CPAY, §1A diff (2016 → 2017)

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS You should carefully consider the following risks applicable to us. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, operating results, financial condition and the trading price of our common stock could be materially adversely affected. The risks discussed below also include forward-looking statements, and our actual results may differ substantially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. See "Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" in this report. Risks related to our business A decline in retail fuel prices could adversely affect our revenue and operating results. Our fleet customers use our products and services primarily in connection with the purchase of fuel. Accordingly, our revenue is affected by fuel prices, which are subject to significant volatility. A decline in retail fuel prices could cause a decrease in our revenue from fees paid to us by merchants based on a percentage of each transaction purchase amount. We believe that in 2017, approximately 13% our consolidated revenue was directly influenced by the absolute price of fuel. Changes in the absolute price of fuel may also impact unpaid account balances and the late fees and charges based on these amounts. A decline in retail fuel prices could adversely affect our revenue and operating results. Fuel prices are dependent on several factors, all of which are beyond our control. These factors include, among others: • supply and demand for oil and gas, and market expectations regarding supply and demand; • actions by members of OPEC and other major oil-producing nations; • new oil production being developed in the U.S. and elsewhere; • political conditions in oil-producing and gas-producing nations, including insurgency, terrorism or war; • oil refinery capacity; • weather; • the prices of foreign exports; • speculative trading; • the implementation of fuel efficiency standards and the adoption by our fleet customers of vehicles with greater fuel efficiency or alternative fuel sources; • general worldwide economic conditions; and • governmental regulations, taxes and tariffs. A portion of our revenue is derived from fuel-price spreads. As a result, a contraction in fuel-price spreads could adversely affect our operating results. Approximately 10% of our consolidated revenue in 2017 was derived from transactions where our revenue is tied to fuel-price spreads. Fuel-price spreads equal the difference between the fuel price we charge to the fleet customer and the fuel price paid to the fuel merchant. In transactions where we derive revenue from fuel-price spreads, the fuel price paid to the fuel merchant is calculated as the merchant’s wholesale cost of fuel plus a commission. The merchant’s wholesale cost of fuel is dependent on several factors including, among others, the factors described above affecting fuel prices. The fuel price that we charge to our fleet customer is dependent on several factors including, among others, the fuel price paid to the fuel merchant, posted retail fuel prices and competitive fuel prices. We experience fuel-price spread contraction when the merchant’s wholesale cost of fuel increases at a faster rate than the fuel price we charge to our fleet customers, or the fuel price we charge to our fleet customers decreases at a faster rate than the merchant’s wholesale cost of fuel. Accordingly, when fuel-price spreads contract, we generate less revenue, which could adversely affect our operating results. If we fail to adequately assess and monitor credit risks of our customers, we could experience an increase in credit loss. We are subject to the credit risk of our customers which range in size from small sole proprietorships to large publicly traded companies. We use various methods to screen potential customers and establish appropriate credit limits, but these methods cannot eliminate all potential credit risks and may not always prevent us from approving customer applications that are not credit-worthy or are fraudulently completed. Changes in our industry, customer demand, and, in relation to our fleet customers, movement in fuel prices may result in periodic increases to customer credit limits and spending and, as a result, could lead to increased credit losses. We may also fail to detect changes to the credit risk of customers over time. Further, during a declining economic environment, we experience increased customer defaults and preference claims by bankrupt customers. If we fail to adequately manage our credit risks, our bad debt expense could be significantly higher than historic levels and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Our bad debt expense was $44.9 million in 2017 and $35.9 million in 2016, or 7 bps in 2017 and 8 bps in 2016, respectively. We derive a significant portion of our revenue from program fees and charges paid by the users of our cards. Any decrease in our receipt of such fees and charges, or limitations on our fees and charges, could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our card programs include a variety of fees and charges associated with transactions, cards, reports, optional services and late payments. Revenues for late fees and finance charges represent 6% of our consolidated revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017. If the users of our cards decrease their transaction activity, or the extent to which they use optional services or pay invoices late, our revenue could be materially adversely affected. In addition, several market factors can affect the amount of our fees and charges, including the market for similar charges for competitive card products and the availability of alternative payment methods such as cash or house accounts. Furthermore, regulators and Congress have scrutinized the electronic payments industry’s pricing, charges and other practices related to its customers. Any legislative or regulatory restrictions on our ability to price our products and services could materially and adversely affect our revenue. Any decrease in our revenue derived from these fees and charges could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. We operate in a competitive business environment, and if we are unable to compete effectively, our business, operating results and financial condition would be adversely affected. The market for our products and services is highly competitive, and competition could intensify in the future. Our competitors vary in size and in the scope and breadth of the products and services they offer. In the fleet card business, our primary competitors in North America are small regional and large independent fleet card providers, major oil companies and petroleum marketers that issue their own fleet cards, and major financial services companies that provide card services to major oil companies and petroleum marketers. In the commercial payments business, we face a variety of competitors, some of which have greater financial resources, name recognition and scope and breadth of products and services. Competitors in the hotel card business include travel agencies, online lodging discounters, internal corporate procurement and travel resources, and independent services companies. We also compete for customers with providers of alternative payment mechanisms, such as merchants offering house cash accounts or other forms of credit. Our primary competitors in Europe, Australia and New Zealand are independent fleet card providers, major oil companies and petroleum marketers that issue branded fleet cards, and providers of card outsourcing services to major oil companies and petroleum marketers. Our primary competitors in Latin America are independent providers of fleet cards and vouchers for food, fuel, tolls, and transportation and major oil companies and providers of card outsourcing services to major oil companies and petroleum marketers who offer commercial fleet cards. The most significant competitive factors in our business are the breadth of product and service features, network acceptance size, customer service, account management, and price. We may experience competitive disadvantages with respect to any of these factors from time to time as potential customers prioritize or value these competitive factors differently. As a result, a specific offering of our products and service features, networks and pricing may serve as a competitive advantage with respect to one customer and a disadvantage for another based on the customers’ preferences. Some of our existing and potential competitors have longer operating histories, greater brand name recognition, larger customer bases, more extensive customer relationships or greater financial and technical resources than we do. In addition, our larger competitors may also have greater resources than we do to devote to the promotion and sale of their products and services and to pursue acquisitions. Many of our competitors provide additional and unrelated products and services to customers, such as treasury management, commercial lending and credit card processing. By providing these services that we do not provide, these competitors have an advantage of being able to bundle their products and services together and present them to existing customers with whom they have established relationships, sometimes at a discount. For example, in the commercial payments business, we compete with full service banks that are able to offer treasury management and commercial lending in addition to commercial payment solutions. If price competition continues to intensify, we may have to increase the incentives that we offer to our customers, decrease the prices of our products and services or lose customers, each of which could adversely affect our operating results. In the fleet card business, major oil companies and petroleum marketers and large financial institutions may choose to integrate fuel-card services as a complement to their existing card products and services, as well as offer add-on complementary services. As a result, they may be able to adapt more quickly to new or emerging technologies and changing opportunities, standards or customer requirements. To the extent that our competitors are regarded as leaders in specific categories, they may have an advantage over us as we attempt to further penetrate these categories. Future mergers or consolidations among competitors, or acquisitions of our competitors by large companies may present competitive challenges to our business. Resulting combined entities could be at a competitive advantage if their fuel-card products and services are effectively integrated and bundled into sales packages with their widely utilized non-fuel-card-related products and services. Further, competitors may reduce the fees for their services, which could increase pricing pressure within our markets. Overall, increased competition in our markets could result in intensified pricing pressure, reduced profit margins, increased sales and marketing expenses and a failure to increase, or a loss of, market share. We may not be able to maintain or improve our competitive position against our current or future competitors, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Our fleet card business is dependent on several key strategic relationships, the loss of which could adversely affect our operating results. We intend to seek to expand our strategic relationships with major oil companies and to establish additional relationships with other petroleum marketers. We refer to the major oil companies and petroleum marketers with whom we have strategic relationships as our “partners.” We use this term in the business sense to refer to strategic business relationships formed through contracts such as Card Program Agreements, and not in the legal sense of operating under legal partnership arrangements created pursuant to laws such as the Uniform Partnership Act. During 2017, our top three strategic relationships with major oil companies accounted for less than 6% of our consolidated revenue. Our agreements with our major oil company partners typically have initial terms of five to ten years with current remaining terms ranging from about one to six years. The success of our business is in part dependent on our ability to maintain these strategic relationships and enter into additional strategic relationships with major oil companies. In our relationships with these major oil companies, our services are marketed under our partners’ brands. If these partners fail to maintain their brands or decrease the size of their branded networks, our ability to grow our business may be adversely affected. Also, our inability to maintain or further develop these relationships or add additional strategic relationships could materially and adversely affect our business and operating results. To enter into a new strategic relationship or renew an existing strategic relationship with a major oil company, we often must participate in a competitive bidding process, which may focus on a limited number of factors, including