MasterCard 2013 Annual Report Download - page 25

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21
requiring 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.
Increased regulatory focus on us, such as in connection with the matters discussed above, may result in costly compliance
burdens and/or may otherwise increase our costs, which could materially and adversely impact our financial
performance. Similarly, increased regulatory focus on our customers may cause such customers to reduce the volume
of transactions processed through our systems, which could reduce our revenues and materially and adversely impact
our financial performance. Finally, failure to comply with the laws and regulations discussed above to which we are
subject could result in fines, sanctions or other penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our overall business
and results of operations, as well as have an impact on our reputation.
Regulation in the areas of consumer privacy, data use and/or security could decrease the number of payment
cards and devices issued and could increase our costs.
We are subject to regulations related to privacy, data protection and information security in the jurisdictions in which
we do business. These regulations could result in negative impacts to our business. Due to recent account data
compromise events at large, U.S.-based retailers, as well as the disclosure of the monitoring activities by certain
governmental agencies, there has been heightened legislative and regulatory scrutiny around the world. Regulation of
privacy and data protection and information security may require changes to our data practices in regard to the
collection, use, disclosure or security of personal and sensitive information. Failure to comply with the these laws and
regulations could result in fines, sanctions or other penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our results
of operations and overall business, as well as have an impact on our reputation. Any additional, or changes to, regulations
in these areas (as well as the manner in which such laws could be interpreted or applied) may also increase our costs
to comply with such regulations and could impact aspects of our business such as fraud monitoring and the development
of information based products and solutions. In addition, these regulations may increase the costs of our customers to
issue payment products, which may, in turn, decrease the number of our cards and other payment devices that they
issue. Any of these changes could materially and adversely affect our overall business and results of operations.
Liabilities we may incur for any litigation that has been or may be brought against us could materially and
adversely affect our results of operations.
We are a defendant on a number of civil litigations and regulatory proceedings and investigations, including among
others, those alleging violations of competition and antitrust law. See Note 18 (Legal and Regulatory Proceedings) to
the consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 for more details regarding the allegations contained in
these complaints and the status of these proceedings. In the event we are found liable in any of these material litigations
or proceedings, particularly in the event we may be found liable in a large class-action lawsuit or on the basis of an
antitrust claim entitling the plaintiff to treble damages or under which we were jointly and severally liable, we could
be subject to significant damages, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of
operations.
Limitations on our business resulting from litigation or litigation settlements may materially and adversely affect
our overall business and results of operations.
Certain limitations have been placed on our business in recent years because of litigation and litigation settlements,
such as changes to our no-surcharge rule in the United States. Any future limitations on our business resulting from
litigation or litigation settlements could reduce the volume of business that we do with our customers, which may
materially and adversely affect our overall business and results of operations.
Potential changes in the tax laws applicable to us could materially increase our tax payments.
Potential changes in existing tax laws, such as recent proposals for fundamental tax reform in the United States, including
the treatment of earnings of controlled foreign corporations, may impact our effective tax rate and tax payments. This
could adversely impact our results of operations. See also Note 17 (Income Tax) to the consolidated financial statements
included in Part II, Item 8.