Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

We are exposed to potential fluctuations in earnings, cash flows, and the fair value of certain of our assets and liabilities due to changes in interest rates and foreign exchange rates. To manage the risk from these exposures, we enter into a variety of derivative instruments. We do not enter into derivatives or financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes.

The following discussion describes our specific exposures and the strategies we use to manage these risks. Refer to Note 2 “Summary of Significant Accounting Principles and Practices” of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for a discussion of our accounting policies for financial instruments and derivatives.

Foreign Exchange Risk

We are subject to foreign exchange rate risk. Our primary exposures include exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the euro, the British pound, the Canadian dollar, the Australian dollar, and the Indian rupee. We use over-the-counter options and forward contracts to reduce the impact of foreign currency risk to our financial statements.

Additionally, some of our non-U.S. brokerage subsidiaries receive revenues in currencies that differ from their functional currencies. Our U.K. subsidiaries earn a portion of their revenue in U.S. dollars and euros, but most of their expenses are incurred in British pounds. At December 31, 2016, we have hedged approximately 45% of our U.K. subsidiaries’ expected exposures to both U.S. dollar and Euro transactions for the years ending December 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively. We generally do not hedge exposures beyond three years.

We also use forward contracts to economically hedge foreign exchange risk associated with monetary balance sheet exposures, such as inter-company notes and short-term assets and liabilities that are denominated in a non-functional currency and are subject to remeasurement.

The potential loss in future earnings from foreign exchange derivative instruments resulting from a hypothetical 10% adverse change in year-end exchange rates would be $32 million and $18 million at December 31, 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Interest Rate Risk

Our fiduciary investment income is affected by changes in international and domestic short-term interest rates. We monitor our net exposure to short-term interest rates, and as appropriate, hedge our exposure with various derivative financial instruments. This activity primarily relates to brokerage funds held on behalf of clients in the North America, continental Europe, and the Asia Pacific region. A hypothetical, instantaneous parallel decrease in the year-end yield curve of 100 basis points would cause a decrease, net of derivative positions, of $41 million to both 2017 and 2018 pretax income, respectively. A corresponding increase in the year-end yield curve of 100 basis points would cause an increase, net of derivative positions, of $41 million to both 2017 and 2018 pretax income, respectively.

We have long-term debt outstanding with a fair market value of $6.3 billion and $5.4 billion at December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. This fair value was greater than the carrying value by $0.4 billion at December 31, 2016, and $0.2 billion greater than the carrying value at December 31, 2015. A hypothetical 1% increase or decrease in interest rates would change the fair value by a decrease of 8% or an increase of 9%, respectively, at December 31, 2016.

We have selected hypothetical changes in foreign currency exchange rates, interest rates, and equity market prices to illustrate the possible impact of these changes; we are not predicting market events.