FIS is incorporated under the laws of the State of Georgia as Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. and our stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the trading symbol "FIS"."FIS."

We have grown organically, as well as through acquisitions, which have contributed critical applications and services that complement or enhance our existing offerings, diversifying our revenuesrevenue by customer, geography and service offering. These acquired offeringsOur solutions include integrated core banking and payment solutions, mobile banking solutions, item processing services, card issuer services, consulting services,solutions; digital solutions; fraud, risk management solutions, electronic loan amendment applications and services,compliance solutions; electronic funds transfer ("EFT")and network services; card and retail payment solutions; corporate liquidity solutions; wealth and retirement solutions; item processing and output services; government payments solutions; ePayment solutions; securities processing and finance solutions; global trading solutions; asset management and insurance solutions; and global commercial services merchant acquiring services,for financial institutions and prepaid/gift card processing for community banks, credit unions, as well as companies and other financial institutions.governmental entities. We sell manycertain of these solutions to domestic companies, as well as to global organizations and companies domiciled both within and outside of North America, where our solutions are able to be deployed across multiple regions.  Our strategic acquisitions have enabled us to broaden our available solution sets, scale our operations, develop our global consulting expertise, expand and diversify our customer base and strengthen our competitive position.

In 2015, FIS finalized a reorganization and began reportingreports its financial performance based on three segments: Integrated Financial Solutions (“IFS”("IFS"), Global Financial Solutions (“GFS”("GFS") and Corporate and Other. We recast all previous periods to conform to the new segment presentation. Following our November 30, 2015 acquisition of SunGard, the SunGard business was included within the GFS segment as its economic characteristics, international business model, and various other factors largely aligned with those of our GFS segment. As we further integrated the acquired SunGard businesses through March 31, 2016, we have reclassified certain SunGard businesses (corporate liquidity and wealth management) that are oriented more to the retail banking and payments activities of IFS into that segment. Certain other businesses from both SunGard (the public sector and education businesses, which were divested in February 2017), and legacy FIS (global commercial services and retail check processing) were reclassified to the Corporate and Other segment, as have SunGard administrative expenses. Prior periods have also been reclassified to conform to the current segment presentation. For information about our revenues and assets by geographic area see Notes 2(n), 3 and 19 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Our mission is to deliver superior solutions and services to our clients and to expand our client base, which will result in sustained revenue and earnings growth for our shareholders. Our strategy to achieve this goal has been and continues to be built on the following pillars:

The table below summarizes our revenues by reporting segment (in millions):

The IFS segment is focused primarily on serving the North American regional and community bank and savings institutions marketclients for transaction and account processing, payment solutions, channel solutions, digital channels, fraud, risk management and compliance solutions, lending and wealth management solutions, digital channels, risk and complianceretirement solutions, and services,corporate liquidity, capitalizing on the continuing trend to outsource these solutions. IFS also includes corporate liquidity and wealth management solutions acquired in the SunGard acquisition. Clients in this segment include regional and community banks, credit unions and commercial lenders, as well as government institutions,

Our solutions in this segment include:include the following:

The GFS segment is focused on serving the largest global financial institutions and/or international financial institutions with a broad array of capital markets (including asset managers, buy- and sell-side securities and trading firms), asset management and insurance solutions, as well as banking and payments solutions and consulting and transformation services.solutions.

GFS clients include the largest global financial institutions, including those headquartered in the United States, as well as all international financial institutions we serve as clients in more than 130 countries around the world.world, and asset managers, buy- and sell-side securities and trading firms, insurers and private equity firms. These institutions face unique business and regulatory challenges and account for the majority of financial institution information technology spend globally. The purchasing patterns of GFS clients vary from those of IFS clients who typically purchase solutions on an outsourced basis. GFS clients purchase our solutions and services in various ways including licensing and managing technology “in-house”,"in-house," using consulting and third partythird-party service providers as well as fully outsourced end-to-end solutions. We have long-established relationships with many of these financial institutions that generate significant recurring revenue. GFS clients now also include asset managers, buy- and sell-side securities and trading firms, insurers and private equity firms due to the addition of SunGard. This segment also includesincluded the Company's consolidated Brazilian Venture until the joint venture with Banco Bradesco was unwound and the assets we continue to own were spun-off to a new wholly-owned FIS subsidiary on December 31, 2018 (see Note 1716 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements).

Our solutions in this segment include:include the following:

The Corporate and Other segment consists of corporate overhead expense, certain leveraged functions and miscellaneous expenses that are not included in the operating segments, as well as certain non-strategic businesses. The overhead and leveraged costs relate to marketing, corporate finance and accounting, human resources, legal, and amortization of acquisition-related intangibles and other costs that are not considered when management evaluates revenue generating segment performance, such as acquisition integration and severanceother costs. TheAt the end of 2018, the only business solutionsunit remaining in this segment include:

We have experienced sales personnel with expertise in particular services and markets, as well as in the needs of particular types of customers. We believe that focusing our expertise in specific markets (e.g., global financial institutions, North American financial institutions) and tailoring integrated solution sets of particular value to participants in those markets enables us to leverage opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell. As a result of the SunGard acquisition, weWe continue to realign our sales teams to better match our solution expertise with the market opportunity and customer demand. We target the majority of our potential customers via direct and/or indirect field sales, as well as inbound and outbound lead generation and telesales efforts.

Our research and development activities have related primarily to the modernization of our proprietary core systems, design and development of next generation digital and innovative solutions and development of processing systems and related software applications and risk management platforms. We expect to continue our practice of investing an appropriate level of resources to maintain, enhance and extend the functionality of our proprietary systems and existing software applications, to develop new and innovative software applications and systems to address emerging technology trends in response to the needs of our clients and to enhance the capabilities of our outsourcing infrastructure. In addition, we intend to offer services compatible with new and emerging delivery channels.

As part of our research and development process, we evaluate current and emerging technology for compatibility with our existing and future software platforms. To this end, we engage with various hardware and software vendors in evaluation of various infrastructure components. Where appropriate, we use third-party technology components in the development of our software applications and service offerings. In the case of nearly all of our third-party software, enterprise license agreements exist for the third-party component and either alternative suppliers exist or transfer rights exist to ensure the continuity of supply. As a result, we are not materially dependent upon any third-party technology components. Third-party software may be used for highly specialized business functions, which we may not be able to develop internally within time and budget constraints. Additionally, third-party software may be used for commodity-type functions within a technology platform environment. We work with our clients to determine the appropriate timing and approach to introducing technology or infrastructure changes to our applications and services. In each ofDuring the years ended December 31, 2015,2018, 2017 and 2014,2016 approximately 2%3% to 3%4% of revenues were invested innon-capitalizable research and development efforts. During the year ended December 31, 2016 approximately 4% to 5% of revenues were invested in research and development efforts.expense.

Our services are subject to a broad range of complex federal, state, and foreign regulation and requirements, as well as requirements under the rules of self-regulatory organizations, including federal truth-in-lending and truth-in-savings rules, Regulation AA (Unfair or Deceptive Acts or Practices), data protection and privacy laws, usury laws, laws governing state trust charters, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, the USA Patriot Act, the Internal Revenue Code, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Community Reinvestment Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act"), the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "1934 Act"), the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (the "1940 Act"), anti-corruption laws including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and U.K. Bribery Act, the rules and regulations of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”("FINRA"), the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”("SEC") and the Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K. (“FCA”("FCA"). The compliance of our services and applications with these and other applicable laws and regulations depends on a variety of factors, including the manner in which our clients use them. In some cases, we are directly subject to regulatory oversight and examination. In other cases, our clients are contractually responsible for determining what is required of them under applicable laws and regulations so that we can assist them in theirand utilize our products and services to achieve compliance efforts.with those laws and regulations. In either case, the failure of our services to comply with applicable laws and regulations may result in restrictions on our ability to provide themthose services and/or the imposition of civil fines and/or criminal penalties. The principal areas of regulation impacting our business are:are the following:

The foregoing list of laws and regulations to which our Company is subject is not exhaustive, and the regulatory framework governing our operations changes continuously. Enactment of new laws and regulations may increasingly affect the operations of our business, directly and indirectly, which could result in substantial regulatory compliance costs, litigation expense, adverse publicity, and/or loss of revenue.