pricing. The bidding and negotiating processes generally occur over a protracted time period. The use of these processes may affect our ability to effectively compete for these relationships. Our competitors may be willing to bid for these contracts on pricing or other terms that we consider uneconomical in order to win business. The loss of our existing major oil company partners or the failure to contract or delays in contracting with additional partners could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In 2016, we received notice from an oil partner that they did not intend to renew our current contract when it expired at the end of 2017. Additionally, in 2017, we signed an agreement to extend the management of the commercial fuel card program for a strategic partner. We do not expect these contracts to have a material impact on our business and operating results. We depend, in part, on our merchant relationships to grow our business. To grow our customer base in the closed loop fleet card and lodging card businesses, we must retain and add relationships with merchants who are located in areas where our customers purchase fuel, maintenance services and lodging. If we are unable to maintain and expand these relationships, our closed loop fleet card and lodging card businesses may be adversely affected. With respect to the closed loop networks we utilize, a portion of our growth is derived from acquiring new merchant relationships to serve our customers, new and enhanced product and service offerings, and cross-selling our products and services through existing merchant relationships. We rely on the continuing growth of our merchant relationships and our distribution channels in order to expand our customer base. There can be no guarantee that this growth will continue. Similarly, our growth also will depend on our ability to retain and maintain existing merchant relationships that accept our proprietary closed-loop networks in areas where our customers purchase fuel and lodging. Our contractual agreements with fuel merchants and service garages typically have initial terms of one or two years and automatically renew on the same basis unless either party gives notice of termination. Our agreements with lodging providers typically have initial terms of one year and automatically renew on a month-to-month basis unless either party gives notice of termination. Furthermore, merchants with which we have relationships may experience bankruptcy, financial distress, or otherwise be forced to contract their operations. The loss of existing merchant relationships, failure to continue such relationships on similarly attractive economic terms, the contraction of our existing merchants’ operations or the inability to acquire new merchant relationships could adversely affect our ability to serve our customers and our business and operating results. We depend on our relationships with major truck stop merchants to serve our over-the-road fuel card customers. We must maintain these relationships to effectively serve our customers that use these merchants. If we are unable to maintain these relationships, our over-the-road fuel card businesses may be adversely affected. We have long standing relationships with major truck stop merchants to accept our over-the-road fuel cards. Over-the-road customers purchase a significant proportion of their fuel at major truck stop merchants. The loss of existing major truck stop merchant relationships or failure to continue such relationships on similar terms could adversely affect our ability to serve our over-the-road fuel card customers and our business and operating results. A decline in general economic conditions, and in particular, a decline in demand for fuel and other business related products and services would adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Our operating results are materially affected by conditions in the economy generally, both in the U.S and internationally. We generate revenue based in part on the volume of purchase transactions we process. Our transaction volume is correlated with general economic conditions, particularly in the U.S., Europe, Russia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand, and the amount of business activity in economies in which we operate. Downturns in these economies are generally characterized by reduced commercial activity and, consequently, reduced purchasing of fuel and other business related products and services by our customers. The commercial payments industry in general, and our commercial payment solutions business specifically, depends heavily upon the overall level of spending. Unfavorable changes in economic conditions, including declining consumer confidence, inflation, recession, political climate or other changes, may lead our corporate customers to reduce their spending, resulting in reduced demand for, or use of, our products and services. In addition, unfavorable changes in economic conditions, may lead our fleet card customers to demand less fuel, or lead our partners to reduce their use of our products and services. As a result, a sustained deterioration in general economic conditions in the U.S. or abroad could have a material adverse effect on our revenue and profitability. Further, economic conditions also may impact the ability of our customers or partners to pay for fuel or other services they have purchased and, as a result, our reserve for credit losses and write-offs of accounts receivable could increase. A weakening economy could also force some retailers and merchants to close, resulting in exposure to potential credit losses and transaction declines. In addition, demand for fuel and other business related products and services may be reduced by other factors that are beyond our control, such as the development and use of vehicles with greater fuel efficiency and alternative fuel sources. We are unable to predict the likely duration of current economic conditions in the U.S., Europe, Russia, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. As a result, weaknesses in general economic conditions or increases in interest rates in key countries in which we operate could adversely affect our business and operating results. We have expanded into new lines of business in the past and may do so in the future. If we are unable to successfully integrate these new businesses, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected. We have expanded our business to encompass new lines of business in the past. For example, we have entered into the corporate payments, stored value card, vehicle maintenance management and telematics business in the U.S. and Europe, and transaction processing, fuel, food, toll and transportation card and voucher businesses in Brazil and Mexico. We may continue to enter into new lines of business and offer new products and services in the future. There is no guarantee that we will be successful in integrating these new lines of business into our operations. If we are unable to do so, our operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected. If we fail to develop and implement new technology, products and services, adapt our products and services to changes in technology, the marketplace requirements, or if our ongoing efforts to upgrade our technology, products and services are not successful, we could lose customers and partners. The markets for our products and services are highly competitive and characterized by technological change, frequent introduction of new products and services and evolving industry standards. We must respond to the technological advances offered by our competitors and the requirements of our customers and partners, in order to maintain and improve upon our competitive position and fulfill contractual obligations. We may be unsuccessful in expanding our technological capabilities and developing, marketing or selling new products and services that meet these changing demands, which could jeopardize our competitive position. In addition, we engage in significant efforts to upgrade our products and services and the technology that supports these activities on a regular basis. The products we deliver are designed to process complex transactions and provide reports and other information on those transactions, all at high volumes and processing speeds. Any failure to deliver an effective and secure product or service or any performance issue that arises with a new product or service could result in significant processing or reporting errors or other losses. We may rely on third parties to develop or co-develop our solutions or to incorporate our solutions into broader platforms for the commercial payments industry. We may not be able to enter into such relationships on attractive terms, or at all, and these relationships may not be successful. In addition, partners, some of whom may be our competitors or potential competitors, may choose to develop competing solutions on their own or with third parties. Even if we are successful in developing new services and technologies, these new services and technologies may not achieve broad acceptance due to a variety of factors, including a lack of industry-wide standards, competing products and services, or resistance to these changes from our customers. In addition, we may not be able to derive revenue from these efforts. If we are unsuccessful in completing the migration of material technology, otherwise upgrading our products and services and supporting technology or completing or gaining market acceptance of new technology, products and services, it would have a material adverse effect on our ability to retain existing customers and attract new ones in the impacted business line. Our debt obligations, or our incurrence of additional debt obligations, could limit our flexibility in managing our business and could materially and adversely affect our financial performance. At December 31, 2017, we had approximately $4.47 billion of debt outstanding under our Credit Facility and Securitization Facility. In addition, we are permitted under our credit agreement to incur additional indebtedness, subject to specified limitations. Our substantial indebtedness currently outstanding, or as may be outstanding if we incur additional indebtedness, could have important consequences, including the following: • we may have difficulty satisfying our obligations under our debt facilities and, if we fail to satisfy these obligations, an event of default could result; • we may be required to dedicate a substantial portion of our cash flow from operations to required payments on our indebtedness, thereby reducing the availability of cash flow for acquisitions, working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate activities. See "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Contractual Obligations," which sets forth our payment obligations with respect to our existing long-term debt; • covenants relating to our debt may limit our ability to enter into certain contracts or to obtain additional financing for acquisitions, working capital, capital expenditures and other general corporate activities; • covenants relating to our debt may limit our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business and the industry in which we operate, including by restricting our ability to make strategic acquisitions; • we may be more vulnerable than our competitors to the impact of economic downturns and adverse developments in the industry in which we operate; • we are exposed to the risk of increased interest rates because certain of our borrowings are subject to variable rates of interest; • although we have no current intention to pay any dividends, we may be unable to pay dividends or make other distributions with respect to your investment; and • we may be placed at a competitive disadvantage against any less leveraged competitors. The occurrence of one or more of these potential consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, operating results, and ability to satisfy our obligations under our indebtedness. In addition, we and our subsidiaries may incur substantial additional indebtedness in the future. Although our credit agreements contain restrictions on the incurrence of additional indebtedness, these restrictions are subject to a number of significant qualifications and exceptions, and under certain circumstances, the amount of additional indebtedness that could be incurred in compliance with these restrictions could be substantial. If new debt is added to our existing debt levels, the related risks that we will face would increase. We meet a significant portion of our working capital needs through a securitization facility, which we must renew every three years. We meet a significant portion of our working capital needs through a securitization facility, pursuant to which we sell accounts receivable to a special-purpose entity that in turn sells undivided participation interests in the accounts receivable to certain purchasers, who finance their purchases through the issuance of short-term commercial paper. The