regulator for futures and commodities trading activities.

 

The principal purpose of regulating broker-dealers and investment advisors is the protection of clients and the securities markets. The regulations cover all aspects of the securities business, including, among other things, sales and trading practices, publication of research, margin lending, uses and safekeeping of clients’ funds and securities, capital adequacy, recordkeeping and reporting, fee arrangements, disclosure to clients, fiduciary duties owed to advisory clients, and the conduct of directors, officers and employees.

 

Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. are both subject to Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Uniform Net Capital Rule) and related SRO requirements. The CFTC and NFA also impose net capital requirements. The Uniform Net Capital Rule specifies minimum capital requirements that are intended to ensure the general financial soundness and liquidity of broker-dealers. CSC itself is not a registered broker-dealer and it is not subject to the Uniform Net Capital Rule. However, if Schwab fails to maintain specified levels of net capital, such failure could constitute a default by CSC of certain debt covenants under its credit agreement.

 

The Uniform Net Capital Rule prohibits a broker-dealer subsidiary from paying cash dividends, or making unsecured advances or loans to its parent company or repaying subordinated loans to its parent company if such payment would result in a net capital amount of less than 5% of aggregate debit balances or less than 120% of its minimum dollar requirement of $250,000.

 

In addition to net capital requirements, as self-clearing broker-dealers, Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. are subject to cash deposit and collateral requirements with clearing houses, such as the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and Options Clearing Corporation, which may fluctuate significantly from time to time based upon the nature and size of clients’ trading activity and market volatility.

 

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Financial Service Regulation

 

Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 and USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

 

CSC and its subsidiaries that conduct financial services activities are subject to the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 (BSA), as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which requires financial institutions to develop and implement programs reasonably designed to achieve compliance with these regulations. The BSA and USA PATRIOT Act include a variety of monitoring, record-keeping and reporting requirements (such as currency transaction reporting and suspicious activity reporting), as well as identity verification and client due diligence requirements which are intended to detect, report and/or prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism. In addition, CSC and various subsidiaries of the Company are subject to U.S. sanctions programs administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control.

 

For additional information on Regulation, please see “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity” and “Capital Management,” and “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 23. Regulatory Requirements.”

 

Available Information

 

The Company files annual, quarterly, and current reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC. The Company’s SEC filings are available to the public over the Internet on the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. You may read and copy any document that the Company files with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Washington, DC 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at
1-800-SEC-0330.

 

On the Company’s website, http://www.aboutschwab.com, the Company posts the following filings after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC: the Company’s annual reports on Form 10-K, the Company’s quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, the Company’s current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

In addition, the Company’s website also includes the Dodd-Frank stress test results for Schwab Bank and the Company’s regulatory capital disclosures based on Basel III.

 

All such filings are available free of charge either on the Company’s website or by request via email (investor.relations@schwab.com), telephone (415-667-1959), or mail (Charles Schwab Investor Relations at 211 Main Street, San Francisco, CA 94105).

 

 

 

The Company faces a variety of risks that may affect its operations or financial results, and many of those risks are driven by factors that the Company cannot control or predict. The following discussion addresses those risks that management believes are the most significant, although there may be other risks that could arise, or may prove to be more significant than expected, that may affect the Company’s operations or financial results.

 

For a discussion of the Company’s risk management, including operational risk, credit risk, market risk, liquidity risk, compliance risk, and legal risk, see “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Risk Management.”

 

Developments in the business, economic, and geopolitical environment could negatively impact the Company’s business.

 

The Company’s business can be adversely affected by the general environment – economic, corporate, securities market, regulatory, and geopolitical developments all play a role in client asset valuations, trading activity, interest rates and overall investor engagement, and are outside of the Company’s control. Deterioration in the housing and credit markets, reductions

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in short-term interest rates, and decreases in securities valuations negatively impact the Company’s results of operations and capital resources.

 

Extensive regulation of the Company’s businesses affects the Company’s activities and may subject it to significant penalties.

 

As a participant in the securities, banking and financial services industries, the Company is subject to extensive regulation under both federal and state laws by governmental agencies, supervisory authorities and SROs. Such regulation continues to grow more extensive and complex, the costs and uncertainty related to complying with such regulations continue to increase, and regulatory proceedings continue to become more frequent and sanctions more severe. The requirements imposed by the Company’s regulators are designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets, the safety and soundness of financial institutions and the protection of clients. These regulations affect the Company’s business operations and impose capital, client protection and market conduct requirements.

 

In addition to specific banking laws and regulations, the Company’s banking regulators have broad discretion in connection with their supervisory and enforcement activities and examination policies and could require CSC and/or Schwab Bank to hold more capital, increase liquidity or limit their ability to pay dividends or CSC’s ability to repurchase shares. The banking regulators could also limit the Company’s ability to grow, including adding assets, launching new products, and undertaking strategic investments, could limit Schwab Bank’s ability to accept deposits swept from the client brokerage accounts and could prevent the Company from pursuing its business strategy.

 

Despite the Company’s efforts to comply with applicable legal requirements, there are a number of risks, particularly in areas where applicable laws or regulations may be unclear or where regulators could revise their previous guidance. Any enforcement actions or other proceedings brought by the Company’s regulators against the Company or its affiliates, officers or employees could result in fines, penalties, cease and desist orders, enforcement actions, suspension or expulsion, or other disciplinary sanctions, including limitations on the Company’s business activities, any of which could harm the Company’s reputation and adversely affect the Company’s results of operations and financial condition.

