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ORGANIZATION AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION (Policies) | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] |
Organization | Organization Lazard Ltd, a Bermuda holding company, and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “Lazard Ltd”, “Lazard”, “we” or the “Company”), including Lazard Ltd’s indirect investment in Lazard Group LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (collectively referred to, together with its subsidiaries, as “Lazard Group”), is one of the world’s preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms that specializes in crafting solutions to the complex financial and strategic challenges of our clients. We serve a diverse set of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals. Lazard Ltd indirectly held 100% of all outstanding Lazard Group common membership interests as of September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022. Lazard Ltd, through its control of the managing members of Lazard Group, controls Lazard Group, which as of December 31, 2022 was governed by an Amended and Restated Operating Agreement dated as of February 4, 2019. Such operating agreement was subsequently amended and restated effective as of January 1, 2023 (as so amended and restated, the “Operating Agreement”). Lazard Ltd’s primary operating asset is its indirect ownership of the common membership interests of, and managing member interests in, Lazard Group, whose principal operating activities are included in two business segments: •Financial Advisory, which offers corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients across the globe a wide array of financial advisory services regarding strategic and mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) advisory, capital markets advisory, shareholder advisory, restructuring and liability management, sovereign advisory, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory matters and capital raising and placement, and •Asset Management, which offers a broad range of global investment solutions and investment and wealth management services in equity and fixed income strategies, asset allocation strategies, alternative investments and private equity funds to corporations, public funds, sovereign entities, endowments and foundations, labor funds, financial intermediaries and private clients. In addition, we record selected other activities in our Corporate segment, including management of cash, investments, deferred tax assets, outstanding indebtedness, certain contingent obligations, and certain assets and liabilities associated with (i) Lazard Group’s Paris-based subsidiary, Lazard Frères Banque SA (“LFB”), and (ii) in 2022, a special purpose acquisition company that was sponsored by an affiliate of the Company, Lazard Growth Acquisition Corp. I (“LGAC”).
Basis of Presentation | Basis of Presentation The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements of Lazard Ltd have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regarding interim financial reporting. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and notes required by accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for complete financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included in Lazard Ltd’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022. The accompanying December 31, 2022 unaudited condensed consolidated statement of financial condition data was derived from audited consolidated financial statements, but does not include all disclosures required by U.S. GAAP for annual financial statement purposes. The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments that are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair presentation of the financial position, results of operations and cash flows for the interim periods presented.
Use of Estimates | Preparing financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts that are reported in the condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying disclosures. For example, discretionary compensation and benefits expense for interim periods is accrued based on the year-to-date amount of revenue earned, and an estimated annual ratio of compensation and benefits expense to revenue, with the applicable amounts adjusted for certain items. Although these estimates are based on management’s knowledge of current events and actions that Lazard may undertake in the future, actual results may differ materially from the estimates.
Consolidation | The consolidated results of operations for the three month and nine month periods ended September 30, 2023 are not indicative of the results to be expected for any future interim or annual period. The condensed consolidated financial statements include Lazard Ltd and its subsidiaries including Lazard Group and Lazard Group’s principal operating subsidiaries: Lazard Frères & Co. LLC (“LFNY”), a New York limited liability company, along with its subsidiaries, including Lazard Asset Management LLC and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “LAM”); the French limited liability companies Compagnie Financière Lazard Frères SAS (“CFLF”), along with its subsidiaries, LFB and Lazard Frères Gestion SAS (“LFG”), and Maison Lazard SAS and its subsidiaries; and Lazard & Co., Limited (“LCL”), through Lazard & Co., Holdings Limited (“LCH”), an English private limited company, together with their jointly owned affiliates and subsidiaries. The Company’s policy is to consolidate entities in which it has a controlling financial interest. The Company consolidates: •Voting interest entities (“VOEs”) where the Company holds a majority of the voting interest in such VOEs and •Variable interest entities (“VIEs”) where the Company is the primary beneficiary having the power to direct the activities of the VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of, or receive benefits from, the VIE that could be potentially significant to the VIE (see Note 20). When the Company does not have a controlling interest in an entity, but exerts significant influence over such entity’s operating and financial decisions, the Company either (i) applies the equity method of accounting in which it records a proportionate share of the entity’s net earnings or losses or (ii) elects the option to measure its investment at fair value. Intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.
Revenue Recognition | The Company disaggregates revenue based on its business segment results and believes that the following information provides a reasonable representation of how performance obligations relate to the nature, amount, timing and uncertainty of revenue and cash flows:
| Three Months Ended September 30, |  | Nine Months Ended September 30, |  |
| 2023 |  | 2022 |  | 2023 |  | 2022 |  |  |  |
Net Revenue: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Financial Advisory (a) | $ | 266,048 |  |  | $ | 456,521 |  |  | $ | 896,099 |  |  | $ | 1,254,621 |  |  |  |  |
Asset Management: |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Management fees and other (b) | $ | 282,657 |  |  | $ | 277,202 |  |  | $ | 843,590 |  |  | $ | 872,351 |  |  |  |  |
Incentive fees (c) | 2,198 |  |  | 21,595 |  |  | 13,622 |  |  | 54,098 |  |  |  |  |
Total Asset Management | $ | 284,855 |  |  | $ | 298,797 |  |  | $ | 857,212 |  |  | $ | 926,449 |  |  |  |  |
___________________________________ (a)Financial Advisory is comprised of a wide array of financial advisory services regarding M&A advisory, capital markets advisory, shareholder advisory, restructuring and liability management, sovereign advisory, geopolitical advisory, and other strategic advisory and capital raising and placement work for clients. The benefits of these advisory services are generally transferred to the Company’s clients over time, and consideration for these advisory services typically includes transaction completion, transaction announcement and retainer fees. Retainer fees are generally fixed and recognized over the period in which the advisory services are performed. However, transaction announcement and transaction completion fees are variable and subject to constraints, and they are typically not recognized until there is an announcement date or a completion date, respectively, due to the uncertainty associated with those events. Therefore, in any given period, advisory fees recognized for certain transactions may relate to services performed in prior periods. The advisory fees that may be unrecognized as of the end of a reporting period, primarily comprised of fees associated with transaction announcements and transaction completions, generally remain unrecognized due to the uncertainty associated with those events. (b)Management fees and other is primarily comprised of management services. The benefits of these management services are transferred to the Company’s clients over time. Consideration for these management services generally includes management fees, which are based on assets under management and recognized over the period in which the management services are performed. The selling or distribution of fund interests is a separate performance obligation within management fees and other, and the benefits of such services are transferred to the Company’s clients at the point in time that such fund interests are sold or distributed. (c)Incentive fees is primarily comprised of management services. The benefits of these management services are transferred to the Company’s clients over time. Consideration for these management services is generally variable and includes performance or incentive fees. The fees allocated to these management services that are unrecognized as of the end of the reporting period are generally amounts that are subject to constraints due to the uncertainty associated with performance targets and clawbacks. In addition to the above, contracts with clients include trade-based commission income, which is recognized at the point in time of execution and presented within other revenue. Such income may be earned by providing trade facilitation, execution, clearance and settlement, custody, and trade administration services to clients. With regard to the disclosure requirement for remaining performance obligations, the Company elected the practical expedients permitted in the guidance to (i) exclude contracts with a duration of one year or less; and (ii) exclude variable consideration, such as transaction completion and transaction announcement fees, that is allocated entirely to unsatisfied performance obligations. Excluded variable consideration typically relates to contracts with a duration of one year or less, and is generally constrained due to uncertainties. Therefore, when applying the practical expedients, amounts related to remaining performance obligations are not material to the Company’s financial statements.
Receivables and Allowance for Credit Losses | The Company’s receivables represent fee receivables, amounts due from customers and other receivables. Where applicable, receivables are stated net of an estimated allowance for credit losses determined in accordance with the current expected credit losses (“CECL”) model, for general credit risk of the overall portfolio and for specific accounts deemed uncollectible, which may include situations where a fee is in dispute.
