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U.S. and Europe Retrospective Responsibility Plans | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2023
Retrospective Responsibility Plans [Abstract] |
U.S. and Europe Retrospective Responsibility Plans | Note 5—U.S. and Europe Retrospective Responsibility Plans U.S. Retrospective Responsibility Plan The Company has established several related mechanisms designed to address potential liability under certain litigation (U.S. covered litigation). These mechanisms are included in and referred to as the U.S. retrospective responsibility plan and consist of a U.S. litigation escrow agreement, the conversion feature of the Company’s shares of class B common stock, the indemnification obligations of the Visa U.S.A. Inc. (Visa U.S.A.) members, an interchange judgment sharing agreement, a loss sharing agreement and an omnibus agreement, as amended. U.S. covered litigation consists of a number of matters that have been settled or otherwise fully or substantially resolved, as well as the following: •the Interchange Multidistrict Litigation. In re Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation, 1:05-md-01720-JG-JO (E.D.N.Y.) or MDL 1720, including all cases currently included in MDL 1720, any other case that includes claims for damages relating to the period prior to the Company’s initial public offering (IPO) that has been or is transferred for coordinated or consolidated pre-trial proceedings at any time to MDL 1720 by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation or otherwise included at any time in MDL 1720 by order of any court of competent jurisdiction; •any claim that challenges the reorganization or the consummation thereof; provided that such claim is transferred for coordinated or consolidated pre-trial proceedings at any time to MDL 1720 by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation or otherwise included at any time in MDL 1720 by order of any court of competent jurisdiction; and •any case brought after October 22, 2015 by a merchant that opted out of the Rule 23(b)(3) settlement class in MDL 1720 that arises out of facts or circumstances substantially similar to those alleged in MDL 1720 and that is not transferred to or otherwise included in MDL 1720. See Note 20—Legal Matters. U.S. litigation escrow agreement. In accordance with the U.S. litigation escrow agreement, the Company maintains an escrow account, from which settlements of, or judgments in, the U.S. covered litigation are paid. The amount of the escrow is determined by the board of directors and the Company’s litigation committee, all members of which are affiliated with, or act for, certain Visa U.S.A. members. The accrual related to the U.S. covered litigation could be either higher or lower than the U.S. litigation escrow account balance. See Note 20—Legal Matters. The following table presents the changes in the restricted cash equivalents—U.S. litigation escrow account:
| For the Years Ended September 30,
| 2023 |  | 2022 |  |
| (in millions) |  |
Balance as of beginning of period | $ | 1,449 |  |  | $ | 894 |  |  |
Deposits into the U.S. litigation escrow account | 1,000 |  |  | 850 |  |  |
Payments to opt-out merchants(1), net of interest earned on escrow funds | (685) |  |  | (295) |  |  |
Balance as of end of period | $ | 1,764 |  |  | $ | 1,449 |  |  |
(1)These payments are associated with the interchange multidistrict litigation. See Note 20—Legal Matters. Conversion feature. Under the terms of the plan, when the Company funds the U.S. litigation escrow account, the value of the Company’s class B common stock is subject to dilution through a downward adjustment to the rate at which shares of class B common stock ultimately convert into shares of class A common stock. This has the same economic effect on earnings per share as repurchasing the Company’s class A common stock, because it reduces the class B conversion rate and consequently the as-converted class A common stock share count with each deposit amount. See Note 15—Stockholders’ Equity. Indemnification obligations. To the extent that amounts available under the U.S. litigation escrow arrangement and other agreements in the plan are insufficient to fully resolve the U.S. covered litigation, the Company will use commercially reasonable efforts to enforce the indemnification obligations of Visa U.S.A.’s members for such excess amounts, including but not limited to enforcing indemnification obligations pursuant to Visa U.S.A.’s certificate of incorporation and bylaws and in accordance with their membership agreements. Interchange judgment sharing agreement. Visa U.S.A. and Visa International Service Association (Visa International) have entered into an interchange judgment sharing agreement with certain Visa U.S.A. members that have been named as defendants