securitization facility has a three year term. Although we have been able to renew our Securitization Facility annually in the past, there can be no assurance that we will continue to be able to renew this facility in the future on terms acceptable to us. For example, the market for commercial paper experienced significant volatility during the financial crisis that began in 2008. Also, a significant rise in fuel prices could cause our accounts receivable to increase beyond the capacity of the securitization facility. There can be no assurance that the size of the facility can be expanded to meet these increased working capital needs. Further, we may not be able to fund such increases in accounts receivable with our available cash resources. Our inability to meet working capital needs could adversely affect our financial condition and business, including our relationships with merchants, customers and partners. Further, we are exposed to the risk of increased interest rates because our borrowings under the Securitization Facility are subject to variable rates of interest. We renewed our Securitization Facility as of November 14, 2017, with an expiration date of November 14, 2020. We are subject to risks related to volatility in foreign currency exchange rates, and restrictions on our ability to utilize revenue generated in foreign currencies. As a result of our foreign operations, we are subject to risks related to changes in currency rates for revenue generated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. For the year ended December 31, 2017, approximately 37% of our revenue was denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar (primarily, British pound, Brazilian real, Canadian dollar, Russian ruble, Mexican peso, Czech koruna, Euro, Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar). Revenue and profit generated by international operations may increase or decrease compared to prior periods as a result of changes in foreign currency exchange rates. Resulting exchange gains and losses are included in our net income. Volatility in foreign currency exchange rates may materially adversely affect our operating results and financial condition. Furthermore, we are subject to exchange control regulations that restrict or prohibit the conversion of more than a specified amount of our foreign currencies into U.S. dollars, and, as we continue to expand, we may become subject to further exchange control regulations that limit our ability to freely utilize and transfer currency in and out of particular jurisdictions. These restrictions may make it more difficult to effectively utilize the cash generated by our operations and may adversely affect our financial condition. We expect to continue our expansion through acquisitions, which may divert our management’s attention and result in unexpected operating difficulties, increased costs and dilution to our stockholders. We also may never realize the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions. We have been an active business acquirer in the U.S. and internationally, and, as part of our growth strategy, we expect to seek to acquire businesses, commercial account portfolios, technologies, services and products in the future. We have substantially expanded our overall business, customer base, headcount and operations through acquisitions. The acquisition and integration of each business involves a number of risks and may result in unforeseen operating difficulties and expenditures in assimilating or integrating the businesses, technologies, products, personnel or operations of the acquired business. Furthermore, acquisitions may: • involve our entry into geographic or business markets in which we have little or no prior experience; • involve difficulties in retaining the customers of the acquired business; • involve difficulties and expense associated with regulatory requirements, competition controls or investigations; • result in a delay or reduction of sales for both us and the business we acquire; and • disrupt our ongoing business, divert our resources and require significant management attention that would otherwise be available for ongoing development of our current business. In addition, international acquisitions often involve additional or increased risks including, for example: • difficulty managing geographically separated organizations, systems and facilities; • difficulty integrating personnel with diverse business backgrounds, languages and organizational cultures; • difficulty and expense introducing our corporate policies or controls; • increased expense to comply with foreign regulatory requirements applicable to acquisitions; • difficulty entering new foreign markets due to, among other things, lack of customer acceptance and a lack of business knowledge of these new markets; and • political, social and economic instability. In addition, the integration process following an acquisition requires significant management attention and resources. Integration of acquisitions could result in the distraction of our management, the disruption of our ongoing business or inconsistencies on our services, standards, controls, procedures and policies, any of which could affect our ability to achieve the anticipated benefits of an acquisition or otherwise adversely affect our business and financial results. To complete future acquisitions, we may determine that it is necessary to use a substantial amount of our cash or engage in equity or debt financing. If we raise additional funds through further issuances of equity or convertible debt securities, our existing stockholders could suffer significant dilution, and any new equity securities we issue could have rights, preferences and privileges senior to those of holders of our common stock. Any debt financing obtained by us in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to our capital-raising activities and other financial and operational matters that make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital in the future and to pursue other business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. In addition, we may not be able to obtain additional financing on terms favorable to us, if at all, which could limit our ability to engage in acquisitions. Moreover, we can make no assurances that the anticipated benefits of any acquisition, such as operating improvements or anticipated cost savings, would be realized or that we would not be exposed to unexpected liabilities in connection with any acquisition. Further, an acquisition may negatively affect our operating results because it may require us to incur charges and substantial debt or other liabilities, may cause adverse tax consequences, substantial depreciation and amortization or deferred compensation charges, may require the amortization, write-down or impairment of amounts related to deferred compensation, goodwill and other intangible assets, may include substantial contingent consideration payments or other compensation that reduce our earnings during the quarter in which incurred, or may not generate sufficient financial return to offset acquisition costs. We conduct a significant portion of our business in foreign countries and we expect to expand our operations into additional foreign countries where we may be adversely affected by operational and political risks that are greater than in the U.S. We have foreign operations in, or provide services for commercial card accounts in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. We also expect to seek to expand our operations into various countries in Asia, Europe and Latin America as part of our growth strategy. Some of the countries where we operate, and other countries where we will seek to operate, such as Russia, Brazil and Mexico, have undergone significant political, economic and social change in recent years, and the risk of unforeseen changes in these countries may be greater than in the U.S. For example, Russia and Ukraine are experiencing significant unrest, which could escalate into broader armed conflict and additional economic sanctions by the U.S., United Nations or other countries against Russia. In addition, political discourse in the U.S. may impact business practices in Mexico and other jurisdictions. In addition, changes in laws or regulations, including with respect to payment service providers, taxation, information technology, data transmission and the Internet, revenues from non-U.S. operations or in the interpretation of existing laws or regulations, whether caused by a change in government or otherwise, could materially adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, conducting and expanding our international operations subjects us to other risks that we do not generally face in the U.S. These include: • difficulties in managing the staffing of our international operations, including hiring and retaining qualified employees; • difficulties and increased expense introducing corporate policies and controls in our international operations; • increased expense related to localization of our products and services, including language translation and the creation of localized agreements; • potentially adverse tax consequences, including the complexities of foreign value added tax systems, restrictions on the repatriation of earnings and changes in tax rates; • increased expense to comply with foreign laws and legal standards, including laws that regulate pricing and promotion activities and the import and export of information technology, which can be difficult to monitor and are often subject to change; • increased expense to comply with U.S. laws that apply to foreign operations, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the "FCPA") and OFAC regulations; • increased expense to comply with U.K. laws that apply to foreign operations, including the U.K. Bribery Act; • longer accounts receivable payment cycles and difficulties in collecting accounts receivable; • increased financial accounting and reporting burdens and complexities; • political, social and economic instability; • terrorist attacks and security concerns in general; and • reduced or varied protection for intellectual property rights and cultural norms in some geographies that are simply not respectful of intellectual property rights. In addition, in June 2016, voters in the United Kingdom approved an advisory referendum to withdraw from the European Union, commonly referred to as "Brexit." This referendum has created political and economic uncertainty, particularly in the United Kingdom and the European Union, and this uncertainty may persist for years. A withdrawal could significantly disrupt the free movement of goods, services, and people between the United Kingdom and the European Union, and result in increased legal and regulatory complexities, as well as potential higher costs of conducting business in Europe. The United Kingdom's vote to exit the European Union could also result in similar referendums or votes in other European countries in which we do business. The uncertainty surrounding the terms of the United Kingdom's withdrawal and its consequences could adversely impact consumer and investor confidence, and the level of consumer purchases of discretionary items and retail products, including our products. Any of these effects, among others, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition. The occurrence of one or more of these events could negatively affect our international operations and, consequently, our operating results. Further, operating in international markets requires significant management attention and financial resources. Due to the additional uncertainties and risks of doing business in foreign jurisdictions, international acquisitions tend to entail risks and require additional oversight and management attention that are typically not attendant to acquisitions made within the U.S. We cannot be certain that the investment and additional resources required to establish, acquire or integrate operations in other countries will produce desired levels of revenue or profitability. We are dependent on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of interconnected computer systems, telecommunications, data centers and call centers, including technology and network systems managed by multiple third parties, which could result in our inability to prevent disruptions in our services. Our ability to provide reliable service to customers, cardholders and other network participants depends upon uninterrupted operation of our data centers and call centers as well as third-party labor and services providers. Our business involves processing large numbers of transactions, the movement of large sums of money and the management of large amounts of data. We rely on the ability of our employees, contractors, suppliers, systems and processes to complete these transactions in a secure, uninterrupted and error-free manner. Our subsidiaries operate in various countries and country specific factors, such as power availability, telecommunications carrier redundancy, embargoes and