FORM 10-K/A
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
Form 10-K/A
Amendment No. 1
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2008
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
For the transition period from to
Commission file number: 0-49992
TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Delaware
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82-0543156 |
(State or other jurisdiction of
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(I.R.S. Employer |
incorporation or organization)
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Identification Number) |
4211 South 102nd Street,
Omaha, Nebraska 68127
(Address of principal executive offices and zip code)
(402) 331-7856
(Registrants telephone number, including area code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
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Title of each class
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Name of each exchange on which registered |
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Common Stock $0.01 par value
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The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Title of class
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule
405 of the Securities Act. Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section
13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes o No þ
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed
by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or
for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been
subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes þ No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation
S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in
definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K
or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its
corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted
pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period
that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o No o
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer,
a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company.
See the definitions of large
accelerated filer, accelerated filer and smaller reporting company in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):
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Large accelerated filer þ
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Accelerated filer o
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Non-accelerated filer o
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Smaller reporting company o |
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(Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
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Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of
the Act). Yes o No þ
The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was
approximately $3.7 billion computed by reference to the closing sale price of the stock on the
Nasdaq Global Select Market on March 31, 2008, the last trading day of the registrants most
recently completed second fiscal quarter.
The number of shares of common stock outstanding as of November 14, 2008 was 591,748,475
shares.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Definitive Proxy Statement relating to the registrants 2009 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed hereafter (incorporated into Part III hereof).
Explanatory Note
This Amendment is being filed to include additional disclosure under Part I, Item 1 Business
and Item 1A Risk Factors in response to comments received from the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Except for Item 1 and Item 1A of Part I, no other information included in the original
report on Form 10-K is amended by this Form 10-K/A.
2
Unless otherwise indicated, references to we, us, Company, or TD AMERITRADE mean TD
AMERITRADE Holding Corporation and its subsidiaries, and references to fiscal mean the Companys
fiscal year ended September 30 (for fiscal years 2008 and 2007) or the last Friday of September
(for fiscal years prior to 2007). References to the parent company mean TD AMERITRADE Holding
Corporation.
PART I
Item 1. Business
Form of Organization
The Company was established in 1971 as a local investment banking firm and began operations as
a retail discount securities brokerage firm in 1975. The Company is a Delaware corporation.
Mission Statement
In the U.S., we want to be...
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The investment firm of choice for the typical family. |
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One of the best-run companies. |
Operations
We are a leading provider of securities brokerage services and technology-based financial
services to retail investors and business partners, predominantly through the Internet, a national
branch network and relationships with one of the largest groups of independent registered
investment advisors (RIAs). Our services appeal to a broad market of independent, value-conscious
retail investors, traders, financial planners and institutions. We use our efficient platform to
offer brokerage services to retail investors and institutions under a simple, low-cost commission
structure.
We have been an innovator in electronic brokerage services since entering the retail
securities brokerage business in 1975. We believe that we were the first brokerage firm to offer
the following products and services to retail clients: touch-tone trading; trading over the
Internet; unlimited, streaming, free real-time quotes; extended trading hours; direct access; and
commitment on the speed of order execution. Since initiating online trading, we have substantially
increased our number of brokerage accounts, average daily trading volume and total assets in client
accounts. We have also built, and continue to invest in, a proprietary trade processing platform
that is both cost-efficient and highly scalable, significantly lowering our operating costs per
trade. In addition, we have made significant and effective investments in building the TD
AMERITRADE brand.
Strategy
We intend to capitalize on the growth and consolidation of the retail brokerage industry in
the United States and leverage our low-cost infrastructure to grow our market share and
profitability. Our long-term growth strategy is to increase our market share of client assets by
providing superior offerings to long-term investors, RIAs, and active traders. We strive to
enhance the client experience by providing sophisticated asset management products and services,
enhanced technological capabilities that enable self-directed investors to trade and invest in new
asset classes and a superior, proprietary, single-platform system to support RIAs. The key elements
of our strategy are as follows:
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Focus on retail brokerage services. We plan to focus on attracting active traders,
long-term investors and RIAs to our retail brokerage services. This focused strategy is
designed to enable us to maintain our low operating cost structure while offering our
clients outstanding products and services. |
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Provide a comprehensive long-term investor solution. We continue to expand our suite of
diversified investment products and services to best serve investors needs. We help clients
make investment decisions by providing simple-to-use investment tools and objective
research, guidance and education. |
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Maintain industry leadership and market share with active traders. We help traders make
better-informed investment decisions by offering fast access to markets, insight into market
trends and innovative tools such as strategy back-testing and comprehensive options research
and trading capabilities. |
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Continue to be a leader in the RIA industry. We provide RIAs with comprehensive
brokerage and custody services supported by our robust integrated technology platform,
customized personal service and practice management solutions. |
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Leverage our infrastructure to add incremental revenue. Through our proprietary
technology, we are able to provide a very robust online experience for long-term investors
and active traders. Our low-cost, scalable platform provides speed, reliability and quality
trade execution services for clients. The scalable capacity of our trading system allows us
to add a significant number of transactions while incurring minimal additional fixed costs. |
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Continue to be a low-cost provider of quality services. Our operating expense per trade
is among the lowest of any of our publicly-traded competitors. We intend to continue to
lower our operating costs per trade by creating economies of scale, utilizing our
single-platform proprietary system, continuing to automate processes and locating much of
our operations in low-cost geographical areas. This low fixed-cost infrastructure provides
us with significant financial flexibility. |
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Continue to differentiate our offerings through innovative technologies and service
enhancements. We have been an innovator in our industry over our 30-year history. We
continually strive to provide our clients with the ability to customize their trading
experience. We provide our clients greater choice by tailoring our features and
functionality to meet their specific needs. |
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Leverage the TD AMERITRADE brand. We believe that we have a superior brand identity and
that our advertising has established TD AMERITRADE as a leading brand in the retail
brokerage market. |
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Continue to aggressively pursue growth through acquisitions. When evaluating potential
acquisitions, we look for transactions that will give us operational leverage, technological
leverage, increased market share or other strategic opportunities. |
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On February 4, 2008, we purchased a portion of Fiserv, Inc.s (Fiserv) investment support
services business by acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Fiserv Trust Company, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiserv. The acquisition added approximately $25 billion in client
assets to TD AMERITRADE, including $15 billion held in more than 75,000 accounts managed by
approximately 500 independent RIAs and $10 billion held in more than 2,000 plans administered
by 80 independent third party administrators (TPAs). This acquisition is discussed in further
detail in the Companys Form 10-K Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplementary Data Notes
to Consolidated Financial Statements: Note 2 Business Combinations. |
On January 24, 2006, we acquired the U.S. brokerage business of TD Waterhouse Group, Inc.
(TD Waterhouse) from The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD). The transaction combined highly
complementary franchises to create a retail broker with the scale, breadth and financial
strength to be a leading player in the increasingly competitive and consolidating investor
services industry. The acquisition of TD Waterhouse provided us with a national network of
over 100 branches, as well as relationships with one of the largest groups of independent
RIAs. We also now provide our clients with a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
(FDIC)-insured money market sweep alternative for their cash through an arrangement with TD
Bank USA, N.A. This acquisition is discussed in further detail under the heading Acquisition
of TD Waterhouse in the Companys Form 10-K Item 7, Managements Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
Client Offerings
We deliver products and services aimed at providing a comprehensive, personalized experience
for active traders, long-term investors and independent RIAs. Our client offerings are described
below:
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TD AMERITRADE® is our core offering for self-directed retail investors. We offer
sophisticated tools and services, including Streamer Suite,TM TD AMERITRADE
command center, SnapTicket,TM Trade Triggers,TM QuoteScope,TM
Advanced Analyzer,TM Market Motion Detector, Pattern Matcher,TM
StrategyDeskTM and WealthRuler.TM We offer Ameritrade
ApexTM for clients who place an average of five trades per month over a
three-month period or have a $100,000 total account value. Apex clients receive free access
to services that are normally available on a subscription basis and access to exclusive
services and content. |
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TD AMERITRADE Institutional is a leading provider of comprehensive brokerage and custody
services to more than 4,000 independent RIAs and their clients. Our advanced technology
platform, coupled with personal support from our dedicated service teams, allows RIAs to run
their practices more effectively and efficiently while optimizing time with clients.
Additionally, TD AMERITRADE Institutional provides a robust offering of products, programs
and services. These services are all designed to help advisors build their businesses while
helping their clients reach their financial goals. |
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TD AMERITRADE Izone serves self-directed traders who are willing to forgo traditional
support and service in favor of a purely electronic brokerage experience and lower
commissions. |
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AmerivestTM is an online advisory service that develops a portfolio of
exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to help long-term investors pursue their financial goals. Our
subsidiary, Amerivest Investment Management, LLC, recommends an investment portfolio based
on our proprietary automated five-step process centered on an investors goals and risk
tolerance. |
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TDX Independence ETFs were launched in October 2007. Our subsidiary, Amerivest Investment
Management, LLC, is a sub-advisor to XShares Advisors LLC for TDX Independence Funds, Inc.
TDX Independence Funds, Inc. is an investment company that provides diversified goal-based
investing options through five lifecycle ETFs. The target-date funds begin by focusing on
asset growth through a higher weighting of stocks, shifting to capital preservation over
time through historically less risky allocations, thus creating what we believe to be the
first lifecycle ETFs. These ETFs seek to replicate certain lifecycle indexes created by
Zacks Investment Research. |
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TD AMERITRADE Corporate Services provides self-directed brokerage services to employees
and executives of corporations, either directly in partnership with the employer or through
joint marketing relationships with third-party administrators, such as 401(k) providers and
employee benefit consultants. |
Products and Services
We strive to provide the best value of retail brokerage services to our clients. The products
and services available to our clients include:
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Common and preferred stock. Clients can purchase common and preferred stocks and
American Depository Receipts traded on any United States exchange or quotation system. |
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Exchange-Traded Funds. ETFs are baskets of securities (stocks or bonds) that typically
track recognized indices. They are similar to mutual funds, except they trade the same way
that a stock trades, on a stock exchange. We have launched an online resource dedicated to
ETFs, offering tools, education and information for active and long-term investors seeking
alternatives for pursuing their investment strategies. |
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Option trades. We offer a full range of option trades, including spreads, straddles and
strangles. All option trades, including complex trades, are accessible on our trading
platform. |
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Mutual funds. Clients can compare and select from a portfolio of over 13,000 mutual
funds from leading fund families, including a broad range of no-transaction-fee (NTF) funds.
