Sallie Mae 2013 Annual Report Download - page 3

FORWARD-LOOKING AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains “forward-looking” statements and information based on
management’s current expectations as of the date of this report. Statements that are not historical facts, including
statements about our beliefs, opinions or expectations and statements that assume or are dependent upon future
events, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties,
assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those reflected in such
forward-looking statements. These factors include, among others, the risks and uncertainties set forth in Item 1A
“Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (“SEC”); increases in financing costs; limits on liquidity; increases in costs associated
with compliance with laws and regulations; changes in accounting standards and the impact of related changes in
significant accounting estimates; any adverse outcomes in any significant litigation to which we are a party;
credit risk associated with our exposure to third parties, including counterparties to our derivative transactions;
and changes in the terms of student loans and the educational credit marketplace (including changes resulting
from new laws and the implementation of existing laws). We could also be affected by, among other things:
changes in our funding costs and availability; reductions to our credit ratings or the credit ratings of the United
States of America; failures of our operating systems or infrastructure, including those of third-party vendors;
damage to our reputation; failures to successfully implement cost-cutting and restructuring initiatives and adverse
effects of such initiatives on our business; risks associated with restructuring initiatives, including our recently
announced strategic plan to separate our existing operations into two, separate, publicly-traded companies;
changes in the demand for educational financing or in financing preferences of lenders, educational institutions,
students and their families; changes in law and regulations with respect to the student lending business and
financial institutions generally; increased competition from banks and other consumer lenders; the
creditworthiness of our customers; changes in the general interest rate environment, including the rate
relationships among relevant money-market instruments and those of our earning assets versus our funding
arrangements; changes in general economic conditions; our ability to successfully effectuate any acquisitions and
other strategic initiatives; and changes in the demand for debt management services. The preparation of our
consolidated financial statements also requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions,
including estimates and assumptions about future events. These estimates or assumptions may prove to be
incorrect. All forward-looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are qualified by these
cautionary statements and are made only as of the date of this report. We do not undertake any obligation to
update or revise these forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or changes in our
expectations. References to NewCo and SLM BankCo (as defined herein) forward-looking in nature and
dependent on the successful completion of the Spin-Off, as discussed herein.
Definitions for certain capitalized terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in the
“Glossary” at the end of this report.
References in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to “we,” “us,” “our” “Sallie Mae” and the “Company,” refer
to SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries, except as otherwise indicated or unless the context otherwise requires.
AVAILABLE INFORMATION
Our website address is www.salliemae.com. Copies of our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports
on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, as well as any amendments to those reports, are available free
of charge through our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or
furnished to, the SEC. In addition, copies of our Board Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct
(which includes the code of ethics applicable to our Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and
Principal Accounting Officer) and the governing charters for each committee of our Board of Directors are
available free of charge on our website, as well as in print to any stockholder upon request. We intend to disclose
any amendments to or waivers from our Code of Business Conduct (to the extent applicable to our Principal
Executive Officer or Principal Financial Officer) by posting such information on our website. Information
contained or referenced on our website is not incorporated by reference into and does not form a part of this
Annual Report on Form 10-K.
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