What dominates the section
- OTC derivatives expose StoneX to market volatility, illiquidity, settlement failures, and counterparty losses.
- Cyber incidents at StoneX or its vendors could cause fraud, regulatory penalties, litigation, and uninsured losses.
- Liquidity, variable-rate debt, credit facilities, and regulated net-capital requirements could constrain operations.
- Regulatory costs, technology-driven competition, and acquisition execution add pressure to results.
The risks most specific to StoneX Group
- Business Risks
and the failure of buyers and sellers of securities, commodities and other assets to fulfill their settlement obligations. Any change in market volume, price or liquidity or any other of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results
As principal in OTC derivatives, StoneX could lose money if clients or other buyers and sellers fail to settle obligations.
- Business Risks
Transactions involving OTC derivative contracts may be adversely affected by fluctuations in the level, volatility, correlation or relationship between market prices, rates, indices and/or other factors. These types of instruments may also suffer from illiquidity in the market or in a related market
OTC derivatives can lose value or become difficult to hedge when market prices, rates, indices, correlations, or liquidity change.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
Cyber attacks directed at our vendors may also make us more vulnerable to being targeted for cyber attacks ourselves if the bad actors are able to obtain information relating to our company and / or systems
A cyberbreach at a vendor could expose StoneX to fraudulent transactions, regulatory noncompliance, data loss, and related financial losses.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
including breaches of our information technology systems, and may experience them in the future, potentially with more frequency or sophistication. Although we maintain cyber risk insurance, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses from any future breaches of our systems
Failures or cyberattacks affecting StoneX’s systems could expose client information and cause financial losses, regulatory sanctions, litigation, and uninsured costs.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
Debt Financing and Indebtedness Risks
StoneX needs substantial liquidity to fund client positions and maintain margin or credit support on futures exchanges and OTC markets.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
As of September 30, 2024, $338.8 million of our borrowings are subject to variable interest rates and as such, in periods of rising interest rates, our cost of funds will increase, which could reduce our net income
Rising rates could increase costs on $338.8 million of variable-rate borrowings, while committed credit facilities may not be renewed.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
The cost of complying with our regulatory requirements is significant and could increase materially in the future
Compliance costs could rise materially as StoneX develops and operates trade execution, reporting, surveillance, monitoring, recordkeeping, and data-reporting technology.
- Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
For a further discussion of litigation risks, see Item 3—Legal Proceedings below and Note 13 - Commitments and Contingencies in the Consolidated Financial Statements
Regulated subsidiaries must maintain required net capital or risk suspension, expulsion, or restrictions on their product lines.
- International Operations Risks
Alternatively, some of our competitors are smaller, subject to lower capital requirements, and may be able to adopt and implement emerging technologies more quickly
Smaller competitors with lower capital requirements may adopt emerging market-making and brokerage technologies faster than StoneX.
- International Operations Risks
From time to time, we may enter into negotiations for acquisitions or investments that are not ultimately consummated. Such negotiations could result in significant diversion of management time, as well as out-of-pocket costs
Uncompleted acquisition or investment negotiations could divert management attention and incur out-of-pocket costs, while completed deals could consume substantial cash.
All 12 risk factors
Headings as the filing states them, in filing order.
Macroeconomic Risks
- 01Short-term interest rates are highly sensitive to factors that are beyond our control and we can provide no assurance as to whether short-term interest rates will decline in the future
- 02Our financial position and results of operations may be adversely affected by unfavorable economic and financial market conditions as well as catastrophic events and crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, wars and geopolitical tensions
Business Risks
- 03and the failure of buyers and sellers of securities, commodities and other assets to fulfill their settlement obligations. Any change in market volume, price or liquidity or any other of these factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results
- 04Transactions involving OTC derivative contracts may be adversely affected by fluctuations in the level, volatility, correlation or relationship between market prices, rates, indices and/or other factors. These types of instruments may also suffer from illiquidity in the market or in a related market
Technology and Cybersecurity Risks
- 05Cyber attacks directed at our vendors may also make us more vulnerable to being targeted for cyber attacks ourselves if the bad actors are able to obtain information relating to our company and / or systems
- 06including breaches of our information technology systems, and may experience them in the future, potentially with more frequency or sophistication. Although we maintain cyber risk insurance, this insurance may not be sufficient to cover all of our losses from any future breaches of our systems
- 07Debt Financing and Indebtedness Risks
- 08As of September 30, 2024, $338.8 million of our borrowings are subject to variable interest rates and as such, in periods of rising interest rates, our cost of funds will increase, which could reduce our net income
- 09The cost of complying with our regulatory requirements is significant and could increase materially in the future
- 10For a further discussion of litigation risks, see Item 3—Legal Proceedings below and Note 13 - Commitments and Contingencies in the Consolidated Financial Statements
International Operations Risks
- 11Alternatively, some of our competitors are smaller, subject to lower capital requirements, and may be able to adopt and implement emerging technologies more quickly
- 12From time to time, we may enter into negotiations for acquisitions or investments that are not ultimately consummated. Such negotiations could result in significant diversion of management time, as well as out-of-pocket costs
Other StoneX Group 10-Ks
- 2025 10-K risk factors
12 risks. Short-term interest rate sensitivity and variable rate borrowings significantly impact operating results and liquidity. Substantial cash and credit facilities are required to support client margin and open positions. Compliance costs and regulatory net capital requirements strictly govern operations.
Filed Nov 28, 2025
About this page
Item 1A of the 10-K on EDGAR was split into its risk factors and, where the company's previous 10-K is on file, each heading was matched to last year's and the text compared word for word. The headings are the filing's own. The one-line readings and the overview were written by a language model from the text of the new, dropped, and rewritten risks; they refer to risks by position and cannot misquote a heading.