Clients can also easily exchange funds within the same mutual fund family. |
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Fixed income. We offer our clients access to a variety of Treasury, corporate,
government agency and municipal bonds, as well as mortgage-backed securities and
certificates of deposit. |
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Margin lending. We extend credit to clients that maintain margin accounts. |
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Cash management services. Through third-party banking relationships, we offer money
market deposit accounts and money market mutual funds to our clients as cash sweep
alternatives. We also offer checking and ATM services through these relationships. |
We earn commissions and transaction fees on client trades in common and preferred stock, ETFs,
options, mutual funds and fixed income securities. Margin lending and the related securities
lending business generate net interest revenue. Cash management services and fee-based mutual
funds generate money market deposit account fees and investment product fee revenues. The
following table presents the percentage of net revenues contributed by each class of similar
services during the last three fiscal years:
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Percentage of Net Revenues |
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Fiscal Year Ended |
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Class of Service |
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Sept. 30, 2008 |
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Sept. 30, 2007 |
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Sept. 29, 2006 |
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Commissions and transaction fees |
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40.1 |
% |
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37.4 |
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40.9 |
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Net interest revenue |
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21.7 |
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25.6 |
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38.6 |
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Money market deposit account fees |
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24.8 |
% |
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24.6 |
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10.3 |
% |
Investment product fees |
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12.2 |
% |
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10.7 |
% |
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7.8 |
% |
Other revenues |
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1.2 |
% |
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1.7 |
% |
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2.4 |
% |
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Net revenues |
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100.0 |
% |
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100.0 |
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100.0 |
% |
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We provide our clients with an array of channels to access our products and services. These
include the Internet, our network of retail branches, wireless telephone or personal digital
assistant, interactive voice response and registered representatives via telephone.
5
Client Service and Support
We strive to provide the best client service in the industry as measured by: (1) speed of
response time to telephone calls, (2) turnaround time responding to client inquiries and (3) client
satisfaction with the account relationship.
We endeavor to optimize our highly-rated client service by:
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Ensuring prompt response to client service calls through adequate staffing with properly
trained and motivated personnel in our client service departments, a majority of whom hold a
Series 7 license; |
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Tailoring client service to the particular expectations of the clients of each of our
client segments and |
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Expanding our use of technology to provide automated responses to the most typical
inquiries generated in the course of clients securities trading and related activities. |
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We provide access to client service and support through the following means: |
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Web sites. Our Web sites provide basic information on how to use our services as well as
an in-depth education center that includes a guide to online investing and an encyclopedia
of finance. Ted, our Virtual Investment Consultant, is a new tool on our Web sites that
allows certain retail clients to interact with a virtual representative to ask questions
regarding our products, tools and services. |
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Branches. We offer a nationwide network of over 100 retail branches, located primarily
in large metropolitan areas. |
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E-mail. Clients are encouraged to use e-mail to contact our client service
representatives. Our operating standards require a response within 24 hours of receipt of
the e-mail; however, we strive to respond within four hours after receiving the original
message. |
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Telephone. For clients who choose to call or whose inquiries necessitate calling one of
our client service representatives, we provide a toll-free number that connects to advanced
call handling systems. These systems provide automated answering and directing of calls to
the proper department. Our systems also allow linkage between caller identification and the
client database to give the client service representative immediate access to the clients
account data when the call is received. Client service representatives are available 24
hours a day, seven days a week (excluding market holidays). |
Technology and Information Systems
Our technological capabilities and systems are central to our business and are critical to our
goal of providing the best execution at the best value to our clients. Our operations require
reliable, scalable systems that can handle complex financial transactions for our clients with
speed and accuracy. We maintain sophisticated and proprietary technology that automates
traditionally labor-intensive securities transactions. Our ability to effectively leverage and
adopt new technology to improve our services is a key component of our success.
We continue to make investments in technology and information systems. We have spent a
significant amount of resources to increase capacity and improve speed and reliability. To provide
for system continuity during potential power outages, we have equipped our data centers with
uninterruptible power supply units, as well as back-up generators.
We currently have the capacity to process approximately 800,000 trades per day and
approximately 33,000 client login connections per second. During fiscal 2008, our clients averaged
approximately 312,000 trades per day. Our greatest number of average client trades per day for a
single month occurred in October 2008, when clients averaged approximately 411,000 trades per day.
The greatest number of trades our clients have made in a single day is 648,000.
Advertising and Marketing
We intend to continue to grow and increase our market share by advertising online, on
television, in print and direct mail and on our own Web sites. We invest heavily in advertising
programs designed to bring greater brand recognition to our services. We intend to continue to
aggressively advertise our services. From time to time, we may choose to increase our advertising
to target specific groups of investors or to decrease advertising in response to market conditions.
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Advertising for retail clients is generally conducted through Web sites, financial news networks
and other television and cable networks. We also place print advertisements in a broad range of
business publications and use direct mail advertising. Advertising for institutional clients is
significantly less than for retail clients and is generally conducted through highly-targeted
media.
To monitor the success of our various marketing efforts, we have installed a data gathering
and tracking system. This system enables us to determine the type of advertising that best appeals
to our target market so that we can invest in these programs in the future. Additionally, through
the use of our database tools, we are working to more efficiently determine the needs of our
various client segments and tailor our services to their individual needs. We intend to utilize
this system to strengthen our client relationships and support marketing campaigns to attract new
clients. All of our methods and uses of client information are disclosed in our privacy statement.