Globally, attacks on information technology systems continue to grow in frequency, complexity and sophistication. This is a trend we expect to continue. Such attacks have become a point of focus for individuals, businesses and governmental entities. The objectives of these attacks include, among other things, gaining unauthorized access to systems to facilitate financial fraud, disrupt operations, cause denial of service events, corrupt data, and steal non-public sensitive information. These circumstances present both a threat and an opportunity for FIS. As part of our business, we electronically receive, process, store and transmit a wide range of confidential information, including sensitive customer information and personal consumer data. We also operate payment, cash access and prepaid card systems.

FIS remains focused on making strategic investments in information security to protect our clients and our information systems. This includes both capital expenditures and operating expenses on hardware, software, personnel and consulting services. We also participate in industry and governmental initiatives to improve information security for our clients. Through the expertise we have gained with this ongoing focus and involvement, we have developed fraud, security, risk management and compliance solutions to target this growth opportunity in the financial services industry.

As of December 31, 2016,2018, we had more than 55,00047,000 employees, including approximately 37,00029,000 employees principally employed outside of the U.S.  None of our U.S. workforce currently is unionized. Approximately 13,0006,000 of our employees, primarily in Brazil, Germany, Tunisia, France, Italy, Mexico and Chile, are represented by labor unions or works councils. We consider our relations with our employees to be good.

Our Internetinternet website address is www.fisglobal.com. We make our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, available, free of charge, on that website as soon as reasonably practicable after we file or furnish them to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Our Corporate Governance Policy and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics are also available on our website and are available in print, free of charge, to any shareholder who mails a request to the Corporate Secretary, Fidelity National Information Services, Inc., 601 Riverside Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32204 USA. Other corporate governance-related documents can be found at our website as well. However, the information found on our website is not a part of this or any other report.

In addition to the normal risks of business, we are subject to significant risks and uncertainties, including those listed below and others described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any of the risks described herein could result in a significant adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

There has been and continues to be substantial consolidation activity in the banking and financial services industry. In addition, manycertain financial institutions that experienced negative operating results, including some of our clients, have failed. These consolidations and failures reduce our number of potential clients and may reduce our number of existing clients, which could adversely affect our revenues, even if the events do not reduce the aggregate activities of the consolidated entities. Further, if our clients fail and/or merge with or are acquired by other entities that are not our clients, or that use fewer of our services, they may discontinue or reduce use of our services. It is also possible that larger financial institutions resulting from consolidations would have greater leverage in negotiating terms or could decide to perform in-house some or all of the services we currently provide or could provide. Any of these developments could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

The markets for our services are characterized by constant technological changes, frequent introductions of new services and evolving industry standards. Our future success will be significantly affected by our ability to enhance our current solutions and develop and introduce new solutions and services that address the increasingly sophisticated needs of our clients and their customers. In addition, as more of our revenue and market demand shifts to SaaS,software as a service ("SaaS"), business process as a service ("BPaaS"), cloud, BPaaS and new disruptive technologies, the need to keep pace with rapid technology changes becomes more acute. These initiatives carry the risks associated with any new solution development effort, including cost overruns, delays in delivery, and performance issues. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in developing, marketing and selling new solutions or enhancements that meet these changing demands, that we will not experience difficulties that could delay or prevent the successful development, introduction, and marketing of these solutions or enhancements, or that our new solutions and their enhancements will adequately meet the demands of the marketplace and achieve market acceptance. Any of these developments could have an adverse impact on our future revenues and/or business prospects.

