NAVIENT CORP - Annual Report: 2017 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2017

or

For the transition period from                  to

Commission file numbers 001-36228

Navient Corporation

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None.

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

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 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 Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T 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 is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of 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, smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

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

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

The aggregate market value of voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of June 30, 2017 was $4.5 billion (based on closing sale price of $16.65 per share as reported for the NASDAQ Global Select Market).

As of January 31, 2018, there were 263,388,482 shares of common stock outstanding.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the proxy statement (the “2018 Proxy Statement”) relating to the Registrant’s 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, currently scheduled to be held on May 24, 2018, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

NAVIENT CORPORATION

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FORWARD-LOOKING AND CAUTIONARY STATEMENTS

This report contains “forward-looking” statements and other information that is based on management’s current expectations as of the date of this report. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about our beliefs, opinions, or expectations and statements that assume or are dependent upon future events, are forward-looking statements and often contain words such as “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “seek,” “see,” “will,” “would,” or “target.” Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from those reflected in such forward-looking statements.

For us, these factors include, among others, the risks and uncertainties associated with:

We could also be affected by, among other things:

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The preparation of our consolidated financial statements also requires management to make certain estimates and assumptions including estimates and assumptions about future events. These estimates or assumptions may prove to be incorrect and actual results could differ materially. All forward-looking statements contained in this report are qualified by these cautionary statements and are made only as of the date of this report. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Definitions for certain capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined in this Annual Report on Form 10-K can be found in the “Glossary” at the end of this report.

Through this discussion and analysis, we intend to provide the reader with some narrative context for how our management views our consolidated financial statements, additional context within which to assess our operating results, and information on the quality and variability of our earnings, liquidity and cash flows.

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AVAILABLE INFORMATION

Our website address is www.navient.com. Our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). We are subject to the informational requirements of the Exchange Act and file or furnish reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. Copies of these reports, as well as any amendments to these reports, are available free of charge through our website at www.navient.com/about/investors/stockholderinfo/secfilings, as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. The public may also read and copy any materials filed by the Company with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, NE, Room 1580, Washington, DC 20549. The public may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov.

In addition, copies of our Board Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct (which includes the code of ethics applicable to our Principal Executive Officer, Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer) and the governing charters for each committee of our Board of Directors are available free of charge on our website at www.navient.com/about/investors/corp_governance, as well as in print to any stockholder upon request. We intend to disclose any amendments to or waivers from our Code of Business Conduct (to the extent applicable to our Principal Executive Officer or Principal Financial Officer) by posting such information on our website.

Information contained or referenced on the foregoing websites is not incorporated by reference into and does not form a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Further, the Company’s references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

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PART I.

Overview

Navient is a leading provider of asset management and business processing solutions for education, health care, and government clients at the federal, state, and local levels. We help our clients and millions of Americans achieve financial success through services and support. Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Navient employs team members in western New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, Indiana, Delaware, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, California and other locations.

Navient is the largest private sector holder of education loans insured or federally guaranteed under the Federal Family Education Loan Program (“FFELP”). We also hold the largest portfolio of Private Education Loans. We also have begun originating Private Education Refinance Loans. Navient services its own portfolio of education loans, as well as education loans owned by the United States Department of Education (“ED”), financial institutions and nonprofit education lenders. Navient is one of the largest servicers to ED under its Direct Student Loan Program (“DSLP”). Our data-driven insight, service and innovation support customers on the path to successful education loan repayment.

The Company leverages its scale and expertise to provide business processing solutions to a variety of clients, including federal agencies, state and local governments, regional authorities, courts, hospitals, health care systems and other health care providers, and financial service providers. Navient also provides business processing solutions to education-related clients, such as guaranty agencies and colleges and universities.

For all our clients, we aim to improve their financial performance, optimize their operations, and maintain compassionate, compliant service for their customers and constituents.

