The volume of trading and clearing transactions and the demand for our products and services are directly affected by economic, political and market conditions in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere in the world that are beyond our control, including:
- economic, political and geopolitical market conditions;
- broad trends in business and finance;
- concerns over inflation levels and recessions;
- wavering institutional or retail confidence levels;
- government or central bank actions, such as, but not limited to, tariffs, changes in government fiscal and monetary policy, or foreign currency exchange rates;
- other legislative and regulatory changes;
- the availability of short-term and long-term funding and capital;
- the perceived attractiveness of the U.S., European, Canadian, Australian or Japanese capital markets;
- the availability or perceived attractiveness of indices, such as the S&P 500 index, or alternative investment opportunities;
- changes in the level of trading activity in underlying instruments;
- changes and volatility in the prices of securities;
- changes in the volume of foreign currency transactions;
- changes in supply and demand for currencies;
- movements in currency exchange rates;
- the level and volatility of interest rates;
- changes in the financial strength of market participants;
- consolidation among market participants and market data subscribers;
- unforeseen market closures, suspensions of open outcry trading or other disruptions in trading and clearing; and
- disruptions due to terrorism, war, extreme weather events, pandemics or other catastrophes.
Any of these factors, individually or collectively, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results by causing a substantial decline in the financial services markets and reducing trading and clearing volumes and demand for market data.