Lazard Ltd - Annual Report: 2016 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016

OR

EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from                          to                       

001-32492

(Commission File Number)

LAZARD LTD

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Clarendon House

2 Church Street

Hamilton HM11, Bermuda

(Address of principal executive offices)

Registrant’s telephone number: (441) 295-1422

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 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 and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted 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 and post such files).    Yes  ☒    No   ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the Registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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

The aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant as of June 30, 2016 was approximately $3,588,095,855.

As of January 31, 2017, there were 129,766,091 shares of the Registrant’s Class A common stock outstanding (including 8,080,055 shares held by subsidiaries).

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the Registrant’s proxy statement for its 2017 annual general meeting of shareholders are incorporated by reference in this Form 10-K in response to Part III Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.

LAZARD LTD

ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2016

INDEX

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Part I

When we use the terms “Lazard”, “we”, “us”, “our”, and “the Company”, we mean Lazard Ltd, a company incorporated under the laws of Bermuda, and its subsidiaries, including Lazard Group LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“Lazard Group”), that is the current holding company for our businesses. Lazard Ltd’s primary operating asset is its indirect ownership as of December 31, 2016 of all of the common membership interests in Lazard Group and its controlling interest in Lazard Group.

Lazard is one of the world’s preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms. We have long specialized in crafting solutions to the complex financial and strategic challenges of a diverse set of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals. Founded in 1848 in New Orleans, we currently operate from 42 cities in key business and financial centers across 27 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

Principal Business Lines

We focus primarily on two business segments: Financial Advisory and Asset Management. We believe that the mix of our activities across business segments, geographic regions, industries and investment strategies helps to diversify and stabilize our revenue stream.

Financial Advisory

Our Financial Advisory business offers corporate, partnership, institutional, government, sovereign and individual clients across the globe a wide array of financial advisory services regarding mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”) and other strategic matters, restructurings, capital structure, capital raising, corporate preparedness and various other financial matters. We focus on solving our clients’ most complex issues, providing advice to key decision-makers, senior management, boards of directors and business owners, as well as governments and governmental agencies, in transactions that typically are of significant strategic and financial importance to them.

We continue to build our Financial Advisory business by fostering long-term, senior level relationships with existing and new clients as their independent advisor on strategic transactions and other matters. We seek to build and sustain long-term relationships with our clients rather than focusing simply on individual transactions, a practice that we believe enhances our access to senior management of major corporations and institutions around the world. We emphasize providing clients with senior level focus during all phases of transaction analysis and execution.

While we strive to earn repeat business from our clients, we operate in a highly competitive environment in which there are no long-term contracted sources of revenue. Each revenue-generating engagement is separately negotiated and awarded. To develop new client relationships, and to develop new engagements from historical client relationships, we maintain an active dialogue with a large number of clients and potential clients, as well as with their financial and legal advisors, on an ongoing basis. We have gained a significant number of new clients each year through our business development initiatives, through recruiting additional senior investment banking professionals who bring with them client relationships and through referrals from directors, attorneys and other third parties with whom we have relationships. At the same time, we lose clients each year as a result of the sale or merger of a client, a change in a client’s senior management, competition from other investment banks and other causes.

For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our Financial Advisory segment net revenue totaled $1.301 billion, $1.280 billion and $1.207 billion, respectively, accounting for approximately 56%, 54% and 53%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenue for such years. We earned $1 million or more from 276 clients, 268 clients and 281 clients for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, the ten largest fee paying clients constituted approximately 23%, 17% and 15%, respectively, of our Financial Advisory segment net revenue, with no client individually contributing more than 10% of segment net revenue during any of these years. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and

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2014, our Financial Advisory segment reported operating income of $284 million, $274 million and $229 million, respectively. At December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our Financial Advisory segment had total assets of $907 million, $763 million and $786 million, respectively.

We believe that we have been pioneers in offering financial advisory services on an international basis, with the establishment of our New York, Paris and London offices dating back to the nineteenth century. We maintain a major local presence in the United States (the “U.S.”), the United Kingdom (the “U.K.”) and France, including a network of regional branch offices in the U.S., as well as a presence in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the Middle East region.

In addition to seeking business centered in the regions described above, we historically have focused in particular on advising clients with respect to cross-border transactions. We believe that we are particularly well known for our legacy of offering broad teams of professionals who are indigenous to their respective regions, who have long-term client relationships, capabilities and know-how in their respective regions, and who will coordinate with our professionals who have global sector expertise. We also believe that this positioning affords us insight around the globe into key industry, economic, governmental and regulatory issues and developments, which we can bring to bear on behalf of our clients.

Our Financial Advisory business has made certain business acquisitions and entered into other strategic business relationships. For example, in 2012, we integrated our Brazilian operations based in São Paulo, and established a Lazard Africa initiative to leverage our sovereign and corporate expertise in this rapidly growing region for our clients in both developed and developing countries. In 2014, we acquired certain securities sales and trading assets that facilitate the execution of exchange offers and other transactions related to financial advice provided by our Capital Advisory and Convertible Securities practice groups, and we took other steps that have enabled us to act as an underwriter in public offerings and other distributions of securities in order to buttress our Financial Advisory business. In 2015, we established a Lazard Central and Eastern Europe initiative to provide financial advisory services to businesses and governments in the region, as well as to our clients outside the region that are active in the region. In 2016, we expanded our North American Financial Advisory business through the acquisition of an independent financial advisory firm based in Canada, and we acquired the portion of MBA Lazard that we did not previously own, thereby fully integrating our Latin American operations.

Services Offered

We advise clients on a wide range of strategic and financial issues. When we advise clients on the potential acquisition of another company, business or certain assets, our services include evaluating potential acquisition targets, providing valuation analyses, evaluating and proposing financial and structural alternatives, and rendering, if appropriate, fairness opinions. We also may advise as to the timing, financing and pricing of a proposed acquisition and assist in negotiating and closing the acquisition. In addition, we may assist in executing an acquisition by acting as a dealer-manager in transactions structured as a tender or exchange offer.

When we advise clients that are contemplating the sale of certain businesses, assets or an entire company, our services include advising on the sale process for the situation, providing valuation analyses, assisting in preparing an offering circular or other appropriate sale materials and rendering, if appropriate, fairness opinions. We also identify and contact selected qualified acquirors and assist in negotiating and closing the proposed sale. As appropriate, we also advise our clients regarding potential financial and strategic alternatives to a sale, including recapitalizations, spin-offs, carve-outs and split-offs. We frequently provide advice with respect to the structure, timing and pricing of these alternatives.

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For companies in financial distress, our services may include reviewing and analyzing the business, operations, properties, financial condition and prospects of the company, evaluating debt capacity, assisting in the determination of an appropriate capital structure and evaluating financial and strategic alternatives. If appropriate, we may provide financial advice and assistance in developing and seeking approval of a restructuring or reorganization plan, which may include a plan of reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or other similar court administered processes in non-U.S. jurisdictions. In such cases, we may assist in certain aspects of the implementation of such a plan, including advising and assisting in structuring and effecting the financial aspects of a sale or recapitalization, structuring new securities, exchange offers, other consideration or other inducements to be offered or issued, as well as assisting and participating in negotiations with affected entities or groups.

When we assist clients in connection with their capital structure, we typically review and analyze structural alternatives, assist in long-term capital planning and advise and assist with respect to rating agency discussions and relationships, among other things.

When we assist clients in connection with corporate preparedness matters, our services may include reviewing and analyzing the business and financial condition of the company and assisting in the evaluation of defense measures and strategic alternatives potentially available to the company.

When we assist clients in raising private or public market financing, our services include assisting clients in connection with securing, refinancing or restructuring bank loans or other debt, including convertible securities, originating and executing, or participating in, public underwritings and private placements of equity, debt and convertible securities, and originating and executing private placements of partnership and similar interests in alternative investment funds such as leveraged buyout, mezzanine or real estate focused funds.

We are at the forefront of providing independent advice to governments and governmental agencies challenged by the current economic environment. Lazard’s Sovereign Advisory Group has advised a number of countries and institutions with respect to sovereign debt and other financial matters.

Staffing

We staff each of our assignments with a team of quality professionals who have appropriate product and industry expertise. We pride ourselves on, and we believe we differentiate ourselves from our competitors by, being able to offer a high level of attention from senior personnel to our clients and organizing ourselves in such a way that managing directors who are responsible for securing and maintaining client relationships also actively participate in providing related advice and services. Our managing directors have significant experience, and many of them are able to use this experience to advise on M&A, financings, restructurings, capital structure, corporate preparedness and other transactions or financial matters, depending on our clients’ needs. Many of our managing directors and senior employees come from diverse backgrounds, such as senior leadership positions in corporations, government, law and strategic consulting, which we believe enhances our ability to offer sophisticated advice and customized solutions to our clients. As of December 31, 2016, our Financial Advisory segment had 149 managing directors and 869 other professionals (which includes directors, vice presidents, associates and analysts).

Industries Served

We seek to offer our services across most major industry groups, including, in many cases, sub-industry specialties. Managing directors and professionals in our Mergers and Acquisitions practice are organized to provide advice in the following major industry practice areas:

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These groups are managed locally in each relevant geographic region and are coordinated globally, which allows us to bring local industry-specific knowledge to bear on behalf of our clients on a global basis. We believe that this enhances the scope and the quality of the advice that we can offer, which improves our ability to market our capabilities to clients.

In addition to our Mergers and Acquisitions and Restructuring practices, we also maintain specialties in the following distinct practice areas within our Financial Advisory business:

We endeavor to coordinate the activities of the professionals in these areas with our Mergers and Acquisitions industry specialists in order to offer clients customized teams of cross-functional expertise spanning both industry and practice area expertise.

Strategy

Our focus in our Financial Advisory business is on:

In addition to the investments made as part of this strategy, we believe that our Financial Advisory business may benefit from external market factors, including:

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Going forward, our strategic emphasis in our Financial Advisory business is to leverage the investments we have made to grow our business and drive our productivity. We continue to seek to opportunistically attract outstanding individuals to our business. We routinely reassess our strategic position and may in the future seek opportunities to further enhance our competitive position.

Asset Management

Our Asset Management business offers a broad range of global investment solutions and investment management services in equity and fixed income strategies, alternative investments and private equity funds to corporations, public funds, sovereign entities, endowments and foundations, labor funds, financial intermediaries and private clients. Our goal in our Asset Management business is to produce superior risk-adjusted investment returns and provide customized investment solutions for our clients. Many of our equity investment strategies share an investment philosophy that centers on fundamental security selection with a focus on analyzing, among other things, a company’s financial position, outlook, opportunities and risks, together with its valuation.

As of December 31, 2016, total assets under management (“AUM”) were $198 billion, of which approximately 82% was invested in equities, 16% in fixed income, 1% in alternative investments and 1% in private equity funds. As of the same date, within the equity asset class, approximately 28% of our AUM was invested in multi-regional (i.e., non-U.S. and regional non-U.S.) investment strategies, 21% in emerging markets strategies, 15% in global investment strategies and 18% in local investment strategies. Within the fixed income asset class, approximately 8% of our AUM was invested in emerging markets strategies, 4% in multi-regional (i.e., non-U.S. and regional non-U.S.) investment strategies, 2% in global investment strategies and 2% in local investment strategies. Our top ten clients accounted for 21%, 21% and 24% of our total AUM at December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively, with no client individually contributing more than 10% of our Asset Management segment net revenue during any of the respective years. Approximately 88% of our AUM as of December 31, 2016 was managed on behalf of institutional clients, including corporations, labor unions, public pension funds, insurance companies and banks, and through sub-advisory relationships, mutual fund sponsors, broker-dealers and registered advisors, and approximately 12% of our AUM was managed on behalf of individual client relationships, which are principally with family offices and high-net worth individuals.

The charts below illustrate the mix of our AUM as of December 31, 2016, measured by broad product strategy and by office location.

For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our Asset Management segment net revenue totaled $1.051 billion, $1.111 billion and $1.135 billion, respectively, accounting for approximately 45%, 47% and 49%, respectively, of our consolidated net revenue for such years. For the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our Asset Management segment reported operating income of $282 million, $374 million and $385 million, respectively. At December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014, our Asset Management segment had total assets of $646 million, $640 million and $588 million, respectively.