in the interchange multidistrict litigation, which is described in Note 20—Legal Matters. Under this judgment sharing agreement, Visa U.S.A. members that are signatories will pay their membership proportion of the amount of a final judgment not allocated to the conduct of Mastercard. Loss sharing agreement. Visa has entered into a loss sharing agreement with Visa U.S.A., Visa International and certain Visa U.S.A. members. The loss sharing agreement provides for the indemnification of Visa U.S.A., Visa International and, in certain circumstances, Visa with respect to: (i) the amount of a final judgment paid by Visa U.S.A. or Visa International in the U.S. covered litigation after the operation of the U.S. litigation escrow arrangement, conversion feature of the Company’s class B common stock and interchange judgment sharing agreement, plus any amounts reimbursable to the interchange judgment sharing agreement signatories; or (ii) the damages portion of a settlement of a U.S. covered litigation that is approved as required under Visa U.S.A.’s certificate of incorporation by the vote of Visa U.S.A.’s specified voting members. The several obligation of each bank that is a party to the loss sharing agreement will equal the amount of any final judgment enforceable against Visa U.S.A., Visa International or any other signatory to the interchange judgment sharing agreement, or the amount of any approved settlement of a U.S. covered litigation, multiplied by such bank’s then-current membership proportion as calculated in accordance with Visa U.S.A.’s certificate of incorporation. On October 22, 2015, Visa entered into an amendment to the loss sharing agreement. The amendment includes within the scope of U.S. covered litigation any action brought after the amendment by an opt-out from the Rule 23(b)(3) Settlement Class in MDL 1720 that arises out of facts or circumstances substantially similar to those alleged in MDL 1720 and that is not transferred to or otherwise included in MDL 1720. On the same date, Visa entered into amendments to the interchange judgment sharing agreement and omnibus agreement that include any such action within the scope of those agreements as well. Omnibus agreement. Visa entered into an omnibus agreement with Mastercard and certain Visa U.S.A. members that confirmed and memorialized the signatories’ intentions with respect to the loss sharing agreement, the interchange judgment sharing agreement and other agreements relating to the interchange multidistrict litigation, see Note 20—Legal Matters. Under the omnibus agreement, the monetary portion of any settlement of the interchange multidistrict litigation covered by the omnibus agreement would be divided into a Mastercard portion at 33.3333% and a Visa portion at 66.6667%. In addition, the monetary portion of any judgment assigned to Visa- related claims in accordance with the omnibus agreement would be treated as a Visa portion. Visa would have no liability for the monetary portion of any judgment assigned to Mastercard-related claims in accordance with the omnibus agreement, and if a judgment is not assigned to Visa-related claims or Mastercard-related claims in accordance with the omnibus agreement, then any monetary liability would be divided into a Mastercard portion at 33.3333% and a Visa portion at 66.6667%. The Visa portion of a settlement or judgment covered by the omnibus agreement would be allocated in accordance with specified provisions of the Company’s U.S. retrospective responsibility plan. The litigation provision on the consolidated statements of operations was not impacted by the execution of the omnibus agreement. On August 26, 2014, Visa entered into an amendment to the omnibus agreement. The omnibus amendment makes applicable to certain settlements in opt-out cases in the interchange multidistrict litigation the settlement-sharing provisions of the omnibus agreement, pursuant to which the monetary portion of any settlement of the interchange multidistrict litigation covered by the omnibus agreement would be divided into a Mastercard portion at 33.3333% and a Visa portion at 66.6667%. The omnibus amendment also provides that in the event of termination of the class settlement agreement, Visa and Mastercard would make mutually acceptable arrangements so that Visa shall have received two-thirds and Mastercard shall have received one-third of the total of (i) the sums paid to defendants as a result of the termination of the settlement agreement and (ii) the takedown payments previously made to defendants. Europe Retrospective Responsibility Plan UK loss sharing agreement. The Company has entered into a loss sharing agreement with Visa Europe and certain of Visa Europe’s member financial institutions located in the United Kingdom (UK LSA members). Each of the UK LSA members has agreed, on