A significant portion of our revenue is derived from transaction processing fees. The global transaction processing industries depend heavily upon the overall level of consumer, business and government spending. Any change in economic factors, including a sustained deterioration in general economic conditions or consumer confidence, particularly in the United States, or increases in interest rates in key countries in which we operate may adversely affect consumer spending, including related consumer debt, further reduce check writing and change credit and debit card usage, and as a result, adversely affect our financial performance by reducing the number or average purchase amount of transactions that we service.

When there is a slowdown or downturn in the economy, a drop in stock market levels or trading volumes, or an event that disrupts the financial markets, our business and financial results, particularly with respect to our capital markets businesses, may suffer for a number of reasons. Customers may react to worsening conditions by reducing their capital expenditures in general or by specifically reducing their information technology spending. In addition, customers may curtail or discontinue trading operations, delay or cancel information technology projects, or seek to lower their costs by renegotiating vendor contracts. Moreover, competitors may respond to market conditions by lowering prices and attempting to lure away our customers to lower cost solutions. Any more protective trade policies or actions taken by the U.S. may also result in other countries reducing or making more expensive services permitted to be provided by U.S. based companies. If any of these circumstances remain in effect for an extended period of time, there could be a material adverse effect on our financial results.

The sales and associated deployment of many of our software or service offerings often involve significant capital commitments by our clients and/or FIS. Potential clients generally commit significant resources to an evaluation of available software and services and require us to expend substantial time, effort, and money educating them prior to sales. Further, as part of the sale or deployment of our software and services, clients may also require FIS to perform significant related services to complete a proof of concept or custom development to meet their needs. All of the aforementioned activities may expendrequire the expenditure of significant funds and management resources and, ultimately, the client may determine not to close the sale or

Particularly with respect to our GFS segment, our operating results may fluctuate from period to period and be difficult to predict in a particular period due to the timing and magnitude of software license sales and other factors.  We offer a number of our software solutions on a license basis, which means that the customer has the right to run the software on its own computers. The customer usually makesor a significant up-front payment to license software, which wethird party’s hardware.  We generally recognize aslicense revenue when the license contract is signed, and the software is delivered.delivered, and the term has begun.  The sizevalue of the up-front paymentlicense often depends on a number of customer-specific factors, that are different for each customer, such as the number of customer locations, users or accounts.  The sales cycle for a software license may be lengthy and take unexpected turns.  Further, our customers’ business models are shifting away from paying upfront license fees to paying periodic rental fees for services. Thus, it is difficult to predict when software sales will occur or how much revenue they will generate.  SinceBecause there are few incremental costs associated with software sales, our operating results may fluctuate from quarter to quarter and year to year due to the timing and magnitude of software sales.  Our results may also vary as a result of pricing pressures, increased cost of equipment, the evolving and unpredictable markets in which our solutions and services are sold, changes in accounting principles, and competitors’ new solutions or services.

In addition, there are a number of other factors that could cause our sales and results of operation to fluctuate from period to period, including:including the following:

We may face pricing pressure in obtaining and retaining our clients. Larger clients may be able to seek price reductions from us when they renew a contract, when a contract is extended, or when the client's business has significant volume changes. They may also reduce services if they decide to move services in-house. Further, our smaller and mid-size clients may also exert pricing pressure, particularly on renewal, due to pricing competition or other economic needs or pressures being experienced by the client. On some occasions, this pricing pressure results in lower revenue from a client than we had anticipated based on our previous agreement with that client. This reduction in revenue could result in an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Further, failure to renew client contracts on favorable terms could have an adverse effect on our business. Our contracts with clients generally run for several years and include liquidated damage provisions that provide for early termination fees. Terms are generally renegotiated prior to the end of a contract's term. If we are not successful in achieving a high rate of contract renewals on favorable terms, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Many of our services, including our transformation services, are based on sophisticated software and computing systems, and we may encounter delays when developing new technology solutions and services. Further, the technology solutions underlying our services have occasionally contained and may in the future contain undetected errors or defects when first introduced or when new versions are released. In addition, we may experience difficulties in installing or integrating our

