Equity

Capital Stock

Two million shares of preferred stock, par value $1 per share, are authorized; none have been issued.

On February 2, 2018, the Board of Directors approved an increase in the dividends for 2018 to a quarterly rate of $0.50 per common share.



	Year Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Quarterly dividend rate	$	0.41	$	0.36	$	0.33
Annualized dividend rate	$	1.64	$	1.44	$	1.32
Dividends paid (in millions)	$	421	$	380	$	363

Stock Repurchases

On December 4, 2013, the Board of Directors approved a share repurchase program authorizing the purchase of 50 million shares, which was approximately 18% of the total shares of our outstanding common stock at that time.

Share repurchases were as follows:



(in millions, except average price)	Year Ended December 31,
	2017		2016		2015
Total number of shares purchased ¹	6.8		9.7		10.1
Average price paid per share ²	$	147.74	$	113.36	$	99.00
Total cash utilized ²	$	1,001	$	1,097	$	1,000


¹	2017 and 2016 includes shares received as part of our accelerated share repurchase agreements as described in more detail below.

In December of 2015, 0.3 million shares were repurchased for approximately $26 million, which settled in January of 2016. Excluding these 0.3 million shares, the average price paid per share was $98.98. Cash used for financing activities only reflects those shares which settled during the year ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 resulting in $1,001 million, $1,123 million and $974 million of cash used to repurchase shares, respectively.

Our purchased shares may be used for general corporate purposes, including the issuance of shares for stock compensation plans and to offset the dilutive effect of the exercise of employee stock options. As of December 31, 2017, 19 million shares remained available under our current share repurchase program. Our current share repurchase program has no expiration date and purchases under this program may be made from time to time on the open market and in private transactions, depending on market conditions.

Accelerated Share Repurchase Agreements

We entered into an accelerated share repurchase ("ASR") agreement with a financial institution on August 1, 2017 to initiate share repurchases aggregating $500 million. The ASR agreement was structured as an uncapped ASR agreement in which we paid $500 million and received an initial delivery of approximately 2.8 million shares, representing 85% of the $500 million at a price equal to the then market price of the Company. We completed the ASR agreement on October 31, 2017 and received an additional 0.5 million shares. We repurchased a total of 3.2 million shares under the ASR agreement for an average purchase price of $154.46 per share. The total number of shares repurchased under the ASR agreement is equal to $500 million divided by the volume weighted-average share price, less a discount. The repurchased shares are held in Treasury. The ASR agreement was executed under the current share repurchase program, approved on December 4, 2013.

Using a portion of the proceeds received from the sale of J.D. Power, we entered into an ASR agreement with a financial institution on September 7, 2016 to initiate share repurchases aggregating $750 million. The ASR agreement was structured as a capped ASR agreement in which we paid $750 million and received an initial delivery of approximately 4.4 million shares and an additional amount of 0.9 million shares during the month of September 2016, representing the minimum number of shares of our common stock to be repurchased based on a calculation using a specified capped price per share. We completed the ASR agreement on December 7, 2016 and received an additional 0.9 million shares, which settled on December 12, 2016. We repurchased a total of 6.1 million shares under the ASR agreement for an average purchase price of $122.18 per share. The total number of shares repurchased under the ASR agreement was based on the volume weighted-average share price, minus a discount, of our common stock over the term of the ASR agreement. The repurchased shares are held in Treasury. The ASR agreement was executed under the current share repurchase program, approved on December 4, 2013.

The ASR agreements were accounted for as two transactions: a stock purchase transaction and a forward stock purchase contract. The shares delivered under the ASR agreement resulted in a reduction of our outstanding shares used to determine our weighted average common shares outstanding for purposes of calculating basic and diluted earnings per share. The forward stock purchase contract was classified as an equity instrument.

Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests

The agreement with the minority partners that own 27% of our S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC joint venture contains redemption features whereby interests held by minority partners are redeemable either (i) at the option of the holder or (ii) upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within our control. Specifically, under the terms of the operating agreement of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, after December 31, 2017, CME Group and CME Group Index Services LLC ("CGIS") will have the right at any time to sell, and we are obligated to buy, at least 20% of their share in S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. In addition, in the event there is a change of control of the Company, for the 15 days following a change in control, CME Group and CGIS will have the right to put their interest to us at the then fair value of CME Group's and CGIS' minority interest.

If interests were to be redeemed under this agreement, we would generally be required to purchase the interest at fair value on the date of redemption. This interest is presented on the consolidated balance sheets outside of equity under the caption “Redeemable noncontrolling interest” with an initial value based on fair value for the portion attributable to the net assets we acquired, and based on our historical cost for the portion attributable to our S&P Index business. We adjust the redeemable noncontrolling interest each reporting period to its estimated redemption value, but never less than its initial fair value, considering a combination of an income and market valuation approach. Our income and market valuation approaches may incorporate Level 3 fair value measures for instances when observable inputs are not available, including assumptions related to expected future net cash flows, long-term growth rates, the timing and nature of tax attributes, and the redemption features. Any adjustments to the redemption value will impact retained income.

Noncontrolling interests that do not contain such redemption features are presented in equity.

Changes to redeemable noncontrolling interest during the year ended December 31, 2017 were as follows:



(in millions)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	1,080
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	127
Distributions to noncontrolling interest	(117		)
Redemption value adjustment	260
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	1,350

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss

The following table summarizes the changes in the components of accumulated other comprehensive loss for the year ended December 31, 2017:



(in millions)	Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment			Pension and Postretirement Benefit Plans ¹			Unrealized Gain (Loss) on Forward Exchange Contracts ²			Unrealized Loss on Investment			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Loss
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	(332	)	$	(443	)	$	2		—			$	(773	)
Other comprehensive income before reclassifications	93			30			9			(10		)	122
Reclassifications from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net earnings	—			11			(9		)	—			2
Net other comprehensive income	93			41			—			(10		)	124
Balance as of December 31, 2017	$	(239	)	$	(402	)	$	2		$	(10	)	$	(649	)


¹	See Note 7 — Employee Benefits for additional details of items reclassed from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net earnings.


²	See Note 6 — Derivative Instruments for additional details of items reclassed from accumulated other comprehensive loss to net earnings.

The net actuarial loss and prior service cost related to pension and other postretirement benefit plans included in other comprehensive income is net of a tax provision of $5 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.