Fair Value Measurements | Fair Value Hierarchy of Investments and Certain Other Assets and Liabilities—Lazard categorizes its investments and certain other assets and liabilities recorded at fair value into a three-level fair value hierarchy as follows: Level 1. Assets and liabilities whose values are based on unadjusted quoted prices for identical assets or liabilities in an active market that Lazard has the ability to access. Level 2. Assets and liabilities whose values are based on (i) quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in an active market, or quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in non-active markets, or (ii) inputs other than quoted prices that are directly observable or derived principally from, or corroborated by, market data. Level 3. Assets and liabilities whose values are based on prices or valuation techniques that require inputs that are both unobservable and significant to the overall fair value measurement. These inputs reflect our own assumptions about the assumptions a market participant would use in pricing the asset or liability. Items included in Level 3 include securities or other financial assets whose trading volume and level of activity have significantly decreased when compared with normal market activity and there is no longer sufficient frequency or volume to provide pricing information on an ongoing basis. The fair value of debt is classified as Level 1 when the fair values are based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets, or Level 2 when based on one or more quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly. The fair value of equities is classified as Level 1 or Level 3 as follows: marketable equity securities are classified as Level 1 and are valued based on the last trade price on the primary exchange for that security as provided by external pricing services; equity interests in private companies are generally classified as Level 3. The fair value of investments in alternative investment funds, debt funds and equity funds is classified as Level 1 when the fair values are based on the publicly reported closing price for the fund, or Level 2 when based on one or more quoted prices in markets that are not active or for which all significant inputs are observable, either directly or indirectly. The fair value of investments in certain private equity funds is classified as Level 3 for (i) certain investments that are valued based on the potential transaction value and (ii) when the acquisition price is considered the best measure of fair value. The fair value of securities sold, not yet purchased, is classified as Level 1 when the fair values are based on unadjusted quoted prices in active markets. The fair value of the contingent consideration liability is classified as Level 3 and the fair value of the liability is remeasured at each reporting period. The inputs used to derive the fair value of the contingent consideration include the application of probabilities when assessing certain performance thresholds for the relevant periods. Any change in the fair value is recognized in “amortization and other acquisition-related costs” in the condensed consolidated statement of operations. Our business acquisitions may involve the potential payment of contingent consideration upon the achievement of certain performance thresholds. The contingent consideration liability is initially recorded at fair value of the contingent payments on the acquisition date and is included in “other liabilities” on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition. The fair value of derivatives entered into by the Company and classified as Level 1 is based on the listed market price of such instruments. The fair value of derivatives entered into by the Company and classified as Level 2 is based on the values of the related underlying assets, indices or reference rates as follows: the fair value of forward foreign currency exchange rate contracts is a function of the spot rate and the interest rate differential of the two currencies from the trade date to settlement date; the fair value of total return swaps is based on the change in fair value of the related underlying equity security, financial instrument or index and a specified notional holding; the fair value of interest rate swaps is based on the interest rate yield curve; and the fair value of derivative liabilities related to LFI and other similar deferred compensation arrangements is based on the value of the underlying investments, adjusted for forfeitures. See Note 6. Investments Measured at Net Asset Value (“NAV”)—As a practical expedient, the Company uses NAV or its equivalent to measure the fair value of certain investments. NAV is primarily determined based on information provided by external fund administrators. The Company’s investments valued at NAV as a practical expedient in (i) alternative investment funds, debt funds and equity funds are redeemable in the near term, and (ii) private equity funds are not redeemable in the near term as a result of redemption restrictions.
Derivatives | Derivative assets and liabilities, as well as the related cash collateral from the same counterparty, have been netted on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition where the Company has obtained an appropriate legal opinion with respect to the master netting agreement. Where such a legal opinion has not been either sought or obtained, amounts are not eligible for netting on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition, and those derivative assets and liabilities are shown separately in the table below. In addition to the cash collateral received and transferred that is presented on a net basis with derivative assets and liabilities, the Company receives and transfers additional securities and cash collateral. These amounts mitigate counterparty credit risk associated with the Company’s derivative instruments, but are not eligible for net presentation on the condensed consolidated statements of financial condition.
Employer Contributions to Pension Plans | Employer Contributions to Pension Plans—The Company’s funding policy for its U.S. and non-U.S. pension plans is to fund when required or when applicable upon an agreement with the plans’ trustees. Management also evaluates from time to time whether to make voluntary contributions to the plans.

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