Further, most of the solutions we offer are very complex software systems that are regularly updated. No matter how careful the design and development, complex software often contains errors and defects when first introduced and when major new updates or enhancements are released. If errors or defects are discovered in current or future solutions, we may not be able to correct them in a timely manner, if at all. In our development of updates and enhancements to our software solutions, we may make a major design error that makes the solution operate incorrectly or less efficiently. The failure of software to properly perform could result in the Company and its clients being subjected to losses or liability, including censures, fines, or other sanctions by the applicable regulatory authorities, and we could be liable to parties who are financially harmed by those errors. In addition, such errors could cause the Company to lose revenues, lose clients or damage its reputation.

In addition, we generally depend on a number of third parties, both in the United States and internationally, to supply elements of our systems, computers, research and market data, connectivity, communication network infrastructure, other equipment and related support and maintenance. We cannot be certain that any of these third parties will be able to continue providing these services to effectively meet our evolving needs. If our vendors, or in certain cases vendors of our customers, fail to meet their obligations, provide poor or untimely service, or we are unable to make alternative arrangements for the provision of these services, we may in turn fail to provide our services or to meet our obligations to our customers, and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially harmed.

SeveralThe CFPB continues to establish rules and regulations for regulating financial and rules have or will be writtennon-financial institutions and implemented as directedproviders to those institutions to ensure adequate protection of consumer privacy and to ensure consumers are not impacted by the Dodd-Frank Act.deceptive business practices. These rules and regulations have or will requiregovern our clients or potential clients to comply with requirements and could require us to directly comply with regulations.also govern certain of our businesses.  These requirementsregulations have or couldresulted and may further result in the need for FIS to make capital investments to modify our solutions and services to facilitate our clients' and potential clients' compliance, as well as to deploy additional processes or reporting to comply with these regulations. In the future, we may be subject to additional expense to ensure continued compliance with applicable laws and regulations and to investigate, defend and/or remedy actual or alleged violations. Further, requirements of the regulations have orresulted and could further result in changes in our business practices, our clients' business practices and those of other marketplace participants that may alter the delivery of services to consumers, which have impacted or could further impact the demand for our software and services as well as alter the type or volume of transactions that we process on behalf of our clients. As a result, these requirements, have or proposed or future requirements, could have an adverse impact on our financial condition, revenues, results of operations, prospects for future growth and overall business.

Our clients are subject to a number of government regulations and industry standards with which our services must comply. Our clients must ensure that our services and related solutions work within the extensive and evolving regulatory and industry requirements applicable to them. Federal, state, foreign or industry authorities could adopt laws, rules or regulations affecting our clients' businesses that could lead to increased operating costs and could reduce the convenience and functionality of our services, possibly resulting in reduced market acceptance. In addition, action by regulatory authorities relating to credit availability, data usage, privacy, or other related regulatory developments could have an adverse effect on our clients and, therefore, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, revenues, results of operations, prospects for future growth and overall business. Elimination of regulatory requirements could also adversely affect the sales of our solutions designed to help clients comply with complex regulatory environments.

In order to provide our card processing services, we must be certified (including applicable sponsorship) by VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and other similar organizations. These certifications are dependent upon our continued adherence to the standards of the issuing bodies and sponsoring member banks. The member financial institutions, some of which are our competitors, set the standards with which we must comply. If we fail to comply with these standards we could be fined, our certifications could be suspended, or our registration could be terminated. The suspension or termination of our certifications, or any changes in the rules and regulations governing VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or other similar organizations, could result in a reduction in revenue or increased costs of operation, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our business.

From time to time, card associations and debit networks increase the interchange fees that they charge. It is possible that competitive pressures will result in our absorption of a portion of such increases in the future, which would increase our operating costs, reduce our profit margin and adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Furthermore, the rules and regulations of the various card associations and networks prescribe certain capital requirements. Any increase in the capital level required would further limit our use of capital for other purposes.

