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UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(MARK ONE)

☑ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2019

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM            TO            .

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 1-14037

MOODY’S CORPORATION

(EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN ITS CHARTER)

Delaware			13-3998945
(STATE OF INCORPORATION)			(I.R.S. EMPLOYER IDENTIFICATION NO.)

7 World Trade Center at 250 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10007

(ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES)

(ZIP CODE)

SECURITIES REGISTERED PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(g) OF THE ACT:

NONE

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☑ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐  No ☑

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes ☑  No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes ☑  No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large Accelerated Filer

☑

Accelerated Filer ☐

Non-accelerated Filer ☐

Smaller  reporting company

☐

Emerging growth company

☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes ☐  No ☑

The aggregate market value of Moody’s Corporation Common Stock held by nonaffiliates* on June 30, 2019 (based upon its closing transaction price on the New York Stock Exchange on such date) was approximately $37.0 billion.

As of January 31, 2020, 187.4 million shares of Common Stock of Moody’s Corporation were outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement for use in connection with its annual meeting of stockholders scheduled to be held on April 21, 2020, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Form 10-K.

The Index to Exhibits is included as Part IV, Item 15(3) of this Form 10-K.

*Calculated by excluding all shares held by executive officers and directors of the Registrant without conceding that all such persons are “affiliates” of the Registrant for purposes of federal securities laws.

MOODY’S CORPORATION

INDEX TO FORM 10-K

												Page(s)
			Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations						4-9
PART I.
Item 1.			BUSINESS						10
			Background						10
			The Company						10-11
			Prospects for Growth						11-12
			Competition						12
			Moody’s Strategy						12-13
			Regulation						13-14
			Intellectual Property						14-15
			Employees						15
			Available Information						15
			Executive Officers of the Registrant						15-16
Item 1A.			RISK FACTORS						17-25
Item 1B.			UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS						26
Item 2.			PROPERTIES						26
Item 3.			LEGAL PROCEEDINGS						26
Item 4.			MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES						26
PART II.
Item 5.			MARKET FOR THE REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES						27
			Moody’s Purchases of Equity Securities						27
			Common Stock Information						27
			Equity Compensation Plan Information						27
			Performance Graph						28
Item 6.			SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA						29-30
Item 7.			MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS						31
			The Company						31
			Critical Accounting Estimates						31-37
			Reportable Segments						37
			Results of Operations						38-51
			Market Risk						51-52
			Liquidity and Capital Resources						53-58
			Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements						58
			Contingencies						59
			Forward-Looking Statements						59
Item 7A.			QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK						59
Item 8.			FINANCIAL STATEMENTS						60-117
Item 9.			CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE						118
Item 9A.			CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES						118
Item 9B.			OTHER INFORMATION						118

Page(s)

PART III.

Item 10.

DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATION GOVERNANCE

119

Item 11.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

119

Item 12.

SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

119

Item 13.

CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

119

Item 14.

PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

119

PART IV.

Item 15.

EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

120

INDEX TO EXHIBITS

120-124

Item 16.

FORM 10-K SUMMARY

124

SIGNATURES

125

Exhibits filed Herewith
4.1						Description of the Registrant’s securities registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
10.3.1.3						Second Amendment to the Amended and Restated 2001 Moody’s Corporation Key Employees’ Stock Incentive Plan (as amended, December 18, 2017)
10.3.3.2						Form of Employee Non-Qualified Stock Option Grant Agreement (for awards granted in 2020 or later) for the Amended and Restated 2001 Moody’s Corporation Key Employees’ Stock Incentive Plan
10.3.4.3						Form of Performance Share Award Letter (for awards granted in 2020 or later) for the Amended and Restated 2001 Moody’s Corporation Key Employees’ Stock Incentive Plan
10.3.5.2						Form of Restricted Stock Unit Grant Agreement (for awards granted in 2020 or later) for the Amended and Restated 2001 Moody’s Corporation Key Employees’ Stock Incentive Plan
10.10						Moody’s Corporation Retirement Account, amended and restated as of January 1, 2018
21						SUBSIDIARIES OF THE REGISTRANT
23.1						CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
31.1						Chief Executive Officer Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
31.2						Chief Financial Officer Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.1						Chief Executive Officer Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
32.2						Chief Financial Officer Certification Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
101.INS						Inline XBRL Instance Document (the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document)
101.SCH						Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101. CAL						Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF						Inline XBRL Definitions Linkbase Document
101.LAB						Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Labels Linkbase Document
101.PRE						Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104						Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)