Get Started for Free Contexxia identifies hard-to-find pieces of information in SEC filings. No more highlighters, no more redlining, no more poring over huge documents. Jefferies Group LLC (1084580) 10-K published on Jan 28, 2019 at 6:46 pm
Reporting Period: Nov 29, 2018
Jefferies Finance LLC (“Jefferies Finance”), our 50/50 joint venture with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, is a commercial finance company that structures, underwrites and syndicates primarily senior secured loans to corporate borrowers and manages proprietary and third-party investments in middle market and broadly syndicated loans. Since its inception in 2004, Jefferies Finance has served as lead arranger of over 950 transactions representing over $195 billion in arranged volume. Jefferies Finance conducts its operations primarily through two business lines, Leveraged Finance Arrangement and Portfolio and Asset Management. Its Leveraged Finance Arrangement business line participates in transactions typically ranging from $250 million to $1.5 billion for borrowers generating between $50 million and $300 million of annual Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Jefferies Finance typically syndicates to third party investors substantially all of its arranged volume. Its Portfolio and Asset Management business line manages a broad portfolio comprised of portions of loans it has arranged as well as loan positions that it has purchased in the primary and secondary markets. The Portfolio and Asset Management business is comprised of three registered Investment Advisers: Jefferies Finance, Apex Credit Partners LLC and JFIN Asset Management LLC. Jefferies Finance manages its investments in cash flow and traditional asset-based revolving credit. Apex Credit Partners LLC manages collateralized loan obligations which invest in predominately broadly syndicated loans. JFIN Asset Management LLC manages proprietary and third-party investments in middle market loans held in private funds and separately managed accounts.
Any cyber attack or other security breach of our technology systems, or those of our clients or other third-party vendors we rely on, could subject us to significant liability and harm our reputation.
Our operations rely heavily on the secure processing, storage and transmission of sensitive and confidential financial, personal and other information in our computer systems and networks. There have been several highly publicized cases involving financial services companies reporting the unauthorized disclosure of client or other confidential information in recent years, as well as cyber attacks involving theft, dissemination and destruction of corporate information or other assets, in some cases as a result of failure to follow procedures by employees or contractors or as a result of actions by third parties. Like other financial services firms, we have been the target of attempted cyber attacks. Cyber attacks can originate from a variety of sources, including third parties affiliated with foreign governments, organized crime or terrorist organizations. Third parties may also attempt to place individuals within our firm or induce employees, clients or other users of our systems to disclose sensitive information or provide access to our data, and these types of risks may be difficult to detect or prevent. Although cybersecurity incidents among financial services firms are on the rise, we are not aware of any material losses relating to cyber attacks or other information security breaches. However, the techniques used in these attacks are increasingly sophisticated, change frequently and are often not recognized until launched. Although we seek to maintain a robust suite of authentication and layered information security controls, these controls could fail to detect, mitigate or remediate these risks in a timely manner. Despite our implementation of protective measures and endeavoring to modify them as circumstances warrant, our computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to human error, natural disasters, power loss, spam attacks, unauthorized access, distributed denial of service attacks, computer viruses and other malicious code, and other events that could result in significant liability and damage to our reputation, and have an ongoing impact on the security and stability of our operations.
Notwithstanding the precautions we take, if a cyber attack or other information security breach were to occur, this could jeopardize the information we confidentially maintain, or otherwise cause interruptions in our operations or those of our clients and counterparties, exposing us to liability. As attempted attacks continue to evolve in scope and sophistication, we may be required to expend substantial additional resources to modify or enhance our protective measures, to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures or to communicate about cyber attacks to our customers. Though we have insurance against some cyber risks and attacks, we may be subject to litigation and financial losses that exceed our policy limits or are not covered under any of our current insurance policies. A technological breakdown could also interfere with our ability to comply with financial reporting and other regulatory requirements, exposing us to potential disciplinary action by regulators. Additionally, the SEC issued guidance in February 2018 stating that, as a public company, we are expected to have controls and procedures that relate to cybersecurity disclosure, and are required to disclose information relating to certain cyber attacks or other information security breaches in disclosures required to be made under the federal securities laws. Further, successful cyber attacks at other large financial institutions or other market participants, whether or not we are affected, could lead to a general loss of customer confidence in financial institutions that could negatively affect us, including harming the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures or the financial system in general, which could result in a loss of business.
In achieving our strategic business objectives, our risk appetite incorporates keeping our clients’ interests at the top of our priority list and ensuring we are in compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, as well as adhering to the highest ethical standards. We undertake prudent and conservative risk-taking that protects the capital base and franchise, utilizing risk limits and tolerances that avoid outsized risk-taking. We maintain a diversified business mix and avoid significant concentrations to any sector, product, geography, or activity and set quantitative concentration limits to manage this risk. We consider contagion, second order effects and correlation in our risk assessment process and actively seek out value opportunities of all sizes. We manage the risk of opportunities larger than our approved risk levels through risk sharing and risk distribution, sell-down and hedging as appropriate. We have a limited appetite for illiquid assets and complex derivative financial instruments. We maintain the asset quality of our balance sheet through conducting trading activity in liquid markets and generally ensure high turnover of our inventory. We subject less liquid positions and derivative financial instruments to oversight and use a wide variety of specific metrics, limits, and constraints to manage these risks. We protect our reputation and franchise, as well as our standing within the market. We operate a federated approach to risk management with risk oversight responsibilities assigned to those areas of the business that have the appropriate knowledge.
Revenue Recognition—In May 2014, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”), No. 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers which provides comprehensive guidance on the recognition of revenue earned from contracts with customers arising from the transfer of goods and services, guidance on accounting for certain contract costs and new disclosures. The new revenue standard, and the standards that amend it, are effective for non-public entities for fiscal years and interim periods within those fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, using either of the following transition methods: (i) a full retrospective approach reflecting the application of the standard in each prior reporting period with the option to elect certain practical expedients, or (ii) a retrospective approach with the cumulative effect of initially adopting ASU 2014-09 recognized at the date of adoption (which includes additional footnote disclosures). The Company will adopt ASC 606 using the full retrospective approach on November 30, 2019, will not have a material effect on fiscal year 2018 or 2017 revenue recognition and will have no cumulative effect on opening equity, as the timing and measurement of revenue recognition will be materially the same as under ASC 605. The Company will present additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures regarding identified revenue streams and performance obligations. While the adoption of this guidance will not have a material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of November 30, 2019, our disclosures will change to meet the requirements of this new guidance.