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Our Asset Management business maintains offices in New York, Bordeaux, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Lyon, Milan, Montreal, Nantes, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Zurich.  These operations, with 92 managing directors and 392 professionals as of December 31, 2016, provide our Asset Management business with both a global presence and a local identity.

Primary distinguishing features of these operations include:

Our Investment Philosophy, Process and Research.    Our investment philosophy is generally based upon a fundamental security selection approach to investing. Across many of our products, we apply three key principles to investment portfolios:

In searching for investment opportunities, many of our investment professionals follow an investment process that incorporates several interconnected components that may include:

In our Asset Management business, we conduct investment research on a global basis to develop market, industry and company specific insights and evaluate investment opportunities. Many of our global equity analysts, located in our worldwide offices, are organized around six global industry sectors:

Investment Strategies.    Our Asset Management business provides equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investment strategies to our clients, paying close attention to our clients’ varying and expanding investment needs. We offer the following product platform of investment strategies:

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In addition to the primary investment strategies listed above, we also provide other asset management services to our clients, including asset allocation advisory services and locally customized investment solutions. In many cases, we also offer both diversified and more concentrated versions of our products. These products are generally offered on a separate account basis, as well as through pooled vehicles.

Distribution.    We distribute our products through a broad array of marketing channels on a global basis. Marketing, sales and client service efforts are organized through a global market delivery and service network, with distribution professionals located in cities including New York, Bordeaux, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hong Kong, London, Lyon, Milan, Montreal, Nantes, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto and Zurich. We have developed a well-established presence in the institutional asset

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management arena, managing assets for corporations, labor unions, sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds around the world. In addition, we manage assets for insurance companies, savings and trust banks, endowments, foundations and charities.

We also have become a leading firm in managing mutual funds and separately managed accounts for many of the world’s largest broker-dealers, insurance companies, registered advisors and other financial intermediaries.

Strategy

Our strategic plan in our Asset Management business is to focus on delivering superior investment performance and client service and broadening our product offerings and distribution in selected areas in order to continue to drive improved business results. Over the past several years, in an effort to improve our Asset Management business’ operations and expand our Asset Management business, we have:

We believe that our Asset Management business has long maintained an outstanding team of portfolio managers and global research analysts. We intend to maintain and supplement our intellectual capital to achieve our goals. We routinely reassess our strategic position and may in the future seek acquisitions or other transactions, including the opportunistic hiring of new employees, in order to further enhance our competitive position. We also believe that our specific investment strategies, global reach, unique brand identity and access to multiple distribution channels may allow us to expand into new investment products, strategies and geographic locations. In addition, we may expand our participation in alternative investment activities through investments in new and successor funds, and through organic growth, acquisitions or otherwise. We may also continue to expand our geographic reach.

Alternative Investments

Since 2005, we have been engaged in selected alternative investments and private equity activities. In 2009, we established a private equity business with The Edgewater Funds (“Edgewater”), a Chicago-based private equity firm, through the acquisition of Edgewater’s management vehicles. As of December 31, 2016, Edgewater had approximately $1 billion of AUM and unfunded fee-earning commitments.

Historically, Lazard also has made selected investments with its own capital, often alongside capital of qualified institutional and individual investors in connection with Lazard’s selected alternative investments and private equity activities. These investments typically have been organized in funds that make substantial or controlling investments in private or public companies, generally through privately negotiated transactions and with a view to divest within two to seven years. While potentially risky and frequently illiquid, such investments, when successful, can yield investors substantial returns on capital and generate attractive management and performance fees for the sponsor of such funds.

Employees

We believe that our people are our most important asset, and it is their reputation, talent, integrity and dedication that underpin our success. As of December 31, 2016, we employed 2,781 people, which included 149 managing directors and 869 other professionals in our Financial Advisory segment and 92 managing directors and

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403 other professionals in our Asset Management segment. We strive to maintain a work environment that fosters professionalism, excellence, diversity, collaboration and cooperation among our employees worldwide. We generally utilize an evaluation process at the end of each year to measure performance, determine compensation and provide guidance on opportunities for improved performance. Generally, our employees are not subject to any collective bargaining agreements, except that our employees in certain of our offices, including France and Italy, are covered by national, industry-wide collective bargaining agreements. We believe that we have good relations with our employees.

Competition

The financial services industry, and all of the businesses in which we compete, are intensely competitive, and we expect them to remain so. Our competitors are other investment banking and financial advisory firms, broker-dealers, commercial and “universal” banks, insurance companies, investment management firms, hedge fund management firms, alternative investment firms and other financial institutions. We compete with some of them globally and with others on a regional, product or niche basis. We compete on the basis of a number of factors, including quality of people, transaction execution skills, investment track record, quality of client service, individual and institutional client relationships, absence of conflicts, range and price of products and services, innovation, brand recognition and business reputation.

While our competitors vary by country in our Financial Advisory business, we believe our primary competitors in securing engagements are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Centerview Partners, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Evercore Partners, Goldman Sachs, Greenhill, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, Rothschild and UBS. In our Restructuring practice, we believe our primary competitors are Centerview Partners, Evercore Partners, Houlihan Lokey, PJT Partners, Moelis & Company and Rothschild.

We believe that our primary global competitors in our Asset Management business include, in the case of Lazard Asset Management LLC and its subsidiaries (“LAM”), Aberdeen, Alliance Bernstein, Capital Management & Research, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Invesco, JP Morgan Asset Management, Lord Abbett, MFS, Neuberger Berman and Schroders and, in the case of Lazard Frères Gestion SAS (“LFG”), private banks with offices in France as well as large institutional banks and fund managers. We face competition in private equity both in the pursuit of outside investors for our private equity funds and the acquisition of investments in attractive portfolio companies. We compete with hundreds of other funds, many of which are subsidiaries of, or otherwise affiliated with, large financial service providers.

Competition is also intense in each of our businesses for the attraction and retention of qualified employees, and we compete, among other factors, on the level and nature of compensation and equity-based incentives for key employees. Our ability to continue to compete effectively in our businesses will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain and motivate our existing employees, in each case, at appropriate compensation levels.

Many of our competitors are large, consolidated financial institutions that have the ability to offer a wider range of products than we offer, including loans, deposit taking, insurance and brokerage services. Many of these firms also offer more extensive asset management and investment banking services, which may enhance their competitive position. They also may have the ability to support investment banking and securities products with commercial banking, insurance and other financial services revenue in an effort to gain market share, which could result in pricing pressure in our businesses. At the same time, demand for independent financial advice has increased and has created opportunities for new entrants, including a number of boutique financial advisory firms. These boutique firms frequently compete, among other factors, on the basis of their independent financial advice, and their activities also could result in pricing and other competitive pressure in our businesses.

See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—The financial services industry, and all of the businesses in which we compete, are intensely competitive” below.

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Regulation

Our businesses, as well as the financial services industry generally, are subject to extensive regulation throughout the world. As a matter of public policy, regulatory bodies are charged with safeguarding the integrity of the securities and other financial markets and with protecting the interests of customers participating in those markets, not with protecting the interests of our stockholders or creditors. Many of our affiliates that participate in securities markets are subject to comprehensive regulations that include some form of minimum capital retention requirements and customer protection rules. In the U.S., certain of our subsidiaries are subject to such regulations promulgated by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and/or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”). Standards, requirements and rules implemented throughout the European Union are broadly comparable in scope and purpose to the regulatory capital and customer protection requirements imposed under the SEC and FINRA rules. European Union directives also permit local regulation in each jurisdiction, including those in which we operate, to be more restrictive than the requirements of such European Union-wide directives. These sometimes burdensome local requirements can result in certain competitive disadvantages to us.

In the U.S., the SEC is the federal agency responsible for the administration of the federal securities laws. FINRA is a voluntary, self-regulatory body composed of members, such as our broker-dealer subsidiaries, that have agreed to abide by FINRA’s rules and regulations. The SEC, FINRA and other U.S. and non-U.S. regulatory organizations may examine the activities of, and may expel, fine and otherwise discipline us and our employees. The laws, rules and regulations comprising this framework of regulation and the interpretation and enforcement of existing laws, rules and regulations are constantly changing. The effect of any such changes cannot be predicted and may impact the manner of operation and profitability of our businesses.

Our principal U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary, Lazard Frères & Co. LLC (“LFNY”), through which we conduct most of our U.S. Financial Advisory business, is currently registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and FINRA, and as a broker-dealer in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. As such, LFNY is subject to regulations governing most aspects of the securities business, including minimum capital retention requirements, record-keeping and reporting procedures, relationships with customers, experience and training requirements for certain employees, and business procedures with firms that are not members of certain regulatory bodies. In addition, LFNY is a member organization of the New York Stock Exchange LLC and the NYSE MKT LLC and is subject to various rules and regulations that have been promulgated by these securities exchanges. Lazard Asset Management Securities LLC, a subsidiary of LAM, is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and FINRA and in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Lazard Middle Market LLC is registered as a broker-dealer with the SEC and FINRA, and as a broker-dealer in various U.S. states and territories.

Our U.S. broker-dealer subsidiaries, including LFNY, are subject to the SEC’s uniform net capital rule, Rule 15c3-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the net capital rules of FINRA, which may limit our ability to make withdrawals of capital from our broker-dealer subsidiaries. The uniform net capital rule sets the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer must maintain and also requires that a portion of its assets be relatively liquid. FINRA may prohibit a member firm from expanding its business or paying cash dividends if it would result in net capital falling below FINRA’s requirements. In addition, our broker-dealer subsidiaries are subject to certain notification requirements related to withdrawals of excess net capital. Our broker-dealer subsidiaries are also subject to regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, which impose obligations regarding the prevention and detection of money-laundering activities, including the establishment of customer due diligence and other compliance policies and procedures. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in monetary, regulatory and, in certain cases, criminal penalties.

Certain U.K. subsidiaries of Lazard Group, including Lazard & Co., Limited (“LCL”), Lazard Fund Managers Limited and Lazard Asset Management Limited, which we refer to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”) as the “U.K. subsidiaries,” are authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (the “FCA”), and are subject to various rules and regulations made by the FCA under the authorities conferred upon it by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended by the Financial Services Act 2012. LCL has obtained the appropriate European investment services rights to provide cross-border services into a number of other members of the European Economic Area.

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We also have other subsidiaries that are registered as broker-dealers (or have similar non-U.S. registration) in various jurisdictions.

Certain of our Asset Management subsidiaries are registered as investment advisors with the SEC. As a registered investment advisor, each is subject to the requirements of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Advisers Act”), and the SEC’s regulations thereunder. Such requirements relate to, among other things, the relationship between an advisor and its advisory clients, as well as general anti-fraud prohibitions. LAM serves as an advisor to several mutual funds which are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). The Investment Company Act regulates, among other things, the relationship between a mutual fund and its investment advisor (and other service providers) and prohibits or severely restricts principal transactions between an advisor and its advisory clients, imposes record-keeping and reporting requirements, disclosure requirements, limitations on trades where a single broker acts as the agent for both the buyer and seller, and limitations on affiliated transactions and joint transactions. Lazard Asset Management Securities LLC, a subsidiary of LAM, serves as an underwriter or distributor for mutual funds and hedge funds managed by LAM, and as an introducing broker to Pershing LLC for unmanaged accounts of LAM’s private clients.

Compagnie Financière Lazard Frères SAS (“CFLF”), our French subsidiary under which asset management and commercial banking activities are carried out in France, is subject to regulation by the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (“ACPR”) for its banking activities conducted through our Paris-based banking subsidiary, Lazard Frères Banque SA (“LFB”). The investment services activities of the Paris group, exercised through LFB and other subsidiaries of CFLF, primarily LFG (asset management), also are subject to regulation and supervision by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers. In addition, pursuant to the consolidated supervision rules in the European Union, LFB, in particular, as a French credit institution, is required to be supervised by a regulatory body, either in the U.S. or in the European Union. In 2013, the Company and the ACPR agreed on terms for the consolidated supervision of LFB and certain other non-Financial Advisory European subsidiaries of the Company (referred to herein, on a combined basis, as the “combined European regulated group”) under such rules. Under this supervision, the combined European regulated group is required to comply with minimum requirements for regulatory net capital to be reported on a quarterly basis and satisfy periodic financial and other reporting obligations. Additionally, the combined European regulated group, together with our European Financial Advisory entities, is required to perform an annual risk assessment and provide certain other information on a periodic basis, including financial reports and information relating to financial performance, balance sheet data and capital structure.

As a result of certain changes effected by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) related to the regulation of over-the-counter swaps and other derivative instruments, LAM and certain of its subsidiaries have registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the “CFTC”) and the National Futures Association (the “NFA”), and are subject to certain aspects of the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act and the regulations thereunder, and to the rules of the NFA. The CFTC and the NFA have authority over the laws, rules and regulations related to commodities (including the over-the-counter swaps and derivatives markets), and regulate our relationship with clients who trade in these instruments. The U.S. Commodity Exchange Act and the regulations thereunder also impose additional record-keeping and reporting requirements and disclosure requirements on LAM and its subsidiaries.

In addition, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Japanese Ministry of Finance and Financial Services Agency, the Korean Financial Supervisory Commission, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority and the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, among others, regulate relevant operating subsidiaries of the Company and also have capital standards and other requirements comparable to the rules of the SEC. Our business is also subject to regulation by other non-U.S. governmental and regulatory bodies and self-regulatory authorities in other countries where we operate.

Regulators are empowered to conduct periodic examinations and initiate administrative proceedings that can result, among other things, in censure, fine, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or the suspension or expulsion or other disciplining of a broker-dealer or investment advisor or its directors, officers or employees.

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We are also subject to various anti-bribery, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws, rules and regulations in the jurisdictions in which we operate. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, for example, generally prohibits offering, promising or giving, or authorizing others to give, anything of value, either directly or indirectly, to a non-U.S. government official in order to influence official action or otherwise gain an unfair business advantage, such as to obtain or retain business. Similar rules and regulations exist in other jurisdictions in which we operate. In addition, we are required to comply with economic sanctions and embargo programs administered by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control and by similar governmental agencies and other authorities worldwide. Violations of any of these laws, rules, regulations and programs can give rise to administrative, civil or criminal penalties.

The U.S. and other governments and institutions have taken actions, and may continue to take further actions, that affect the global financial markets. Such further actions could include expanding current or enacting new standards, requirements and rules that may be applicable to us and our subsidiaries. The effect of any such expanded or new standards, requirements and rules is uncertain and could have adverse consequences to our business and results of operations. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors—Other Business Risks—Extensive regulation of our businesses limits our activities and results in ongoing exposure to the potential for significant penalties, including fines or limitations on our ability to conduct our businesses.”

Executive Officers of the Registrant

Set forth below are the name, age, present title, principal occupation and certain biographical information for each of our executive officers as of February 17, 2017, all of whom have been appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of, our board of directors.

Kenneth M. Jacobs, 58

Mr. Jacobs has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Lazard Ltd and Lazard Group since November 2009. Mr. Jacobs has served as a Managing Director of Lazard since 1991 and had been a Deputy Chairman of Lazard from January 2002 until November 2009. Mr. Jacobs also served as Chief Executive Officer of Lazard North America from January 2002 until November 2009. Mr. Jacobs initially joined Lazard in 1988. Mr. Jacobs is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Chicago and the Brookings Institution.

Matthieu Bucaille, 57

Mr. Bucaille has served as Chief Financial Officer of Lazard Ltd and Lazard Group since April 2011. Mr. Bucaille has served as a Managing Director of Lazard since 1998 and served as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of LFB in Paris from October 2009 until December 2011. Mr. Bucaille joined Lazard in 1989 from the First Boston Corporation in New York.

Ashish Bhutani, 56

Mr. Bhutani has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Lazard Ltd and Lazard Group since March 2010. Mr. Bhutani is a Vice Chairman and a Managing Director of Lazard and has been the Chief Executive Officer of LAM since March 2004. Mr. Bhutani previously served as Head of New Products and Strategic Planning for LAM from June 2003 to March 2004. Prior to joining Lazard, he was Co-Chief Executive Officer, North America, of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein from 2001 to the end of 2002, and was a member of its Global Corporate and Markets Board, and a member of its Global Executive Committee. Mr. Bhutani worked at Wasserstein Perella Group (the predecessor to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein) from 1989 to 2001, serving as Deputy Chairman of Wasserstein Perella Group and Chief Executive Officer of Wasserstein Perella Securities from 1994 to 2001. Mr. Bhutani began his career at Salomon Brothers in 1985, where he was a Vice President in Fixed Income. Mr. Bhutani is a member of the Board of Directors of four registered investment companies, which are part of the Lazard fund complex.

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Scott D. Hoffman, 54

Mr. Hoffman has served as General Counsel of Lazard Ltd since May 2005. Mr. Hoffman has served as a Managing Director of Lazard since January 1999 and General Counsel of Lazard Group since January 2001. Mr. Hoffman previously served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel from February 1994 to December 1997 and as a Director from January 1998 to December 1998. Prior to joining Lazard, Mr. Hoffman was an attorney at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Board of Trustees of the New York University School of Law.

Alexander F. Stern, 50

Mr. Stern has served as Chief Operating Officer of Lazard Ltd and Lazard Group since November 2008. Mr. Stern has served as a Managing Director of Lazard since January 2002, as Chief Executive Officer, Financial Advisory, since April 2015, and as Global Head of Strategy since February 2006. Mr. Stern previously served as a Vice President in Lazard’s Financial Advisory business from January 1998 to December 2000 and as a Director from January 2001 to December 2001. Mr. Stern initially joined Lazard in 1994 and previously held various positions with Patricof & Co. Ventures and IBM.

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Where You Can Find Additional Information

Lazard Ltd files current, annual and quarterly reports, proxy statements and other information required by the Exchange Act with the SEC. You may read and copy any document the Company files at the SEC’s public reference room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, U.S.A. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the public reference room. The Company’s SEC filings are also available to the public from the SEC’s internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of these reports, proxy statements and other information can also be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005, U.S.A.

Our public website is http://www.lazard.com and the investor relations SEC filings section of our public website is located at http://www.lazard.com/InvestorRelations/SEC-Filings.aspx. We will make available free of charge, on or through the investor relations section of our website, our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Also posted on our website, and available in print upon request of any Lazard Ltd shareholder to the Investor Relations Department, are charters for the Company’s Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating & Governance Committee. Copies of these charters and our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics governing our directors, officers and employees are also posted on the investor relations section of our website in the corporate governance subsection.

You should carefully consider the following risks and all of the other information set forth in this Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes. The following risks comprise the material risks of which we are aware. If any of the events or developments described below actually occurred, our business, financial condition or results of operations would likely suffer.

Difficult market conditions can adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the volume of transactions involving our Financial Advisory business and reducing the value or performance of the assets we manage in our Asset Management business, which, in each case, could materially reduce our revenue or income and adversely affect our financial position.

As a financial services firm, our businesses are materially affected by conditions in the global financial markets and economic conditions throughout the world. Unfavorable economic and market conditions can adversely affect our financial performance in both the Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses. The future market and economic climate may deteriorate because of many factors, such as a general slowing of economic growth globally or regionally, periods of volatility in securities markets, volatility and tightening of liquidity in credit markets, volatility or significant realignments in currency markets, increases in interest rates, inflation, corporate or sovereign defaults, natural disasters, terrorism or political uncertainty.

In recent years, regional and global capital markets and economies have experienced periods of significant disruption and volatility. If these conditions continue or if current conditions materially worsen, our business may be adversely affected, which may have a material impact on our business and results of operations.

For example, revenue generated by our Financial Advisory business is directly related to the volume and value of the transactions in which we are involved. During periods of unfavorable or uncertain market or economic conditions, the volume and value of M&A transactions may decrease, thereby reducing the demand for our Financial Advisory services and increasing price competition among financial services companies seeking such engagements. Our results of operations would be adversely affected by any such reduction in the volume or value of M&A transactions. In addition, our profitability would be adversely affected due to our fixed costs and the possibility that we would be unable to reduce our variable costs without reducing revenue or within a timeframe sufficient to offset any decreases in revenue relating to changes in market and economic conditions.

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Within our Financial Advisory business, we have typically seen that, during periods of economic strength and growth, our Mergers and Acquisitions practice historically has been more active and our Restructuring practice has been less active. Conversely, during periods of economic weakness and contraction, we typically have seen that our Restructuring practice has been more active and our Mergers and Acquisitions practice has been less active. As a result, revenue from our Restructuring practice has tended to correlate negatively to our revenue from our Mergers and Acquisitions practice over the course of business cycles. These trends are cyclical in nature and subject to periodic reversal. However, these trends do not cancel out the impact of economic conditions in our Financial Advisory business, which may be adversely affected by a downturn in economic conditions leading to decreased Mergers and Acquisitions practice activity, notwithstanding improvements in our Restructuring practice. Moreover, revenue improvements in our Mergers and Acquisitions practice in strong economic conditions could be offset in whole or in part by any related revenue declines in our Restructuring practice. While we generally have experienced a counter-cyclical relationship between our Mergers and Acquisitions practice and our Restructuring practice, this relationship may not continue in the future, and there is no certainty that strength in one practice will offset weakness in the other.

Our Asset Management business also would be expected to generate lower revenue in a market or general economic downturn. Under our Asset Management business’s arrangements, investment advisory fees we receive typically are based on the market value of AUM. Accordingly, a decline in the prices of securities, or in specific geographic markets or sectors that constitute a significant portion of our AUM (e.g., our emerging markets strategies), would be expected to cause our revenue and income to decline by causing:

If our Asset Management revenue declines without a commensurate reduction in our expenses, our net income would be reduced. In addition, in the event of a market or general economic downturn, our alternative investment and private equity practices also may be impacted by a difficult fund raising environment and reduced exit opportunities in which to realize the value of their investments. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may also affect the levels of our AUM and our investment advisory fees. See “Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could reduce our stockholders’ equity and net income or negatively impact the portfolios of our Asset Management clients and may affect the levels of our AUM” below.

Due to the nature of our business, financial results could differ significantly from period to period, which may make it difficult for us to achieve steady earnings growth on a quarterly basis.

We experience significant fluctuations in quarterly revenue and profits. These fluctuations generally can be attributed to the fact that we earn a substantial portion of our Financial Advisory revenue upon the successful completion of a transaction or a restructuring, the timing of which is uncertain and is not subject to our control. As a result, our Financial Advisory business is highly dependent on market conditions and the decisions and actions of our clients, interested third parties and governmental authorities. For example, a client or counterparty could delay or terminate an acquisition transaction because of a failure to agree upon final terms, failure to obtain necessary regulatory consents or board of directors, or acquirer’s or stockholder approval, failure to secure necessary financing, adverse market conditions or because the seller’s business is experiencing unexpected operating or financial problems. Anticipated bidders for assets of a client during a restructuring transaction may not materialize or our client may not be able to restructure its operations or indebtedness, for example, due to a failure to reach agreement with its principal creditors. In addition, a bankruptcy court may deny our right to collect a “success” or “completion” fee. In these circumstances, other than in engagements where we receive monthly retainers, we often

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do not receive any advisory fees other than the reimbursement of certain expenses, despite the fact that we devote resources to these transactions. Accordingly, the failure of one or more transactions to close either as anticipated or at all could cause significant fluctuations in quarterly revenue and profits and could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. For more information, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”.

In addition, our Asset Management revenue is particularly sensitive to fluctuations in our AUM. Asset Management fees are predominantly based on average AUM as of the end of a quarter or month. As a result, a reduction in AUM at the end of a quarter or month (as a result of market depreciation, withdrawals, fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates or otherwise) will result in a decrease in management fees. Similarly, the timing of flows, contributions and withdrawals are often out of our control and may be inconsistent from quarter to quarter. Incentive fees are driven by investment performance (either absolute performance or relative to an established benchmark), which is directly impacted by market movements, and may therefore fluctuate from period to period.

As a result of quarterly fluctuations, it may be difficult for us to achieve steady revenue and earnings growth on a quarterly basis.

Our ability to retain our managing directors and other key professional employees is critical to the success of our business, including maintaining compensation levels at an appropriate level of costs, and failure to do so may materially adversely affect our results of operations and financial position.

Our people are our most important asset. We must retain the services of our managing directors and other key professional employees, and strategically recruit and hire new talented employees, to obtain and successfully execute the Financial Advisory and Asset Management engagements that generate substantially all of our revenue.

In general, our industry continues to experience change and be subject to significant competitive pressures with respect to the retention of top talent, which makes it more difficult for us to retain professionals. Loss of key employees may occur due to perceived opportunity for promotion, compensation levels, work environment or other individual reasons, some of which may be beyond our control. If any of our managing directors and other key professional employees were to retire, join an existing competitor, form a competing company or otherwise leave us, some of our clients could eventually choose to use the services of that competitor or some other competitor instead of our services. In any such event, our investment banking fees, asset management fees or AUM could decline. The employment arrangements, non-competition agreements and retention agreements we have or will enter into with our managing directors and other key professional employees may not sufficiently prevent our managing directors and other key professional employees from resigning from practice or competing against us. In addition, these arrangements and agreements have a limited duration and expire after a certain period of time. We continue to be subject to intense competition in the financial services industry regarding the recruitment and retention of key professionals, and have experienced departures from and added to our professional ranks as a result.

Certain changes to our employee compensation arrangements may result in increased compensation and benefits expense. In addition, any changes to the mix of cash and deferred incentive compensation granted to our employees may affect certain financial measures applicable to our business, including ratios of compensation and benefits expense to revenue, and may result in the issuance of increased levels of Lazard Ltd’s Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share (“Class A common stock”), to our employees upon vesting of restricted stock units (“RSUs”), performance-based restricted stock units (“PRSUs”) or restricted stock awards in a particular year. Our compensation levels, results of operations and financial position may be significantly affected by many factors, including general economic and market conditions, our operating and financial performance, staffing levels and competitive pay conditions.

The financial services industry, and all of the businesses in which we compete, are intensely competitive.

The financial services industry is intensely competitive, and we expect it to remain so. We compete on the basis of a number of factors, including the quality of our advice, our employees and transaction execution, the range and price of our products and services, our innovation and our reputation. We have experienced intense fee competition in some of our businesses in recent years, and we believe that we may experience pricing pressures in these and other areas in the future as some of our competitors seek to obtain increased market share by reducing fees.

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A number of factors increase the competitive risks of our Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses:

In addition, many of our competitors have the ability to offer a wide range of products, from loans, deposit-taking and insurance to brokerage, asset management and investment banking services, which may enhance their competitive position. They may also have the ability to support investment banking, including financial advisory services, with commercial banking, insurance and other financial services in an effort to gain market share, which could result in pricing pressure in our businesses.

Competitive pressure could adversely affect our ability to attract new or retain existing clients, make successful investments, retain our people or maintain AUM, any of which would adversely affect our revenue and earnings.

A substantial portion of our revenue is derived from Financial Advisory fees, which are not long-term contracted sources of revenue and are subject to intense competition, and declines in our Financial Advisory engagements could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We historically have earned a substantial portion of our revenue from advisory fees paid to us by our Financial Advisory clients, which usually are payable upon the successful completion of a particular transaction or restructuring. For example, for the year ended December 31, 2016, Financial Advisory services accounted for approximately 56% of our consolidated net revenue. We expect that we will continue to rely on Financial Advisory fees for a substantial portion of our revenue for the foreseeable future, and a decline in our advisory engagements or the market for advisory services would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, we operate in a highly competitive environment where typically there are no long-term contracted sources of revenue. Each revenue-generating engagement typically is separately awarded and negotiated. Furthermore, many businesses do not routinely engage in transactions requiring our services and, as a consequence, our fee paying engagements with many clients are not likely to be predictable. We also lose clients each year, including as a result of the sale or merger of a client, a change in a client’s senior management and competition from other financial advisors and financial institutions. As a result, our engagements with clients are constantly changing and our Financial Advisory fees could decline quickly due to the factors discussed above.

If the number of debt defaults, bankruptcies or other factors affecting demand for our Restructuring services declines, our Restructuring revenue could suffer.

We provide various restructuring and restructuring-related advice to companies in financial distress or to their creditors or other stakeholders. Historically, the fees from restructuring related services have been a significant part of our Financial Advisory revenue. A number of factors could affect demand for these advisory services, including improving general economic conditions, the availability and cost of debt and equity financing and changes to laws, rules and regulations, including those that protect creditors, and the deregulation or privatization of particular industries.

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Potential underwriting and trading activities may expose us to risk.

In 2014, we took steps that have enabled us to act as an underwriter in public offerings and other distributions of securities in order to buttress our Financial Advisory business. If we act as an underwriter, we may incur losses and be subject to reputational harm to the extent that, for any reason, we are unable to sell securities we purchased as an underwriter at the anticipated price levels. In addition, if we act as an underwriter, we may also be subject to liability for material misstatements or omissions in prospectuses and other offering documents relating to offerings we underwrite. In such cases, any indemnification provisions in the applicable underwriting agreement may not be available to us or may not be sufficient to protect us against losses arising from such liability. Operational risk in connection with any offering we underwrite could arise in the form of errors, deficiencies or noncompliance and also could expose us to risk. In addition, indemnification provisions in our agreement with our clearing organization, customer trading and other activities may expose us to off-balance sheet credit risk. Securities may have to be purchased or sold at prevailing market prices in the event a customer fails to settle a trade on its original terms. We seek to manage the risks associated with underwriting and customer trading activities through screening, internal review and trading procedures and processes, but such procedures and processes may not be effective in all cases.

Our investment style in our Asset Management business, including the mix of asset classes and investment strategies comprising our AUM, may underperform or generate less demand than other investment approaches, which may result in significant client or asset departures, or a reduction in AUM.

Even when securities prices are rising generally, performance can be affected by investment style and mix of asset classes. For example, many of the equity investment strategies in our Asset Management business share a common investment orientation towards relative value investing. We believe this style tends to outperform the market in some market environments and underperform it in others. In particular, a prolonged growth environment may cause some of our investment strategies to go out of favor with some clients, advisors, consultants or third-party intermediaries. In addition, all of our investment strategies are actively managed strategies which seek to outperform relative to a benchmark or generate an absolute return.  Management fees for actively managed strategies tend to be higher than those charged for passively managed strategies. The perception that actively managed strategies have, on average, underperformed relative to passively managed strategies over time, combined with greater pressure on clients to acquire asset management services at lower costs, has contributed to increased trends toward passively managed investment strategies. This, in turn may adversely affect demand for our strategies or result in fee pressure on our business overall. In combination with poor performance relative to peers, changes in personnel, extensive periods in particular market environments or other difficulties, the underperformance of our investment style may result in significant client or asset departures or a reduction in AUM.

We could lose clients and suffer a decline in our Asset Management revenue and earnings if the investments we choose in our Asset Management business perform poorly, regardless of overall trends in the prices of securities.

Investment performance affects our AUM relating to existing clients and is one of the most important factors in retaining clients and competing for new Asset Management business. Poor investment performance could impair our revenue and growth because:

Over certain time periods, we may have a higher concentration of assets in certain strategies. To the extent that this is the case, underperformance, changes in investment personnel or other changes in these strategies may

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result in a withdrawal of assets. If a significant amount of clients withdraw from these strategies for any reason, our revenues would decline and our operating results would be adversely affected.

Because many of our Asset Management clients can remove the assets we manage on short notice, we may experience unexpected declines in revenue and profitability.

Our investment advisory contracts are generally terminable upon very short notice. Institutional and individual clients, and firms with which we have strategic alliances, can terminate their relationship with us, reduce the aggregate amount of AUM or shift their funds to other types of accounts with different rate structures for a number of reasons, including investment performance, departures from or changes to the teams that manage our investment products, or changes in prevailing interest rates and financial market performance. Poor performance relative to other investment management firms tends to result in decreased investments in our investment products, increased redemptions of our investment products, and the loss of institutional or individual accounts or strategic alliances. In addition, the ability to terminate relationships may allow clients to renegotiate for lower fees paid for asset management services.

In addition, in the U.S., as required by the Investment Company Act, each of our investment advisory contracts with the mutual funds we advise or subadvise automatically terminates upon its “assignment.” Each of our other investment advisory contracts subject to the provisions of the Investment Advisers Act provide, as required by the Investment Advisers Act, that the contract may not be “assigned” without the consent of the customer. A sale of a sufficiently large block of shares of our voting securities or other transactions could be deemed an “assignment” in certain circumstances. An assignment, actual or constructive, would trigger these termination provisions and could adversely affect our ability to continue managing client accounts.

Access to clients through intermediaries is important to our Asset Management business, and reductions in referrals from such intermediaries or poor reviews of our products or our organization by such intermediaries could materially reduce our revenue and impair our ability to attract new clients.

Our ability to market our Asset Management services relies in part on receiving mandates from the client base of national and regional securities firms, banks, insurance companies, defined contribution plan administrators, investment consultants and other intermediaries. To an increasing extent, our Asset Management business uses referrals from accountants, lawyers, financial planners and other professional advisors. The inability to have this access could materially adversely affect our Asset Management business. In addition, many of these intermediaries review and evaluate our products and our organization. Poor reviews or evaluations of either the particular product or of us may result in client withdrawals or an inability to attract new assets through such intermediaries.

Our Asset Management business relies on non-affiliated third-party service providers.

Our Asset Management business has entered into service agreements with third-party service providers for client order management and the execution and settlement of client securities transactions. This business faces the risk of operational failure of any of our clearing agents, the exchanges, clearing houses or other intermediaries we use to facilitate our securities transactions. We oversee and manage these relationships. Poor oversight and control or inferior performance or service on the part of the service provider could result in loss of customers and violations of applicable rules and regulations. Any such failure could adversely affect our ability to effect transactions and to manage our exposure to risk.

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could reduce our stockholders’ equity and net income or negatively impact the portfolios of our Asset Management clients and may affect the levels of our AUM.

We are exposed to fluctuations in foreign currencies, including through advisory fees paid to our Financial Advisory business and management fees paid to our Asset Management business. Our financial statements are denominated in U.S. Dollars and, for the year ended December 31, 2016, we received approximately 36% of our consolidated net revenue in other currencies, predominantly in euros, British Pounds and Australian Dollars. In addition, we pay a significant amount of our expenses in such other currencies. The exchange rates of these currencies versus the U.S. Dollar affect the carrying value of our assets and liabilities as well as our revenues,

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expenses and net income. We do not generally hedge such foreign currency exchange rate exposure arising in our subsidiaries outside of the U.S. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates may also make period to period comparisons of our results of operations difficult.

Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates also can impact the portfolios of our Asset Management clients. Client portfolios are invested in securities across the globe, although most portfolios are funded in a single base currency. Foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations can adversely impact investment performance for a client’s portfolio and also may affect the levels of our AUM. As our AUM include significant assets that are denominated in currencies other than U.S. Dollars, an increase in the value of the U.S. Dollar relative to non-U.S. currencies, with all other factors held constant, generally would result in a decrease in the dollar value of our AUM, which, in turn, would result in lower U.S. Dollar-denominated revenue in our Asset Management business. As of December 31, 2016, AUM with foreign currency exposure represented approximately 70% of our total AUM.

See Note 13 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the impact on stockholders’ equity from currency translation adjustments and Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding the impact on operating results from currency transaction adjustments.

Our results of operations may be affected by fluctuations in the fair value of positions held in our investment portfolios.

We invest capital in various types of equity and debt securities in order to seed equity, debt and alternative investment funds, and for general corporate purposes. Such investments are subject to market fluctuations due to changes in the market prices of securities, interest rates or other market factors, such as liquidity. While we may seek to hedge the market risk for some of these investments, an effective hedge may not be available, and if available, may not be fully effective. These investments are adjusted for accounting purposes to fair value at the end of each quarter regardless of our intended holding period, with any related gains or losses reflected in our results of operations, and therefore may increase the volatility of our earnings, even though such gains or losses may not be realized.

We have investments, primarily through our private equity businesses, in relatively high-risk, illiquid assets, and we may lose some or all of the principal amount of these investments or fail to realize any profits from these investments for a considerable period of time.