a several and not joint basis, to compensate the Company for certain losses which may be incurred by the Company, Visa Europe or their affiliates as a result of certain existing and potential litigation relating to the setting and implementation of domestic multilateral interchange fee rates in the United Kingdom prior to the closing of the Visa Europe acquisition (Closing), subject to the terms and conditions set forth therein and, with respect to each UK LSA member, up to a maximum amount of the up-front cash consideration received by such UK LSA member. The UK LSA members’ obligations under the UK loss sharing agreement are conditional upon, among other things, either (a) losses valued in excess of the sterling equivalent on June 21, 2016 of €1.0 billion having arisen in UK covered claims (and such losses having reduced the conversion rate of the series B preferred stock accordingly), or (b) the conversion rate of the series B preferred stock having been reduced to zero pursuant to losses arising in claims relating to multilateral interchange fee rate setting in the Visa Europe territory. Litigation management deed. The Company has entered into a litigation management deed with Visa Europe which sets forth the agreed upon procedures for the management of the VE territory covered litigation, the allocation of losses resulting from this litigation (VE territory covered losses) between the series B and C preferred stock, and any accelerated conversion or reduction in the conversion rate of the shares of series B and C preferred stock. The litigation management deed applies only to VE territory covered litigation (and resultant losses and liabilities). The litigation management deed provides that the Company will generally control the conduct of the VE territory covered litigation, subject to certain obligations to report and consult with the litigation management committee for VE territory covered litigation (VE Territory Litigation Management Committee). The VE Territory Litigation Management Committee, which is composed of representatives of certain Visa Europe members, has also been granted consent rights to approve certain material decisions in relation to the VE territory covered litigation. The Company obtained certain protections for VE territory covered losses through the series B and C preferred stock, the UK loss sharing agreement, and the litigation management deed, (collectively Europe retrospective responsibility plan). The plan covers VE territory covered litigation (and resultant liabilities and losses) relating to the covered period, which generally refers to the period before the Closing. Visa’s protection from the plan is further limited to 70% of any liabilities where the claim relates to inter-regional multilateral interchange fee rates where the issuer is located outside the Visa Europe territory, and the merchant is located within the Visa Europe territory. The plan does not protect the Company in Europe against all types of litigation or remedies or fines imposed in competition law enforcement proceedings, only the interchange litigation specifically covered by the plan’s terms. Unlike the U.S. retrospective responsibility plan, the Europe retrospective responsibility plan does not have an escrow account that is used to fund settlements or judgments. The Company is entitled to recover VE territory covered losses through periodic adjustments to the class A common stock conversion rates applicable to the series B and C preferred stock. The total amount of protection available through the preferred stock component of the Europe retrospective responsibility plan is equivalent to the as-converted value of the preferred stock, which can be calculated at any point in time as the product of: (a) the outstanding number of shares of preferred stock; (b) the current conversion rate applicable to each class of preferred stock; and (c) Visa’s class A common stock price. This amount differs from the value of the preferred stock recorded within stockholders’ equity on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The book value of the preferred stock reflects its historical value recorded at the Closing less VE territory covered losses recovered through a reduction of the applicable conversion rate. The book value does not reflect changes in the underlying class A common stock price subsequent to the Closing. Visa Inc. net income is not impacted by VE territory covered losses as long as the as-converted value of the preferred stock is greater than the covered loss. VE territory covered losses are recorded when the loss is deemed to be probable and reasonably estimable, or in the case of attorney’s fees, when incurred. Concurrently, the Company records a reduction to stockholders’ equity, which represents the Company’s right to recover such losses through