 

While the Company maintains systems and procedures designed to ensure that it complies with applicable laws and regulations, violations could occur. In addition, some legal/regulatory frameworks provide for the imposition of fines or penalties for noncompliance even though the noncompliance was inadvertent or unintentional and even though systems and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations were in place at the time. There may be other negative consequences resulting from a finding of noncompliance, including restrictions on certain activities. Such a finding may also damage the Company’s reputation and its relationships with its regulators and could restrict the ability of institutional investment managers to invest in the Company’s securities.

 

Legislation or changes in rules and regulations could negatively affect the Company’s business and financial results.

 

New legislation, rules, regulations and guidance, or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing federal, state and SRO rules, regulations and guidance, including changes relating to mutual funds, broker-dealer fiduciary duties and regulatory treatment of deposit accounts may directly affect the operation and profitability of the Company or its specific business lines. The profitability of the Company could also be affected by rules and regulations that impact the business and financial communities generally, including changes to the laws governing taxation, electronic commerce, client privacy and security of client data. In addition, the rules and regulations could result in limitations on the lines of business the Company conducts, modifications to the Company’s business practices, increased capital requirements or additional costs.

 

Financial reforms and related regulations may affect the Company’s business activities, financial position and profitability.

 

There have been extensive changes to the laws regulating financial services firms as a result of the enactment of Dodd-Frank and the adoption by the federal banking agencies of regulations implementing Dodd-Frank and other reforms such as Basel III. Among the changes that are most likely to impact the Company’s business and financial results are: increased capital, liquidity and reporting requirements; increased deposit insurance assessments; the establishment of the CFPB, which has broad rulemaking, supervisory and enforcement authority over consumer financial products; the requirement for Schwab Bank (and CSC starting in 2017) to conduct annual capital adequacy stress tests; and discretion given to the SEC to adopt

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rules regarding standards of conduct for broker-dealers providing investment advice to retail clients. The Company has incurred and will continue to incur significant additional costs and expend a significant amount of time as it develops and integrates appropriate systems and procedures, and then monitors, supports and refines those systems and procedures.

 

While U.S. banking regulators have finalized many regulations to implement various provisions of Dodd-Frank and Basel III, implementation of the legislation is ongoing and significant rule-making and interpretations remain to be completed. For example, rules relating to a minimum net stable funding ratio, which will require financial institutions to have a stable funding structure over a one-year horizon, have not yet been proposed.

 

Future regulatory changes or revised guidance and interpretations may impact the profitability of the Company’s business activities, require changes to certain of its business practices, impose upon the Company more stringent capital, liquidity and leverage ratio requirements or otherwise adversely affect the Company’s ability to pursue its business strategies. These changes may also require the Company to invest significant management attention and resources to evaluate and make necessary changes to its compliance, risk management and operations functions.

 

Failure to meet capital adequacy and liquidity guidelines could affect the Company’s financial condition.

 

CSC, together with Schwab Bank and its broker-dealer subsidiaries, must meet certain capital and liquidity standards, subject to qualitative judgments by regulators about components, risk weightings and other factors. The Uniform Net Capital Rule limits Schwab’s ability to transfer capital to CSC and other affiliates. New regulatory capital, liquidity, and stress testing requirements may limit or otherwise restrict how the Company utilizes its capital, including paying dividends and stock repurchases, and may require the Company to increase its capital and/or liquidity or to limit its growth. Any requirement that the Company increase its regulatory capital, replace certain capital instruments which presently qualify as Tier 1 capital, or increase regulatory capital ratios or liquidity, could require the Company to liquidate assets, deleverage or otherwise change its business and/or investment plans, which may adversely affect its financial results. Issuing additional common stock would dilute the ownership of existing stockholders.

 

If the Company’s consolidated total assets equal or exceed $250 billion, the Company would become subject to the advanced approaches framework of the Basel III capital and liquidity requirements, including being subject to a supplementary leverage ratio, the inclusion of AOCI in regulatory capital, and the unmodified LCR and enhanced Basel III disclosures. In addition, federal banking agencies have broad discretion and could require CSC or Schwab Bank to hold higher levels of capital or increase liquidity above the applicable regulatory requirements.

 

In July 2013, the Federal Reserve and OCC issued Final Regulatory Capital Rules, which established more restrictive capital definitions, higher risk-weightings for certain asset classes, higher minimum capital ratios and capital buffers. Failure by either CSC or Schwab Bank to meet its minimum capital requirements could result in certain mandatory, and additional discretionary, actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a negative impact on the Company. In addition, failure by CSC or Schwab Bank to maintain a sufficient amount of capital to satisfy its capital conservation buffer requirements (as phased in) would result in restrictions on the Company’s ability to make capital distributions and discretionary cash bonus payments to executive officers. Further, in September 2014, the Federal Reserve issued a modified LCR that requires CSC to maintain a sufficient amount of HQLA in relation to total projected net cash outflows over a 30-day stress period.  

 

For a discussion of the Company’s Liquidity and Capital Management, see “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity” and “Capital Management,” and “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements – 23. Regulatory Requirements.”

 

Technology and operational failures or errors could subject the Company to losses, litigation, and regulatory actions.

 

The Company faces operational risk, which is the potential for loss due to inadequate or failed internal processes, systems, and firms or exchanges handling client orders, or from external events and relationships impacting the Company and/or any of its key business partners and vendors. This risk also includes the risk of human error, execution errors, errors in models such as those used for asset management, capital planning and management, risk management, stress testing and compliance, employee misconduct, unauthorized trading, external fraud, computer viruses, distributed denial of service attacks, terrorist attacks, natural disaster, power outage, capacity constraints, software flaws and similar events. For example, the Company and other financial institutions have been the target of various denial of service attacks that have, in certain circumstances,

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made websites, mobile applications and email unavailable for periods of time. It could take an extended period of time to restore full functionality to the Company’s technology or other operating systems in the event of an unforeseen event which could affect the Company’s ability to process and settle client transactions. Moreover, instances of fraud or other misconduct, might also negatively impact the Company’s reputation and client confidence in the Company, in addition to any direct losses that might result from such instances. Despite the Company’s efforts to identify areas of risk, oversee operational areas involving risk, and implement policies and procedures designed to manage these risks, there can be no assurance that the Company will not suffer unexpected losses, reputational damage or regulatory action due to technology or other operational failures or errors, including those of its vendors or other third parties.

 

While the Company devotes substantial attention and resources to the reliability, capacity and scalability of its systems, extraordinary trading volumes could cause the Company’s computer systems to operate at unacceptably slow speeds or even fail, affecting the Company’s ability to process client transactions and potentially resulting in some clients’ orders being executed at prices they did not anticipate. Disruptions in service and slower system response times could result in substantial losses and decreased client satisfaction. The Company is also dependent on the integrity and performance of securities exchanges, clearing houses and other intermediaries to which client orders are routed for execution and settlement. Systems failures and constraints and transaction errors at such intermediaries could result in delays and erroneous or unanticipated execution prices, cause substantial losses for the Company and for its clients, and subject the Company to claims from its clients for damages.

 

A significant decrease in the Company’s liquidity could negatively affect the Company’s business and financial management as well as reduce client confidence in the Company.

 

Maintaining adequate liquidity is crucial to the business operations of the Company, including margin lending, mortgage lending, and transaction settlement, among other liquidity needs. The Company meets its liquidity needs primarily through cash generated by client activity and operating earnings, as well as cash provided by external financing. Fluctuations in client cash or deposit balances, as well as changes in regulatory treatment of client deposits or market conditions, may affect the Company’s ability to meet its liquidity needs. A reduction in the Company’s liquidity position could reduce client confidence in the Company, which could result in the loss of client accounts, or could cause the Company to fail to satisfy its liquidity requirements. In addition, if the Company’s broker-dealer or depository institution subsidiaries fail to meet regulatory capital guidelines, regulators could limit the subsidiaries’ operations or their ability to upstream funds to CSC, which could reduce CSC’s liquidity and adversely affect its ability to repay debt and pay cash dividends. In addition, CSC may need to provide additional funding to such subsidiaries.

 

Factors which may adversely affect the Company’s liquidity position include fluctuations in cash held in banking or brokerage client accounts, a dramatic increase in the Company’s client lending activities (including margin, mortgage-related, and personal lending), unanticipated outflows of company cash, increased capital requirements, changes in regulatory guidance or interpretations, other regulatory changes, or a loss of market or client confidence in the Company. Schwab may also experience temporary liquidity demands due to timing differences between brokerage transaction settlements and the availability of segregated cash balances.

 

When cash generated by client activity and operating earnings is not sufficient for the Company’s liquidity needs, the Company must seek external financing. During periods of disruptions in the credit and capital markets, potential sources of external financing could be reduced, and borrowing costs could increase. Although CSC and Schwab maintain committed and uncommitted, unsecured bank credit lines and CSC has a commercial paper issuance program, as well as a universal shelf registration statement filed with the SEC which can be used to sell securities, financing may not be available on acceptable terms or at all due to market conditions or disruptions in the credit markets. In addition, a significant downgrade in the Company’s credit ratings could increase its borrowing costs and limit its access to the capital markets.

 

The Company may suffer significant losses from its credit exposures.

 

The Company’s businesses are subject to the risk that a client, counterparty or issuer will fail to perform its contractual obligations, or that the value of collateral held to secure obligations will prove to be inadequate. While the Company has policies and procedures designed to manage this risk, the policies and procedures may not be fully effective. The Company’s exposure mainly results from margin lending, clients’ options trading, securities lending, mortgage lending, pledged asset

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lending, its role as a counterparty in financial contracts and investing activities, and indirectly from the investing activities of certain of the proprietary funds the Company sponsors.

 

When clients purchase securities on margin, borrow on lines of credit collateralized by securities, or trade options or futures, the Company is subject to the risk that clients may default on their obligations when the value of the securities and cash in their accounts falls below the amount of clients’ indebtedness. Abrupt changes in securities valuations and the failure of clients to meet margin calls could result in substantial losses.

 

The Company has exposure to credit risk associated with its securities available for sale and securities held to maturity portfolios, which include U.S. agency and non-agency mortgage-backed securities, asset-backed securities, corporate debt securities, U.S. agency notes, certificates of deposit, and commercial paper among other investments. These instruments are also subject to price fluctuations as a result of changes in the financial market’s assessment of issuer credit quality, increases in the unemployment rate, delinquency and default rates, housing price declines, changes in prevailing interest rates and other economic factors. A failure to raise the U.S. debt limit and/or a downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit rating could decrease the value of the Company’s securities in both the available for sale and held to maturity portfolios.

 

Loss of value of securities available for sale and securities held to maturity can negatively affect earnings if management determines that such securities are other than temporarily impaired. The evaluation of whether other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) exists is a matter of judgment, which includes the assessment of several factors. If management determines that a security is other-than-temporarily impaired, the cost basis of the security may be adjusted and a corresponding loss may be recognized in current earnings. Deterioration in the performance of securities available for sale and securities held to maturity could result in the recognition of future impairment charges. See “Item 7 – Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Critical Accounting Estimates.”

 

The Company’s bank loans primarily consist of First Mortgages, HELOCs, and PALs. Increases in delinquency and default rates, housing and stock price declines, increases in the unemployment rate, and other economic factors can result in charges for loan loss reserves and write downs on such loans.

 

Heightened credit exposures to specific counterparties or instruments (concentration risk) can increase the Company’s risk of loss. Examples of the Company’s credit concentration risk include:

 

The Company may also be subject to concentration risk when lending to a particular counterparty, borrower or issuer.

 

The Company sponsors a number of proprietary money market mutual funds and other proprietary funds. Although the Company has no obligation to do so, the Company may decide for competitive or other reasons to provide credit, liquidity or other support to its funds in the event of significant declines in valuation of fund holdings or significant redemption activity that exceeds available liquidity. Such support could cause the Company to take significant charges, could reduce the Company’s liquidity and, in certain situations, could, with respect to proprietary funds other than money market mutual funds, result in the Company having to consolidate a supported fund in its financial statements. If the Company chose not to provide credit, liquidity or other support in such a situation, the Company could suffer reputational damage and its business could be adversely affected.

 

Significant interest rate changes could affect the Company’s profitability and financial condition.

 

The Company is exposed to interest rate risk primarily from changes in the interest rates on its interest-earning assets (such as cash equivalents, short- and long-term investments, and mortgage and margin loans) relative to changes in the costs of its funding sources (including bank deposits and cash in brokerage accounts, short-term borrowings, and long-term debt). Changes in interest rates can affect the interest earned on interest-earning assets differently than the interest the Company pays on its interest-bearing liabilities. In addition, certain funding sources do not bear interest and their cost therefore does not vary. Overall, the Company is positioned to benefit from a rising interest rate environment; the Company could be adversely affected by a decline in interest rates if the rates the Company earns on interest-earning assets decline more than

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the rates that the Company pays on its funding sources, or if prepayment rates increase on the mortgages and mortgage-backed securities the Company holds. The Company may also be limited in the amount it can reduce interest rates on funding sources, such as deposit accounts, and still offer a competitive return.

 

As a result of the low interest rate environment, the Company has been waiving and may continue to waive a portion of its management fees for certain Schwab-sponsored money market mutual funds. To the extent the overall yield on certain Schwab-sponsored money market mutual funds remains at or below the management fees on those funds, the Company may waive a portion of its fee in order to continue providing some return to clients. Such fee waivers negatively impact the Company’s asset management and administration fee revenues.

 

Security breaches of the Company’s systems, or those of its clients or third parties, may subject the Company to significant liability and damage the Company’s reputation.

 

The Company’s business involves the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential information about the Company and its clients. Information security risks for financial institutions are increasing, in part because of the use of the internet and mobile technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, activists, hackers and other external parties. The Company’s systems and those of other financial institutions have been and are likely to continue to be the target of cyber attacks, malicious code, computer viruses and denial of service attacks that could result in unauthorized access, misuse, loss or destruction of data (including confidential client information), account takeovers, unavailability of service or other events. Despite the Company’s efforts to ensure the integrity of its systems, the Company may not be able to anticipate or to implement effective preventive measures against all security breaches of these types, especially because the techniques used change frequently or are not recognized until launched, and because security attacks can originate from a wide variety of sources. Data security breaches may also result from non-technical means, for example, employee misconduct.

 

Security breaches, including breaches of the Company’s security measures or those of the Company’s third-party service providers or clients, could result in a violation of applicable privacy and other laws and could subject the Company to significant liability or loss that may not be covered by insurance, actions by the Company’s regulators, damage to the Company’s reputation, or a loss of confidence in the Company’s security measures which could harm the Company’s business. The Company may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify its protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures.

 

The Company also faces risk related to external fraud involving the compromise of clients’ personal electronic devices that can facilitate the unauthorized access to login and password information for their various online financial accounts, including those at the Company. Such risk has grown in recent years due to the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime and other external parties, including foreign state-sponsored parties. For example, these parties send fraudulent “phishing” emails to the Company’s clients in order to misappropriate user names, passwords or other personal information. Losses reimbursed to clients under the Company’s guarantee against unauthorized account activity could have a negative impact on the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations.

 

The Company is subject to litigation and regulatory investigations and proceedings and may not be successful in defending itself against claims or proceedings.

 

The financial services industry faces substantial litigation and regulatory risks. The Company is subject to claims and lawsuits in the ordinary course of business, including arbitrations, class actions and other litigation, some of which include claims for substantial or unspecified damages. The Company is also the subject of inquiries, investigations, and proceedings by regulatory and other governmental agencies.