All of our brokerage-related communications with the public are regulated by the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
Clearing Operations
Our subsidiary, TD AMERITRADE Clearing, Inc. (TDA Clearing) provides clearing and execution
services to our introducing broker-dealer subsidiary, TD AMERITRADE, Inc. (TDA Inc.). Clearing
services include the confirmation, receipt, settlement, delivery and record-keeping functions
involved in processing securities transactions. Our clearing broker-dealer subsidiary provides the
following back office functions:
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Maintaining client accounts; |
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Extending credit in a margin account to the client; |
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Engaging in securities lending and borrowing transactions; |
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Settling securities transactions with clearinghouses such as The Depository Trust &
Clearing Corporation and The Options Clearing Corporation; |
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Settling commissions and transaction fees; |
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Preparing client trade confirmations and statements; |
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Performing designated cashiering functions, including the delivery and receipt of funds
and securities to or from the client; |
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Possession, control and safeguarding funds and securities in client accounts; |
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Processing cash sweep transactions to and from money market deposit accounts and money
market mutual funds; |
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Transmitting tax accounting information to the client and to the applicable tax authority
and |
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Forwarding prospectuses, proxy materials and other shareholder information to clients. |
Competition
We believe that the principal determinants of success in the retail brokerage market are brand
recognition, size of client base and client assets, client trading activity, efficiency of
operations, technology infrastructure and access to financial resources. We also believe that the
principal factors considered by clients in choosing a broker are price, client service, quality of
trade execution, delivery platform capabilities, convenience and ease of use, breadth of services,
innovation and overall value. Based on our experience, focus group research and the success we have
enjoyed to date, we believe that we presently compete successfully in each of these categories.
The market for brokerage services, particularly electronic brokerage services, continues to
evolve and is intensely competitive. We have seen intense competition during the past five years
and expect this competitive environment to continue. We encounter direct competition from numerous
other brokerage firms, many of which provide online brokerage services. These competitors include
E*TRADE Financial Corporation, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Fidelity Investments and Scottrade, Inc.
We also encounter competition from established full-commission brokerage firms such as Merrill
Lynch and Smith Barney, as well as financial institutions, mutual fund sponsors and other
organizations, some of which provide online brokerage services.
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Regulation
The securities industry is subject to extensive regulation under federal and state law.
Broker-dealers are required to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
and to be members of FINRA. Our broker-dealer subsidiaries are subject to the requirements of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Exchange Act) relating to broker-dealers. These regulations
establish, among other things, minimum net capital requirements for our broker-dealer subsidiaries.
For our clearing broker-dealer subsidiary (TDA Clearing), this minimum net capital level is
determined by a calculation described in Rule 15c3-1 that is primarily based on aggregate debits,
which primarily are a function of client margin balances. TDA Clearing is required to maintain
minimum net capital of 2% of aggregate debits. Since our aggregate debits may fluctuate
significantly, our minimum net capital requirements may also fluctuate significantly from period to
period. TDA Inc., our introducing broker-dealer subsidiary, is required to maintain a minimum
dollar amount of net capital, which was $250,000 as of September 30, 2008.
Certain of our subsidiaries are also registered as investment advisors under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940. We are also subject to regulation in all 50 states and the District of
Columbia, including registration requirements.
In its capacity as a securities clearing firm, TDA Clearing is a member of The Depository
Trust & Clearing Corporation and The Options Clearing Corporation, each of which is registered as a
clearing agency with the SEC. As a member of these clearing agencies, TDA Clearing is required to
comply with the rules of such clearing agencies, including rules relating to possession and control
of client funds and securities, margin lending and execution and settlement of transactions.
Margin lending activities are subject to limitations imposed by regulations of the Federal
Reserve System and FINRA. In general, these regulations provide that in the event of a significant
decline in the value of securities collateralizing a margin account, we are required to obtain
additional collateral from the borrower or liquidate security positions.
We are subject to a number of state and federal laws applicable to companies conducting
business on the Internet that address client privacy, system security and safeguarding practices
and the use of client information. For additional, important information relating to government
regulation, please review the information set forth under the heading Risk Factors Relating to the
Regulatory Environment in Item 1A Risk Factors.
Intellectual Property Rights
Our success and ability to compete are dependent to a significant degree on our intellectual
property, which includes our proprietary technology, trade secrets and client base. We rely on
copyright, trade secret, trademark, domain name, patent and contract laws to protect our
intellectual property and have utilized the various methods available to us, including filing
applications for patents and trademark registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark
office and entering into written licenses and other technology agreements with third parties. Our
patented and patent pending technologies include stock indexing and investor education
technologies, as well as innovative trading and analysis tools. Our trademarks include both our
primary brand TD AMERITRADE as well as brands for other products and services. A substantial
portion of our intellectual property is protected by trade secrets. The source and object code for
our proprietary software is also protected using applicable methods of intellectual property
protection and general protections afforded to confidential information. In addition, it is our
policy to enter into confidentiality and intellectual property ownership agreements with our
employees and confidentiality and noncompetition agreements with our independent contractors and
business partners, and to control access to and distribution of our intellectual property.
Employees
As of September 30, 2008, we had 4,660 full-time equivalent employees. This number has
increased from 3,882 full-time equivalent employees as of the end of fiscal 2007, due primarily to
increased staffing associated with growth initiatives and the integration of Fiserv Trust Company.
None of our employees is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We believe that our
relations with our employees are good.
Financial Information about Segments and Geographic Areas
See Note 18 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8 of the
Companys Form 10-K for segment and geographic area financial information.
Internet Address
Additional information concerning our business can be found on our Web site at
www.amtd.com. We make available free of charge on our Web site our annual report on Form
10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to those reports,
as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with or furnish it to
the SEC.
8
Item 1A. Risk Factors
In addition to the other information set forth in this report, you should carefully consider
the following factors which could materially affect our business, financial condition or future
results of operations. Although the risks described below are those that management believes are
the most significant, these are not the only risks facing our company. Additional risks and
uncertainties not currently known to us or that we currently do not deem to be material also may
materially affect our business, financial condition or future results of operations.
Risk Factors Relating to Our Business Operations
Stock market volatility and other securities industry risks could adversely affect our
business.
Substantially all of our revenues are derived from our securities brokerage business. Like
other securities brokerage businesses, we are directly affected by economic and political
conditions, broad trends in business and finance and changes in volume and price levels of
securities transactions. Recent events in global financial markets, including failures and
government bailouts of large financial services companies, have resulted in substantial market
volatility and increased client trading volume. However, any sustained downturn in general
economic conditions or U.S. equity markets would likely result in reduced client trading volume and
net revenues. For example, events such as the terrorist attacks in the United States on September
11, 2001 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003 resulted in periods of substantial market volatility and
reductions in trading volume and net revenues. Severe market fluctuations or weak economic
conditions could reduce our trading volume and net revenues and have a material adverse effect on
our profitability.
We have exposure to interest rate risk.
As a fundamental part of our brokerage business, we invest in interest-earning assets and are
obligated on interest-bearing liabilities. In addition, we earn fees on our money market deposit
account (MMDA) sweep arrangement with TD Bank USA, which are subject to interest rate risk.
Changes in interest rates could affect the interest earned on assets differently than interest paid
on liabilities. A rising interest rate environment generally results in our earning a larger net
interest spread. Conversely, a falling interest rate environment generally results in our earning a
smaller net interest spread. If we are unable to effectively manage our interest rate risk,
changes in interest rates could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.
We have exposure to liquidity risk.
Our liquidity needs to support interest-earning assets are primarily met by client cash
balances or financing created from our securities lending activities. A reduction of funds
available from these sources may require us to seek other potentially more expensive forms of
financing, such as borrowings on our uncommitted lines of credit. Because our broker-dealer lines
of credit are uncommitted, there can be no assurance that such financing would be available. Our
liquidity could be constrained by an inability to access the capital markets due to a variety of
unforeseen market disruptions. If we are unable to meet our funding needs on a timely basis, our
business would be adversely affected.
Corporate cash invested in money market mutual funds is subject to liquidity risk in the event
the fund sponsor is unable to honor redemption requests. For example, during fiscal 2008, we had
substantial corporate cash invested in the Primary Fund, a money market mutual fund managed by The
Reserve, an independent mutual fund company. In September 2008, the net asset value of this fund
declined below $1.00 per share and the fund announced it was liquidating under the supervision of
the SEC. In order to facilitate an orderly liquidation, the SEC allowed the fund to suspend
redemptions until the fund could liquidate portfolio securities without further impairing the net
asset value. This has created short-term liquidity challenges as we await redemptions of our money
market fund positions. On October 31, 2008, The Reserve redeemed approximately 51% of the shares
of the fund. However, substantial delays in remaining redemptions could adversely affect our
liquidity and require us to borrow on our holding companys revolving line of credit or seek
alternative financing.
We are exposed to credit risk with clients and counterparties.
We make margin loans to clients that are collateralized by client securities and we borrow and
lend securities in connection with our broker-dealer business. A significant portion of our net
revenues is derived from interest on margin loans. By permitting clients to purchase securities on
margin, we are subject to risks inherent in extending credit, especially during periods of rapidly
declining markets in which the value of the collateral held by us could fall below the amount of a
clients indebtedness. In addition, in accordance with regulatory guidelines, we collateralize
borrowings of securities by depositing cash or securities with lenders. Sharp changes in market
values of substantial amounts of securities and the failure by parties to the borrowing
transactions to honor their commitments could have a material adverse effect on our revenues and
profitability.
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Our clearing operations expose us to liability for errors in clearing functions.
Our broker-dealer subsidiary, TDA Clearing, provides clearing and execution services to our
introducing broker-dealer subsidiary. Clearing and execution services include the confirmation,
receipt, settlement and delivery functions involved in securities transactions. Clearing brokers
also assume direct responsibility for the possession and control of client securities and other
assets and the clearance of client securities transactions. However, clearing brokers also must
rely on third-party clearing organizations such as The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and
The Options Clearing Corporation in settling client securities transactions. Self-clearing
securities firms are subject to substantially more regulatory control and examination than
introducing brokers that rely on others to perform clearing functions. Errors in performing
clearing functions, including clerical and other errors related to the handling of funds and
securities held by us on behalf of clients, could lead to civil penalties as well as losses and
liability in related lawsuits brought by clients and others.
Systems failures, delays and capacity constraints could harm our business.
We receive and process trade orders through a variety of electronic channels, including the
Internet, wireless web, personal digital assistants and our interactive voice response system.
These methods of trading are heavily dependent on the integrity of the electronic systems
supporting them. Our systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from human
error, natural disasters, power loss, computer viruses, distributed denial of service (DDOS)
attacks, spurious spam attacks, intentional acts of vandalism and similar events. It could take
several hours or more to restore full functionality in the event of an unforeseen disaster.
Extraordinary trading volumes could cause our computer systems to operate at an unacceptably low
speed or even fail. Extraordinary Internet traffic caused by DDOS or spam attacks could cause our
Web site to be unavailable or slow to respond. While we have made significant investments to
upgrade the reliability and scalability of our systems and added hardware to address extraordinary
Internet traffic, there can be no assurance that our systems will be sufficient to handle such
extraordinary circumstances. We may not be able to project accurately the rate, timing or cost of
any increases in our business or to expand and upgrade our systems and infrastructure to
accommodate any increases in a timely manner. Systems failures and delays could occur and could
cause, among other things, unanticipated disruptions in service to our clients, slower system
response time resulting in transactions not being processed as quickly as our clients desire,
decreased levels of client service and client satisfaction and harm to our reputation. If any of
these events were to occur, we could suffer:
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a loss of clients or a reduction in the growth of our client base; |
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increased operating expenses; |
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financial losses; |
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litigation or other client claims and |
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regulatory sanctions or additional regulatory burdens, based on the authority of the SEC
and FINRA to enforce regulations regarding business continuity planning and the ability to
adequately service clients. |
Our networks and client information could be vulnerable to security risks.
The secure transmission of confidential information over public networks is a critical element
of our operations. Our networks could be vulnerable to unauthorized access, computer viruses,
phishing schemes and other security problems. We, along with the financial services industry in
general, have experienced losses related to clients login and password information being
compromised while using public computers or due to vulnerabilities of clients private computers.
Persons who circumvent security measures could wrongfully use our confidential information or
our clients confidential information or cause interruptions or malfunctions in our operations. We
could be required to expend significant additional resources to protect against the threat of
security breaches or to alleviate problems caused by any breaches. We may not be able to implement
security measures that will protect against all security risks. Because we provide a security
guarantee under which we reimburse clients for losses resulting from unauthorized activity in their
accounts, significant unauthorized activity could have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations.
Substantial competition could reduce our market share and harm our financial performance.
The market for electronic brokerage services is continually evolving and is intensely
competitive. The retail brokerage industry has experienced significant consolidation, which may
continue in the future, and which may increase competitive pressures in the industry. There has
been substantial price competition in the industry, including various free trade offers. We expect
this competitive
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environment to continue in the future. We face direct competition from numerous retail
brokerage firms, including E*TRADE Financial Corporation, Charles Schwab & Co., Inc., Fidelity
Investments and Scottrade, Inc. We also encounter competition from the broker-dealer affiliates of
established full-commission brokerage firms as well as from financial institutions, mutual fund
sponsors and other organizations, some of which provide online brokerage services. Some of our
competitors have greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources, offer a wider range
of services and financial products, and have greater name recognition and a more extensive client
base than we do. We believe that the general financial success of companies within the retail
securities industry will continue to attract new competitors to the industry, such as banks,
software development companies, insurance companies, providers of online financial information and
others. These companies may provide a more comprehensive suite of services than we do. Increased
competition, including pricing pressure, could have a material adverse effect on our results of
operations and financial condition.
We will need to introduce new products and services and enhance existing products and services to remain competitive.
Our future success depends in part on our ability to develop and enhance our products and
services. In addition, the adoption of new Internet, networking or telecommunications technologies
or other technological changes could require us to incur substantial expenditures to enhance or
adapt our services or infrastructure. There are significant technical and financial costs and
risks in the development of new or enhanced products and services, including the risk that we might
be unable to effectively use new technologies, adapt our services to emerging industry standards or
develop, introduce and market enhanced or new products and services. An inability to develop new
products and services, or enhance existing offerings, could have a material adverse effect on our
profitability.
Risk Factors Relating to the Regulatory Environment
Failure to comply with net capital requirements could adversely affect our business.
The SEC, FINRA and various other regulatory agencies have stringent rules with respect to the
maintenance of specific levels of net capital by securities broker-dealers. Net capital is a
measure, defined by the SEC, of a broker-dealers readily available liquid assets, reduced by its
total liabilities other than approved subordinated debt. All of our broker-dealer subsidiaries are
required to comply with net capital requirements. If we fail to maintain the required net capital,
the SEC could suspend or revoke our registration, or FINRA could expel us from membership, which
could ultimately lead to our liquidation, or they could impose censures, fines or other sanctions.
If the net capital rules are changed or expanded, or if there is an unusually large charge against
net capital, then our operations that require capital could be limited. A large operating loss or
charge against net capital could have a material adverse effect on our ability to maintain or
expand our business.
Regulatory uncertainties could harm our business.
The securities industry is subject to extensive regulation and broker-dealers are subject to
regulations covering all aspects of the securities business. The SEC, FINRA and other
self-regulatory organizations and state and foreign regulators can, among other things, censure,
fine, issue cease-and-desist orders to, suspend or expel a broker-dealer or any of its officers or
employees. We could fail to establish and enforce procedures to comply with applicable
regulations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.
While we neither actively solicit new accounts nor have established offices outside the United
States, our websites are accessible world-wide over the Internet and we currently have account
holders located outside the United States. These accounts comprise approximately 1.6% of our total
accounts and are spread across many jurisdictions. Adverse action by foreign regulators with
respect to regulatory compliance by us in foreign jurisdictions could adversely affect our revenues
from clients in such countries or regions.
