XML 54 R19.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.19.3.a.u2

Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
--- | ---
Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies The Company leases software, facilities, and equipment under non-cancelable operating leases, some which contain escalation clauses for increased taxes and operating expenses. The Company has entered into maintenance agreements primarily for its equipment. Rent expense, primarily related to user licenses for software, was $33,600, $34,679 and $32,619 in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The aggregate noncancellable minimum commitments at December 31, 2019 are:
Year | Aggregate Noncancellable Minimum Commitments
2020 | $ | 9,906 |
2021 | 8,334 |
2022 | 8,043 |
2023 | 7,977 |
2024 and thereafter | 17,184 |
| $ | 51,444 |
In the ordinary course of business, the Company from time to time enters into contracts containing indemnification obligations of the Company. These obligations may require the Company to make payments to another party upon the occurrence of certain events including the failure by the Company to meet its performance obligations under the contract. These contractual indemnification provisions are often standard contractual terms of the nature customarily found in the type of contracts entered into by the Company. In many cases, there are no stated or notional amounts included in the indemnification provisions. There are no amounts reflected on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2019 and 2018 related to these indemnifications. Stanford Trust Company Litigation SEI has been named in seven lawsuits filed in Louisiana courts; four of the cases also name SPTC as a defendant. The underlying allegations in all actions relate to the purported role of SPTC in providing back-office services to Stanford Trust Company. The complaints allege that SEI and SPTC participated in some manner in the sale of “certificates of deposit” issued by Stanford International Bank so as to be a “seller” of the certificates of deposit for purposes of primary liability under the Louisiana Securities Law or so as to be secondarily liable under that statute for sales of certificates of deposit made by Stanford Trust Company. Two of the actions also include claims for violations of the Louisiana Racketeering Act and possibly conspiracy, and a third also asserts claims of negligence, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, violations of the uniform fiduciaries law, negligent misrepresentation, detrimental reliance, violations of the Louisiana Racketeering Act, and conspiracy. The procedural status of the seven cases varies. The Lillie case, filed originally in the 19th Judicial District Court for the Parish of East Baton Rouge, was brought as a class action and is procedurally the most advanced of the cases. SEI and SPTC filed exceptions, which the Court granted in part, dismissing claims under the Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices Act and permitting the claims under the Louisiana Securities Law to go forward. On March 11, 2013, newly-added insurance carrier defendants removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana. On August 7, 2013, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the matter to the Northern District of Texas where MDL 2099, In re: Stanford Entities Securities Litigation (“the Stanford MDL”), is pending. On September 22, 2015, the District Court on the motion of SEI and SPTC dismissed plaintiffs’ claims for primary liability under Section 714(A) of the Louisiana Securities Law, but declined to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims for secondary liability under Section 714(B) of the Louisiana Securities Law based on the allegations pled by plaintiffs. On November 4, 2015, the District Court granted SEI and SPTC's motion to dismiss plaintiffs' claims under Section 712(D) of the Louisiana Securities Law. Consequently, the only claims of plaintiffs remaining in Lillie are plaintiffs' claims for secondary liability against SEI and SPTC under Section 714(B) of the Louisiana Securities Law. On May 2, 2016, the District Court certified the class as being "all persons for whom Stanford Trust Company purchased or renewed Stanford Investment Bank Limited certificates of deposit in Louisiana between January 1, 2007 and February 13, 2009". Notice of the pendency of the class action was mailed to potential class members on October 4, 2016. On December 1, 2016, a group of plaintiffs who opted out of the Lillie class filed a complaint against SEI and SPTC in the United States District Court in the Middle District of Louisiana (“Ahders Complaint”), alleging claims essentially the same as those in Lillie. In January 2017, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the Ahders proceeding to the Northern District of Texas and the Stanford MDL. During February 2017, SEI and SPTC filed their response to the Ahders Complaint, and in March 2017 the District Court for the Northern District of Texas approved the stipulated dismissal of all claims in this Complaint predicated on Section 712(D) or Section 714(A) of the Louisiana Securities Law. In both cases, as a result of the proceedings in the Northern District of Texas, only the plaintiffs’ secondary liability claims under Section 714(B) of the Louisiana Securities Law remain. Limited discovery and motions practice have occurred, including SEI and SPTC’s filing of a dispositive summary judgment motion in the Lillie proceeding. On January 31, 2019, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation remanded the Lillie and Ahders proceedings to the Middle District of Louisiana. On July 9, 2019, the District Court issued an order granting SEI’s Summary Judgment Motion to dismiss the remaining Section 714(B) claim in the Lillie proceeding and denying Plaintiffs’ Motion for Continuance of SEI and SPTC’s Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56(d). On July 16, 2019, SEI and SPTC filed a Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56(d) in the Ahders proceeding to have the remaining Section 714(B) claim dismissed. On July 17, 2019, Plaintiffs filed a Motion for Reconsideration and/or New Trial as to the July 9, 2019 Ruling and Order (ECF 146) by the Honorable Brian A. Jackson denying a continuance of SEI’s Motion for Summary Judgment pursuant to Rule 56(d) in the Lillie proceeding. The Court denied Plaintiffs’ Motion and entered a Final Judgment in favor of SEI and SPTC on August 15, 2019. On August 27, 2019, Plaintiffs-Appellants filed a Notice of Appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit of the District Court's dismissal of the Lillie matter. On November 20, 2019, Plaintiffs-Appellants filed a Motion in Support of the Notice of Appeal with the Fifth Circuit in the Lillie matter. On January 17, 2020, SEI and SPTC timely filed their brief in opposition to the Plaintiffs-Appellants' motion for appeal in the Lillie Matter. On January 24, 2020, the District Court issued an order granting SEI’s Summary Judgment Motion to dismiss the remaining Section 714(B) claim in the Adhers proceeding. On February 7, 2020, Plaintiffs-Appellants filed their reply brief with the Fifth Circuit in the Lillie matter. Another case, filed in the 23rd Judicial District Court for the Parish of Ascension, also was removed to federal court and transferred by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to the Northern District of Texas and the Stanford MDL. The schedule for responding to that Complaint has not yet been established. Two additional cases remain in the Parish of East Baton Rouge. Plaintiffs filed petitions in 2010 and have granted SEI and SPTC indefinite extensions to respond. No material activity has taken place since. In two additional cases,filed in East Baton Rouge and brought by the same counsel who filed the Lillie action, virtually all of the litigation to date has involved motions practice and appellate litigation regarding the existence of federal subject matter jurisdiction under the federal Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act (SLUSA). The matters were removed to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas and consolidated. The court then dismissed the action under SLUSA. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed that order, and the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed the Court of Appeals judgment on February 26, 2014. The matters were remanded to state court and no material activity has taken place since that date. While the outcome of this litigation remains uncertain, SEI and SPTC believe that they have valid defenses to plaintiffs' claims and intend to defend the lawsuits vigorously. Because of uncertainty in the make-up of the Lillie class, the specific theories of liability that may survive a motion for summary judgment or other dispositive motion, the relative lack of discovery regarding damages, causation, mitigation and other aspects that may ultimately bear upon loss, the Company is not reasonably able to provide an estimate of loss, if any, with respect to the foregoing lawsuits. SEI Capital Accumulation Plan Litigation On September 28, 2018, a class action complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by Gordon Stevens, individually and as the representative of similarly situated persons, and on behalf of the SEI Capital Accumulation Plan (the “Plan”) naming the Company and its affiliated and/or related entities SEI Investments Management Corporation, SEI Capital Accumulation Plan Design Committee, SEI Capital Accumulation Plan Investment Committee, SEI Capital Accumulation Plan Administration Committee, and John Does 1-30 as defendants (the “Stevens Complaint”). The Stevens Compliant seeks unspecified damages for defendants’ breach of fiduciary duties under ERISA with respect to selecting and monitoring the Plan’s investment options and by retaining affiliated investment products in the Plan. Although SEI believes its defenses against the plaintiff’s allegations were valid, the Company agreed to settle this matter in the very early stages of the litigation in order to avoid the high cost of protracted class-action litigation and internal distractions such cases bring. The written settlement agreement was submitted to the Court on July 26, 2019, and is a matter of public record. A Preliminary Approval Order approving the settlement agreement was issued by the Court. A fairness hearing to approve the settlement agreement was held on December 18, 2019. The parties are currently waiting for the Court’s decision regarding the approval of the settlement agreement. The Company expects the financial impact of the settlement agreement to be immaterial. Other Matters The Company is also a party to various other actions and claims arising in the normal course of business that the Company does not believe are material. The Company believes that the ultimate resolution of these matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position or the manner in which the Company conducts its business. Currently, the Company does not believe the amount of losses associated with these matters can be estimated. While the Company does not believe that the amount of such losses will, when liquidated or estimable, be material to its financial position, the assumptions may be incorrect and any such loss could have a material adverse effect on the Company's results of operations or the manner in which the Company conducts its business in the period(s) during which the underlying matters are resolved.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for commitments and contingencies. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 450 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2127136 Reference 2: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 440 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2144648 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_CommitmentsAndContingenciesDisclosureTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration