Revenue Recognition (Notes)

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Revenue Recognition, Deferred Revenue [Policy Text Block]

Revenue Recognition

The company generates revenue from customers from the following sources:

Clearing and transaction fees. Clearing and transaction fees include electronic trading fees and brokerage commissions, surcharges for privately-negotiated transactions, portfolio reconciliation and compression services, risk mitigation and other volume-related charges for trade contracts. Clearing and transaction fees are assessed upfront at the time of trade execution. As such, the company recognizes the majority of the fee revenue upon successful execution of the trade. The minimal remaining portion of the fee revenue related to settlement activities performed after trade execution is recognized over the short-term period that the contract is outstanding, based on management’s estimates of the average contract lifecycle. These estimates are based on various assumptions to approximate the amount of fee revenue to be attributed to services performed through contract settlement, expiration, or termination. For cleared trades, these assumptions include the average number of days that a contract remains in open interest, contract turnover, average revenue per day, and revenue remaining in open interest at the end of each period.

The nature of contracts gives rise to several types of variable consideration, including volume-based pricing tiers, customer incentives associated with market maker programs and other fee discounts. The company includes fee discounts and incentives in the estimated transaction price when there is a basis to reasonably estimate the amount of the fee reduction. These estimates are based on historical experience, anticipated performance, and best judgment at the time. Because of the company's certainty in estimating these amounts, they are included in the transaction price of contracts.

Market data and information services. Market data and information services represent revenue from the dissemination of market data to subscribers, distributors, and other third-party licensees of market data. Pricing for market data is primarily based on the number of reportable devices used as well as the number of subscribers enrolled under the arrangement. Fees for these services are generally billed monthly. Market data services are satisfied over time and revenue is recognized on a monthly basis as the customers receive and consume the benefit of the market data services. However, the company also maintains certain annual license arrangements with one-time upfront fees. The fees for annual licenses are initially recorded as a contract liability and recognized as revenue monthly over the term of the annual period.

Other. Other revenues include certain access and communication fees, fees for collateral management and fees for trade order routing through agreements from various strategic relationships. Access and communication fees are charges to customers that utilize various telecommunications networks and communications services. Fees for these services are generally billed monthly and the associated fee revenue is recognized as billed. Collateral management fees are charged to clearing firms that have collateral on deposit with the clearing house to meet their minimum performance bond and guaranty fund obligations on the exchange. These fees are calculated based on daily collateral balances and are billed monthly. This fee revenue is recognized monthly as billed as the customers receive and consume the benefits of the services. Pricing for strategic relationships may be driven by customer levels and activity. There are fee arrangements which provide for monthly as well as quarterly payments in arrears. Revenue is recognized monthly for strategic relationship arrangements as the customers receive and consume the benefits of the services.

The following table represents a disaggregation of revenue from contracts with customers by product line for the quarters and six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019:


	Quarter Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
(in millions)	2020		2019		2020		2019
Interest rates	$	221.4	$	347.4	$	639.7	$	650.2
Equity indexes	201.3		148.1		449.5		294.0
Foreign exchange	35.9		39.3		84.1		80.5
Agricultural commodities	108.7		141.5		226.4		246.5
Energy	194.0		179.3		415.8		344.3
Metals	49.6		58.1		128.4		109.1
Cash markets business	112.4		120.7		236.8		243.6
Interest rate swap	16.9		17.4		38.3		36.2
Total clearing and transaction fees	940.2		1,051.8		2,219.0		2,004.4
Market data and information services	134.7		128.3		266.2		258.4
Other	107.4		92.6		219.2		189.5
Total revenues	$	1,182.3	$	1,272.7	$	2,704.4	$	2,452.3

Timing of Revenue Recognition
Services transferred at a point in time	$	881.3	$	988.1	$	2,092.5	$	1,881.0
Services transferred over time	298.8		281.9		606.3		559.6
One-time charges and miscellaneous revenues	2.2		2.7		5.6		11.7
Total revenues	$	1,182.3	$	1,272.7	$	2,704.4	$	2,452.3

The timing of revenue recognition, billings and cash collections results in billed accounts receivable, and customer advances and deposits (contract liabilities) on the consolidated balance sheets. Certain fees for transactions, annual licenses, and other revenue arrangements are billed upfront before revenue is recognized, which results in the recognition of contract liabilities. These liabilities are recognized on the consolidated balance sheets on a contract-by-contract basis at the end of each reporting period. For annual licenses and upfront fee arrangements, the company generally bills customers upon contract execution. These payments are recognized as revenue over time as the obligations under the contracts are satisfied. Changes in the contract liability balances during the six months ended June 30, 2020 were not materially impacted by any other factors. The balance of contract liabilities was $61.1 million and $42.6 million as of June 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively.