Ameriprise 2012 Annual Report Download - page 55

Item 2. Properties.
We operate our business from two principal locations, both of which are located in Minneapolis, Minnesota: the Ameriprise
Financial Center, an 848,000 square foot building that we lease, and our 885,000 square foot Client Service Center,
which we own. Each of these principal locations meets high environmental standards: The Client Service Center has
achieved the U.S. Green Building Council (‘‘USGBC’’) LEED Gold Certification, and the Ameriprise Financial Center has
achieved USGBC LEED Silver Certification. Our lease term for the Ameriprise Financial Center began in November 2000
and extends for 20 years, with several options to extend the term. Our aggregate annual rent for the Ameriprise Financial
Center is $15 million. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. also: owns the 171,000 square foot Oak Ridge Conference Center, a
training facility and conference center in Chaska, Minnesota, which can also serve as a disaster recovery site, if necessary;
owns a 99,000 square foot service center in Las Vegas, Nevada that houses certain Ameriprise Advisor Center, Ameriprise
Auto & Home Insurance, service delivery, technology and human resources employees; leases space in an operations
center located in Minneapolis; and occupies space in a second operations center located in Phoenix, Arizona.
Our property and casualty subsidiary, Ameriprise Auto and Home Insurance, leases approximately 142,000 square feet at
its corporate headquarters in DePere, Wisconsin, a suburb of Green Bay. The lease has a twenty-year term expiring in
2024 with an option to renew the lease for up to six renewal terms of five years each. Ameriprise Auto and Home
Insurance also lease a 34,000 square foot office space in Phoenix, Arizona with a lease term expiring in 2014.
Threadneedle leases one office facility in London, England and one in Swindon, England. It is the sole tenant of its London
office, a 60,410 square foot building, under a lease expiring in June 2018. Threadneedle also leases property in Frankfurt,
Germany, Hong Kong, Luxembourg, Singapore and Australia and rents offices in a number of other European cities, Dubai
and Taiwan to support its global operations.
Columbia Management leases offices in Boston containing approximately 156,000 square feet under a lease that expires
in 2021 and facilities in New York City containing approximately 90,000 square feet under a lease expiring in 2019. In
addition, Seligman occupies a space of 11,425 square feet in Menlo Park, California under a lease that expires in 2023,
and Columbia Wanger leases 48,000 square feet in Chicago, Illinois under a lease that expires in 2019.
AFSI leases offices containing approximately 15,000 square feet in Troy, Michigan, under a lease expiring in 2017.
Generally, we lease the premises we occupy in other locations, including the executive offices that we maintain in New York
City and branch offices for our employee advisors throughout the United States. We believe that the facilities owned or
occupied by our company suit our needs and are well maintained.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
The Company and its subsidiaries are involved in the normal course of business in legal, regulatory and arbitration
proceedings, including class actions, concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of its activities as a
diversified financial services firm. These include proceedings specific to the Company as well as proceedings generally
applicable to business practices in the industries in which it operates. The Company can also be subject to litigation arising
out of its general business activities, such as its investments, contracts, leases and employment relationships. Uncertain
economic conditions, heightened and sustained volatility in the financial markets and significant financial reform legislation
may increase the likelihood that clients and other persons or regulators may present or threaten legal claims or that
regulators increase the scope or frequency of examinations of the Company or the financial services industry generally.
As with other financial services firms, the level of regulatory activity and inquiry concerning the Company’s businesses
remains elevated. From time to time, the Company receives requests for information from, and/or has been subject to
examination or claims by, the SEC, FINRA, the Federal Reserve Bank, the OCC, the UK Financial Services Authority, state
insurance and securities regulators, state attorneys general and various other domestic or foreign governmental and quasi-
governmental authorities on behalf of themselves or clients concerning the Company’s business activities and practices,
and the practices of the Company’s financial advisors. During recent periods, the Company has received information
requests, exams or inquiries regarding certain matters, including: sales of, or disclosures pertaining to, mutual funds,
annuities, equity and fixed income securities, low priced securities, insurance products, brokerage services and financial
advice offerings; front office systems and controls; supervision of the Company’s financial advisors; and company
procedures and information security. The Company is also responding to regulatory audits, market conduct examinations
and other inquiries (including inquiries from the states of Minnesota and New York and a multistate insurance department
examination) relating to an industry-wide investigation of unclaimed property and escheatment practices and procedures.
The number of reviews and investigations has increased in recent years with regard to many firms in the financial services
industry, including Ameriprise Financial. The Company has cooperated and will continue to cooperate with the applicable
regulators regarding their inquiries.
38