Western Union 2013 Annual Report Download - page 152

2013 FORM 10-K
42
Rules adopted under the Dodd-Frank Act by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as by member states of
the European Union pursuant to EMIR, have subjected our foreign exchange hedging transactions, including certain intercompany
hedging transactions, certain of the corporate interest rate hedging transactions that we may enter into in the future, and certain of
the foreign exchange derivative contracts we offer as part of our Business Solutions segment, to reporting, recordkeeping, and
other requirements. Additionally, certain of the corporate interest rate hedging transactions that we may enter into in the future are
subject to centralized clearing and margin requirements and certain of our other transactions may become so in the future. Our
implementation of these requirements has resulted in additional costs to our business and our failure to implement them correctly
could result in fines and other sanctions, as well as necessitate a temporary or permanent cessation to some or all of our hedging
activities, and possibly limit the types of derivative contracts we may offer as part of our Business Solutions segment. Any such
fines, sanctions or limitations on our business could adversely affect our operations and financial results. Further, we may become
subject to additional and potentially costly regulatory and supervisory requirements if we exceed derivative transaction thresholds
set forth in Dodd-Frank and EMIR, including subjecting our foreign exchange derivative transactions to centralized clearing and
margin requirements under EMIR. Governments outside of the United States and the European Union are also considering or have
begun to implement regulations similar to those described above and these will result in greater costs to us as well.
Western Union has been the subject of class-action litigation, and remains the subject of other litigation.
Western Union has been the subject of class-action litigation in the United States, alleging that its foreign exchange rate
disclosures failed to adequately inform consumers about the revenue that Western Union and its agents derive from international
remittances. These suits were all settled in or before 2004, without an admission of liability, and we have made changes in our
advertising and consumer forms. Future litigation may require that we modify our disclosures or our practices further. These
modifications could be costly to implement, restrict our ability to advertise or promote our services, limit the amount of our foreign
exchange income and/or change our consumers' behavior.
In addition, as a company that provides global financial services primarily to consumers, we could be subject to future class-
action lawsuits, other litigation or regulatory action alleging violations of consumer protection or other laws. We also are subject
to claims asserted by consumers based on individual transactions.