TD Ameritrade 2018 Annual Report

11 Credit Risk — Credit risk is the risk of loss resulting from failure of obligors to honor their payments. Our exposure to credit risk mainly arises from client margin lending and leverage activities, securities lending activities and other counterparty credit risks. For more information about our credit risk and how we manage it, see Item 7A – Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk. Liquidity Risk — Liquidity risk is the risk of loss resulting from the inability to meet current and future cash flow needs. We actively monitor our liquidity position at the holding company and at the broker-dealer and FCM/FDM subsidiary levels. For more information, see Item 7 — Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources. Strategic Risk — Strategic risk is the risk of loss arising from ineffective business strategies, improper implementation of business strategies, or lack of responsiveness to changes in the business and competitive environment. Our executive management is responsible for establishing an appropriate corporate strategy intended to create value for stockholders, clients and employees, with oversight by our board of directors. Our management is responsible for defining the priorities, initiatives and resources necessary to execute the strategic plan, the success of which is regularly evaluated by the board of directors. Reputational Risk — Reputational risk is the risk arising from possible negative perceptions, whether true or not, of the Company among our clients, counterparties, stockholders, suppliers, employees and regulators. The potential for either enhancing or damaging our reputation is inherent in almost all aspects of business activity. We manage this risk through our commitment to a set of core values that emphasize and reward high standards of ethical behavior, maintaining a culture of compliance and by being responsive to client and regulatory requirements. Risk is inherent in our business, and therefore, despite our efforts to manage risk, there can be no assurance that we will not sustain unexpected losses. For a discussion of the factors that could materially affect our business, financial condition or future results of operations, see Item 1A— Risk Factors. Intellectual Property Rights Our success and ability to compete are significantly dependent on our intellectual property. We rely on copyright, trade secret, trademark, domain name, patent and contract laws to protect our intellectual property and have utilized the various methods available to us, including filing applications for patents and trademark registrations with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and entering into written licenses and other technology agreements with third parties. Our patented and patent pending technologies include stock indexing and investor education technologies, as well as innovative trading and analysis tools. Our trademarks include both our primary brand, TD Ameritrade (including the "TD" name through trademark license agreement with The Toronto-Dominion Bank), as well as brands for other products and services. A substantial portion of our intellectual property is protected by trade secrets. The source and object code for our proprietary software is also protected using applicable methods of intellectual property protection and general protections afforded to confidential information. In addition, it is our policy to enter into confidentiality and intellectual property ownership agreements with our employees and confidentiality and noncompetition agreementswith our independent contractors and business partners and to control access to and distribution of our intellectual property. Employees As of September 30, 2018, we had 9,183 full-time equivalent employees. None of our employees is covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We believe that our relations with our employees are good. Financial Information about Segments and Geographic Areas We primarily operate in the securities brokerage industry and have no other reportable segments. Substantially all of our revenues from external clients for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were derived from our operations in the United States. Websites and Social Media Disclosure From time to time, the Company may use its website and/or Twitter as distribution channels of material information. The Company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, financial data and other important information regarding the Company is accessible through and posted on the Company's website at www.amtd.com and its Twitter account