Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees

Commitments, Contingencies and Guarantees

Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, the nature of the Company’s business subjects it to claims, lawsuits, regulatory examinations or investigations and other proceedings. The Company and its subsidiaries are subject to several of these matters at the present time.  Given the inherent difficulty of predicting the outcome of litigation and regulatory matters, particularly in regulatory examinations or investigations or other proceedings in which substantial or indeterminate judgments, settlements, disgorgements, restitution, penalties, injunctions, damages or fines are sought, or where such matters are in the early stages, the Company cannot estimate losses or ranges of losses for such matters where there is only a reasonable possibility that a loss may be incurred. In addition, there are numerous factors that result in a greater degree of complexity in class-action lawsuits as compared to other types of litigation. There can be no assurance that these legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations in any future period, and a material judgment, fine or sanction could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations and cash flows. However, it is the opinion of management, after consultation with legal counsel that, based on information currently available, the ultimate outcome of these matters will not have a material adverse impact on the business, financial condition or operating results of the Company, although they might be material to the operating results for any particular reporting period. The Company carries directors’ and officers’ liability insurance coverage and other insurance coverage for potential claims, including securities actions, against the Company and its respective directors and officers.

In connection with the Acquisition of KCG, a previously filed complaint, which was initially captioned Greenway v. KCG Holdings, Inc., et al., Case No. 2017-421-JTL and filed on behalf of a putative class in Delaware Chancery Court, was recaptioned Chester County Employees’ Retirement Fund v. KCG Holdings, Inc., et al., amended and refiled on February 14, 2018 to include claims for the alleged breach of fiduciary duties against former KCG board members, claims against each of the Company and Jefferies LLC for allegedly aiding and abetting the KCG board members’ alleged breaches of fiduciary duty and a claim against the Company and Jefferies LLC for alleged civil conspiracy. The amended complaint was again amended on July 16, 2018 with the filing of the Verified Second Amended Class Action Complaint (the “Second Amended Complaint”) to include additional factual allegations. In October 2019, the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the matter. The agreement is subject to customary conditions including execution of definitive settlement documentation and final court approval. The proposed settlement contains no admission of any liability or wrongdoing on the part of the defendants, each of whom continues to deny all of the allegations against them and believes that the claims are without merit. Though the Company believes the likelihood of approval of the settlement is probable, we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of the litigation, and if an agreement is not reached or the settlement is not finally approved by the Court, we believe that we have meritorious defenses to the claims in the operative complaint.

On January 29, 2019, the Company was named as a defendant in Ford v. ProShares Trust II, et al., No. 19-cv-886. The complaint was filed in federal district court in New York on behalf of a putative class, and asserts claims against the Company and numerous other financial institutions under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933 in connection with trading in a ProShares inverse-volatility ETF. Additionally, on February 27, 2019, and March 1, 2019, the Company was named as a defendant in Bittner v. ProShares Trust II, et al., No. 19-cv-1840, and Mareno v. ProShares Trust II, et al., No. 19-cv-1955, respectively. The complaints were filed in federal district court in New York on behalf of putative classes, and asserted substantially similar claims against the Company and other financial institutions. On April 29, 2019, these three actions were consolidated in federal district court in New York as In re ProShares Trust II Securities Litigation, No. 19-cv-886-DLC. A consolidated amended complaint, which did not specify the amount of alleged damages, was filed in the consolidated action on June 21, 2019. Defendants moved to dismiss the consolidated amended complaint on August 2, 2019. In response, plaintiffs filed a consolidated second amended complaint on September 6, 2019, which complaint also does not specify the amount of alleged damages. Defendants moved to dismiss the consolidated second amended complaint on September 27, 2019. The defendants’ motion to dismiss was granted on January 3, 2020, and plaintiffs subsequently filed a Notice of Appeal of the district court's ruling on the motion to dismiss on January 31, 2020. The Company believes that the claims are without merit and is defending itself vigorously.

