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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2025
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
In the ordinary course of business, the Company is involved in various pending or threatened legal actions, arbitration proceedings, claims, subpoenas and matters relating to compliance with laws and regulations (collectively, "legal proceedings"). Based on our current knowledge, management presently does not believe that the liabilities arising from these legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of these legal proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition for any particular period.
FTC Matter
In October 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a Notice of Civil Investigative Demand to the Company for the production of documentation and a request for responses to written interrogatories. After discussions with the Company, the FTC proposed in October 2019 to resolve potential claims relating to the Company’s advertising and marketing practices, principally in its U.S. direct fuel card business within its North American Fuel Card business. The parties reached impasse primarily related to what the Company believes are unreasonable demands for redress made by the FTC.
On December 20, 2019, the FTC filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Georgia against the Company and Ron Clarke. See FTC v. FleetCor and Ronald F. Clarke, No. 19-cv-05727 (N.D. Ga.). The complaint alleges the Company and Clarke violated the FTC Act’s prohibitions on unfair and deceptive acts and practices. The complaint seeks among other things injunctive relief, consumer redress and costs of suit. The Company continues to believe that the FTC’s claims are without merit. On April 17, 2021, the FTC filed a motion for summary judgment. On April 22, 2021, the United States Supreme Court held unanimously in AMG Capital Management v. FTC that the FTC does not have authority under current law to seek monetary redress by means
of Section 13(b) of the FTC Act, which is the means by which the FTC has sought such redress in this case. The Company cross-moved for summary judgment regarding the FTC’s ability to seek monetary or injunctive relief on May 17, 2021. On August 13, 2021, the FTC filed a motion to stay or to voluntarily dismiss without prejudice the case pending in the Northern District of Georgia in favor of a parallel administrative action under Section 5 of the FTC Act that it filed on August 11, 2021 in the FTC’s administrative process. Apart from the jurisdiction and statutory change, the FTC’s administrative complaint makes the same factual allegations as the FTC’s original complaint filed in December 2019. The FTC’s administrative action was stayed pending resolution of the case in federal court. On August 9, 2022, the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted the FTC's motion for summary judgment as to liability for the Company and Ron Clarke, but granted the Company's motion for summary judgment as to the FTC's claim for monetary relief as to both the Company and Ron Clarke.
On June 8, 2023, the Court issued an Order for Permanent Injunction and Other Relief. The Company filed its notice of appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on August 3, 2023. On August 17, 2023, the FTC Commission ordered that the stay of the parallel Section 5 administrative action will remain in place during the pendency of the Eleventh Circuit appeal. Oral argument in the Eleventh Circuit appeal was held on January 21, 2025. The Company has incurred and continues to incur legal and other fees related to this FTC complaint. Any settlement of this matter, or defense against the lawsuit, could involve costs to the Company, including legal fees, redress, penalties and remediation expenses.
Estimating an amount or range of possible losses resulting from litigation proceedings is inherently difficult and requires an extensive degree of judgment, particularly where, as here, the matters involve indeterminate claims for monetary damages and are in the stages of the proceedings where key factual and legal issues have not been resolved. For these reasons, the Company is currently unable to predict the ultimate timing or outcome of, or reasonably estimate the possible losses or a range of possible losses resulting from, the matters described above.