Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Goodwill and Intangible Assets Disclosure [Abstract]

The following is a summary of the activity in the goodwill balance for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 (in millions):



Goodwill balance at January 1, 2016	$	12,079
Acquisitions	307
Foreign currency translation	(135		)
Other activity, net	40
Goodwill balance at December 31, 2016	12,291
Acquisitions	211
Divestitures	(344		)
Foreign currency translation	63
Other activity, net	(5		)
Goodwill balance at December 31, 2017	$	12,216

The following is a summary of the activity in the other intangible assets balance for the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016 (in millions):



Other intangible assets balance at January 1, 2016	$	10,758
Acquisitions	180
Foreign currency translation	(155		)
Creditex customer relationship intangible asset impairment	(33		)
Amortization of other intangible assets	(323		)
Other activity, net	(7		)
Other intangible assets balance at December 31, 2016	10,420
Acquisitions	274
Divestitures	(216		)
Foreign currency translation	69
Amortization of other intangible assets	(272		)
Other activity, net	(6		)
Other intangible assets balance at December 31, 2017	$	10,269

We completed the acquisitions of NGX, Shorcan Energy, the BofAML indices, TMX Atrium and NYSE National and sold Trayport, NYSE Governance Services and IDMS during the year ended December 31, 2017 and completed the acquisitions of Securities Evaluations and Credit Market Analysis during the year ended December 31, 2016 (Note 3). The changes in other activity, net in the tables above primarily relate to adjustments to the fair value of the net tangible and identifiable intangible assets and liabilities relating to the acquisitions, with a corresponding adjustment to goodwill.

The foreign currency translation adjustments in the tables above resulted from a portion of our goodwill and other intangible assets being held at our U.K., EU and Canadian subsidiaries, some of whose functional currencies are not the U.S. dollar. The foreign currency translation decrease for the year ended December 31, 2016 is primarily due to certain of our goodwill and intangible assets being recorded in pound sterling, which decreased in value due to the weakening pound sterling exchange rate following the U.K. referendum vote in June 2016 to leave the EU.

In 2016, we sold certain of Creditex’s U.S. voice brokerage operations to Tullett Prebon and we discontinued Creditex’s U.K. voice brokerage operations. We continue to operate Creditex’s electronically traded markets and systems, post-trade connectivity platforms and intellectual property. Based on an analysis of these factors, it was determined that the carrying value of the Creditex customer relationship intangible asset was not fully recoverable and an impairment of the asset was recorded in September 2016 for $33 million based on a discounted cash flow calculation. The impairment was recorded as amortization expense within our Trading and Clearing segment in the accompanying consolidated statement of income for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Other intangible assets and the related accumulated amortization consisted of the following as of December 31, 2017 and 2016 (in millions, except years):



	As of December 31,						Useful Life (Years)
	2017			2016			Useful Life (Years)
Customer relationships	$	3,923		$	4,063		3 to 25
Technology	461			438			2.5 to 11
Trading products with finite lives	237			237			20
Russell licensing rights	—			184			10
Data/databases	150			145			4 to 10
Market data provider relationships	11			11			20
Non-compete agreements	38			38			1 to 5
Other	33			31			1 to 5
	4,853			5,147
Less accumulated amortization	(1,200		)	(1,220		)
Total finite-lived intangible assets, net	3,653			3,927
Exchange registrations, licenses and contracts with indefinite lives	6,243			6,083
Trade names and trademarks with indefinite lives	280			294
In-process research and development	85			108
Other	8			8
Total indefinite-lived intangible assets	6,616			6,493
Total other intangible assets, net	$	10,269		$	10,420

We previously held an exclusive license arrangement to list futures and options contracts on the Russell indexes, including the Russell 2000®, Russell 1000® and other related indexes. That license terminated during 2017 and the related intangible asset for Russell licensing rights was fully amortized.

For the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, amortization of other intangible assets was $272 million, $323 million and $160 million, respectively. Collectively, the remaining weighted average useful lives of the finite-lived intangible assets is 19.1 years as of December 31, 2017. We expect future amortization expense from the finite-lived intangible assets as of December 31, 2017 to be as follows (in millions):



2018	$	260
2019	254
2020	216
2021	205
2022	200
Thereafter	2,518
	$	3,653

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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