Interchange fees and related practices have been receiving significant legal and regulatory scrutiny worldwide. The resulting regulatory changes that could occur from proposed regulations could alter the fees charged by card associations and debit networks worldwide. Such changes could have an adverse impact on our business or financial condition due to reductions or changes in types of transactions processed on behalf of our clients.

One of our subsidiaries is an SEC registered broker-dealer in the U.S. and others are authorized by the FCA to conduct certain regulated business in the U.K. Domestic and foreign regulatory and self-regulatory organizations, such as the SEC, the FINRA, and the FCA, can, among other things, fine, censure, issue cease-and-desist orders against, and suspend or expel a broker-dealer or its officers or employees for failure to comply with the many laws and regulations that govern brokerage activities. Such sanctionsThose laws and regulations derive from a variety of policy considerations and address a wide range of topics, including those designed to protect customers of broker-dealers, and the privacy of their information, and those designed to protect the integrity of the markets, such as laws and regulations requiring broker-dealers to report suspicious activity of customers. Sanctions for failure to comply with such laws and regulations may arise out of currently-conducted activities or those conducted in prior periods. Our ability to comply with these laws and regulations is largely dependent on our establishment, maintenance, and enforcement of an effective brokerage compliance program. Failure to establish, maintain, and enforce the required brokerage compliance procedures, even if unintentional, could subject us to significant losses, lead to disciplinary or other actions, and tarnish our reputation. Regulations affecting the brokerage industry may change, which could adversely affect our financial results.

We are exposed to certain risks relating to the execution services provided by our brokerage operations to our customers and counterparties, which include other broker-dealers, active traders, hedge funds, asset managers, and other institutional and

The majority of our data processing services for financial institutions are not directly subject to Federalfederal or Statestate regulations specifically applicable to financial institutions such as banks, thrifts and credit unions. However, as a provider of services to these financial institutions, our data processing operations are examined on a regular basis by various federal and state regulatory authorities and by international regulatory authorities, such as the FCA, in certain jurisdictions. If we fail to comply with any applicable regulations or guidelines for operations of a data services provider, we could be subject to regulatory actions or rating changes, may not meet contractual obligations, and may suffer harm to our client relationships or reputation. Failure to meet the aforementioned requirements or to adapt to new requirements at the Federal, Statefederal, state or international level could inhibit our ability to retain existing clients or obtain new clients, which could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition to our data processing services described above, we also have business operations that store, process or transmit consumer information or have direct relationships with consumers that are obligated to comply with regulations, including, but not limited to, the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and applicable privacy requirements. Further, our international businesses must comply with applicable laws such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Failure to maintain compliance with or adapt to changes in any of the aforementioned requirements could result in fines, penalties or regulatory actions that could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are unable to predict whether or when high profile card payment or digital banking security breaches will occur and if they occur, whether consumers will transact less on their payment cards or reduce their digital banking service. If consumers

Our ability to compete depends in some part upon our proprietary solutions and technology. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of our services or to obtain and use information that we regard as proprietary or challenge the validity of our patents with governmental authorities. Policing unauthorized use of our proprietary rights is difficult. We cannot make any assurances that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of technology or that the agreements entered into for that purpose will be enforceable. Effective patent, trademark, service mark, copyright, and trade secret protection may not be available in every country in which our applications and services are made available online. Misappropriation of our intellectual property or potential litigation concerning such matters could have an adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.

As our information technology applications and services develop, we are increasingly subject to infringement claims. Any claims, whether with or without merit, could:could (i) be expensive and time-consuming to defend; (ii) result in an injunction or other equitable relief which could cause us to cease making, licensing or using applications that incorporate the challenged intellectual property; (iii) require us to redesign our applications, if feasible; (iv) divert management’s attention and resources; and (v) require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use necessary technologies or pay damages resulting from any infringing use.