Various regulatory and enforcement agencies have been reviewing the following areas related to
the brokerage industry:
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sales practices and suitability of financial products and services; |
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auction rate securities; |
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money market mutual funds; |
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mutual fund trading; |
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client cash sweep arrangements; |
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regulatory reporting obligations; |
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risk management; |
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valuation of financial instruments; |
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best execution practices; |
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client privacy; |
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system security and safeguarding practices and |
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advertising claims. |
These reviews could result in enforcement actions, new regulations or clarification of
existing regulations, which could adversely affect our operations.
In addition, we use the Internet as a major distribution channel to provide services to our
clients. A number of regulatory agencies have adopted regulations regarding client privacy, system
security and safeguarding practices and the use of client information by service providers.
Additional laws and regulations relating to the Internet and safeguarding practices could be
adopted in the future, including laws related to identity theft and regulations regarding the
pricing, taxation, content and quality of products and services delivered over the Internet.
Complying with these laws and regulations may be expensive and time-consuming and could limit our
ability to use the Internet as a distribution channel, which would have a material adverse effect
on our profitability.
We are subject to litigation and may not always be successful in defending against such claims.
We are subject to claims and lawsuits in the ordinary course of business, which can result in
settlements, awards and injunctions. Litigation may include client-initiated claims related to the
purchase or sale of investment securities. It is inherently difficult to predict the ultimate
outcome of these matters, particularly in cases in which claimants seek substantial or unspecified
damages. A substantial judgment, settlement, fine or penalty could have a material adverse effect
on our results of operations or cash flows.
Risk Factors Relating to Strategic Acquisitions and the Integration of Acquired Operations
Acquisitions involve risks that could adversely affect our business.
We intend to pursue strategic acquisitions of businesses and technologies. Acquisitions may
entail numerous risks, including:
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difficulties in the integration of acquired operations, services and products; |
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failure to achieve expected synergies; |
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diversion of managements attention from other business concerns; |
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assumption of unknown material liabilities of acquired companies; |
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amortization of acquired intangible assets, which could reduce future reported earnings; |
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potential loss of clients or key employees of acquired companies and |
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dilution to existing stockholders. |
As part of our growth strategy, we regularly consider, and from time to time engage in,
discussions and negotiations regarding strategic transactions such as acquisitions, mergers and
combinations within our industry. The purchase price for possible acquisitions could be paid in
cash, through the issuance of common stock or other securities, borrowings or a combination of
these methods.
We cannot be certain that we will be able to continue to identify, consummate and successfully
integrate strategic transactions, and no assurance can be given with respect to the timing,
likelihood or business effect of any possible transaction. For example, we could begin negotiations
that we subsequently decide to suspend or terminate for a variety of reasons. However,
opportunities may arise from time to time that we will evaluate. Any transactions that we
consummate would involve risks and uncertainties to us. These risks could cause the failure of any
anticipated benefits of an acquisition to be realized, which could have a material adverse effect
on our revenues and profitability.
Risk Factors Relating to Owning Our Stock
The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly.
Our common stock, and the U.S. securities markets in general, experience significant price
fluctuations. The market prices of securities of financial services companies, in particular, have
been especially volatile. The price of our common stock has recently
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decreased substantially and could decrease further. In addition, because the market price of
our common stock tends to fluctuate significantly, we could become the object of securities class
action litigation, which could result in substantial costs and a diversion of managements
attention and resources and could have a material adverse effect on our business and the price of
our common stock.
We are restricted by the terms of our senior credit facilities.
In connection with the acquisition of TD Waterhouse, we entered into a credit agreement, as
amended, on January 23, 2006 for $2.2 billion in senior credit facilities with a syndicate of
lenders. These credit facilities contain various covenants and restrictions that may limit our
ability to:
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incur additional indebtedness; |
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create liens; |
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sell assets and make capital expenditures; |
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pay dividends or make distributions; |
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repurchase our common stock; |
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make investments; |
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merge or consolidate with another entity and |
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conduct transactions with affiliates. |
As a result of the covenants and restrictions contained in the credit facilities, we are
limited in how we conduct our business. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to remain in
compliance with these covenants or be able to obtain waivers for noncompliance in the future. A
failure to comply with these covenants could have a material adverse effect on our financial
condition by impairing our ability to secure and maintain financing.
Our corporate debt level may limit our ability to obtain additional financing.
As of September 30, 2008, we had approximately $1.4 billion of long-term debt. Our ability to
meet our cash requirements, including our debt service obligations, is dependent upon our future
performance, which will be subject to financial, business and other factors affecting our
operations, many of which are or may be beyond our control. We cannot provide assurance that our
business will generate sufficient cash flows from operations to fund these cash requirements,
including our debt service obligations. If we are unable to meet our cash requirements from
operations, we would be required to obtain alternative financing. The degree to which we may be
leveraged as a result of the indebtedness we have incurred could materially and adversely affect
our ability to obtain financing for working capital, acquisitions or other purposes, could make us
more vulnerable to industry downturns and competitive pressures or could limit our flexibility in
planning for, or reacting to, changes and opportunities in our industry, which may place us at a
competitive disadvantage. There can be no assurance that we would be able to obtain alternative
financing, that any such financing would be on acceptable terms or that we would be permitted to do
so under the terms of existing financing arrangements. In the absence of such financing, our
ability to respond to changing business and economic conditions, make future acquisitions, react to
adverse operating results, meet our debt service obligations, or fund required capital
expenditures, could be materially and adversely affected.
