MasterCard 2012 Annual Report Download - page 31

federal regulation. The federal law requires us and our customers to implement compliance programs. Also,
Congress may consider additional legislation to legalize and regulate Internet gambling that could increase our
costs and/or could decrease our transaction volumes. In addition, the U.S. Congress continues its consideration of
regulatory initiatives in the areas of Internet prescription drug purchases, copyright and trademark infringement,
and privacy, among others, that could impose additional compliance burdens on us and/or our customers. Some
U.S. states are considering a variety of similar legislation. If implemented, these initiatives could require us or
our customers to monitor, filter, restrict, or otherwise oversee various categories of payment card transactions,
thereby increasing our costs or decreasing our transaction volumes.
Additional Regulatory Developments. Various regulatory agencies also continue to examine a wide variety
of issues, including identity theft, account management guidelines, privacy, disclosure rules, security and
marketing that would impact our customers directly. New requirements and developments may affect our
customers’ ability to extend credit through the use of payment cards, which could decrease our transaction
volumes. In some circumstances, new regulations could have the effect of limiting our customers’ ability to offer
new types of payment programs or restricting their ability to offer our existing programs such as premium and
prepaid cards, which could materially and adversely reduce our revenue and revenue growth.
Seasonality
See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Seasonality”
in Part II, Item 7 of this Report.
Financial Information About Geographic Areas
See Note 21 (Segment Reporting) to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this
Report for certain geographic financial information.
Employees
As of December 31, 2012, we employed approximately 7,500 persons, of which approximately 3,400 were
employed outside of the United States. We consider our relationship with employees to be good.
Additional Information
MasterCard Incorporated was incorporated as a Delaware stock corporation in May 2001. We conduct our
business principally through MasterCard Incorporated’s principal operating subsidiary, MasterCard International
Incorporated (“MasterCard International”), a Delaware non-stock (or membership) corporation that was formed
in November 1966. In May 2006, we completed a plan for a new ownership and governance structure for
MasterCard Incorporated (including an initial public offering of a new class of common stock (the “IPO”)) which
included the appointment of a new Board of Directors which is comprised almost entirely of directors who are
independent from our customers. For more information about our capital structure, including our Class A
common stock (our voting stock) and Class B common stock (our non-voting stock), see Note 13 (Stockholders’
Equity) to the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8.
Website and SEC Reports
The Company’s internet address is www.mastercard.com. From time to time, we may use our website as a
channel of distribution of material company information. Financial and other material information is routinely
posted and accessible on the investor relations section of our corporate website. In addition, you may
automatically receive e-mail alerts and other information about MasterCard by enrolling your e-mail address by
visiting “E-Mail Alerts” in the investor relations section of our corporate website.
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