We have made, and in the future may make, principal investments in public or private companies or in alternative investments (including private equity funds) established by us, and we continue to hold principal investments directly or through funds managed by certain affiliates of Lazard, including Edgewater, as well as third parties. Making principal investments is risky, and we may lose some or all of the principal amount of our investments. Certain of these types of investments may be in relatively high-risk, illiquid assets. Because it may take several years before attractive alternative investment opportunities are identified, some or all of the capital committed by us to these funds is likely to be invested in government securities, other short-term, highly rated debt securities and money market funds that traditionally have offered investors relatively lower returns. In addition, these investments may be adjusted for accounting purposes to fair value at the end of each quarter, and any related gains or losses would affect our results of operations and could increase the volatility of our earnings, even though such fair value fluctuations may have no cash impact. It takes a substantial period of time to identify attractive alternative investment opportunities, to raise all the funds needed to make an investment and then to realize the cash value of an investment through resale. Even if an alternative investment proves to be profitable, it may be several years or longer before any profits can be realized in cash or other proceeds.

Our revenue from our private equity business is derived primarily from management fees, which are calculated as a percentage of committed capital or invested capital depending on the stage of each respective fund. Transaction and advisory fees are also earned. Incentive fees are earned if investments are profitable over a specified threshold. Our ability to form new alternative investment funds is subject to a number of uncertainties, including past performance of our funds, market or economic conditions, competition from other fund managers and the ability to negotiate terms with major investors.

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Extensive regulation of our businesses limits our activities and results in ongoing exposure to the potential for significant penalties, including fines or limitations on our ability to conduct our businesses.

The financial services industry is subject to extensive regulation. We are subject to regulation by governmental and self-regulatory organizations in the jurisdictions in which we operate around the world. Many of these regulators, including U.S. and non-U.S. government agencies and self-regulatory organizations, as well as state securities commissions in the U.S., are empowered to conduct administrative proceedings that can result in censure, fine, the issuance of cease-and-desist orders or the suspension or expulsion of a broker-dealer from registration or membership. The requirements imposed by our regulators are designed to ensure the integrity of the financial markets and to protect customers and other third parties who deal with us and are not designed to protect our stockholders. Consequently, these regulations often serve to limit our activities, including through net capital, customer protection and market conduct requirements.

We face the risk of significant intervention by regulatory authorities, including extended investigation and surveillance activity, adoption of costly or restrictive new regulations and judicial or administrative proceedings that may result in substantial penalties. Among other things, we could be fined or be prohibited from engaging in some of our business activities. In addition, the regulatory environment in which we operate is subject to modification and further regulation. Such changes may increase the expenses that we incur without necessarily leading to commensurate increases in operating revenue and income. Certain laws and regulations within the U.S. and externally include extraterritorial application that may lead to overlapping or conflicting legal and regulatory burdens with additional risks and implementation expenses. New laws or regulations or changes in the enforcement of existing laws or regulations applicable to us and our clients also may adversely affect our business, and our ability to function in this environment will depend on our ability to constantly monitor and react to these changes.

The U.S. and other governments and institutions have taken actions, and may continue to take further actions, in response to disruption and volatility in the global financial markets. Such further actions could include expanding current or enacting new standards, requirements and rules that may be applicable to us and our subsidiaries. The effect of any such expanded or new standards, requirements and rules is uncertain and could have adverse consequences to our business and results of operations. For example, in July 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act was signed into law, bringing sweeping changes in the regulation of financial institutions. Rulemaking under the Dodd-Frank Act is still ongoing and the final scope and interpretations of those rules, and their impact on our business, though still not fully known, could have implications for the manner in which we conduct our business and, consequently, its profitability. In recent years, changes include requiring that certain financial instruments be cleared by a regulated clearing organization and the new requirement to deliver margin payments for certain derivative transactions. These changes will require adjustments to our operational processes as a result, which may impact certain strategies and businesses. While we continue to examine the requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act and related regulations, as well as new regulations that may become applicable to us in the U.S. and in the European Union (see “Business—Regulation”), and previously announced actual or potential regulations that may be modified, we are not able to predict the ultimate effect on us. In addition, several states and municipalities in the United States have adopted “pay-to-play” rules, which could limit our ability to charge fees in connection with certain of our Private Capital Advisory (which we historically referred to as Private Fund Advisory) engagements, and could therefore affect the profitability of that portion of our business.

The regulatory environment in which our clients operate may also impact our business. For example, changes in antitrust laws or the enforcement of antitrust laws could affect the level of M&A activity and changes in state laws may limit investment activities of state pension plans. In addition, existing tax laws and regulations are under review in the U.S. and in many other jurisdictions in which we and our clients operate. Actual and proposed changes to these laws and regulations may reduce the level of M&A activity, including cross-border M&A activity.

For asset management businesses in general, there have been a number of highly publicized cases involving fraud or other misconduct by employees of asset management firms, as well as industry-wide regulatory inquiries. These cases and inquiries have resulted in increased scrutiny in the industry and may result in new rules and regulations for mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds and their investment managers. This regulatory scrutiny and these rulemaking initiatives may result in an increase in operational and compliance costs or the risk of assessment of significant fines or penalties against our Asset Management business, and may otherwise limit our ability to engage in certain activities.

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Specific regulatory changes also may have a direct impact on the revenue of our Asset Management business. In addition to regulatory scrutiny and potential fines and sanctions, regulators continue to examine different aspects of the asset management industry. For example, the use of “soft dollars,” where a portion of commissions paid to broker-dealers in connection with the execution of trades also pays for research and other services provided to advisors, has been reexamined by different regulatory bodies and may in the future be limited or modified. In particular, the enactment of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (“MiFID II”), regulates the use of soft dollars for certain parts of our business. Although a substantial portion of the research relied on by our Asset Management business in the investment decision-making process is generated internally by our investment analysts, external research, including external research paid for with soft dollars, is important to the process. This external research generally is used for information gathering or verification purposes, and includes broker-provided research, as well as third-party provided databases and research services. The ultimate impact of MiFID II on our use of soft dollars is uncertain, although it may reduce our ability to utilize commissions to pay for research services and other soft dollar services. This would require changes to our operational processes and may result in increased costs allocated to research services. For the year ended December 31, 2016, our Asset Management business obtained research and other services through third-party soft dollar arrangements, the total cost of which we estimate to be approximately $23 million.

In addition, new regulations affecting the asset management business, including those regarding the management of U.S. mutual funds, hedge funds, UCITs funds and the use of certain investment products may impact our Asset Management business and result in increased costs. For example, the European Union has adopted updated directives on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to undertakings for collective investment in transferable securities (“UCITS V”) with respect to various subjects. Among other things, UCITS V establishes remunerations policies which may impact the structure of compensation for certain portfolio managers and other personnel within the Company.  UCITS V also establishes certain regulations governing oversight and independence of depository functions. While these rules have already been implemented, they could further impact our personnel or result in changes to our operations, resulting in increased costs to the business.  In addition, many regulators around the world, including those in the U.S., continue to adopt disclosure requirements impacting the asset management business, as well as changes to the laws, rules and regulations relating to recordkeeping and reporting obligations.

Legislators and regulators around the world continue to explore changes to, and additional oversight of, the financial industry generally. The impact of the potential changes on us are uncertain and may result in an increase in costs or a reduction of revenue associated with our businesses.

See “Business—Regulation” above for a further discussion of the regulatory environment in which we conduct our businesses.

The financial services industry faces substantial litigation and regulatory risks, and we may face damage to our professional reputation and legal liability if our services are not regarded as satisfactory or if conflicts of interest should arise.

As a financial services firm, we depend to a large extent on our relationships with our clients and our reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services to attract and retain clients. As a result, if a client is not satisfied with our services, such dissatisfaction may be more damaging to our business than to other types of businesses. Moreover, our role as advisor to our clients on important transactions involves complex analysis and the exercise of professional judgment, including, if appropriate, rendering “fairness opinions” in connection with mergers and other transactions. Our role as advisor to our sovereign and government clients in particular may occasionally result in increased publicity of our involvement with, and our advice to, such clients.

In recent years, the volume of claims and amount of damages claimed in litigation and regulatory proceedings against financial advisors has been increasing. The activities of our Financial Advisory business may subject us to the risk of significant legal actions by our clients and third parties, including our clients’ stockholders, under securities or other laws. Such legal actions may include allegations relating to aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties and to materially false or misleading statements made in connection with securities and other transactions. We may also be exposed to potential liability for the fairness opinions and other advice provided to participants in corporate transactions. In our Asset Management business, we make investment decisions on behalf

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of our clients which could result in substantial losses. Many of our business activities may subject us to the risk of legal actions alleging negligence, misconduct, breach of fiduciary duty or breach of contract.

We increasingly confront actual and potential conflicts of interest relating to our Financial Advisory business, as well as to the fact that we have both a Financial Advisory business and an Asset Management business. It is possible that actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest could give rise to client dissatisfaction, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately identifying and managing actual or perceived conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. We have adopted various policies, controls and procedures to address or limit actual or perceived conflicts of interest. However, these policies, controls and procedures may not be adhered to by our employees or be effective in reducing the applicable risks. Any failure of, or failure to adhere to, these policies, controls and procedures may result in regulatory sanctions or client litigation.

Our Financial Advisory engagements typically include broad indemnities from our clients and provisions designed to limit our exposure to legal claims relating to our services, but these provisions may not protect us or may not be available or adhered to in all cases. We also are subject to claims arising from disputes with employees for alleged wrongful termination, discrimination or harassment, among other things. These risks often may be difficult to assess or quantify, and their existence and magnitude often remain unknown for substantial periods of time.

We may incur significant legal expenses in defending against litigation or regulatory action against us. Substantial legal liability or significant regulatory action against us could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations and cause significant reputational harm to us, which could seriously harm our business.

Employee misconduct, which is difficult to detect and deter, could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain clients and subjecting us to significant legal liability and reputational harm.

There have been a number of highly publicized cases involving fraud or other misconduct by employees in the financial services industry generally, and we run the risk that employee misconduct could occur in our business as well. For example, misconduct by employees could involve the improper use or disclosure of confidential information, which could result in legal action, regulatory sanctions and reputational or financial harm. Our Financial Advisory business often requires that we deal with client confidences of great significance to our clients, improper use of which may harm our clients or our relationships with our clients. Any breach of our clients’ confidences as a result of employee misconduct may adversely affect our reputation, impair our ability to attract and retain Financial Advisory clients and subject us to liability. Similarly, in our Asset Management business, we have authority over client assets, and we may, from time to time, have custody of such assets. In addition, we often have discretion to trade client assets on the client’s behalf and must do so acting in the best interests of the client. As a result, we are subject to a number of obligations and standards, and the violation of those obligations or standards may adversely affect our clients and us. It is difficult to detect and deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in all cases.

In recent years, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC have also devoted greater resources to the enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In addition, the United Kingdom, France and other jurisdictions have expanded the reach of their anti-bribery laws. While we have developed and implemented policies and procedures designed to ensure compliance with anti-bribery and other laws, such policies and procedures may not be effective in all instances to prevent violations. Any determination that we have violated these laws could subject us to, among other things, civil and criminal penalties, material fines, profit disgorgement, injunction against future conduct, securities litigation and reputational damage, any one of which could adversely affect our business, financial position and results of operations.

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A failure in or breach of our information systems or infrastructure, or those of third parties with which we do business, including as a result of cyber attacks, could disrupt our businesses, lead to reputational harm and legal liability or otherwise impact our ability to operate our business.

Our operations rely on the secure processing, storage and transmission of confidential and other information involving our computer systems, hardware, software and networks, which we refer to as information systems, and involving the information systems of third parties with which we do business. Such information systems, which frequently include “cloud”-based networks and services, may be subject to unauthorized access, computer viruses or other malicious code or other events that could have a security impact, and there can be no assurance that we will not suffer material losses relating to cyber attacks on, or other security breaches involving, our information systems, despite taking protective measures to prevent such breaches. The increased use of mobile technologies can heighten these and other operational risks. If a successful cyber attack or other security breach were to occur, our confidential or proprietary information, or the confidential or proprietary information of our clients or their counterparties, that is stored in, or transmitted through, such information systems could be compromised or misappropriated. Any such cyber attack or other security breach, or any disruption of or failure in the physical or logical infrastructure or operating systems that support such information systems or our businesses, could significantly impact our ability to operate our businesses and could result in reputational damage, legal liability, the loss of clients or business opportunities and financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by us. As cyber threats continue to evolve, we may also be required to expend additional resources on information security and compliance costs in order to continue to modify or enhance our protective measures or to investigate and remediate any information security vulnerabilities or other exposures.

Other operational risks may disrupt our businesses, result in regulatory action against us or limit our growth.

Our business is highly dependent on communications and information systems, including those of our vendors. Any failure or interruption of these systems, whether caused by fire, other natural disaster, power or telecommunications failure, act of terrorism or war or otherwise, could materially adversely affect our business. Although back-up systems are in place, our back-up procedures and capabilities in the event of a failure or interruption may not be adequate.

Particularly in our Asset Management business, we rely heavily on our financial, accounting, trading, compliance and other data processing systems, and those of our third party vendors or service providers who support these functions. We expect that we will need to review whether to continue to upgrade and expand the capabilities of these systems in the future to avoid disruption of, or constraints on, our operations. However, if any of these systems do not operate properly or are disabled, including for reasons beyond our control, we could suffer financial loss, a disruption of our businesses, liability to clients, regulatory intervention or reputational damage. The inability of our systems (or those of our vendors or service providers) to accommodate an increasing volume of transactions also could constrain our ability to expand our businesses. In addition, errors resulting from these issues or from human error when conducting a trade or other transaction could expose us to significant risk.

In addition, if we were to experience a local or regional disaster or other business continuity problem, such as a pandemic or other man-made or natural disaster, our continued success will depend, in part, on the availability of our personnel and office facilities and the proper functioning of our computer, telecommunications, transaction processing and other related systems and operations, as well as those of third parties on whom we rely. Such events could lead us to experience operational challenges, and our inability to successfully recover could materially disrupt our businesses and cause material financial loss, regulatory actions, reputational harm or legal liability.

For additional information regarding operational risks with respect to our businesses, see “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Operational Risk” below.

The soundness of third parties, including our clients, as well as financial, governmental and other institutions, could adversely affect us.

We have exposure to many different industries, institutions, products and counterparties, and we routinely execute transactions with counterparties in the financial services industry, including brokers and dealers, commercial

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banks, investment banks, mutual and hedge funds and other institutions. Many of these transactions expose us to credit risk in the event of default of our counterparty or client. In addition, our credit risk may be exacerbated when the collateral held by us, if any, cannot be fully realized or is liquidated at prices not sufficient to recover the full amount of the loan or derivative exposure due to us.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could materially adversely affect our business.

We have documented and tested our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and a report by our independent auditors regarding our internal control over financial reporting. We are in compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act as of December 31, 2016. However, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Failure to maintain an effective internal control environment could materially adversely affect our business.

We may pursue acquisitions, joint ventures, cooperation agreements or other growth or geographic expansion strategies that may result in additional risks and uncertainties in our business and could present unforeseen integration obstacles or costs.

We routinely assess our strategic position and may in the future seek acquisitions or other transactions or growth strategies to further enhance our competitive position. We have in the past pursued joint ventures and other transactions aimed at expanding the geography and scope of our operations. We expect to continue to explore acquisitions, growth strategies and partnership or strategic alliance opportunities that we believe to be attractive.

Acquisitions, growth strategies and joint ventures involve a number of risks and present financial, managerial and operational challenges. These risks and challenges include potential disruption of our ongoing business and distraction of management, difficulty integrating personnel and financial and other systems, difficulty hiring additional management and other critical personnel, and other challenges arising from the increased scope, geographic diversity and complexity of our operations.

To the extent that we pursue business opportunities outside of the United States, including through acquisitions, joint ventures or other geographic expansion of our existing businesses, we may become subject to political, economic, legal, operational, regulatory and other risks that are inherent in operating in a foreign country, including risks of potential price, capital and currency exchange controls, licensing requirements and other regulatory restrictions, as well as the risk of hostile actions against or affecting our business or people. Our ability to remain in compliance with local laws in a particular foreign jurisdiction could adversely affect our businesses and our reputation.

In addition, our clients may react unfavorably to our acquisition, growth and joint venture strategies, we may not realize any anticipated benefits from such strategies, we may be exposed to additional liabilities of any acquired business or joint venture, we may be exposed to litigation in connection with an acquisition or joint venture transaction, and we may not be able to renew on similar terms (or at all) previously successful joint ventures or similar arrangements, any of which could materially adversely affect our revenue, financial position and results of operations.

An inability to access the debt and equity capital markets as a result of our debt obligations, credit ratings or other factors could impair our liquidity, increase our borrowing costs or otherwise adversely affect our competitive position or results of operations.

As of December 31, 2016, Lazard Group and its subsidiaries had approximately $1.2 billion in debt (including capital lease obligations) outstanding, of which $500 million, $400 million and $300 million relate to Lazard Group senior notes that mature in 2020, 2025 and 2027, respectively. This debt has certain mandated payment obligations, which may constrain our ability to operate our business. If we decide to redeem or retire this debt before maturity,

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we may be required to pay a significant premium to do so, which may adversely impact our earnings and affect our financial position. In addition, in the future we may need to incur debt or issue equity in order to fund our working capital requirements or refinance existing indebtedness, as well as to make acquisitions and other investments. The amount of our debt obligations may impair our ability to raise debt or issue equity for financing purposes. Our access to funds also may be impaired if regulatory authorities take significant action against us, or if we discover that any of our employees had engaged in serious unauthorized or illegal activity. In addition, our borrowing costs and our access to the debt capital markets depend significantly on our credit ratings. These ratings are assigned by rating agencies, which may reduce or withdraw their ratings or place us on “credit watch” with negative implications at any time.

Our share price may decline due to the large number of our common shares eligible for future sale.

As of December 31, 2016, Lazard Ltd’s authorized and unissued shares of Class A common stock include approximately 15.2 million shares of our Class A common stock underlying RSUs, PRSUs, deferred stock units (“DSUs”) and restricted stock awards that have been granted pursuant to Lazard Ltd’s 2008 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2008 Plan”). RSUs and restricted stock awards generally require future service, among other requirements, as a condition for the delivery of the underlying shares of our Class A common stock (unless the recipient is then eligible for retirement under the Company’s retirement policy) and convert into Class A common stock on a one-for-one basis after the stipulated vesting periods. Such vesting events generally occur in the first quarter of each year, at which point a large number of our shares of Class A common stock immediately become available for sale. PRSUs generally require future service and satisfaction of performance-based vesting criteria as a condition for the delivery of the underlying shares of Class A common stock, and the number of such shares that may be received in connection with each PRSU generally may range from zero to two times the target number.

We have generally withheld a portion of the Class A common stock issued to our employees upon vesting of RSUs or delivery of restricted stock to comply with minimum statutory tax withholding requirements. In addition, we have historically repurchased in the open market and through privately negotiated transactions a significant number of shares of our Class A common stock. If we were to cease to or were unable to repurchase shares of our Class A common stock, the number of shares outstanding would increase over time, diluting the ownership of our existing stockholders.

Furthermore, we cannot predict whether, when and how many shares of our Class A common stock will be sold into the market and the effect, if any, that the possibility of market sales of shares of our Class A common stock, the actual sale of such shares or the availability of such shares will have on the market price of our Class A common stock or our ability to raise capital through the issuance of equity securities from time to time. There are generally no restrictions on the sale of vested shares of Class A common stock held by our employees other than prohibitions on sales during internal “blackout” periods imposed by us at points between quarterly earnings releases.

Lazard Ltd is a holding company and, accordingly, depends upon distributions from Lazard Group to pay dividends and taxes and other expenses.

Lazard Ltd is a holding company and has no independent means of generating significant revenue. We control Lazard Group through our indirect control of both of the managing members of Lazard Group. Our subsidiaries incur income taxes on net taxable income of Lazard Group in their respective tax jurisdictions. We intend to continue to cause Lazard Group to make distributions to our subsidiaries in an amount sufficient to cover all applicable taxes payable by us and dividends, if any, declared by us. To the extent that our subsidiaries need funds to pay taxes on their share of Lazard Group’s net taxable income, or if Lazard Ltd needs funds for any other purpose, and Lazard Group is restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation, or is otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Lazard Group is a holding company and therefore depends on its subsidiaries to make distributions to Lazard Group to enable it to service its obligations under its indebtedness.

Lazard Group depends on its subsidiaries, which conduct the operations of its businesses, for distributions, dividends and other payments to generate the funds necessary to meet its financial obligations, including payments

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of principal and interest on its indebtedness. However, none of Lazard Group’s subsidiaries is obligated to make funds available to it for servicing such financial obligations. The earnings from, or other available assets of, Lazard Group’s subsidiaries may not be sufficient to pay dividends or make distributions or loans to enable Lazard Group to make payments with respect to its financial obligations when such payments are due. In addition, even if such earnings were sufficient, the agreements governing the current and future obligations of Lazard Group’s subsidiaries, regulatory requirements with respect to our broker-dealer and other regulated subsidiaries, foreign exchange controls and a variety of other factors may impede our subsidiaries’ ability to provide Lazard Group with sufficient dividends, distributions or loans to fund its financial obligations, when due.

In the event of a change or adverse interpretation of relevant income tax law, regulation or treaty, or a failure to qualify for treaty benefits, our overall tax rate may be substantially higher than the rate used for purposes of our consolidated financial statements.

Our effective tax rate is based upon the application of currently applicable income tax laws, regulations and treaties, current judicial and administrative interpretations of those income tax laws, regulations and treaties, and upon our non-U.S. subsidiaries’ ability to qualify for benefits, including reduced withholding tax rates, among other things, under those treaties, and that a portion of their income is not subject to U.S. tax as effectively connected income. Those income tax laws, regulations and treaties, and the administrative and judicial interpretations of them, are subject to change at any time, and any such change may be retroactive.

U.S. and foreign governments, institutions (including the European Union and the Organization of Economically Developed Countries) and tax officials are actively reviewing many laws, regulations, and treaties that currently govern the taxation of multinational companies. Any changes to such laws, regulations and treaties that impact us could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations. Furthermore, U.S. lawmakers are considering several U.S. tax reform proposals. No proposed legislation in respect of comprehensive tax reform has been filed. The details of the tax reform proposals under consideration, and the likelihood that any of the proposals will be enacted, is uncertain. We are examining many aspects of the current proposals and their potential impact on the Company. We are currently unable to predict the ultimate outcome of any of these proposals and therefore our potential actions with respect to them.

In addition, the eligibility of our non-U.S. subsidiaries for treaty benefits generally depends upon, among other things, at least 50% of the principal class of shares in such subsidiaries being “ultimately owned” by U.S. citizens and persons who are “qualified residents” for purposes of the treaty. It is possible that this requirement may not be met, and even if it is met, we may not be able to document that fact to the satisfaction of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”). If our non-U.S. subsidiaries are not treated as eligible for treaty benefits, such subsidiaries will be subject to additional U.S. taxes, including “branch profits tax” on their “effectively connected earnings and profits” (as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes) at a rate of 30% rather than a treaty rate of 5%.

Moreover, on October 13, 2016, the Treasury Department issued final and temporary regulations addressing the U.S. income tax treatment of debt between related parties, which may limit the deduction of interest in respect of such debt that is issued after April 4, 2016. These regulations could increase our effective tax rate in future periods; however, any such increases should only affect periods beginning after 2024.

Tax authorities may challenge our tax computations and classifications, our transfer pricing methods, and our application of related policies and methods.

Our tax returns are subject to audit by federal, local and foreign tax authorities. These authorities may successfully challenge certain tax positions or deductions taken by our subsidiaries. For example, tax authorities may contest intercompany allocations of fee income, management charges or interest charges among affiliates in different tax jurisdictions. While we believe that we have provided the appropriate required reserves (see Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements), it is possible that a tax authority may disagree with all, or a portion, of the tax benefits claimed. If a tax authority were to successfully challenge our positions, it could result in significant additional tax costs or payments under the tax receivable agreement described below.

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Uncertainty regarding the outcome of future arrangements between the European Union and the United Kingdom may adversely affect our business.

The Company has a significant presence in many European Union countries, including the United Kingdom. In June 2016, the U.K. voted in favor of a referendum to leave the European Union, and in February 2017 the U.K.’s House of Commons voted to approve the initiation of formal exit discussions with the European Union. At the time that the U.K. ultimately leaves the European Union, the commercial, regulatory and legal environment that would exist, and to which the Company’s U.K. operations would be subject, would be impacted by the nature of arrangements that are yet to be determined between the U.K and the European Union. These arrangements are hard to predict, and uncertainty regarding their outcome may continue for a significant period of time. The Company currently does not believe that any of the potential arrangements that are likely to be agreed would have a material adverse impact on the Company’s business. These potential arrangements may, however, result in certain changes in the way that we conduct our businesses, which could result in increased costs. In addition, the result of the referendum and the uncertainty it produced has impacted geopolitical perspectives and macroeconomic factors including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates and equity markets, and it has increased volatility in many of the markets in which we operate. If these conditions continue or if current conditions worsen, our businesses may be adversely affected, which may impact our financial position and results of operations. See “Difficult market conditions can adversely affect our business in many ways, including by reducing the volume of transactions involving our Financial Advisory business and reducing the value or performance of the assets we manage in our Asset Management business, which, in each case, could materially reduce our revenue or income and adversely affect our financial position” above.

Our subsidiaries may be required to make payments under the Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement. The IRS may challenge the tax benefits that give rise to such payments and, under certain circumstances, our subsidiaries may have made or could make payments under the Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement in excess of our subsidiaries’ cash tax savings.

As further discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Income Taxes” and Note 18 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, the Second Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement, dated as of October 26, 2015 (the “Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement”), between Lazard and LTBP Trust, a Delaware statutory trust (the “Trust”), provides for the payment by our subsidiaries to the Trust of a significant portion of the cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax or franchise tax that we actually realize as a result of certain tax benefits that are subject to the Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement. Any amount paid by our subsidiaries to the Trust will generally be distributed to the owners of the Trust, including our executive officers, in proportion to their beneficial interests in the Trust. If the IRS successfully challenges the tax benefits described above, under certain circumstances, our subsidiaries may have made or could make payments under the Amended and Restated Tax Receivable Agreement in excess of our subsidiaries’ cash tax savings.

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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

We have made statements under the captions “Business,” “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and in other sections of this Form 10-K that are forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “target,” “goal” or “continue,” and the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements, which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions about us, may include projections of our future financial performance based on our growth strategies, business plans and initiatives and anticipated trends in our business. These statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. There are important factors that could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the numerous risks and uncertainties outlined in “Risk Factors,” including the following:

These risks and uncertainties are not exhaustive. Other sections of this Form 10-K describe additional factors that could adversely affect our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can management assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We are under no duty to update any of these forward-looking statements after the date of this Form 10-K to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations and we do not intend to do so.

Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about:

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The Company is committed to providing timely and accurate information to the investing public, consistent with our legal and regulatory obligations. To that end, the Company uses its websites, its twitter account (twitter.com/Lazard) and other social media sites to convey information about our businesses, including the anticipated release of quarterly financial results, quarterly financial, statistical and business-related information, and the posting of updates of AUM in various mutual funds, hedge funds and other investment products managed by our Asset Management business. Investors can link to Lazard Ltd, Lazard Group and their operating company websites through http://www.lazard.com. Our websites and social media sites and the information contained therein or connected thereto shall not be deemed to be incorporated into this Form 10-K.

Item 1B.Unresolved Staff Comments

There are no unresolved written comments that were received from the SEC staff 180 days or more before December 31, 2016 relating to our periodic or current reports under the Exchange Act.

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The following table lists the properties used for the entire Lazard organization as of December 31, 2016. As a general matter, one or both of our Financial Advisory and Asset Management segments (as well as our Corporate segment) uses the following properties. Our London and other offices sublease 71,207 and 25,000 square feet, respectively, to third parties. We remain fully liable for the subleased space to the extent that the subtenants fail to perform their obligations under the subleases for any reason.

The Company is involved from time to time in judicial, regulatory and arbitration proceedings and inquiries concerning matters arising in connection with the conduct of our businesses, including proceedings initiated by former employees alleging wrongful termination. The Company reviews such matters on a case-by-case basis and establishes any required accrual if a loss is probable and the amount of such loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company experiences significant variation in its revenue and earnings on a quarterly basis. Accordingly, the results of any pending matter or matters could be significant when compared to the Company’s earnings in any particular fiscal quarter. The Company believes, however, based on currently available information, that the results of any pending matters, in the aggregate, will not have a material effect on its business or financial condition.

Not applicable.

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Part II

Our Class A common stock is traded on The New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “LAZ.” The following table sets forth, for the fiscal quarters indicated, the high and low sales prices per share of our Class A common stock, as reported in the consolidated transaction reporting system, and the quarterly dividends declared during 2016 and 2015.

Price Ranges of, and Dividends Declared on, Our Common Stock

As of February 3, 2017, there were approximately 32 holders of record of our Class A common stock. This does not include the number of shareholders that hold shares in “street-name” through banks or broker-dealers.

On February 3, 2017, the last reported sales price for our Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was $43.47 per share.

On February 1, 2017, the Board of Directors of Lazard declared a quarterly dividend of $0.38 per share, and a special dividend of $1.20 per share, on our Class A common stock. The quarterly dividend and the special dividend are payable on February 24, 2017, to stockholders of record on February 13, 2017.

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Share Repurchases in the Fourth Quarter of 2016

The following table sets forth information regarding Lazard’s purchases of its Class A common stock on a monthly basis during the fourth quarter of 2016. Share repurchases are recorded on a trade date basis.

A significant portion of the Company’s purchases under the share repurchase program are used to offset a portion of the shares that have been or will be issued under the 2008 Plan. Purchases under the share repurchase program may be made in the open market or through privately negotiated transactions. The rate at which the Company purchases shares in connection with the share repurchase program may vary from quarter to quarter due to a variety of factors. Amounts shown in this line item include repurchases of Class A common stock and exclude the shares of Class A common stock withheld by the Company to meet the minimum statutory tax withholding requirements as described below.

During the year ended December 31, 2016, the Company had in place trading plans under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, pursuant to which it effected stock repurchases in the open market.

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Equity Compensation Plan Information

See Item 12, “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters—Equity Compensation Plan Information.”

Stock Performance

The stock performance graph below compares the performance of an investment in our Class A common stock, from December 31, 2011 through December 31, 2016, with that of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Financial Index. The graph assumes $100 was invested at the close of business on December 31, 2011 in each of our Class A common stock, the S&P 500 Index and the S&P Financial Index. It also assumes that dividends were reinvested on the date of payment without payment of any commissions. The performance shown in the graph represents past performance and should not be considered an indication of future performance.

Other Matters

None.

The following table sets forth selected consolidated financial data for the Company for all years presented.

The consolidated statements of financial condition and operations data as of and for each of the years in the five-year period ended December 31, 2016 have been derived from Lazard Ltd’s consolidated financial statements. The audited consolidated statements of financial condition as of December 31, 2016 and 2015 and audited consolidated statements of operations for each of the years in the three year period ended December 31, 2016 are included in this Form 10-K. The audited consolidated statements of financial condition as of December 31, 2014, 2013 and 2012, and the audited consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2012, are not included in this Form 10-K. Historical results should not be considered an indication of results for any future period.

The selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” and the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

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Selected Consolidated Financial Data

Notes (in thousands of dollars):

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The following discussion should be read in conjunction with Lazard Ltd’s consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Form 10-K”). This discussion contains forward-looking statements that are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those set forth in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.

Business Summary

Lazard is one of the world’s preeminent financial advisory and asset management firms. We have long specialized in crafting solutions to the complex financial and strategic challenges of a diverse set of clients around the world, including corporations, governments, institutions, partnerships and individuals. Founded in 1848 in New Orleans, we currently operate from 42 cities in key business and financial centers across 27 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.

Our primary business purpose is to serve our clients. Our deep roots in business centers around the world form a global network of relationships with key decision-makers in corporations, governments and investing institutions. This network is both a competitive strength and a powerful resource for Lazard and our clients. As a firm that competes on the quality of our advice, we have two fundamental assets: our people and our reputation.

We operate in cyclical businesses across multiple geographies, industries and asset classes. In recent years, we have expanded our geographic reach, bolstered our industry expertise and continued to build in growth areas. Companies, government bodies and investors seek independent advice with a geographic perspective, deep understanding of capital structure, informed research and knowledge of global, regional and local economic conditions. We believe that our business model as an independent advisor will continue to create opportunities for us to attract new clients and key personnel.

Our principal sources of revenue are derived from activities in the following business segments:

In addition, we record selected other activities in our Corporate segment, including management of cash, investments, deferred tax assets, outstanding indebtedness and assets and liabilities associated with Lazard Group’s Paris-based subsidiary, Lazard Frères Banque SA (“LFB”).

Our consolidated net revenue was derived from the following segments:

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We also invest our own capital from time to time, generally alongside capital of qualified institutional and individual investors in alternative investments or private equity investments, and, since 2005, we have engaged in a number of alternative investments and private equity activities, including, historically, investments through (i)  Edgewater, our Chicago-based private equity firm (see Note 12 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements), (ii) a mezzanine fund, which invests in mezzanine debt of a diversified selection of small-to mid-cap European companies and (iii) a fund targeting significant noncontrolling-stake investments in established private companies. We also make investments to seed our Asset Management strategies.

Business Environment and Outlook

Economic and global financial market conditions can materially affect our financial performance. As described above, our principal sources of revenue are derived from activities in our Financial Advisory and Asset Management business segments. As our Financial Advisory revenues are primarily dependent on the successful completion of merger, acquisition, restructuring, capital raising or similar transactions, and our Asset Management revenues are primarily driven by the levels of assets under management (“AUM”), weak economic and global financial market conditions can result in a challenging business environment for M&A and capital-raising activity as well as our Asset Management business, but may provide opportunities for our restructuring business.

Equity market indices for developed and emerging markets at December 31, 2016 increased as compared to such indices at December 31, 2015. In the global M&A markets during 2016, the value and number of all completed M&A transactions decreased as compared to the same period in the prior year, as did the subset of such transactions involving values greater than $500 million. During the same time, the value and number of all announced M&A transactions, including the subset of such transactions involving values greater than $500 million, also decreased. During 2016, global restructuring activity, as measured by the number of corporate defaults, increased as compared to 2015, primarily due to a higher level of defaults in the energy sector.

Entering 2017, volatile market conditions continue. On an ongoing basis, regional macroeconomic and geopolitical factors, including any potential regional tax or regulatory reform, may impact our business. However, corporate cash balances remain high, and interest rates remain low for companies with strong credit ratings. Although market volatility may continue and may affect our business in 2017, the longer-term trends appear to remain favorable for both of our businesses.

Our outlook with respect to our Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses is described below.

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We operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks and uncertainties emerge continuously, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks and uncertainties, nor can we assess the impact of all potentially applicable factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. See Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in this Form 10-K. Furthermore, net income and revenue in any period may not be indicative of full-year results or the results of any other period and may vary significantly from year to year and quarter to quarter.

Overall, we continue to focus on the development of our business, including the generation of stable revenue growth, earnings growth and shareholder returns, the prudent management of our costs and expenses, the efficient use of our assets and the return of capital to our shareholders.

Certain data with respect to our Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses is included below.

Financial Advisory

As reflected in the following table, which sets forth global M&A industry statistics, the value and number of all completed transactions, including completed transactions with values greater than $500 million, decreased in 2016 as compared to 2015.  With respect to announced M&A transactions, the value and number of all transactions, including announced transactions with values greater than $500 million, also decreased in 2016 as compared to 2015.

Global restructuring activity during 2016, as measured by the number of corporate defaults, increased as compared to 2015. The number of defaulting issuers increased to 142 in 2016, according to Moody’s Investors Service, Inc., as compared to 108 in 2015, primarily due to a higher level of defaults in the energy sector.

Net revenue trends in Financial Advisory for M&A and Other Advisory and Restructuring are generally correlated to the level of completed industry-wide M&A transactions and restructuring transactions occurring subsequent to corporate debt defaults, respectively. However, deviations from this relationship can occur in any given year for a number of reasons. For instance, our results can diverge from industry-wide activity where there are material variances from the level of industry-wide M&A activity in a particular market where Lazard has significant market share, or regarding the relative number of our advisory engagements with respect to larger-sized transactions, and where we are involved in non-public or sovereign advisory assignments. For example, our M&A and Other Advisory revenue, which includes Sovereign and Capital Structure Advisory revenue, decreased 7% in 2016 as

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compared to 2015.  The industry statistics for global M&A transactions described above reflect a 10% decrease in the value and number of all completed transactions in 2016 as compared to 2015. For M&A deals with values greater than $500 million, the value and number of completed transactions in 2016 decreased 10% and 11%, respectively, as compared to 2015.