TD and the Ricketts holders exercise significant influence over TD AMERITRADE.
As of September 30, 2008, TD and J. Joe Ricketts, our founder, members of his family and
trusts held for their benefit (which we collectively refer to as the Ricketts holders), owned
approximately 39.9% and 21.8%, respectively, of the outstanding voting securities of TD AMERITRADE.
TD is permitted under the terms of a stockholders agreement to own up to 39.9% of the outstanding
shares of TD AMERITRADE common stock during the three years following the January 24, 2006 closing
of the TD Waterhouse acquisition, up to 45% of the outstanding shares of TD AMERITRADE common stock
for the remainder of the term of the stockholders agreement (a maximum of 10 years following the
closing) and an unlimited number of shares of TD AMERITRADE following the termination of the
stockholders agreement. The Ricketts holders are permitted under the terms of the stockholders
agreement to own up to 29% of the outstanding shares of TD AMERITRADE. As a result, TD and the
Ricketts holders have the ability to significantly influence the outcome of any matter submitted
for the vote of TD AMERITRADE stockholders. The stockholders agreement also provides that TD may
designate five of the twelve members of the TD AMERITRADE board of directors and the Ricketts
holders may designate three of the twelve members of the TD AMERITRADE board of directors, subject
to adjustment based on their
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respective ownership positions in TD AMERITRADE. Accordingly, TD and the Ricketts holders are
able to significantly influence the outcome of all matters that come before the TD AMERITRADE
board. As a result of their significant share ownership in TD AMERITRADE, TD or the Ricketts
holders may have the power, subject to applicable law, to significantly influence actions that
might be favorable to TD or the Ricketts holders, but not necessarily favorable to other TD
AMERITRADE stockholders. In addition, the ownership position and governance rights of TD and the
Ricketts holders could discourage a third party from proposing a change of control or other
strategic transaction concerning TD AMERITRADE. As a result, the common stock of TD AMERITRADE
could trade at prices that do not reflect a takeover premium to the same extent as do the stocks
of similarly situated companies that do not have a stockholder with an ownership interest as large
as TDs and the Ricketts holders combined ownership interest.
Conflicts of interest may arise between TD AMERITRADE and TD, which may be resolved in a manner
that adversely affects TD AMERITRADEs business, financial condition or results of operations.
We transact business and have extensive relationships with TD and certain of its affiliates.
During fiscal 2008, revenues related to money market sweep arrangements with TD and certain of its
affiliates accounted for approximately 33% of our net revenues. Conflicts of interest may arise
between TD AMERITRADE and TD in areas relating to past, ongoing and future relationships, including
corporate opportunities, potential acquisitions or financing transactions, sales or other
dispositions by TD of its interests in TD AMERITRADE and the exercise by TD of its influence over
the management and affairs of TD AMERITRADE. Some of the directors on the TD AMERITRADE board are
persons who are also officers or directors of TD or its subsidiaries. Service as a director or
officer of both TD AMERITRADE and TD or its other subsidiaries could create conflicts of interest
if such directors or officers are faced with decisions that could have materially different
implications for TD AMERITRADE and for TD. Our amended and restated certificate of incorporation
contains provisions relating to the avoidance of direct competition between TD AMERITRADE and TD.
In addition, an independent committee of our board of directors reviews and approves transactions
with TD and its affiliates. TD AMERITRADE and TD have not established any other formal procedures
to resolve potential or actual conflicts of interest between them. There can be no assurance that
any of the foregoing potential conflicts would be resolved in a manner that does not adversely
affect the business, financial condition or results of operations of TD AMERITRADE. In addition,
the provisions of the stockholders agreement related to non-competition are subject to numerous
exceptions and qualifications and may not prevent TD AMERITRADE and TD from competing with each
other to some degree in the future.
The terms of the stockholders agreement, our charter documents and Delaware law could inhibit a
takeover that stockholders may consider favorable.
Provisions in the stockholders agreement among TD and the Ricketts holders, our certificate of
incorporation and bylaws and Delaware law will make it difficult for any party to acquire control
of us in a transaction not approved by the requisite number of directors. These provisions include:
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the presence of a classified board of directors; |
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the ability of the board of directors to issue and determine the terms of preferred
stock; |
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advance notice requirements for inclusion of stockholder proposals at stockholder
meetings; and |
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the anti-takeover provisions of Delaware law. |
These provisions could delay or prevent a change of control or change in management that might
provide stockholders with a premium to the market price of their common stock.
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PART IV
Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules
(b) Exhibits
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Exhibit No. |
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Description |
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31.1
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Certification of Fredric J. Tomczyk, Principal Executive
Officer, as required pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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31.2
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Certification of William J. Gerber, Principal Financial
Officer, as required pursuant to Section 302 of the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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32.1
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Certification pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350 as adopted
pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 |
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto
duly authorized, on this
6th day of May, 2009.
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TD AMERITRADE HOLDING CORPORATION
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By: |
/s/ FREDRIC J. TOMCZYK
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Fredric J. Tomczyk |
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President, Chief Executive Officer
(Principal Executive Officer) |
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By: |
/s/ WILLIAM J. GERBER
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William J. Gerber |
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Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
(Principal Financial and Accounting Officer) |
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