As a result of the ITG Acquisition, the Company assumed potential liabilities relating to ITG’s business, including but not limited to those potential liabilities arising from or related to pending, threatened or potential litigation or regulatory matters. These matters include but not are not necessarily limited to a Statement of Claim filed on July 27, 2018 by a former employee of ITG requesting a FINRA arbitration. The former ITG employee alleged that ITG breached the non-disparagement clause in his July 2011 separation agreement and tortiously interfered with his business relations. On June 26, 2019, the former employee informed the Company that he was seeking damages of approximately $65 million (exclusive of claims for pre-judgment interest, punitive damages, costs and fees). In an award dated October 24, 2019, the FINRA arbitration panel awarded the claimant $3 million in compensatory damages, and ordered the Company to pay additional fees and expenses which totaled

an additional amount of approximately $3 million. The Company has paid all such amounts due to the claimant in full and final satisfaction of the award. The Company is vigorously seeking the reimbursement of a portion of the award from an insurance carrier.

Other Legal and Regulatory Matters

The Company owns subsidiaries including regulated entities that are subject to extensive oversight under federal, state and applicable international laws as well as self-regulatory organization (“SRO”) rules. Changes in market structure and the need to remain competitive require constant changes to the Company's systems, order routing and order handling procedures. The Company makes these changes while continuously endeavoring to comply with many complex laws and rules. Compliance, surveillance and trading issues common in the securities industry are monitored by, reported to, and/or reviewed in the ordinary course of business by the Company's regulators in the U.S. and abroad. As a major order flow execution destination, the Company is named from time to time in, or is asked to respond to a number of regulatory matters brought by U.S. regulators, foreign regulators, SROs, as well as actions brought by private plaintiffs, which arise from its business activities. There has recently been an increased focus by regulators on Anti-Money Laundering and sanctions compliance by broker-dealers and similar entities, as well as an enhanced interest on suspicious activity reporting and transactions involving microcap and low-priced securities. In addition, there has been an increased focus by Congress, federal and state regulators, SROs and the media on market structure issues, and in particular, high frequency trading, best execution, internalization, alternative trading system (“ATS”) manner of operations, market fragmentation and complexity, colocation, cybersecurity, access to market data feeds and remuneration arrangements, such as payment for order flow and exchange fee structures. From time to time, the Company is the subject of requests for information and documents from the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and other regulators. It is the Company's practice to cooperate and comply with the requests for information and documents.

The Company is currently the subject of various regulatory reviews and investigations by federal and foreign regulators and SROs, including the SEC and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. In some instances, these matters may result in a disciplinary action and/or a civil or administrative action. For example, in December 2015, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (“AMF”) fined the Company’s European subsidiary in the amount of €5.0 million (approximately $5.4 million) based on its allegations that the subsidiary of a predecessor entity engaged in price manipulation and violations of the AMF General Regulation and Euronext Market Rules. The fine was subsequently reduced in 2017 to €3.3 million (approximately $3.9 million) and in 2018 was reduced to €3.0 million (approximately $3.4 million). The Company has fully reserved for the monetary penalty as of December 31, 2019 and anticipates paying the fine during the year ended December 31, 2020.

Representations and Warranties; Indemnification Arrangements

In the normal course of its operations, the Company enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties in addition to indemnification obligations. The Company's maximum exposure under these arrangements is currently unknown, as any such exposure could relate to claims not yet brought or events which have not yet occurred. For example, in November 2013, KCG sold Urban Financial of America, LLC (“Urban”), the reverse mortgage origination and securitization business previously owned by Knight Capital Group, Inc., to an investor group now known as Finance of America Reverse, LLC (“FAR”). Pursuant to the terms of the Stock Purchase Agreement between KCG and FAR, Virtu has certain continuing obligations related to KCG's prior ownership of Urban and has been and, in the future may be, advised by FAR of potential claims thereunder.

Consistent with standard business practices in the normal course of business, the Company enters into contracts that contain a variety of representations and warranties and general indemnifications. The Company has also provided general indemnifications to its managers, officers, directors, employees, and agents against expenses, legal fees, judgments, fines, settlements, and other amounts actually and reasonably incurred by such persons under certain circumstances as more fully disclosed in its operating agreement. The overall maximum amount of the obligations (if any) cannot reasonably be estimated as it will depend on the facts and circumstances that give rise to any future claims.