Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies) |
6 Months Ended |
|---|---|
Jun. 30, 2016 | |
| Accounting Policies [Abstract] | |
| Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared by us in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, regarding interim financial reporting. Accordingly, the unaudited consolidated financial statements do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with our audited consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto for the year ended December 31, 2015. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments that are, in our opinion, necessary for a fair presentation of results for the interim periods presented. These adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. Preparing financial statements requires us to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts that are reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying disclosures. Although these estimates are based on our best knowledge of current events and actions that we may undertake in the future, actual results may be different from these estimates. The results of operations for the six months and three months ended June 30, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period or the full fiscal year. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements include the accounts of us and our wholly-owned and controlled subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions between us and our wholly-owned and controlled subsidiaries have been eliminated in the consolidation. For those consolidated subsidiaries in which our ownership is less than 100% and for which we have control over the assets and liabilities and the management of the entity, the outside stockholders’ interests are shown as non-controlling interests. In instances where outside stockholders’ hold an option to require us to repurchase the outside stockholders' interest, these interests are shown as redeemable non-controlling interests. |
| New Accounting Pronouncements and Changes in Accounting Principles [Text Block] | New and Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements In January 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-01, Financial Instruments - Overall (Subtopic 825-10): Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities, or ASU 2016-01. ASU 2016-01 provides updated guidance for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of certain financial assets and liabilities, including the requirement that equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting or those that result in consolidation of the investee) are to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income. ASU 2016-01 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017. On the adoption of ASU 2016-01, changes in the fair value of our equity investment in Cetip, S.A., or Cetip, will no longer be reflected in accumulated other comprehensive income but will be recognized in net income. As of June 30, 2016, our investment in Cetip included an accumulated unrealized gain of $103 million (Note 10). During the six months and three months ended June 30, 2016, the change in the fair value of the Cetip investment was an increase of $128 million and $75 million, respectively. Once adopted, such fair value changes will be reported as other income (expense) under ASU 2016-01. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine any additional potential impact on our consolidated financial statements upon adoption. In February 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-02, Leases, or ASU 2016-02. ASU 2016-02 requires an entity to recognize both assets and liabilities arising from financing and operating leases, along with additional qualitative and quantitative disclosures. A lessee should recognize in its balance sheet a liability to make lease payments (the lease liability) and a right-of-use asset representing its right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. In transition, lessees and lessors are required to recognize and measure leases at the beginning of the earliest period presented using a modified retrospective approach. ASU 2016-02 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018, with early adoption permitted. We are currently evaluating this guidance to determine the potential impact on our consolidated financial statements and whether we will adopt this guidance early. In March 2016, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update No. 2016-09, Stock Compensation (Topic 718) - Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, or ASU 2016-09. ASU 2016-09 provides updated guidance for the recognition, measurement, presentation, and disclosure of certain components of stock compensation. The guidance includes the recognition of all excess tax benefits/deficiencies in the statement of income and classification as operating activities within the statement of cash flows, as well as the option to account for forfeitures based on awards expected to vest or as they occur. ASU 2016-09 is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, with early adoption permitted. We decided to adopt ASU 2016-09 early as of January 1, 2016 on a prospective basis. As a result, for the six months and three months ended June 30, 2016, we recorded $12 million and $1 million, respectively, in excess tax benefits within our consolidated statements of income (Note 8). No other terms of the adopted guidance resulted in any significant impact on our consolidated financial statements. |
| Reclassifications | Reclassifications Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s financial statement presentation. For the six months and three months ended June 30, 2015, we reclassified $47 million and $23 million, respectively, of transaction based expenses in transaction and clearing revenues, net to transaction based expenses for consistency of how we report our cash equities markets. The amounts reclassified to transaction based expenses relate to equity options markets. For the six months and three months ended June 30, 2015, we also reclassified $27 million and $14 million, respectively, in connectivity fees from other revenues to data services revenues. |