adjustments to the conversion rate applicable to the preferred stock. The reduction to stockholders’ equity is recorded in the contra-equity account right to recover for covered losses. VE territory covered losses may be recorded before the corresponding adjustment to the applicable conversion rate is effected. Adjustments to the conversion rate may be executed once in any six-month period unless a single, individual loss greater than €20 million is incurred, in which case, the six-month limitation does not apply. When the adjustment to the conversion rate is made, the amount previously recorded in right to recover for covered losses is then recorded against the book value of the preferred stock within stockholders’ equity. As required by the litigation management deed, on June 21, 2022, the sixth anniversary of the Visa Europe acquisition, Visa, in consultation with the VE Territory Litigation Management Committee, carried out a release assessment. After the completion of this assessment, the Company released $3.5 billion of the as-converted value from its series B and C preferred stock and issued 176,655 shares of series A preferred stock on July 29, 2022 (Sixth Anniversary Release). Each holder of a share of series B and C preferred stock received a number of series A preferred stock equal to the applicable conversion adjustment divided by 100. The Company paid $3 million in cash in lieu of issuing fractional shares of series A preferred stock. See Note 15—Stockholders’ Equity. The following table presents the activities related to VE territory covered losses in preferred stock and right to recover for covered losses within stockholders’ equity:
| Preferred Stock |  | Right to Recover for Covered Losses
| Series B |  | Series C |
| (in millions)
Balance as of September 30, 2022 | $ | 460 |  |  | $ | 812 |  |  | $ | (35) |
VE territory covered losses incurred(1) | — |  |  | — |  |  | (136) |
Recovery through conversion rate adjustment(2) | (19) |  |  | (11) |  |  | 31 |
Balance as of September 30, 2023 | $ | 441 |  |  | $ | 801 |  |  | $ | (140) |
| Preferred Stock |  | Right to Recover for Covered Losses
| Series B |  | Series C |
| (in millions)
Balance as of September 30, 2021 | $ | 1,071 |  |  | $ | 1,523 |  |  | $ | (133) |
VE territory covered losses incurred(1) | — |  |  | — |  |  | (43) |
Recovery through conversion rate adjustment | (135) |  |  | (6) |  |  | 141 |
Sixth Anniversary Release | (476) |  |  | (705) |  |  | — |
Balance as of September 30, 2022 | $ | 460 |  |  | $ | 812 |  |  | $ | (35) |
(1)VE territory covered losses incurred reflect settlements with merchants and additional legal costs. See Note 20—Legal Matters. (2)Adjustment to right to recover for covered losses for the conversion rate adjustment differs from the actual recovered amount due to differences in foreign exchange rates between the time the losses were incurred and the subsequent recovery through the conversion rate adjustment. The following table presents the as-converted value of the preferred stock available to recover VE territory covered losses compared to the book value of preferred stock recorded in stockholders’ equity within the Company’s consolidated balance sheets:
| September 30,
| 2023 |  | 2022
| As-converted Value of Preferred Stock(1),(2) |  | Book Value of Preferred Stock(1) |  | As-converted Value of Preferred Stock(1),(3) |  | Book Value of Preferred Stock(1)
| (in millions)
Series B preferred stock | $ | 1,676 |  |  | $ | 441 |  |  | $ | 1,309 |  |  | $ | 460 |
Series C preferred stock | 2,635 |  |  | 801 |  |  | 2,044 |  |  | 812 |
Total | 4,311 |  |  | 1,242 |  |  | 3,353 |  |  | 1,272 |
Less: right to recover for covered losses | (140) |  |  | (140) |  |  | (35) |  |  | (35) |
Total recovery for covered losses available | $ | 4,171 |  |  | $ | 1,102 |  |  | $ | 3,318 |  |  | $ | 1,237 |
(1)Figures in the table may not recalculate exactly due to rounding. As-converted and book values are based on unrounded numbers. (2)As of September 30, 2023, the as-converted value of preferred stock is calculated as the product of: (a) 2 million and 3 million shares of the series B and C preferred stock outstanding, respectively; (b) 2.937 and 3.629, the class A common stock conversion rate applicable to the series B and C preferred stock outstanding, respectively; and (c) $230.01, Visa’s class A common stock closing stock price. (3)As of September 30, 2022, the as-converted value of preferred stock is calculated as the product of: (a) 2 million and 3 million shares of the series B and C preferred stock outstanding, respectively; (b) 2.971 and 3.645, the class A common stock conversion rate applicable to the series B and C preferred stock outstanding, respectively; and (c) $177.65, Visa’s class A common stock closing stock price.

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