Asset Management

The percentage change in major equity market indices (i) at December 31, 2016, as compared to such indices at December 31, 2015, and (ii) at December 31, 2015, as compared to such indices at December 31, 2014, is shown in the table below.

The fees that we receive for providing investment management and advisory services are primarily driven by the level of AUM and the nature of the AUM product mix. Accordingly, market movements, foreign currency exchange rate volatility and changes in our AUM product mix will impact the level of revenues we receive from our Asset Management business when comparing periodic results. A substantial portion of our AUM is invested in equities. Movements in AUM during the period generally reflect the changes in equity market indices. Our AUM at December 31, 2016 increased 6% versus AUM at December 31, 2015, due to market appreciation and net inflows, partially offset by adverse foreign exchange movements. Average AUM for 2016 decreased 1% as compared to average AUM in 2015.

Financial Statement Overview

Net Revenue

The majority of Lazard’s Financial Advisory net revenue historically has been earned from the successful completion of M&A transactions, strategic advisory matters, restructuring and capital structure advisory services, capital raising and similar transactions. The main drivers of Financial Advisory net revenue are overall M&A activity, the level of corporate debt defaults and the environment for capital raising activities, particularly in the industries and geographic markets in which Lazard focuses. In some client engagements, often those involving financially distressed companies, revenue is earned in the form of retainers and similar fees that are contractually agreed upon with each client for each assignment and are not necessarily linked to the completion of a transaction. In addition, Lazard also earns fees from providing strategic advice to clients, with such fees not being dependent on a specific transaction, and may also earn fees in connection with public and private securities offerings. Significant fluctuations in Financial Advisory net revenue can occur over the course of any given year, because a significant portion of such net revenue is earned upon the successful completion of a transaction, restructuring or capital raising activity, the timing of which is uncertain and is not subject to Lazard’s control.

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Lazard’s Asset Management segment principally includes Lazard Asset Management LLC (together with its subsidiaries, “LAM”), Lazard Frères Gestion SAS (“LFG”) and Edgewater. Asset Management net revenue is derived from fees for investment management and advisory services provided to clients. As noted above, the main driver of Asset Management net revenue is the level and product mix of AUM, which is generally influenced by the performance of the global equity markets and, to a lesser extent, fixed income markets as well as Lazard’s investment performance, which impacts its ability to successfully attract and retain assets. As a result, fluctuations (including timing thereof) in financial markets and client asset inflows and outflows have a direct effect on Asset Management net revenue and operating income. Asset Management fees are generally based on the level of AUM measured daily, monthly or quarterly, and an increase or reduction in AUM, due to market price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, changes in product mix, or net client asset flows will result in a corresponding increase or decrease in management fees. The majority of our investment advisory contracts are generally terminable at any time or on notice of 30 days or less. Institutional and individual clients, and firms with which we have strategic alliances, can terminate their relationship with us, reduce the aggregate amount of AUM or shift their funds to other types of accounts with different rate structures for a number of reasons, including investment performance, changes in prevailing interest rates and financial market performance. In addition, as Lazard’s AUM includes significant amounts of assets that are denominated in currencies other than U.S. Dollars, changes in the value of the U.S. Dollar relative to foreign currencies will impact the value of Lazard’s AUM. Fees vary with the type of assets managed and the vehicle in which they are managed, with higher fees earned on equity assets and alternative investment funds, such as hedge funds and private equity funds, and lower fees earned on fixed income and cash management products.

The Company earns performance-based incentive fees on various investment products, including traditional products and alternative investment funds, such as hedge funds and private equity funds.

For hedge funds, incentive fees are calculated based on a specified percentage of a fund’s net appreciation, in some cases in excess of established benchmarks or thresholds. The Company records incentive fees on traditional products and hedge funds at the end of the relevant performance measurement period, when potential uncertainties regarding the ultimate realizable amounts have been determined. The incentive fee measurement period is generally an annual period (unless an account terminates or a redemption occurs during the year). The incentive fees received at the end of the measurement period are not subject to reversal or payback. Incentive fees on hedge funds are often subject to loss carryforward provisions in which losses incurred by the hedge funds in any year are applied against certain gains realized by the hedge funds in future periods before any incentive fees can be earned.

For private equity funds, incentive fees may be earned in the form of a “carried interest” if profits arising from realized investments exceed a specified threshold. Typically, such carried interest is ultimately calculated on a whole-fund basis and, therefore, clawback of carried interest during the life of the fund can occur. As a result, incentive fees earned on our private equity funds are not recognized until potential uncertainties regarding the ultimate realizable amounts have been determined, including any potential for clawback.

Corporate segment net revenue consists primarily of investment gains and losses on the Company’s “seed investments” related to our Asset Management business, principal investments in private equity funds and “equity method” investments, net of hedging activities, as well as gains and losses on investments held in connection with Lazard Fund Interests (“LFI”) and interest income and interest expense. Corporate net revenue also can fluctuate due to changes in the fair value of investments classified as “trading”, as well as due to changes in interest and currency exchange rates and in the levels of cash, investments and indebtedness.

Although Corporate segment net revenue during 2016 is not significant compared to Lazard’s net revenue, total assets in the Corporate segment represented 66% of Lazard’s consolidated total assets as of December 31, 2016, which are attributable to cash and cash equivalents, investments in debt and equity securities, interests in alternative investment, debt, equity and private equity funds, deferred tax assets and certain assets associated with LFB. LFB, as a registered bank, is engaged primarily in commercial and private banking services for clients and funds managed by LFG and other clients, and asset-liability management.

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Operating Expenses

The majority of Lazard’s operating expenses relate to compensation and benefits for managing directors and employees. Our compensation and benefits expense includes (i) salaries and benefits, (ii) amortization of the relevant portion of previously granted deferred incentive compensation awards, including (a) share-based incentive compensation under the Lazard Ltd 2008 Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2008 Plan”), and (b) LFI and other similar deferred compensation arrangements (see Note 14 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements), (iii) a provision for discretionary or guaranteed cash bonuses and profit pools and (iv) when applicable, severance payments. Compensation expense in any given period is dependent on many factors, including general economic and market conditions, our actual and forecasted operating and financial performance, staffing levels, estimated forfeiture rates, competitive pay conditions and the nature of revenues earned, as well as the mix between current and deferred compensation.

We believe that “awarded compensation and benefits expense” and the ratio of “awarded compensation and benefits expense” to “operating revenue,” both non-U.S. GAAP measures, are the most appropriate measures to assess the annual cost of compensation and provide the most meaningful basis for comparison of compensation and benefits expense between present, historical and future years. “Awarded compensation and benefits expense” for a given year is calculated using “adjusted compensation and benefits expense,” also a non-U.S. GAAP measure, as modified by the following items:

We also use “adjusted compensation and benefits expense” and the ratio of “adjusted compensation and benefits expense” to “operating revenue,” both non-U.S. GAAP measures, for comparison of compensation and benefits expense between periods. For the reconciliations and calculations with respect to “adjusted compensation and benefits expense” and “awarded compensation and benefits expense” and related ratios to “operating revenue,” see the table under “Consolidated Results of Operations” below.

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Compensation and benefits expense is the largest component of our operating expenses. We seek to maintain discipline with respect to compensation, including the rate at which we award deferred compensation. Our goal is to attain a ratio of awarded compensation and benefits expense to operating revenue and a ratio of adjusted compensation and benefits expense to operating revenue over the cycle in the mid-to-high-50s percentage range, which compares to 55.8% and 56.5%, respectively, for the year ended December 31, 2016. While we have implemented initiatives that we believe will assist us in continuing to attain a ratio within this range, there can be no guarantee that such a ratio will be attained, or that our policies or initiatives will not change in the future. We may benefit from pressure on compensation costs within the financial services industry in future periods; however, increased competition for senior professionals, changes in the macroeconomic environment or the financial markets generally, lower operating revenue resulting from, for example, a decrease in M&A activity, our share of the M&A market or our AUM levels, changes in the mix of revenues from our businesses or various other factors could prevent us from attaining this goal.

Our operating expenses also include “non-compensation expense,” which includes costs for occupancy and equipment, marketing and business development, technology and information services, professional services, fund administration and outsourced services and other expenses. In 2016 and 2015, non-compensation expense included expenses related to the redemption of the Company’s 6.85% senior notes due 2017 (the “2017 Notes”) (see Note 11 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements).

We believe that “adjusted non-compensation expense,” a non-U.S. GAAP measure, provides a more meaningful basis for our investors to assess our operating results. For calculations with respect to “adjusted non-compensation expense,” see the table under “Consolidated Results of Operations” below.

Our operating expenses also include our “provision pursuant to the tax receivable agreement” and “amortization and other acquisition-related costs”. “Amortization and other acquisition-related costs” include the change in fair value of the contingent consideration associated with certain business acquisitions and pertain primarily to the acquisition of Edgewater.

Provision for Income Taxes

Lazard Ltd, through its subsidiaries, is subject to U.S. federal income taxes on all of its U.S. operating income, as well as on the portion of non-U.S. income attributable to its U.S. subsidiaries. In addition, Lazard Ltd, through its subsidiaries, is subject to state and local taxes on its income apportioned to various state and local jurisdictions. Outside the U.S., Lazard Group operates principally through subsidiary corporations that are subject to local income taxes in foreign jurisdictions. Lazard Group is also subject to Unincorporated Business Tax (“UBT”) attributable to its operations apportioned to New York City (see Note 16 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information).

In the second quarter of 2015, we released substantially all of our valuation allowance related to deferred tax assets. When we are able to use the deferred tax assets in future periods to reduce our income taxes, we will be required to pay a significant portion of the tax savings pursuant to our tax receivable agreement. We therefore also recognized a related liability under the tax receivable agreement. In addition, in the third quarter of 2015, we purchased a portion of our obligation relating to the tax receivable agreement, which had the effect of reducing such liability.

See “Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates—Income Taxes” below and Notes 16 and 18 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding income taxes, our deferred tax assets, the valuation allowance release in 2015 and the tax receivable agreement obligation.

Noncontrolling Interests

Noncontrolling interests primarily consist of amounts related to Edgewater’s management vehicles that the Company is deemed to control but not own and, through May 2014, the amount attributable to LAZ-MD Holdings LLC’s (“LAZ-MD Holdings”) ownership interest in the net income of Lazard Group. See Note 13 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for information regarding the Company’s noncontrolling interests. In May 2014,

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the remaining Lazard Group common membership interests held by LAZ-MD Holdings were exchanged for shares of the Company’s Class A common stock. Following the exchange, Lazard Group became a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Lazard Ltd, and the sole issued and outstanding share of the Company’s Class B common stock was automatically converted into one share of the Company’s Class A common stock pursuant to the provisions of the Company’s bye-laws, resulting in only one outstanding class of common stock. See Note 1 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Results of Operations

Lazard’s consolidated financial statements are presented in U.S. Dollars. Many of our non-U.S. subsidiaries have a functional currency (i.e., the currency in which operational activities are primarily conducted) that is other than the U.S. Dollar, generally the currency of the country in which the subsidiaries are domiciled. Such subsidiaries’ assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. Dollars using exchange rates as of the respective balance sheet date, while revenue and expenses are translated at average exchange rates during the respective periods based on the daily closing exchange rates. Adjustments that result from translating amounts from a subsidiary’s functional currency are reported as a component of stockholders’ equity. Foreign currency remeasurement gains and losses on transactions in non-functional currencies are included in the consolidated statements of operations.

A portion of our net revenue is derived from transactions that are denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. Since the middle of 2014, the value of the U.S. dollar has strengthened against many other major currencies. As a result, net revenue for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015 was negatively impacted in comparison to the prior year period, with the effects mainly in 2015. The majority of the negative impact was offset by the positive impact of the exchange rate movements on our operating expenses denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.

The consolidated financial statements are prepared in conformity with U.S. GAAP. Selected financial data from the Company’s reported consolidated results of operations is set forth below, followed by a more detailed discussion of both the consolidated and business segment results.

The tables below describe the components of operating revenue, adjusted and awarded compensation and benefits expense, adjusted non-compensation expense, earnings from operations and related key ratios, which are non-U.S. GAAP measures used by the Company to manage its business. We believe such non-U.S. GAAP measures provide the most meaningful basis for comparison between present, historical and future periods, as described above. 

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Headcount information is set forth below: