CME Group (CME) risk factors: FY2025 10-K

1. Our business is subject to the impact of global market, economic and political conditions that are beyond our control and that could significantly impact our business and make our financial results more volatile.
2. We operate in a heavily regulated environment that imposes significant costs and competitive burdens on our business, and our failure to maintain compliance with regulations, our status as a regulated entity, or BrokerTec Americas' status as a member in good standing at FICC, could result in the loss of customers, fines or other consequences to our regulated status.
3. Some of our clearing house's largest clearing firms have indicated their belief that clearing facilities should not be owned or controlled by exchanges and should be operated as utilities and not for profit. These clearing firms have sought, and may seek in the future, legislative or regulatory changes that would, if adopted, enable them to use alternative clearing services for positions established on our exchanges or to freely move open positions among clearing houses in order to take advantage of our liquidity. Even if they are not successful, these factors may cause them to limit the use of our markets.
4. We face intense competition from other companies. If we are not able to successfully compete, our business, financial condition and operating results will be materially harmed.
5. Our trading volume, and consequently our revenues and profits, would be adversely affected if we are unable to retain our current customers at substantially similar trading levels or attract new customers.
6. Our role in the global marketplace places us at greater risk than other public companies for a cyber attack and other cyber-security risks. Our technology, our customers, our people and our third-party service providers are vulnerable to cyber-security threats, which could result in wrongful use of our data or our customers’ data or cause interruptions in our operations, our customers' operations, or our third-party service providers' operations, which could cause us to lose customers and trading volume and result in substantial liabilities. We also could be required to incur significant expense to protect or remediate damage to our systems and/or investigate any alleged attack.Cybersecurity
7. As a financial services provider, we are subject to significant litigation risk and regulatory liability and penalties.
8. We may be at greater risk from terrorism, which poses physical security risks and cybersecurity risks, than other companies.Cybersecurity

Read these in Item 1A · See the changes

1. Damage to our reputation or brand could harm our business.
2. The success of our markets depends on our ability to complete development of, successfully implement and maintain electronic trading and clearing systems that have the functionality, performance, availability, resilience, capacity, security and speed required by our customers.reworded
3. Our business is subject to the impact of financial markets volatility, which is caused by conditions that are beyond our control.new
4. If we experience system failures or capacity constraints, our ability to conduct our operations and execute our business strategy could be materially harmed, and we could be subject to significant costs and liabilities.reworded
5. We, as well as many of our customers, depend on third-party service providers for a number of services that are important. An interruption or cessation of an important supply or service by any third party could have a material adverse effect on our business, including revenues derived from our customers' trading activity.reworded
6. Our business exposes us to substantial credit risk of our clearing firms and other counterparties and, consequently, a decrease in their financial resources could adversely affect us.
7. Our market data revenues may be reduced by decreased demand, poor overall economic conditions, regulatory changes or a significant change in how market participants trade and use market data.
8. We may have difficulty executing our growth strategy and maintaining our growth effectively.
9. We intend to continue to explore acquisitions, other investments and strategic alliances. We may not be successful in identifying opportunities or in integrating the acquired businesses. Any such transaction may not produce the results we anticipate, which could adversely affect our business and our stock price.
10. The expansion of our global operations is complex and subjects us to increased business and economic risks that could adversely affect our financial results.
11. Our risk management, compliance and monitoring programs might not be effective and may result in outcomes that could adversely affect our reputation, financial condition and operating results.
12. We could be harmed by misconduct or errors that are difficult to detect and deter.
13. Intellectual property rights licensed from third-party price reporting agencies form the basis for many of our products from which we derive a significant portion of our volume and revenue. Material changes in the intellectual property landscape or regulatory framework pertaining to such benchmarks could have a negative impact on our ability to offer such products.
14. A failure to protect our intellectual property rights, or allegations that we have infringed the intellectual property rights of others, could adversely affect our business.
15. Our use of artificial intelligence in our business may be unsuccessful and may give rise to various risks, which could adversely affect our business, reputation or operating results.newAI

Read these in Item 1A · See the changes

1. Our indebtedness could adversely affect our financial condition and operations and prevent us from fulfilling our debt service obligations. We might still be able to incur more debt, intensifying these risks.
2. Any reduction in our credit rating could increase the cost of our funding from the capital markets.
3. Our average rate per contract for our derivatives business is subject to fluctuation due to a number of factors. As a result, our average rate per contract in any particular period may not be a reliable indication of our future average rate per contract.
4. Nine of our board members own trading rights, or are officers or directors of firms that own trading rights, on our derivatives exchanges. As members, these individuals may have interests that differ from or conflict with those of shareholders who are not also members. Our dependence on the trading and clearing activities of our exchange members, combined with the CME members' rights to elect six directors, may enable them to exert influence over the operation of our business.
5. Our members have been granted special rights, which protect their trading privileges and require that we maintain open outcry for options products still meeting certain volume thresholds and, in the case of our Class B shareholders, provide them with special board representation.

Read these in Item 1A · See the changes