 

Litigation and arbitration claims include those brought by the Company’s clients and the clients of third party advisors whose assets are custodied at the Company. Claims from clients of third party advisors may allege losses due to investment decisions made by the third party advisors or the advisors’ misconduct. Litigation claims also include claims from third parties alleging infringement of their intellectual property rights (e.g., patents). Such litigation can require the expenditure of significant Company resources. If the Company were found to have infringed on a third-party patent, or other intellectual property rights, it could incur substantial damages, and in some circumstances could be enjoined from using certain technology, or providing certain products or services.

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Actions brought against the Company may result in settlements, awards, injunctions, fines, penalties or other results adverse to the Company including reputational harm. Even if the Company is successful in defending against these actions, the defense of such matters may result in the Company incurring significant expenses. Predicting the outcome of matters is inherently difficult, particularly where claims are brought on behalf of various classes of claimants, claimants seek substantial or unspecified damages, or when investigations or legal proceedings are at an early stage. A substantial judgment, settlement, fine, or penalty could be material to the Company’s operating results or cash flows for a particular future period, depending on the Company’s results for that period. In market downturns, the volume of legal claims and amount of damages sought in litigation and regulatory proceedings against financial services companies have historically increased. See “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 15. Commitments and Contingencies.”

 

The Company relies on outsourced service providers to perform key functions.

 

The Company relies on external service providers to perform certain key technology, processing, servicing, and support functions. These service providers face technology, operating, business, and economic risks, and any significant failures by them, including the improper use or disclosure of the Company’s confidential client, employee, or company information, could cause the Company to incur losses and could harm the Company’s reputation. An interruption in or the cessation of service by any external service provider as a result of systems failures, capacity constraints, financial difficulties or for any other reason, and the Company’s inability to make alternative arrangements in a timely manner could disrupt the Company’s operations, impact the Company’s ability to offer certain products and services, and result in financial losses to the Company. Switching to an alternative service provider may require a transition period and result in less efficient operations.

 

Potential strategic transactions could have a negative impact on the Company’s financial position.

 

The Company evaluates potential strategic transactions, including business combinations, acquisitions, and dispositions. Any such transaction could have a material impact on the Company’s financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. The process of evaluating, negotiating, and effecting any such strategic transaction may divert management’s attention from other business concerns, and might cause the loss of key clients, employees, and business partners. Moreover, integrating businesses and systems may result in unforeseen expenditures as well as numerous risks and uncertainties, including the need to integrate operational, financial, and management information systems and management controls, integrate relationships with clients and business partners, and manage facilities and employees in different geographic areas. In addition, an acquisition may cause the Company to assume liabilities or become subject to litigation or regulatory proceedings. Further, the Company may not realize the anticipated benefits from an acquisition, and any future acquisition could be dilutive to the Company’s current stockholders’ percentage ownership or to earnings per common share.

 

The Company’s acquisitions and dispositions are typically subject to closing conditions, including regulatory approvals and the absence of material adverse changes in the business, operations or financial condition of the entity being acquired or sold. To the extent the Company enters into an agreement to buy or sell an entity, there can be no guarantee that the transaction will close when expected, or at all. If a material transaction does not close, the Company’s stock price could decline.

 

The Company’s industry is characterized by aggressive price competition.

 

The Company continually monitors its pricing in relation to competitors and periodically adjusts trade commission rates, interest rates on deposits and loans, fees for advisory services, and other fee structures to enhance its competitive position. Increased price competition from other financial services firms, such as reduced commissions to attract trading volume or higher deposit rates to attract client cash balances, could impact the Company’s results of operations and financial condition. To the extent that any of the Company’s competitors acquires or is acquired by another institution, that firm may be able to offer products and services at lower prices and/or promote those products and services more aggressively.

 

The Company faces competition in hiring and retaining qualified employees, especially for employees who are key to the Company’s ability to build and enhance client relationships.

 

The market for quality professionals and other personnel in the Company’s business is highly competitive. Competition is strong for FCs who build and sustain the Company’s client relationships and for certain risk and capital management talent.

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The Company’s ability to continue to compete effectively will depend upon its ability to attract new employees and retain existing employees while managing compensation costs.

 

The Company’s stock price has fluctuated historically, and may continue to fluctuate.

 

The Company’s stock price can be volatile. Among the factors that may affect the volatility of the Company’s stock price are the following:

 

Changes in the stock market generally, or as it concerns the Company’s industry, as well as geopolitical, corporate, regulatory, business, and economic factors may also affect the Company’s stock price.

 

Future sales of CSC’s equity securities may adversely affect the market price of CSC’s common stock and result in dilution.

 

CSC’s certificate of incorporation authorizes CSC’s Board of Directors to, among other things, issue additional shares of common or preferred stock or securities convertible or exchangeable into equity securities, without stockholder approval. CSC may issue additional equity or convertible securities to raise additional capital or for other purposes. The issuance of any additional equity or convertible securities could be substantially dilutive to holders of CSC’s common stock and may adversely affect the market price of CSC’s common stock.

 

 

 

None.

 

 

 

A summary of the Company’s significant locations is presented in the following table. Locations are leased or owned as noted below. The square footage amounts are presented net of space that has been subleased to third parties.

 

 

 

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Substantially all of the Company’s branch offices are located in leased premises. The corporate headquarters, data centers, offices, and service centers support both of the Company’s segments.

 

 

 

 

For a discussion of legal proceedings, see “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 15. Commitments and Contingencies.”

 

 

 

Not applicable.

 

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PART II

 

 

 

CSC’s common stock is listed on The New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol SCHW. The number of common stockholders of record as of January 29,  2016, was 6,609. The closing market price per share on that date was $25.53.  

 

The quarterly high and low sales prices for CSC’s common stock and the other information required to be furnished pursuant to this item are included in “Item 8 – Financial Statements and Supplementary Data – Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements – 20. Employee Incentive, Retirement, and Deferred Compensation Plans and 26. Quarterly Financial Information (Unaudited).”

 

The following graph shows a five-year comparison of cumulative total returns for CSC’s common stock, the Dow Jones U.S. Investment Services Index, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, each of which assumes an initial investment of $100 and reinvestment of dividends.

 

 

 

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Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

 

At December 31, 2015, approximately $596 million of future share repurchases are authorized under the Share Repurchase Program. There were no share repurchases during the fourth quarter. There were two authorizations under this program by CSC’s Board of Directors, each covering up to $500 million of common stock that were publicly announced by the Company on April 25, 2007, and March 13, 2008. The remaining authorizations do not have an expiration date.

 

The following table summarizes purchases made by or on behalf of CSC of its common stock for each calendar month in the fourth quarter of 2015:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

 

In addition to historical information, this Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements are identified by words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “may,” “estimate,” “appear,” “aim,” “target,” “could,” “would,” “continue,” and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections, or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

 

These forward-looking statements, which reflect management’s beliefs, objectives, and expectations as of the date hereof, are estimates based on the best judgment of the Company’s senior management. These statements relate to, among other things:

 

Achievement of the expressed beliefs, objectives and expectations described in these statements is subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expressed beliefs, objectives, and expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or, in the case of documents incorporated by reference, as of the date of those documents.

 

Important factors that may cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to:

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Certain of these factors, as well as general risk factors affecting the Company, are discussed in greater detail in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including “Item 1A – Risk Factors.”

 

 

 

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GLOSSARY OF TERMS

 

Active brokerage accounts: Brokerage accounts with balances or activity within the preceding eight months.

 

Asset-backed securities: Debt securities backed by financial assets such as loans or receivables.

 

Assets receiving ongoing advisory services: Client relationships under the guidance of independent advisors and assets enrolled in one of the Company’s retail or other advisory solutions.

 

Average client assets: The daily average client asset balance for the period.

 

Basel III: Global regulatory standards on bank capital adequacy and liquidity issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.

 

Basis point: One basis point equals 1/100th of 1%, or 0.01%.

 

Cash and investments segregated and on deposit for regulatory purposes: Client cash or qualified securities balances not used for margin lending are generally segregated and maintained for the exclusive benefit of clients, pursuant to Rule 15c3-3 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (commonly referred to as the Customer Protection Rule), by the Company’s broker-dealer subsidiaries.

 

Client assets: The market value of all client assets custodied at the Company, which includes both cash and securities.

 

Client cash as a percentage of client assets: Calculated as money market fund balances, bank deposits, Schwab One® balances, and certain cash equivalents as a percentage of client assets.

 

Clients’ daily average trades: Includes daily average revenue trades by clients, trades by clients in asset-based pricing relationships, and all commission-free trades, including the Company’s Mutual Fund OneSource® funds and exchange-traded funds, and other proprietary products.

 

Commitments to extend credit: Legally binding agreements to extend credit for unused HELOCs, pledged asset lines and other lines of credit.

 

Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) Capital: The sum of common stock and related surplus net of treasury stock, retained earnings, accumulated other comprehensive income and qualifying minority interests, less applicable regulatory adjustments and deductions.

 

Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) Risk-Based Capital Ratio: The ratio of CET1 Capital to total risk-weighted assets.

 

Concentration risk: The Company’s risk exposure resulting from holding large positions in financial instruments collateralized by assets with similar economic characteristics or in securities of a single issuer or particular industry or geographical area.

 

Core net new client assets: Net new client assets before significant one-time inflows or outflows, such as acquisitions/divestitures or extraordinary (generally, greater than $10 billion) mutual fund clearing transfers.

 

Credit risk: The potential for loss due to a borrower, counterparty, or issuer failing to perform its contractual obligations.

 

Daily average revenue trades: Total revenue trades during a certain period, divided by the number of trading days in that period. Revenue trades include all client trades that generate trading revenue (i.e., commission revenue or principal transaction revenue).

 

Debt to total capital ratio: Calculated as long-term debt divided by stockholders’ equity and long-term debt.

 

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Delinquency roll rates: The rates at which loans transition through delinquency stages, ultimately resulting in a loss. The Company considers a loan to be delinquent if it is 30 days or more past due.

 

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank): Regulatory reform legislation signed into federal law in 2010 containing numerous provisions aimed at promoting financial stability in the U.S. financial system through enhanced prudential regulation of large financial services companies.

 

Final Regulatory Capital Rules: Refers to the regulatory capital rules issued by U.S. banking agencies in July 2013 that implemented Basel III and relevant provisions of Dodd-Frank, which apply to savings and loan holding companies, as well as federal savings banks. Implementation began on January 1, 2015.

 

First Mortgages: Refers to first lien residential real estate mortgage loans, which include two loan classes: first mortgages and purchased first mortgages.

 

Full-time equivalent employees: Includes full-time, part-time and temporary employees, and persons employed on a contract basis, and excludes employees of outsourced service providers.

 

Interest rate risk: The risk to earnings or capital arising from changes in interest rates.

 

Interest-bearing liabilities: Includes bank deposits, payables to brokerage clients, and long-term debt on which the Company pays interest.

 

Interest-earning assets: Includes cash and cash equivalents, cash and investments segregated, broker-related receivables, receivables from brokerage clients, securities available for sale, securities held to maturity, and bank loans.

 

Investment grade: Defined as a rating equivalent to a Moody’s rating of “Baa” or higher, or a Standard & Poor’s or Fitch rating of “BBB-” or higher.

 

Liquidity risk: Risk that the Company will be unable to meet obligations when they come due without incurring unacceptable losses.

 

Loan-to-value ratio: Ratio shown as a percentage and calculated as the principal amount of a loan divided by the appraised value of the collateral securing the loan.

 

Margin loans: Loans made to brokerage clients on a secured basis to purchase securities reflected in receivables from brokerage clients on the Company’s balance sheet.

 

Market risk: The potential for changes in earnings or the value of financial instruments held by the Company as a result of fluctuations in interest rates, equity prices or market conditions.

 

Master netting arrangement: An agreement between two counterparties that have multiple contracts with each other that provides for net settlement of all contracts through a single cash payment in the event of default or termination of any one contract.

 

Mortgage-backed securities: A type of asset-backed security that is secured by a mortgage or group of mortgages.

 

Net interest margin: Net interest revenue divided by average interest-earning assets.

 

Net new client assets: Total inflows of client cash and securities to the Company less client outflows. Management believes that this metric depicts how well the Company’s products and services appeal to new and existing clients.

 

New brokerage accounts: All brokerage accounts opened during the period, as well as any accounts added via acquisition.

 

Nonperforming assets: The total of nonaccrual loans and other real estate owned.

 

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Operational risk: Potential for loss due to inadequate or failed internal processes, systems, and firms or exchanges handling client orders, or loss from external events and relationships impacting the Company and/or any of its key business partners and vendors.

 

Order flow revenue: Net compensation received from markets and firms to which Schwab and optionsXpress, Inc. send equity and options orders. Reflects rebates received for certain types of orders, minus fees paid for execution of orders for which exchange fees or other charges apply.

 

Pledged Asset Line®: A non-purpose revolving line of credit from Schwab Bank secured by eligible assets held in a separate pledged asset account maintained at Schwab.

 

Return on average common stockholders’ equity: Calculated as net income available to common stockholders divided by average common stockholders’ equity.

 

Return on average total assets: Calculated as net income divided by average total assets for the period.

 

Risk-weighted assets: Primarily computed by assigning specific risk-weightings as determined by the regulators to assets and off-balance sheet instruments for capital adequacy calculations.

 

Tier 1 Capital: The sum of CET1 Capital and additional Tier 1 Capital instruments and related surplus, less applicable adjustments and deductions.

 

Tier 1 Leverage Ratio: Tier 1 capital divided by adjusted average total consolidated assets at the end of the quarter.

 

Trading days: Days in which the markets/exchanges are open for the buying and selling of securities. Early market closures are counted as half-days.

 

U.S. federal banking agencies: Refers to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

 

Uniform Net Capital Rule: Refers to Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 which specifies minimum capital requirements that are intended to ensure the general financial soundness and liquidity of broker-dealers.

 

 

 

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OVERVIEW

 

Management of the Company focuses on several key client activity and financial metrics in evaluating the Company’s financial position and operating performance. Management believes that net revenue growth, pre-tax profit margin, earnings per common share (EPS), and return on average common stockholders’ equity provide broad indicators of the Company’s overall financial health, operating efficiency, and ability to generate acceptable returns. Expenses excluding interest as a percentage of average client assets are considered by management to be a measure of operating efficiency. Results for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014, and 2013 are:

 

 

 

The Company’s financial results are highly correlated to the general overall strength of economic conditions and, more specifically, to the direction of the U.S. equity and fixed income markets, the mortgage lending markets and residential credit trends. Overall market conditions, interest rates, economic, political and regulatory trends, and industry competition are among the factors that could affect results and which are unpredictable.  

 

Interest rates have a direct correlation to the Company’s ability to generate net interest revenue, as interest-earning assets and funding sources are sensitive to changes in the rate environment. To the extent short-term interest rates remain at current low levels, the Company’s net interest revenue will continue to be constrained, even as growth in average balances helps to

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increase such revenue. Net interest revenue is also impacted by the amount and mix of interest-earning assets and interest-bearing funding sources, as well as the Company’s ability to attract assets from new and existing clients.

 

The interest rate environment also affects asset management and administration fees through the fees earned on the Company’s lineup of proprietary money market funds.  In 2015, 2014 and 2013, the low interest rate environment caused the Company to waive a portion of its money fund fees. To the extent that short-term rates remain low, asset management and administration fees may continue to be negatively affected. Other drivers of asset management and administration fees include securities valuations and the Company’s ability to attract assets from new and existing clients.

 

The Company generates trading revenue through commissions earned for executing trades for clients and principal transaction revenue primarily from trading activity in client fixed income securities. Trading revenue is impacted by trading volumes, the volatility of prices in the equity and fixed income markets, and commission rates. Volatility in the markets can influence client behavior in terms of investment decisions and volume of trading activity.

 

2015 Compared to 2014

 

In 2015, the Company’s revenue and net income grew despite an environment that included significant equity market volatility and continued low interest rates. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index declined as much as 9% during the year and ultimately ended the year down 1% when compared to the prior year. The federal funds short-term target rate increased 25 basis points in December 2015, however, the increase had limited effect on 2015 results. The average 3-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) yield improved 8 basis points to .32% compared to 2014. Long-term interest rates decreased in 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. The average 10-year U.S. Treasury yield during 2015 was 2.13%, 40 basis points lower than the average yield during 2014.

 

Strong client momentum continued as the Company’s innovative, full-service model continued to resonate with clients and drive growth during the year. Core net new assets totaled $134.7 billion in 2015 compared to $124.8 billion in 2014. Total client assets ended 2015 at $2.51 trillion, up  2% from the year ended 2014, despite the $89.2 billion impact of reduced market valuation on client assets during the year.

 

The Company added 1.1 million new brokerage accounts to its client base during 2015, up 10% compared to 2014. Active brokerage accounts ended 2015 at 9.8 million, up 4% on a year-over-year basis. Faced with economic uncertainty and the resulting market volatility, investors increasingly turned to advice offerings throughout the year. Over 155,000 accounts enrolled in one of the Company’s retail advisory solutions during 2015, 60% more than the year-earlier period, and total accounts using these solutions reached 560,000, up 14% year-over-year.

 

During 2015, the Company’s net revenues increased 5% compared to 2014 primarily due to increases in net interest revenue and asset management and administration fees, partially offset by a decrease in trading revenue.  

 

Growth in expenses, excluding interest, was limited to a 4%  increase in 2015 primarily reflecting business growth related increases in compensation, benefits and other expenses.

 

The combined effect of market conditions, strong business growth, and the Company’s overall spending discipline resulted in a pre-tax profit margin of 35.7%  in 2015.  

 

2014 Compared to 2013

 

The Company operated in an environment of mixed market conditions during 2014 compared to 2013, as the Nasdaq Composite Index, Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, and Dow Jones Industrial Average showed periods of volatility before

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ending the year up 13%, 11%, and 8%, respectively. The federal funds target rate remained unchanged at a range of zero to .25% during 2014. The average 10-year U.S. Treasury yield increased by 20 basis points to 2.53% during 2014 compared to 2013, while the yield ended the year down 86 basis points to 2.17%. In the same period, the average three-month U.S. Treasury Bill yield decreased by 3 basis points to .02%.

 

The Company’s steady focus on serving investor needs through its full-service investing model continued to drive growth during 2014. Total client assets ended the year at $2.46 trillion, up 10% from 2013, reflecting net new client assets of $124.8 billion and a rising equity market environment. In addition, the Company added almost 1 million new brokerage accounts to its client base during 2014. Active brokerage accounts reached 9.4 million in 2014, up 3% from 2013.

 

As a result of the Company’s strong key client activity metrics, the Company achieved a pre-tax profit margin of 34.9% in 2014. Overall, net income increased by 23% in 2014 from 2013 and the return on average common stockholders’ equity was 12% in 2014.

 

Overall, net revenues increased by 11% in 2014 from 2013, primarily due to increases in net interest revenue, asset management and administration fees, and other revenue. 

 

Expenses excluding interest increased by 6% in 2014 from 2013 primarily due to an increase in compensation and benefits expense as a result of a charge of $68 million for estimated future severance benefits resulting from changes in the Company’s geographic footprint and an increase in professional services expense.

 

Current Regulatory Environment and Other Developments

 

In December 2015, the OCC issued proposed guidelines to establish standards for recovery planning by national banks and federal savings banks with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more. The proposed guidelines would require each bank to develop and maintain a recovery plan that sets forth the bank’s plan for how it will remain a going concern when it is experiencing considerable financial or operational stress. The comment period for the proposed guidelines ended on February 16, 2016 and the guidelines are subject to further modification. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the proposed guidelines.

 

In October 2015, the Federal Reserve issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would require certain financial institutions that are subject to the Federal Reserve’s capital rules to apply a regulatory capital deduction treatment to their investments in unsecured debt issued by U.S. bank holding companies identified as global systemically important banking organizations. The comment period for the rule proposal ended on February 19, 2016 and the rule proposal is subject to further modification. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of the proposed rule.

 

In October 2015, the FDIC issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would impose a surcharge on the quarterly assessments of insured depository institutions with total assets of $10 billion or more. The surcharge would equal an annual rate of 4.5 basis points applied to the institution’s assessment base, with certain adjustments. The FDIC expects the proposed surcharge to commence in the third quarter of 2016 and continue through the quarter that the reserve ratio of the DIF reaches 1.35%. Under the proposed rule, if by year-end 2018, the reserve ratio has not reached 1.35%, the FDIC would impose a shortfall assessment on the institutions subject to the surcharge. The comment period for the rule proposal ended on January 5, 2016 and the rule proposal is subject to further modification. The Company will continue to evaluate the impact of the proposed rule.

 

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In April 2015, the Department of Labor published notice of a rule proposal to significantly broaden the definition of “fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. If adopted, among other things, the new rule would subject broker-dealers who provide non-discretionary investment advice to retirement plans and accounts to a “best interest” standard, as well as other conditions and requirements. The second comment period for the rule proposal ended on September 24, 2015 and the rule proposal is subject to further modification. The Company will continue to evaluate the impact of the proposed rule.

 

 

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

 

Net Revenues