We use a limited amount of software licensed by its authors or other third parties under so-called “open source”"open source" licenses and may continue to use such software in the future. Some of these licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the open source software, and that we license such modifications or derivative works under the terms of a particular open source license or other license granting third parties certain rights of further use. By the terms of certain open source licenses, we could be required to release the source code of our

We settle funds on behalf of financial institutions, other businesses and consumers and receive funds from clients, card issuers, payment networks and consumers on a daily basis for a variety of transaction types. Transactions facilitated by us include debit card, credit card, electronic bill payment transactions, banking payments and check clearing that supports consumers, financial institutions and other businesses. These payment activities rely upon the technology infrastructure that facilitates the verification of activity with counterparties, the facilitation of the payment as well as the detection or prevention of fraudulent payments. If our continuity of operations, integrity of processing, or ability to detect or prevent fraudulent payments were compromised, this could result in a financial loss to us. In addition, we rely on various financial institutions to provide ACH services in support of funds settlement for certain of our solutions. If we are unable to obtain such ACH services in the future, that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations. In addition, we may issue credit to consumers, financial institutions or other businesses as part of the funds settlement. A default on this credit by a counterparty could result in a financial loss to us. Furthermore, if one of our clients for which we facilitate settlement suffers a fraudulent event due to an error of their controls, we may suffer a financial loss if the client does not have sufficient capital to cover the loss.

In foreign countries, particularly in those with developing economies, certain business practices may exist that are prohibited by laws and regulations applicable to us, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the U.K. Bribery Act and other anti-corruption laws. Although our policies and procedures require compliance with these laws and are designed to facilitate compliance with these laws, our employees, contractors and agents may take actions in violation of applicable laws or our policies. Any such violation, even if prohibited by our policies, could have a material adverse effect on our business and

As we expand our international operations, more of our clients may pay us in foreign currencies. Conducting business in currencies other than U.S. Dollars subjects us to fluctuations in currency exchange rates that can negatively impact our results, period to period, including relative to analyst estimates or guidance. Our primary exposure to movements in foreign currency exchange rates relates to foreign currencies in Brazil, Europe, including the United Kingdom, Australia and parts of Asia. The U.S. Dollar value of our net investments in foreign operations, the periodic conversion of foreign-denominated earnings to the U.S. Dollar (our reporting currency), and our results of operations and, in some cases, cash flows, could be adversely affected in a material manner by movements in foreign currency exchange rates. These risks could cause an adverse effect on the business, financial position and results of operations of the Company.

We have operations in emerging markets, primarily in Brazil, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. These emerging market economies tend to be more volatile than the more established markets we serve in North America and Europe, which could add volatility to our future revenues and earnings.

Our future success depends upon our ability to attract and retain highly-skilled technical personnel. Because the development of our solutions and services requires knowledge of computer hardware, operating system software, system management software and application software, our technical personnel must be proficient in a number of disciplines. Competition for such technical personnel is intense, and our failure to hire and retain talented personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our future growth will also require sales and marketing, financial and administrative personnel to develop and support new solutions and services, to enhance and support current solutions and services and to expand operational and financial systems. There can be no assurance that we will be able to attract and retain the necessary personnel to accomplish our growth strategies and we may experience constraints that could adversely affect our ability to satisfy client demand in a timely fashion.

Our ability to maintain compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations and to manage and monitor the risks facing our business relies upon the ability to maintain skilled compliance, security, risk and audit professionals. Competition for such skillsets is intense, and our failure to hire and retain talented personnel could have an adverse effect on our internal control environment and impact our operating results.

Our senior management team has significant experience in the financial services industry and the loss of this leadership could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition. Further, the loss of this leadership may have an adverse impact on senior management's ability to provide effective oversight and strategic direction for all key functions within the Company, which could impact our future business, operating results and financial condition.

