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Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement or statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of an unanticipated event. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for management to predict all factors that may affect our business and prospects. Further, management cannot assess the impact of each factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Due to rounding, figures in tables may not sum exactly. All references to “options” or “options contracts” in the context of our futures products refer to options on futures contracts.
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Our Business
We are a leading global network of regulated exchanges and clearing houses for financial and commodity markets. We operate global marketplaces for trading and clearing a broad array of securities and derivatives contracts across major asset classes, including interest rates, equities, equity derivatives, credit derivatives, bonds, currency, and commodities. On November 13, 2013, we completed our acquisition of NYSE Euronext.
We operate 17 global regulated exchanges including: ICE futures exchanges in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Europe, NYSE Liffe futures exchanges in the United Kingdom and the United States, the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE MKT, the Euronext group of stock exchanges, two U.S. equity options exchanges, the Singapore Mercantile Exchange and over-the-counter, or OTC, markets for physical energy and credit default swaps, or CDS. We also operate six central counterparty clearing houses. We offer regulated markets for trading in equity and equity derivatives, futures and OTC markets together with clearing houses, post-trade processing and market data services. Through our widely-distributed electronic platforms, we bring together buyers and sellers by offering a range of services to support market participants’ trading and risk management activities.
Our business is conducted as a single reportable business segment, and substantially all of our identifiable assets are located in the United States, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Singapore and Canada. See note 16 to the consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a summary of our revenues, net assets and net property and equipment by geographic region.
Derivatives Exchanges
Our derivatives markets provide participants with a means for trading and managing risks associated with price volatility, securing physical delivery of certain contracts, as well as enabling investment, asset allocation and diversification. The majority of our commodity contract volume is either financially or cash settled, meaning that settlement is made through cash payments based upon the difference between the contract price and the value of the underlying commodity at contract expiry rather than through physical delivery of the commodity itself. Our futures contract volume is cleared through one of our central counterparty clearing houses. Our global customer base includes financial institutions, corporations, manufacturers, utilities, commodity producers and refiners, institutional and individual investors and governmental bodies. Our equity derivatives exchanges operate markets for exchange traded options based on underlying equities, equity indexes and exchange traded products.
We conduct our derivatives business through the following regulated exchanges: