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Organization and Basis of Presentation (Policies)
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Business Overview
Business Overview
BGC Partners, Inc. is a leading global financial brokerage and technology company servicing the global financial markets. Through brands including BGC®, Fenics®, GFI®, Sunrise Brokers™, Poten & Partners®, and RP Martin®, among others, the Company’s businesses specialize in the brokerage of a broad range of products, including fixed income such as government bonds, corporate bonds, and other debt instruments, as well as related interest rate derivatives and credit derivatives. Additionally, the Company provides brokerage products across FX, Equities, Energy and Commodities, Shipping, and Futures and Options. The Company’s businesses also provide a wide variety of services, including trade execution, connectivity solutions, brokerage services, clearing, trade compression, and other post-trade services, information, and other back-office services to a broad assortment of financial and non-financial institutions.
BGC Partners’ integrated platform is designed to provide flexibility to customers with regard to price discovery, execution and processing of transactions, and enables them to use the Company’s Voice, Hybrid, or, in many markets, Fully Electronic brokerage services in connection with transactions executed either OTC or through an exchange. Through the Company’s Fenics® group of electronic brands, BGC Partners offers a number of market infrastructure and connectivity services, including the Company’s Fully Electronic marketplaces, and the Fully Electronic brokerage of certain products that also may trade via the Company’s Voice and Hybrid execution platforms. The full suite of Fenics® offerings includes the Company’s Fully Electronic and Hybrid brokerage, market data and related information services, trade compression and other post-trade services, analytics related to financial instruments and markets, and other financial technology solutions. Fenics® brands also operate under the names Fenics®, FMX™, FMX Futures Exchange™, Fenics Markets Xchange™, Fenics Futures Exchange™, Fenics UST™, Fenics FX™, Fenics Repo™, Fenics Direct™, Fenics MID™, Fenics Market Data™, Fenics GO™, Fenics PortfolioMatch™, kACE2®, and Lucera®.
BGC, BGC Partners, BGC Trader, GFI, GFI Ginga, CreditMatch, Fenics, Fenics.com, FMX, Sunrise Brokers, Poten & Partners, RP Martin, kACE2, Capitalab, Swaptioniser, CBID, and Lucera are trademarks/service marks, and/or registered trademarks/service marks of BGC Partners, Inc. and/or its affiliates.
The Company’s customers include many of the world’s largest banks, broker-dealers, investment banks, trading firms, hedge funds, governments, corporations, and investment firms. BGC Partners has dozens of offices globally in major markets including New York and London, as well as in Bahrain, Beijing, Bogotá, Brisbane, Cape Town, Chicago, Copenhagen, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, Houston, Johannesburg, Madrid, Manila, Melbourne, Mexico City, Miami, Milan, Monaco, Nyon, Paris, Perth, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, Toronto, Wellington, and Zurich.
Basis of Presentation Basis of PresentationThe Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the SEC and in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Accordingly, they do not include all information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for annual financial statements, as such, the information in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the audited Consolidated Financial Statements and notes thereto included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022.
Consolidation The Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the Company’s accounts and all subsidiaries in which the Company has a controlling interest. Intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassification Certain reclassifications have been made to previously reported amounts to conform to the current presentation.
During the second quarter of 2022, the Company combined “Realized losses (gains) on marketable securities,” “Unrealized losses (gains) on marketable securities,” and “Losses (gains) on other investments” on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows into “Losses (gains) on marketable securities and other investments.” The recognition of gains and losses related to these investments are similar in nature and immaterial to the financial statements in the three month periods ending March 31, 2023 and 2022.
During the third quarter of 2022, the Company renamed “Securities owned” as “Financial instruments owned, at fair value” and combined it with “Marketable securities” on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. In addition, “Losses (gains) on marketable securities and other investments” was renamed as “Unrealized/realized losses (gains) on financial instruments owned, at fair value and other investments” on the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.
The unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements contain all normal and recurring adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary for a fair presentation of the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition, the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements
of Comprehensive Income (Loss), the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and the unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Changes in Equity of the Company for the periods presented.
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
Recently Adopted Accounting Pronouncements
In August 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-06, Debt—Debt with Conversion and Other Options (Subtopic 470-20) and Derivatives and Hedging—Contracts in Entity’s Own Equity (Subtopic 815-40): Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity. The standard is expected to reduce complexity and improve comparability of financial reporting associated with accounting for convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. The ASU also enhances information transparency by making targeted improvements to the related disclosures guidance. Additionally, the amendments affect the diluted EPS calculation for instruments that may be settled in cash or shares and for convertible instruments. BGC adopted the standard on the required effective date beginning January 1, 2022, and it was applied using a modified retrospective method of transition. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. The guidance is designed to provide relief from the accounting analysis and impacts that may otherwise be required for modifications to agreements (e.g., loans, debt securities, derivatives, and borrowings) necessitated by reference rate reform as entities transition away from LIBOR and other interbank offered rates to alternative reference rates. This ASU also provides optional expedients to enable companies to continue to apply hedge accounting to certain hedging relationships impacted by reference rate reform. Application of the guidance is optional and only available in certain situations. The ASU is effective upon issuance and generally can be applied through December 31, 2022. In January 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-01, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Scope. The amendments in this standard are elective and principally apply to entities that have derivative instruments that use an interest rate for margining, discounting, or contract price alignment that is modified as a result of reference rate reform (referred to as the “discounting transition”). The standard expands the scope of ASC 848, Reference Rate Reform and allows entities to elect optional expedients to derivative contracts impacted by the discounting transition. Similar to ASU No. 2020-04, provisions of this ASU are effective upon issuance and generally can be applied through December 31, 2022. During the first quarter of 2022, the Company elected to apply the practical expedients to modifications of qualifying contracts as continuation of the existing contract rather than as a new contract. The adoption of the new guidance did not have an impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In November 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-10, Government Assistance (Topic 832): Disclosures by Business Entities about Government Assistance. The standard requires business entities to make annual disclosures about transactions with a government they account for by analogizing to a grant or contribution accounting model. The guidance is aimed at increasing transparency about government assistance transactions that are not in the scope of other U.S. GAAP guidance. The ASU requires disclosure of the nature and significant terms and considerations of the transactions, the accounting policies used and the effects of those transactions on an entity’s financial statements. The new standard became effective for the Company’s financial statements issued for annual reporting periods beginning on January 1, 2022, and it will be applied prospectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In October 2021, the FASB issued ASU No. 2021-08, Business Combinations (Topic 805): Accounting for Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities from Contracts with Customers. The standard improves the accounting for acquired revenue contracts with customers in a business combination by addressing diversity in practice and inconsistency related to the recognition of an acquired contract liability, as well as payment terms and their effect on subsequent revenue recognized by the acquirer. The ASU requires companies to apply guidance in ASC 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers, to recognize and measure contract assets and contract liabilities from contracts with customers acquired in a business combination, and, thus, creates an exception to the general recognition and measurement principle in ASC 805, Business Combinations. BGC adopted the standard on the required effective date beginning January 1, 2023 using a prospective transition method for business combinations occurring on or after the effective date. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In March 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-02, Financial Instruments—Credit Losses (Topic 326): Troubled Debt Restructurings and Vintage Disclosures. The guidance is intended to improve the decision usefulness of information provided to investors about certain loan refinancings, restructurings, and write-offs. The standard eliminates the recognition and
measurement guidance on TDRs for creditors that have adopted ASC 326, Financial Instruments — Credit Losses and requires them to make enhanced disclosures about loan modifications for borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. The new guidance also requires public business entities to present current-period gross write-offs (on a current year-to-date basis for interim-period disclosures) by year of origination in their vintage disclosures. BGC adopted the standard on the required effective date beginning January 1, 2023. The guidance for recognition and measurement of TDRs was applied using a prospective transition method, and the amendments related to disclosures will be applied prospectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In September 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-04, Liabilities—Supplier Finance Programs (Subtopic 405-50): Debt Restructurings Disclosure of Supplier Finance Program Obligations. The guidance requires entities to disclose the key terms of supplier finance programs they use in connection with the purchase of goods and services along with information about their obligations under these programs, including a rollforward of those obligations. BGC adopted the standard on the required effective date beginning on January 1, 2023, except for the rollforward requirement, which is effective for the Company beginning on January 1, 2024. The guidance was adopted using a retrospective application to all periods in which a balance sheet is presented, and the rollforward disclosure requirement, when effective, will be applied prospectively. The adoption of this guidance did not have a material impact on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
New Accounting Pronouncements
New Accounting Pronouncements
In December 2022, the FASB issued ASU No. 2022-06, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Deferral of the Sunset Date of Topic 848. ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting provided optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial reporting. The ASU was effective upon issuance and generally could be applied through December 31, 2022. Because the current relief in ASC 848, Reference Rate Reform may not cover a period of time during which a significant number of modifications may take place, the amendments in ASU No. 2022-06 defer the sunset date from December 31, 2022 to December 31, 2024, after which entities will no longer be permitted to apply the relief in ASC 848. The ASU is effective upon issuance. Management is currently evaluating the impact of the new standard on the Company’s unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.