We are involved in various litigation matters, including in some instances class-action cases class-action and patent infringement litigation. If we are unsuccessful in our defense of litigation matters, we may be forced to pay damages and/or change our business practices, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our tax returns and positions are subject to review and audit by Federal,federal, state, local and international taxing authorities. An unfavorable outcome to a tax audit could result in higher tax expense and could negatively impact our effective tax rate, financial position, results of operations and cash flows in the current and/or future periods. The U.S. enacted significant tax reform in 2017 and certain provisions of the new law could have an adverse impact to us. Unfavorable future tax law changes could also result in these negative impacts. In addition, tax-law amendments in the United States and other jurisdictions could significantly impact how United States multinational corporations are taxed. Although we cannot predict whether or in what form such legislation will pass, if enacted it could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. A material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting could adversely impact our ability to provide timely and accurate financial information. If we are unable to report financial information timely and accurately or to maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures, we could be subject to, among other things, regulatory or enforcement actions by the SEC, any one of which could adversely affect our business prospects.

While FIS expects the net earnings from non-Bradesco customers and restructuringthe current and new services provided to Bradesco by FIS to largely replace the net earnings lost from the unwinding of the Brazilian Venture, no assurance can be made in this regard, and FIS may fail to meet its financial goals to grow the business following the closing of the transaction. Further, it is possible that existing non-Bradesco clients may reduce the amount of services we perform for them following the unwinding of the Brazilian Venture.  In addition, the costs over time,of operating in Brazil on a stand-alone basis could be higher than we cannot give any assurance that this net benefit will be achieved inanticipate.

On March 31, 2014, SunGard completed the split-off of its Availability Services ("AS") business to its existing stockholders, including its private equity owners, on a tax-free and pro-rata basis (the “AS Split-Off”). At the time SunGard received opinions from outside tax counsel to the effect that the AS Split-Off should qualify for tax-free treatment as transactions described in Section 355 and related provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended (the “Code”). In addition, actions taken following the AS Split-Off, including the SunGard acquisition and certain 50 percent or greater changes by vote or value of the stock ownership of the new entity conducting the AS business, may cause the AS Split-Off to be taxable to FIS. In connection with the SunGard acquisition, we and SunGard received opinions of outside tax counsel to the effect that the SunGard acquisition should not cause the AS Split-off to fail to so qualify.

Notwithstanding the receipt of tax opinions, the tax-free treatment of the AS Split-off is not free from doubt, and there is a risk that the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”"IRS"), a state taxing authority or a court could conclude to the contrary that the separation of the AS business from SunGard may not qualify as tax-free transactions. An opinion of tax counsel is not binding on the IRS, state taxing authorities or any court and as a result there can be no assurance that a tax authority will not challenge the tax-free treatment of all or part of the AS Split-Off or that, if litigated, a court would not agree with the IRS or a state taxing authority. Further, these tax opinions rely on certain facts, assumptions, representations, warranties and covenants from SunGard, the new entity conducting the AS business and from some of SunGard’s stockholders regarding the past and future conduct of the companies’ respective businesses, share ownership and other matters. If any of the facts, assumptions, representations, warranties and covenants on which the opinions rely is inaccurate or incomplete or not satisfied, the opinions may no longer be valid. Moreover, the IRS or state taxing authority could determine on audit that the AS Split-Off is taxable if it determines that any of these facts, assumptions, representations, warranties or covenants are not correct or have been violated or if it disagrees with one or more conclusions in the opinions or for other reasons.

If the AS Split-Off is determined to be taxable, we and possibly our stockholders could incur significant income tax liabilities. These tax liabilities could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

As of December 31, 2016,2018, intangible assets with finite useful lives aggregated to $4,584$3,089 million, or 17.6%13.0% of total assets. Current accounting rules require intangible assets with finite useful lives to be reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. Factors that may be considered

We will continue to monitor the fair value of our intangible assets as well as our market capitalization and the impact of any economic downturn on our business to determine if there is an impairment in future periods.