regulation can adversely impact our information processing by or for our local subsidiaries. We engage backup facilities for each of our processing centers for key systems and data. However, there could be material delays in fully activating backup facilities depending on the nature of the breakdown, security breach or catastrophic event (such as fire, explosion, flood, pandemic, natural disaster, power loss, telecommunications failure or physical break-in). We have controls and documented measures to mitigate these risks but these mitigating controls might not reduce the duration, scope or severity of an outage in time to avoid adverse effects. We may experience software defects, system errors, computer viruses and development delays, which could damage customer relationships, decrease our profitability and expose us to liability. Our business depends heavily on the reliability of proprietary and third-party processing systems. A system outage could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations, including by damaging our reputation or exposing us to third-party liability. To successfully operate our business, we must be able to protect our processing and other systems from interruption, including from events that may be beyond our control. Events that could cause system interruptions include fire, natural disaster, unauthorized entry, power loss, telecommunications failure, computer viruses, terrorist acts and war. Although we have taken steps to protect against data loss and system failures, there is still risk that we may lose critical data or experience system failures. Our products and services are based on sophisticated software and computing systems that are constantly evolving. We often encounter delays and cost overruns in developing changes implemented to our systems. In addition, the underlying software may contain undetected errors, viruses or defects. Defects in our software products and errors or delays in our processing of electronic transactions could result in additional development costs, diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts, loss of credibility with current or potential customers, harm to our reputation or exposure to liability claims. In addition, we rely on technologies supplied to us by third parties that may also contain undetected errors, viruses or defects that could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Although we attempt to limit our potential liability for warranty claims through disclaimers in our software documentation and limitation of liability provisions in our licenses and other agreements with our customers, we cannot assure that these measures will be successful in limiting our liability. We may incur substantial losses due to fraudulent use of our payment cards or vouchers. Under certain circumstances, when we fund customer transactions, we may bear the risk of substantial losses due to fraudulent use of our payment cards or vouchers. We do not maintain insurance to protect us against such losses. We bear similar risk relating to fraudulent acts of employees or contractors, for which we maintain insurance. However, the conditions or limits of coverage may be insufficient to protect us against such losses. Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities involving financial products, such as skimming and counterfeiting payment cards and identity theft. A single significant incident of fraud, or increases in the overall level of fraud, involving our cards and other products and services, could result in reputational damage to us, which could reduce the use and acceptance of our cards and other products and services or lead to greater regulation that would increase our compliance costs. Fraudulent activity could also result in the imposition of regulatory sanctions, including significant monetary fines, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We may not be able to adequately protect our systems or the data we collect from continually evolving cybersecurity risks or other technological risks, which could subject us to liability and damage our reputation. We electronically receive, process, store and transmit data and sensitive information about our customers and merchants, including bank account information, social security numbers, expense data, and credit card, debit card and checking account numbers. We endeavor to keep this information confidential; however, our websites, networks, information systems, services and technologies may be targeted for sabotage, disruption or misappropriation. The uninterrupted operation of our information systems and our ability to maintain the confidentiality of the customer and consumer information that resides on our systems are critical to the successful operation of our business. Unauthorized access to our networks and computer systems could result in the theft or publication of confidential information or the deletion or modification of records or could otherwise cause interruptions in our service and operations. Although we are not aware of any material breach of our or our associated third parties’ computer systems or material losses relating to cyber-attacks or other information security breaches, we and others in our industry are regularly the subject of attempts by bad actors to gain unauthorized access to these computer systems and data or to obtain, change or destroy confidential data (including personal consumer information of individuals) through a variety of means, including computer viruses, malware and phishing. Because techniques used to sabotage or obtain unauthorized access to our systems and the data we collect change frequently and may not be recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Threats to our systems and our associated third parties’ systems can derive from human error, fraud or malice on the part of employees or third parties, or may result from accidental technological failure. Computer viruses can be distributed and could infiltrate our systems or those of our associated third parties. In addition, denial of service or other attacks could be launched against us for a variety of purposes, including to interfere with our services or create a diversion for other malicious activities. Although we believe we have sufficient controls in place to prevent disruption and misappropriation and to respond to such attacks, any inability to prevent security breaches could have a negative impact on our reputation, expose us to liability, decrease market acceptance of electronic transactions and cause our present and potential clients to choose another service provider. Any of these developments could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. We could also be subject to liability for claims relating to misuse of personal information, such as unauthorized marketing purposes and violation of data privacy laws. We cannot provide assurance that the contractual requirements related to security and privacy that we impose on our service providers who have access to customer and consumer data will be followed or will be adequate to prevent the unauthorized use or disclosure of data. In addition, we have agreed in certain agreements to take certain protective measures to ensure the confidentiality of customer data. The costs of systems and procedures associated with such protective measures may increase and could adversely affect our ability to compete effectively. Any failure to adequately enforce or provide these protective measures could result in liability, protracted and costly litigation, governmental and card network intervention and fines and, with respect to misuse of personal information of our customers, lost revenue and reputational harm. In addition, under payment network rules, regulatory requirements, and related obligations, we may be responsible for the acts or failures to act of certain third parties, such as third party service providers, vendors, partners and others, which we refer to collectively as associated participants. The failure of our associated participants to safeguard cardholder data and other information in accordance with such rules, requirements and obligations could result in significant fines and sanctions and could harm our reputation and deter existing and prospective customers from using our services. We cannot assure you that there are written agreements in place with every associated participant or that such written agreements will ensure the adequate safeguarding of such data or information or allow us to seek reimbursement from associated participants. Any such unauthorized use or disclosure of data or information also could result in litigation that could result in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. The market for our commercial payment, fleet and stored value card services is evolving and may not continue to develop or grow. A substantial portion of our revenue is based on the volume of payment card transactions by our customers. If businesses do not continue to use, or increase their use of, credit, debit or stored value cards as a payment mechanism for their transactions, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We believe that future growth in the use of credit, debit and stored value cards and other electronic payments will be driven by the cost, ease-of-use, and quality of services offered. In order for us to consistently increase and maintain profitability, businesses must continue to use and increase the use of electronic payment methods, including credit, debit and stored value cards. Moreover, if there is an adverse development in the payments industry in general, such as new legislation or regulation that makes it more difficult for customers to do business, or a well-publicized data security breach that undermines the confidence of the public in electronic payment systems, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our fleet card businesses rely on the acceptance and use of payment cards by businesses to purchase fuel for their vehicle fleets. If the use of fleet cards by businesses does not continue to grow, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. In order to consistently increase and maintain our profitability, businesses and partners must continue to adopt our services. Similarly, growth in the acceptance and use of fleet cards will be impacted by the acceptance and use of electronic payment transactions generally. Furthermore, new technologies may displace credit, debit and/or stored value cards as payment mechanisms for purchase transactions by businesses. A decline in the acceptance and use of credit, debit and/or stored value cards, and electronic payment transactions generally, by businesses and merchants could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. The market for our lodging cards, food vouchers and cards, transportation and toll road payments, telematics solutions and fleet maintenance management services is also evolving and those portions of our business are subject to similar risks. If we fail to retain any of our stored value gift card customers, it will be difficult to find a replacement customer on a timely basis or at all, which will reduce our revenue. Most of our stored value gift card customers in the U.S. are national retailers. During 2017, a majority of our gift card revenue was derived from the design and purchase of gift card inventory, with the remaining portion of our 2017 gift card revenue derived primarily from processing fees. If we fail to retain any of these customers, it will be difficult to find a replacement customer on a timely basis or at all because there is a limited number of national retailers in the U.S. and nearly all of those other national retailers already have a gift card solution in place, either in-house or with one of our competitors. As such, any loss of a stored value gift card customer would reduce our revenue. Adverse weather conditions across a geographic region can cause a decline in the number and amount of payment transactions we process, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. When travel is severely curtailed across a geographic region during adverse weather conditions, the number and amount of transactions we process can be significantly diminished, particularly in our fleet business, and revenue can materially decline. For example, during parts of January 2014, severe winter weather shut down a large portion of the eastern United States. Prolonged adverse weather events, especially those that impact regions in which we process a large number and amount of payment transactions, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our fuel card, workforce payment solutions and gift card businesses’ results are subject to seasonality, which could result in fluctuations in our quarterly net income. Our fuel card and workforce payment solutions businesses have experienced in the past, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations in revenues and profit, which are impacted during the first and fourth quarter each year by the weather, holidays in the U.S., Christmas being celebrated in