
Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (1381197) 10-K published on Feb 28, 2019 at 4:24 pm
John M. Damgard - Mr. Damgard has been a director since December 2018. He served as President of the Futures Industry Association (FIA) from 1982 to 2013 and was a founder, past president and a member of the board of the Institute for Financial Markets. Prior to joining FIA in 1982, Mr. Damgard directed the Washington office of ACLI International, a leading commodity merchant firm active in cash and futures markets worldwide. Mr. Damgard served as Deputy Assistant and Acting Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and was responsible for the major marketing and regulatory functions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). While at the USDA, Mr. Damgard led the Administrations efforts during the creation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, a new independent regulatory agency. Mr. Damgard studied at the University of Virginia for two years and received a B.A. from Knox College in 1964 with a major in Political Science and a minor in Economics.
On February 13, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued opinions in the appeals on four patents from the CBM Review determinations. The Federal Circuit vacated the CBM Review determinations of invalidity for these four patents, concluding that these patents were not eligible for CBM Review. At the Federal Circuits request, the parties filed letter briefs on February 22, 2019, stating how the Federal Circuit should proceed with the other pending appeals. On February 26, 2019, the District Court ordered that the stay be lifted with respect to the four patents that are the subject of the Federal Circuit decision and scheduled trial for February 2020.
Over an extended period in 2018, a small number of the Companys brokerage customers had taken relatively large positions in a security listed on a major U.S. exchange. The Company extended margin loans against the security at a conservatively high collateral requirement. In December 2018, within a very short timeframe, this security lost a substantial amount of its value. The customer accounts were well margined and at December 31, 2018 they had incurred losses but had not fallen into any deficits. Margin shortfalls were met in a timely manner by delivery of additional shares by the customers. Subsequent price declines in the stock have caused these accounts to fall into deficits, despite the Companys efforts to liquidate the customers positions. Through February 27, 2019, the Company has recognized an aggregate loss of approximately $47 million. The maximum aggregate loss, which would occur if the securities prices all fell to zero and none of the debts were collected, would be approximately $59 million. The Company is currently evaluating pursuing the collection of the debts.
ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842) is effective January 1, 2019 and will be implemented by applying a prospective approach with a cumulative-effect adjustment in the opening balance of retained earnings in the period of adoption as per ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842) – Targeted Improvements. ASU 2016-02 requires that a lessee recognize in the statement of financial condition a right-of-use asset and corresponding lease liability, including for those leases that the Company currently classifies as operating leases. The right-of-use asset and the lease liability will initially be measured using the present value of the remaining lease payments. The Companys implementation efforts include reviewing the terms of existing leases and service contracts, which may include embedded leases. Upon adoption, the Company expects to record right-of-use assets and lease liabilities on its statements of financial condition of approximately $136 million.
Over an extended period in 2018, a small number of the Companys brokerage customers had taken relatively large positions in a security listed on a major U.S. exchange. The Company extended margin loans against the security at a conservatively high collateral requirement. In December 2018, within a very short timeframe, this security lost a substantial amount of its value. The customer accounts were well margined and at December 31, 2018 they had incurred losses but had not fallen into any deficits. Margin shortfalls were met in a timely manner by delivery of additional shares by the customers. Subsequent price declines in the stock have caused these accounts to fall into deficits, despite the Companys efforts to liquidate the customers positions. Through February 27, 2019, the Company has recognized an aggregate loss of approximately $47 million. The maximum aggregate loss, which would occur if the securities prices all fell to zero and none of the debts were collected, would be approximately $59 million. The Company is currently evaluating pursuing the collection of the debts. The ultimate effect of this incident on the Companys results will depend upon market conditions and the outcome of the Companys debt collection efforts.