Russia in January, and lower business levels in Brazil due to summer break and the Carnival celebration. Our gift card business has experienced in the past, and expects to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations in revenues as a result of consumer spending patterns. Historically gift card business revenues have been strongest in the third and fourth quarters and weakest in the first and second quarters, as the retail industry has its highest level of activity during and leading up to the Christmas holiday season. Our balance sheet includes significant amounts of goodwill and intangible assets. The impairment of a significant portion of these assets would negatively affect our financial results. Our balance sheet includes goodwill and intangible assets that represent approximately 66% of our total assets at December 31, 2017. These assets consist primarily of goodwill and identified intangible assets associated with our acquisitions. We also expect to engage in additional acquisitions, which may result in our recognition of additional goodwill and intangible assets. Under current accounting standards, we are required to amortize certain intangible assets over the useful life of the asset, while goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets are not amortized. On at least an annual basis, we assess whether there have been impairments in the carrying value of goodwill and indefinite lived intangible assets. If the carrying value of the asset is determined to be impaired, it is written down to fair value by a charge to operating earnings. An impairment of a significant portion of goodwill or intangible assets could materially negatively affect our operating results and financial condition. If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights and confidential information, our competitive position could be harmed and we could be required to incur significant expenses in order to enforce our rights. To protect our proprietary technology, we rely on copyright, trade secret, patent and other intellectual property laws and confidentiality agreements with employees and third parties, all of which offer only limited protection. Despite our precautions, it may be possible for third parties to obtain and use without our consent confidential information or infringe on our intellectual property rights, and our ability to police that misappropriation or infringement is uncertain, particularly in countries outside of the U.S. In addition, our confidentiality agreements with employees, vendors, customers and other third parties may not effectively prevent disclosure or use of proprietary technology or confidential information and may not provide an adequate remedy in the event of such unauthorized use or disclosure. Protecting against the unauthorized use of our intellectual property and confidential information is expensive, difficult and not always possible. Litigation may be necessary in the future to enforce or defend our intellectual property rights, to protect our confidential information, including trade secrets, or to determine the validity and scope of the proprietary rights of others. This litigation could be costly and divert management resources, either of which could harm our business, operating results and financial condition. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may not be able to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property and proprietary information. We cannot be certain that the steps we have taken will prevent the unauthorized use or the reverse engineering of our proprietary technology. Moreover, others may independently develop technologies that are competitive to ours or infringe our intellectual property. The enforcement of our intellectual property rights also depends on our legal actions against these infringers being successful, and we cannot be sure these actions will be successful, even when our rights have been infringed. Furthermore, effective patent, trademark, service mark, copyright and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which we may offer our products and services. Claims by others that we or our customers infringe their intellectual property rights could harm our business. Third parties have in the past, and could in the future claim that our technologies and processes underlying our products and services infringe their intellectual property. In addition, to the extent that we gain greater visibility, market exposure, and add new products and services, we may face a higher risk of being the target of intellectual property infringement claims asserted by third parties. We may, in the future, receive notices alleging that we have misappropriated or infringed a third party’s intellectual property rights. There may be third-party intellectual property rights, including patents and pending patent applications that cover significant aspects of our technologies, processes or business methods. Any claims of infringement or misappropriation by a third party, even those without merit, could cause us to incur substantial defense costs and could distract our management from our business, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to prevail against such claims. Some of our competitors may have the capability to dedicate substantially greater resources to enforcing their intellectual property rights and to defending claims that may be brought against them than we do. Furthermore, a party making such a claim, if successful, could secure a judgment that requires us to pay substantial damages, potentially including treble damages if we are found to have willfully infringed a patent. A judgment could also include an injunction or other court order that could prevent us from offering our products and services. In addition, we might be required to seek a license for the use of a third party’s intellectual property, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms or at all. Alternatively, we might be required to develop non-infringing technology, which could require significant effort and expense and might ultimately not be successful. Third parties may also assert infringement claims against our customers relating to their use of our technologies or processes. Any of these claims might require us to defend potentially protracted and costly litigation on their behalf, regardless of the merits of these claims, because under certain conditions we may agree to indemnify our customers from third-party claims of intellectual property infringement. If any of these claims succeed, we might be forced to pay damages on behalf of our customers, which could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Finally, we use open source software in connection with our technology and services. Companies that incorporate open source software into their products, from time to time, face claims challenging the ownership of open source software. As a result, we could be subject to suits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open source software. Open source software is also provided without warranty, and may therefore include bugs, security vulnerabilities or other defects. Some open source software licenses require users of such software to publicly disclose all or part of the source code to their software and/or make available any derivative works of the open source code on unfavorable terms or at no cost. While we monitor the use of open source software in our technology and services and try to ensure that none is used in a manner that would require us to disclose the source code to the related technology or service, such use could inadvertently occur and any requirement to disclose our proprietary source code could be harmful to our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our success is dependent, in part, upon our executive officers and other key personnel, and the loss of key personnel could materially adversely affect our business. Our success depends, in part, on our executive officers and other key personnel. Our senior management team has significant industry experience and would be difficult to replace. The market for qualified individuals is competitive, and we may not be able to attract and retain qualified personnel or candidates to replace or succeed members of our senior management team or other key personnel. The loss of key personnel could materially adversely affect our business. Changes in laws, regulations and enforcement activities may adversely affect our products and services and the markets in which we operate. The electronic payments industry is subject to increasing regulation in the U.S. and internationally. Domestic and foreign government regulations impose compliance obligations on us and restrictions on our operating activities, which can be difficult to administer because of their scope, mandates and varied requirements. We are subject to a number of government regulations, including, among others: interest rate and fee restrictions; credit access and disclosure requirements; collection and pricing regulations; compliance obligations; security and data breach requirements; identity theft avoidance programs; and anti-money laundering compliance programs. Government regulations can also include licensing or registration requirements. While a large portion of these regulations focuses on individual consumer protection, legislatures continue to consider whether to include business customers within the scope of these regulations. As a result, new or expanded regulation focusing on business customers or changes in interpretation or enforcement of regulations may have an adverse effect on our business and operating results, due to increased compliance costs and new restrictions affecting the terms under which we offer our products and services. For example, certain of our subsidiaries are currently licensed as money transmitters on the state level by the banking departments or other state agencies. Continued licensing by these states is subject to periodic examinations and ongoing satisfaction of compliance requirements regarding safety and soundness, including maintenance of certain levels of net worth, surety bonding, permissible investments in amounts sufficient to cover our outstanding payment obligations with respect to certain of our products subject to licensure, and record keeping and reporting. If our subsidiaries are unable to obtain, maintain or renew necessary licenses or comply with other relevant state regulations, they will not be able to operate as a money transmitter in those states or provide certain other services and products, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, certain of our subsidiaries are subject to regulation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, and must comply with applicable anti-money laundering requirements, including implementation of an effective anti-money laundering program. Changes in this regulatory environment, including changing interpretations and the implementation of new or varying regulatory requirements by the government, may significantly affect or change the manner in which we currently conduct some aspects of our business. Regulatory changes may also restrict or eliminate present and future business opportunities available to certain of our subsidiaries. For example, the Durbin Amendment to the Dodd-Frank Act, which serves to limit interchange fees may restrict or otherwise impact the way our subsidiaries do business or limit their ability to charge certain fees to customers. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") is also engaged in rule making and regulation of the payments industry, in particular with respect to prepaid cards, and in October 2016, the CFPB issued a final rule amending Regulations E and Z to create comprehensive consumer protections for prepaid financial products. The extensive nature of these regulations and the implementation dates for this additional rulemaking may result in additional compliance obligations and expense for our business. The CFPB’s focus on the protection of consumers might also extend to many of our small business customers. As a service provider to certain of our bank sponsors, we are subject to direct supervision and examination by the CFPB, in connection with certain of our products and services. CFPB rules, examinations and enforcement actions may require us to adjust our activities and may increase our compliance costs. Changing regulations or standards in the area of privacy and data protection could also adversely impact us. In addition, certain of our bank partners are subject to regulation by federal and state authority and, as a result, could pass through some of those compliance obligations to us. Our business is subject to U.S. federal anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the BSA. Our business in Canada is also subject to Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, or the PCTFA, which is a corollary to the BSA. The BSA, among other things, requires money services businesses (such as money transmitters, issuers of money orders and official checks and providers of prepaid access) to develop and implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs, report large cash transactions and suspicious activity and maintain transaction records. The PCTFA imposes similar requirements. Many of these laws and regulations are evolving, unclear and inconsistent across various jurisdictions, and ensuring compliance with them is difficult and costly. With increasing frequency, federal and state regulators are holding businesses like ours to higher standards of training, monitoring and compliance, including monitoring for possible violations of laws by our customers and people who do business with our customers while using our products. If we fail or are unable to comply with existing or changed government regulations in a timely and appropriate manner, we may be subject to injunctions, other sanctions and the payment of fines and penalties, and our reputation may be harmed, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our partner banks also operate in a highly regulated industry, which recently has been the subject of extensive structural reforms that are expected to negatively affect the conduct and scope of their businesses, their ability to maintain or expand offerings of products and services, and the costs of their operations. These legislative and regulatory changes could prompt our partner banks to alter the extent or the terms of their dealings with us in ways that may have adverse consequences for our business. In addition, recently implemented and pending changes in accounting standards (for example, changes relating to revenue recognition for customer contracts that will become effective for fiscal 2018) may adversely affect our results of operations. Finally, we have endeavored to structure our businesses in accordance with existing tax laws and interpretations, including those related to state occupancy taxes, value added taxes in foreign jurisdictions, payroll taxes and restrictions on repatriation of funds or transfers of revenue between jurisdictions. Changes in tax laws, their interpretations or their enforcement could increase our tax liability, further limit our utilization of funds located in foreign jurisdictions and have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. For more information about laws, regulations and enforcement activities that may adversely affect our products and services and the markets in which we operate, see “Business- Regulatory.” Derivatives Regulations Rules adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"), as well as the provisions of the European Market Infrastructure Regulation and its technical standards, which are directly applicable in the member states of the European Union, have subjected certain of the foreign exchange derivative contracts we offer to our customers as part of Cambridge's business, to reporting, recordkeeping, and other requirements. Additionally, certain foreign exchange derivatives transactions we may enter into in the future may be subject to centralized clearing requirements, or may be subject to margin requirements in the United States and European Union. Other jurisdictions outside the United States and the European Union are considering, have implemented, or are implementing regulations similar to those described above. Derivatives regulations have added costs to our business and any additional requirements, such as future registration requirements and increased regulation of derivative contracts, may result in additional costs or impact the way we conduct our hedging activities, as well as impact how we conduct our business within our international payments provider operations. In particular, the CFTC has recently issued a proposed rule that, if adopted as proposed, would increase the likelihood that we will have to register one or more of our subsidiaries with the CFTC as swap dealers. Swap dealers are subject to a comprehensive regulatory framework and compliance with this framework will lead to additional costs, including costs relating to regulatory capital and margin requirements, and may impact how we conduct our hedging activities and derivatives business with customers. We are currently evaluating the impact the proposed rule, if adopted, would have on our hedging activities and operations. Our compliance with these requirements has resulted, and may continue to result, in additional costs to our business and may impact our international payments provider business operations. Furthermore, our failure to comply with these requirements could result in fines and other sanctions, as well as necessitate a temporary or permanent cessation to some or all of our derivative related activities. Any such fines, sanctions or limitations on our business could adversely affect our operations and financial results. Additionally, the regulatory regimes for derivatives in the United States and European Union, such as under the Dodd-Frank Act and the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive known as "MiFID II," are continuing to evolve and changes to such regimes, our designation under such regimes, or the implementation of new rules under such regimes, such as future registration requirements and increased regulation of derivative contracts, may result in additional costs to our business. Other jurisdictions outside the United States and the European Union are considering, have implemented, or are implementing regulations similar to those described above and these may result in greater costs to us as well. Governmental regulations designed to protect or limit access to personal information could adversely affect our ability to effectively provide our services. Governmental bodies in the U.S. and abroad have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, laws and regulations restricting the transfer of, and requiring safeguarding of, non-public personal information. For example, in the U.S., all financial institutions must undertake certain steps to help protect the privacy and security of consumer financial information. In connection with providing services to our clients, we are required by regulations and arrangements with payment networks, our sponsor bank and certain clients to provide assurances regarding the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer information. These arrangements require periodic audits by independent companies regarding our compliance with industry standards such as PCI standards and also allow for similar audits regarding best practices established by regulatory guidelines. The compliance standards relate to our infrastructure, components, and operational procedures designed to safeguard the confidentiality and security of non-public consumer personal information received from our customers. Our ability to maintain compliance with these standards and satisfy these audits will affect our ability to attract and maintain business in the future. If we fail to comply with these regulations, we could be exposed to suits for breach of contract or to governmental proceedings. In addition, our client relationships and reputation could be harmed, and we could be inhibited in our ability to obtain new clients. If more restrictive privacy laws or rules are adopted by authorities in the future on the federal or state level, our compliance costs may increase, our opportunities for growth may be curtailed by our compliance capabilities or reputational harm and our potential liability for security breaches may increase, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We are subject to governmental regulation and other legal obligations, particularly related to privacy, data protection and information security, and we are subject to disparate consumer protection laws across different countries. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such obligations could harm our business. In the U.S., the European Union and in other jurisdictions around the world, we are subject to numerous and disparate consumer laws (including laws on disputed transactions) as well as regulations on eCommerce or similar legislation. If we are found to have breached any consumer, eCommerce or similar legislation in any country, we may be subject to enforcement actions that require us to change our business practices in a manner which may negatively impact revenue, as well as litigation, fines, penalties and adverse publicity that could cause our customers to lose trust in us, which could have an adverse effect on our reputation and business in a manner that harms our financial position. We collect personally identifiable information and other data from our customers. Laws and regulations in several countries restrict certain collection, processing, storage, use, disclosure and security of personal information, require notice to individuals of privacy practices, and provide individuals with certain rights to prevent use and disclosure of protected information. Several foreign countries and governmental bodies, including the countries of the European Union and Canada, have laws and regulations which are often more restrictive than those in the United States. The data privacy regime in the EU includes certain directives which, among other things, require European Union member states to regulate the processing and movement of personal data, marketing and the use of cookies. Each European Union member state has transposed the requirements of these directives into its own national data privacy regime, and therefore the laws differ from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. These laws and regulations are subject to frequent revisions and differing interpretations, and have generally become more stringent over time. Future restrictions on the collection, use, sharing or disclosure of personally identifiable information or additional requirements and liability for security and data integrity could require us to modify our solutions and features, possibly in a material manner, and could limit our ability to develop new services and features. For example, the EU-wide General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which was passed by the European Union Parliament in the spring of 2016 and will become fully effective in May 2018, following a two-year implementation period, will replace the data protection laws of each European Union member state. The GDPR will implement more stringent operational requirements for processors and controllers of personal data, including, for example, increased requirements to erase an individual’s information upon request, mandatory data breach notification requirements and onerous new obligations on service providers. It also significantly increases penalties for non-compliance, including where we act as a service provider (e.g., data processor). If our privacy or data security measures fail to comply with applicable current or future laws and regulations, we may be subject to litigation, regulatory investigations, enforcement notices requiring us to change the way we use personal data or our marketing practices, fines, for example, of up to 20,000,000 Euros or up to 4% of the total worldwide annual turnover of the preceding financial year (whichever is higher) under the GDPR, or other liabilities, as well as negative publicity and a potential loss of business. In February 2013, the European Commission proposed EU-wide legislation regarding cybersecurity in the form of the proposed Network and Information Security Directive, or the NIS Directive. The NIS Directive requires EU member states to impose cybersecurity obligations-including data breach notification requirements-to operators of “essential services” and to “digital service providers.” The NIS Directive and its implementing legislation if held to apply to us may lead to compliance obligations that require us to change one or more aspects of the way we operate our business, which could increase our operating costs, and failure to comply may result in governmental enforcement actions, litigation, fines, penalties and adverse publicity. Unfavorable resolution of tax contingencies or changes to enacted tax rates could adversely affect our tax expense and results of operations. Our tax returns and positions are subject to review and audit by federal, state, local, and international taxing authorities. An unfavorable outcome to a tax audit could result in higher tax expense, thereby negatively impacting our results of operations. We have established contingent liabilities for material known tax exposures relating to deductions, transactions and other matters involving some uncertainty as to the proper tax treatment of the item. These liabilities reflect what we believe to be reasonable assumptions as to the likely final resolution of each issue if raised by a taxing authority. There can be no assurance that, in all instances, an issue raised by a tax authority will be finally resolved at a financial cost less than any related liability. An unfavorable resolution, therefore, could negatively impact our financial position, operating results and cash flows in the current and/or future periods. Our acquisition documents include warranties, covenants and conditions regarding various tax matters that occurred prior to the acquisition, supported by indemnification and, in some cases, holdbacks or escrows from the sellers. The obligations of the sellers are also generally subject to various limitations. In the event of a tax claim related to a pre-acquisition tax year, we would seek to recover costs and losses from the sellers under the acquisition agreement. However, there is no assurance that any indemnification, holdback or escrow would be sufficient or that we would recover such costs or losses, which could negatively impact our financial position, operating results and cash flows in the current and/or future periods. We record deferred income taxes to reflect the impact of temporary differences between the amounts of assets and liabilities for financial accounting and income tax purposes. Deferred income taxes are determined using enacted tax rates. Changes in enacted tax rates may negatively impact our operating results. The recently passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the "Tax Act") act could adversely affect our business and financial condition. On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed into law new legislation that significantly revises the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. The newly enacted Tax Act among other things, contains significant changes to corporate taxation, including by reducing the corporate tax rate from a top marginal rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21%, significantly limiting the tax deduction for net interest expense, limiting the deduction for post-2017 net operating losses to 80% of current year taxable income and eliminating carrybacks of such net operating losses, imposing a one-time transition tax on offshore earnings regardless of whether they are repatriated, migrating from a “worldwide” system of taxation in the direction of a territorial system (subject to certain important exceptions), allowing immediate expensing of certain new investments instead of depreciating such investments over time, modifying or repealing many business deductions and credits, and requiring the accrual of certain income for U.S. federal income tax purposes no later than when such income is taken into account as revenue on our financial statements (subject to an exception for certain income that is already subject to a special method of accounting under the Code). We continue to examine the impact the new legislation may have on our business. Notwithstanding the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, the overall impact of the new federal tax law is uncertain, and our business and financial condition could be adversely affected. In addition, it is uncertain if and to what extent various states will conform to the newly enacted federal tax law. The impact of this tax reform on holders of our common stock is also uncertain and could be adverse. We generate a portion of our revenue from our lodging card business, which is affected by conditions in the hotel industry generally and has a concentration of customers in the railroad and trucking industries. Our lodging card business earns revenue from customers purchasing lodging from the hotel industry and derives a significant portion of this revenue from end users in the railroad and trucking industries. Therefore, we are exposed to risks affecting each of these industries. For example, unfavorable economic conditions adversely impacting the hotel, railroad and trucking industries generally could cause a decrease in demand for our products and services in our lodging card business, resulting in decreased revenue, or increased credit risk and related losses, resulting in increased expenses. In addition, mergers or consolidations in these industries could reduce our customer and partnership base, resulting in a smaller market for our products and services. We contract with government entities and are subject to risks related to our governmental contracts. In the course of our business we contract with domestic and foreign government entities, including state and local government customers, as well as federal government agencies. As a result, we are subject to various laws and regulations that apply to companies doing business with federal, state and local governments. The laws relating to government contracts differ from other commercial contracting laws and our government contracts may contain pricing terms and conditions that are not common among commercial contracts. In addition, we may be subject to investigation from time to time concerning our compliance with the laws and regulations relating to our government contracts. Our failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in suspension of these contracts or administrative or other penalties. Litigation and regulatory actions could subject us to significant fines, penalties or requirements resulting in significantly increased expenses, damage to our reputation and/or material adverse effects on our business. We are subject to claims and a number of judicial and administrative proceedings considered normal in the course of our current and past operations, including employment-related disputes, contract disputes, intellectual property disputes, government audits and regulatory proceedings, customer disputes and tort claims. Responding to proceedings may be difficult and expensive, and we may not prevail. In some proceedings, the claimant seeks damages as well as other relief, which, if granted, would require expenditures on our part or changes in how we conduct business. There can be no certainty that we will not ultimately incur charges in excess of presently established or future financial accruals or insurance coverage, or that we will prevail with respect to such proceedings. Regardless of whether we prevail or not, such proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. From time to time, we have had, and expect to continue to receive, inquiries from regulatory bodies and administrative agencies relating to the operation of our business. Such inquiries have resulted in, and may continue to result in, various audits, reviews and investigations, which can be time consuming and expensive. These types of inquiries, audits, reviews, and investigations could result in the institution of administrative or civil proceedings, sanctions and the payment of fines and penalties, changes in personnel, and increased review and scrutiny by customers, regulatory authorities, the media and others, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, financial condition and results of operations. For more information about our judicial and other proceedings, see “Business-Legal Proceedings.” We are named in a federal securities class action lawsuit and derivative complaint; if we are unable to resolve these matters favorably, then our business, operating results and financial condition may be adversely affected. In June 2017, a shareholder filed a class action complaint in the Unites States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia against the Company and certain of its officers and directors on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired the Company’s stock between February 5, 2016 and May 2, 2017. In July 2017, a shareholder derivative complaint was filed against certain of the Company’s directors and officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia seeking recovery on behalf of the Company. See “Part II-Item 3 - Legal Proceedings” below for additional information about the lawsuit and the derivative complaint. We cannot at this time predict the outcome of these matters or reasonably determine the probability of a material adverse result or reasonably estimate range of potential exposure, if any, that these matters might have on us, our business, our financial condition or our results of operations, although such effects could be materially adverse. In addition, in the future, we may need to record litigation reserves with respect to these matters. Further, regardless of how these matters proceed, it could divert our management’s attention and other resources away from our business. Our revenues from MasterCard cards are dependent upon our continued MasterCard registration and financial institution sponsorship. If we fail to comply with the applicable requirements of MasterCard, it could seek to fine us, suspend us or terminate our registrations through our financial institution sponsors. A significant source of our revenue comes from processing transactions through the MasterCard networks. In order to offer MasterCard programs to our customers, one of our subsidiaries is registered as a member service provider with MasterCard through sponsorship by MasterCard member banks in both the U.S. and Canada. Registration as a service provider is dependent upon our being sponsored by member banks. If our sponsor banks should stop providing sponsorship for us or determine to provide sponsorship on materially less favorable terms, we would need to find other financial institutions to provide those services or we would need to become a MasterCard member, either of which could prove to be difficult and expensive. Even if we pursue sponsorship by alternative member banks, similar requirements and dependencies would likely still exist. In addition, MasterCard routinely updates and modifies its requirements. Changes in the requirements may make it significantly more expensive for us to provide these services. If we do not comply with MasterCard requirements, it could seek to fine us, suspend us or terminate our registration, which allows us to process transactions on its networks. The termination of our registration, or any changes in the payment network rules that would impair our registration, could require us to stop providing MasterCard payment processing services. If we are unable to find a replacement financial institution to provide sponsorship or become a member, we may no longer be able to provide such services to the affected customers, which would have a material adverse effect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Changes in MasterCard interchange fees could decrease our revenue. A portion of our revenue is generated by network processing fees charged to merchants, known as interchange fees, associated with transactions processed using our MasterCard-branded cards. Interchange fee amounts associated with our MasterCard network cards are affected by a number of factors, including regulatory limits in the United States and Europe and fee changes imposed by MasterCard. In addition, interchange fees are the subject of intense legal and regulatory scrutiny and competitive pressures in the electronic payments industry, which could result in lower interchange fees generally in the future. Temporary or permanent decreases in the interchange fees associated with our MasterCard network card transactions, could adversely affect our business and operating results. If we are not able to maintain and enhance our brands, it could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. We believe that maintaining and enhancing our brands is critical to our customer relationships, and our ability to obtain partners and retain employees. The successful promotion of our brands will depend upon our marketing and public relations efforts, our ability to continue to offer high-quality products and services and our ability to successfully differentiate our services from those of our competitors. In addition, future extension of our brands to add new products or services different from our current offerings may dilute our brands, particularly if we fail to maintain our quality standards in these new areas. The promotion of our brands will require us to make substantial expenditures, and we anticipate that the expenditures will increase as our markets become more competitive and we expand into new markets. To the extent that these activities yield increased revenues, this revenue may not offset the expenses we incur. There can be no assurance that our brand promotion activities will be successful. Failure to comply with the FCPA, anti-money laundering regulations, economic and trade sanctions regulations and similar laws and regulations associated with our international activities, could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences. As we continue to expand our business internationally, we may continue to expand into certain foreign countries, particularly those with developing economies, where companies often engage in business practices that are prohibited by U.S., U.K. and other foreign regulations, including the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act, the 2013 Brazilian Clean Companies Act and the 2013 Russian Law on Preventing Corruption. These laws and regulations generally prohibit us, our employees, consultants and agents from bribing, being bribed or making other prohibited payments to government officials or other persons to obtain or retain business or gain some other business advantage. We have implemented policies to discourage such practices; however, there can be no assurances that all of our employees, consultants and agents, including those that may be based in or from countries where practices that violate U.S. laws may be customary, will not take actions in violation of our policies, for which we may be ultimately responsible. Violations of the FCPA or similar laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions and, in the U.S., suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, we are subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the BSA. Among other things, the BSA requires money services businesses (such as money transmitters and providers of prepaid access) to develop and implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs, report large cash transactions and suspicious activity, and maintain transaction records. We are also subject to certain economic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by OFAC, which prohibit or restrict transactions to or from or dealings with specified countries, their governments, and in certain circumstances, their nationals, and with individuals and entities that are specially-designated nationals of those countries, narcotics traffickers, and terrorists or terrorist organizations. Other group entities may be subject to additional foreign or local sanctions requirements in other relevant jurisdictions. Similar anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing and proceeds of crime laws apply to movements of currency and payments through electronic transactions and to dealings with persons specified in lists maintained by the country equivalent to OFAC lists in several other countries and require specific data retention obligations to be observed by intermediaries in the payment process. Our businesses in those jurisdictions are subject to those data retention obligations. Violations of these laws and regulations may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions and, in the U.S., suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracting, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Likewise, any investigation of any potential violations of these laws and regulations by U.S. or foreign authorities could also have an adverse impact on our reputation, business, financial condition and operating results. In addition, we cannot predict the nature, scope or effect of future regulatory requirements to which our international operations might be subject or the manner in which existing laws and regulations might be administered or interpreted. Global economic downturns or slower growth or declines in the money transfer, payment service, and other markets in which we operate, including downturns or declines related to interruptions in migration patterns, and difficult conditions in global financial markets and financial market disruptions could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. The global economy has experienced in recent years, and may experience, downturns, volatility and disruption, and we face certain risks relating to such events, including: • Our international payments provider business provides currency conversion and foreign exchange hedging services to our customers, exposing us to foreign currency exchange risk. In order to help mitigate these risks, we enter into derivative contracts. However, these contracts do not eliminate all of the risks related to fluctuating foreign currency rates. • Our international payments provider business is heavily dependent on global trade. A downturn in global trade or the failure of long-term import growth rates to return to historic levels could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and our cash management strategies. Additionally, as customer hedging activity in our international payments provider business generally varies with currency volatility, we have experienced and may experience in the future lower foreign exchange revenues in periods of lower currency volatility. • The counterparties to the derivative financial instruments that we use in our international payments provider business to reduce our exposure to various market risks, including changes in foreign exchange rates, may fail to honor their obligations, which could expose us to risks we had sought to mitigate. This includes the exposure generated when we write derivative contracts to our customers as part of our cross-currency payments business, and we typically hedge the net exposure through offsetting contracts with established financial institution counterparties. That failure could have an adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Risks associated with operations outside the U.S. and foreign currencies could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We have additional foreign exchange risk and associated foreign exchange risk management requirements due to the nature of our international payments provider business. The majority of this business' revenue is from exchanges of currency at spot rates, which enable customers to make cross-currency payments. Additionally, this business also writes foreign currency forward and option contracts for our customers. The duration of these derivative contracts at inception is generally less than one year. The credit risk associated with our derivative contracts increases when foreign currency exchange rates move against our customers, possibly impacting their ability to honor their obligations to deliver currency to us or to maintain appropriate collateral with us. Our international payments provider business aggregates its foreign exchange exposures arising from customer contracts, including the derivative contracts described above, and hedges the resulting net currency risks by entering into offsetting contracts with established financial institution counterparties. If we are unable to obtain offsetting positions, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows could be adversely affected. We face credit, liquidity and fraud risks from our agents, consumers, businesses, and third-party processors that could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. We are exposed to credit risk in our international payments provider business relating to: (a) derivatives written by us to our customers and (b) the extension of trade credit when transactions are paid to recipients prior to our receiving cleared funds from the sending customers. The credit risk associated with our derivative contracts increases when foreign currency exchange rates move against our customers, possibly impacting their ability to honor their obligations to deliver currency to us or to maintain appropriate collateral with us. If a customer becomes insolvent, files for bankruptcy, commits fraud or otherwise fails to pay us, we may be exposed to the value of an offsetting position with a financial institution counterparty for the derivatives or may bear financial risk for those receivables where we have offered trade credit. If we are unable to maintain our relationships with banks needed to conduct our services, or fail to comply with our contract requirements, our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows would be adversely affected. In our international payments provider business, we facilitate payment and foreign exchange solutions, primarily cross-border, cross-currency transactions, for small and medium size enterprises and other organizations. Increased regulation and compliance requirements are impacting these businesses by making it more costly for us to provide our services or by making it more cumbersome for businesses to do business with us. We may also have difficulty establishing or maintaining banking relationships needed to conduct our services due to banks’ policies. If we are unable to maintain our current business or banking relationships or establish new relationships under terms consistent with those currently in place, our ability to continue to offer our services may be adversely impacted, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows. Risks related to ownership of our common stock Our stock price could be volatile and our stock could decline in value. The market price of our common stock may fluctuate substantially as a result of many factors, some of which are beyond our control. Factors that could cause fluctuations in the market price of our common stock include the following: • quarterly variations in our results of operations; • results of operations that vary from the expectations of securities analysts and investors; • results of operations that vary from those of our competitors; • changes in expectations as to our future financial performance, including financial estimates by securities analysts and investors; • announcements by us or our competitors of significant contracts, acquisitions, or capital commitments; • announcements by third parties of significant claims or proceedings against us; • regulatory developments in the U.S. and abroad; • future sales of our common stock, and additions or departures of key personnel; and • general domestic and international economic, market and currency factors and conditions unrelated to our performance. In addition, the stock market in general has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to operating performance of individual companies. These broad market factors may seriously harm the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, securities class action litigation has often been instituted. A securities class action suit against us could result in significant liabilities and, regardless of the outcome, could result in substantial costs and the diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Our disclosure controls and procedures may not prevent or detect all errors or acts of fraud. We are subject to the periodic reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Our disclosure controls and procedures are designed to reasonably ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated to management and recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the rules and forms of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). We believe that any disclosure controls and procedures or internal controls and procedures, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are and will be met. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple error or mistake. Additionally, controls can be circumvented by the individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more people or by an unauthorized override of the controls. Accordingly, because of the inherent limitations in our control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected. Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents could discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company and may affect the trading price of our common stock. Our corporate documents and the Delaware General Corporation Law contain provisions that may enable our board of directors to resist a change in control of FLEETCOR even if a change in control were to be considered favorable by you and other stockholders. These provisions: • stagger the terms of our board of directors and require supermajority stockholder voting to remove directors; • authorize our board of directors to issue preferred stock and to determine the rights and preferences of those shares, which may be senior to our common stock, without prior stockholder approval; • establish advance notice requirements for nominating directors and proposing matters to be voted on by stockholders at stockholder meetings; • prohibit our stockholders from calling a special meeting and prohibit stockholders from acting by written consent; and • require super-majority stockholder voting to effect certain amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws. In addition, Delaware law imposes some restrictions on mergers and other business combinations between any holder of 15% or more of our outstanding voting stock and us. These provisions could discourage, delay or prevent a transaction involving a change in control of FLEETCOR. These provisions could also discourage proxy contests and make it more difficult for you and other stockholders to elect directors of your choosing and cause us to take other corporate actions you desire. We do not expect to pay any dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. We currently expect to retain all future earnings, if any, for future operation, expansion and debt repayment and have no current plans to pay any cash dividends to holders of our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on, among other things, our operating results, financial condition, cash requirements, contractual restrictions and other factors that our board of directors may deem relevant. In addition, we must comply with the covenants in our credit agreements in order to be able to pay cash dividends, and our ability to pay dividends generally may be further limited by covenants of any existing and future outstanding indebtedness we or our subsidiaries incur. ITEM 1B.