As of December 31, 2017, Navient’s principal assets consisted of:

Strengths and Opportunities

Navient possesses a number of competitive advantages that distinguish it from its competitors, including:

Large, high quality asset base generating significant and predictable cash flows. At December 31, 2017, Navient’s $105.1 billion education loan portfolio is 78 percent funded to term and is expected to produce predictable cash flows over the remaining life of the portfolio. Navient’s $81.7 billion portfolio of FFELP Loans generally bears a maximum 3 percent loss exposure under the terms of the federal guaranty. Navient’s $23.4 billion portfolio of Private Education Loans bears the full credit risk of the borrower and any cosigner. Navient expects that cash flows from its FFELP Loan and Private Education Loan portfolios will significantly exceed future debt service obligations. Our interest earning assets are funded by both secured and unsecured debt.

Efficient and large-scale operating platforms. Navient services over $300 billion in education loans for approximately 12 million customers. Navient’s inventory of contingent asset recovery receivables is $26.4 billion as of December 31, 2017. We provide services to over 1,000 education, health care and public sector clients. Navient has demonstrated scalable infrastructure with capacity to add volume at a low cost. Our market share and tested infrastructure have enabled expansion to additional clients and asset types.

Superior performance. Navient has demonstrated superior default prevention performance and industry-leading services. The combined portfolio of federal loans serviced by Navient experienced a Cohort Default Rate (“CDR”) that is 37 percent lower than our

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peers, as calculated from the most recent CDR released by ED in September 2017. We are consistently a top performer in our asset recovery business and deliver superior service to our public and private sector clients. We continually leverage data-driven insights and customer service to identify new ways to add value to our clients.

Commitment to compliance and customer centricity. Navient fosters a robust compliance culture driven by a “customer first” approach. We invest in rigorous training programs, quality assurance, reviews and audits, complaint tracking and analysis, and customer research to enhance our compliance and customer service.

Strong capital return. As a result of our significant cash flow and capital generation, Navient expects to return excess capital to stockholders through dividends and share repurchases. Navient repurchased 29.6 million shares of common stock (10 percent of shares outstanding) for $440 million and 59.6 million shares of common stock (17 percent of shares outstanding) for $755 million in 2017 and 2016, respectively.  Effective October 4, 2017, Navient temporarily suspended its remaining share repurchase program ($160 million authorization remains) to allocate capital towards building book value. The Company’s dividend policy is unchanged. On January 24, 2018, we announced that we expect to restart our share repurchases in the second half of 2018.

Navient has paid a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share of common stock since the first quarter of 2015. For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, Navient paid $176 million and $201 million, respectively, in dividends.

Meaningful growth opportunities. In the Asset Management business, Navient has targeted the origination of Private Education Refinance Loans to financially responsible professionals as a meaningful growth opportunity. In November 2017, Navient acquired Earnest to accelerate its growth opportunity originating Private Education Refinance Loans. Earnest originated $900 million in Private Education Refinance Loans in 2017 and positions Navient to be a leading player in the growing education loan refinance space. Navient originated or acquired approximately $1.2 billion of Private Education Refinance Loans in 2017.

Navient will continue to pursue opportunistic acquisitions of FFELP and Private Education Loan portfolios.  In 2017, Navient acquired $10 billion of education loans including $5.7 billion of FFELP loans and $4.3 billion of Private Education Loans.  

In the Business Processing Solutions business, Navient has acquired several complementary businesses since 2015 as part of its strategy of leveraging its core skills to pursue meaningful growth opportunities. Navient leverages its large-scale operating platforms, superior and data-driven default prevention and asset recovery performance, operating efficiency, and regulatory compliance and risk management infrastructure in growing these businesses and in pursuing other growth opportunities. Navient provides a variety of business processing solutions that help our clients improve financial performance. These solutions include asset recovery and other business processing services for federal, state, court, and municipal clients, public authorities, and health care organizations. In 2017, the Company won new or renewed services with 110 non-education related clients totaling $47 million of revenue.

Navient’s Approach to Helping Education Loan Borrowers Achieve Success

Navient services loans for approximately 12 million DSLP Loan, FFELP Loan and Private Education Loan customers, including 6.1 million customers whose accounts are serviced under Navient’s contract with ED. We help our customers navigate the path to financial success through proactive outreach and innovative, data-driven approaches.

Leveraging four decades of expertise: We define customer success as making steady progress toward repayment and avoiding falling behind on or putting off payments. With customer success and default prevention as our top priorities, we apply data-driven outreach that draws from our more than 40 years of experience. Our strategists employ risk modeling to pinpoint struggling borrowers and deploy resources where needed. By tailoring our approach to each borrower’s unique situation — e.g., recent graduates, students re-entering school, those experiencing hardships or those with student debt but no degree — we help ensure industry-leading outcomes, as evidenced by a default rate that is 37 percent lower than all other servicers. Nine times out of 10, when we can reach federal loan customers who have missed payments, we can identify a solution to help them avoid default.

Getting borrowers into the right payment plans: We help customers understand the complex array of federal loan repayment options so they can make informed choices about the plans that are aligned with their financial circumstances and goals. We promote awareness of federal repayment plan options, including Income-Driven Repayment (“IDR”), through more than 162 million communications annually, including mail, email, phone calls, videos and text messages. As a result, we continue to lead in enrolling customers in affordable income-driven repayment plans: nearly one in three federal student borrowers and more than half of student loan balances serviced by Navient for the government were enrolled in an IDR plan (excluding loan types ineligible for the plans). We also help borrowers understand that options lengthening their repayment term may increase the total cost of their loans, while reminding them that they may pay extra or switch repayment plans at any time.

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Leading the industry: Navient is a leader in recommending policy reforms that would enhance the student loan program. For example, we have recommended improving financial literacy and simplifying federal loan repayment options — reforms that we believe would make a meaningful difference for millions of Americans with student loans and encourage college completion.

In 2009, we pioneered the creation of a loan modification program to help Private Education Loan borrowers needing additional assistance. As of December 31, 2017, $2.7 billion of our Private Education Loans were enrolled in this interest rate reduction program, helping customers through more affordable monthly payments while making progress in repaying their principal loan balance.

We continually make enhancements designed to help our customers, drawing from a variety of inputs including customer surveys, analysis of customer inquiries and complaint data, regulator commentary and website activity. We regularly use customer and employee research panels to gather real-time feedback to inform enhancements underway.

Our Office of the Customer Advocate, established in 1997, offers escalated assistance to customers who request it. We are committed to working with customers and appreciate customer comments, which, combined with our own customer communication channels, help us improve the ways we assist our customers.

We also continue to offer free resources to help customers and the general public build knowledge on personal finance topics. We offer Path to Success, a series of interactive financial literacy videos, and Career Playbook, a career development video series. We also conduct a national research study, Money Under 35, that measures the financial health of Americans ages 22 to 35.

We take seriously our commitment to serve military customers and have developed a best-in-class approach to assist them. Navient was the first student loan servicer to launch a dedicated military benefits customer service team, website (Navient.com/military), and toll-free number. Navient’s military benefits team offers a single point of contact for all calls from service members and their families to help them learn about and access the benefits designed for them, including interest rate benefits, deferment and other options.

Business Segments

We have three primary reportable business segments: FFELP Loans; Private Education Loans; and Business Services. A fourth segment — Other — primarily consists of financial results of our holding company, including the repurchase of debt, our corporate liquidity portfolio, unallocated overhead, restructuring/other reorganization expenses, regulatory-related costs, and the deferred tax asset remeasurement loss recognized due to the enactment of the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” (“TCJA”) in the fourth quarter of 2017. Each of these business segments are discussed below.

FFELP Loans Segment

In the FFELP Loans segment, we acquire and finance FFELP Loans. Although FFELP Loans are no longer originated, we continue to pursue acquisitions of FFELP Loan portfolios. These acquisitions leverage our servicing scale and generate incremental earnings and cash flow. In this segment, we generate revenue primarily through net interest income on the FFELP Loan portfolio (after provision for loan losses). This segment is expected to generate significant amounts of earnings and cash flow over the remaining life of the portfolio.

We are currently the largest private sector holder of FFELP Loans. Navient’s portfolio of FFELP Loans as of December 31, 2017 was $81.7 billion. We expect this portfolio to have an amortization period in excess of 20 years with a 7-year remaining weighted average life. Navient’s goal is to maximize the amount and optimize the timing of the cash flows generated by its FFELP Loan portfolio. Navient also seeks to acquire FFELP Loan portfolios from third parties to add net interest income and servicing revenue. During the year ended December 31, 2017, Navient acquired $5.7 billion of FFELP Loans. FFELP Loans are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies and are protected by contractual rights to recovery from the United States pursuant to guaranty agreements among ED and these agencies. These guaranty agreements generally cover at least 97 percent of a FFELP Loan’s principal and accrued interest for loans disbursed. For more discussion of the FFELP and related credit support mechanisms, see Appendix A “Description of Federal Family Education Loan Program.”

As a result of the long-term funding strategy used for our FFELP Loan portfolio and the insurance and guarantees provided on these loans, the portfolio generates consistent and predictable cash flows. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 84 percent of the FFELP Loans held by Navient were funded to term with non-recourse, long-term securitization debt.

The Higher Education Act of 1965 (“HEA”) continues to regulate every aspect of FFELP Loans, including ongoing communications with borrowers and default aversion requirements. Failure to service FFELP Loans properly could jeopardize the

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insurance, guarantees and federal support on these loans. The insurance and guarantees on Navient’s existing FFELP Loans were not affected by the termination of FFELP originations.

Private Education Loans Segment

In this segment, we originate, acquire, finance, and service our Private Education Loans. With the acquisition of Earnest, we began originating Private Education Refinance Loans. Private Education Loans primarily bridge the gap between the cost of higher education and the amount funded through financial aid, federal loans, or students’ and families’ resources. They also allow borrowers to refinance existing education loans at a lower rate. Originations and acquisitions leverage our servicing scale and generate incremental earnings and cash flow. In this segment, we generate revenue primarily through net interest income on the Private Education Loan portfolio (after provision for loan losses). This segment is expected to generate significant amounts of earnings and cash flow over the remaining life of the portfolio.

With over 40 years of experience, we have seen that borrowers who graduate gain the benefit of their investment in education with higher levels of employment, higher incomes and stronger financial health. Our loan products are focused on helping consumers refinance their education loans at the lower rates they have earned. We believe our product offerings, digital marketing strategies and origination platform provide a unique competitive advantage.  Earnest, which was acquired in November 2017, originated $380 million and $900 million of Private Education Refinance Loans in the fourth-quarter and full-year 2017, respectively.  At December 31, 2017, Navient held $1.3 billion of Private Education Refinance Loans, compared with $225 million of Private Education Refinance Loans held at December 31, 2016.

Unlike FFELP Loans, the holder of a Private Education Loan bears the full credit risk of the borrower and any cosigner. Navient believes the credit risk of the Private Education Loans it owns is well managed through the rigorous underwriting practices and risk-based pricing applied when the loans were originated, the continued high levels of qualified cosigners, our internal servicing and risk mitigation practices, and our careful use of forbearance and loan modification programs. Navient believes that these elements and practices reduce the risk of payment interruptions and defaults on its Private Education Loan portfolio.

We are currently the largest holder of Private Education Loans. Navient’s portfolio of Private Education Loans as of December 31, 2017 was $23.4 billion. We expect this portfolio to have an amortization period in excess of 20 years with a 6-year remaining weighted average life. Navient’s goal is to maximize and optimize the timing of the cash flows generated by its Private Education Loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2017, approximately 55 percent of the Private Education Loans held by Navient were funded to term with non-recourse, long-term securitization debt.

Business Services Segment

Our Business Services segment generates revenue from business processing services related to servicing, asset recovery and other business processing activities. Within this segment, we generate revenue primarily through servicing our FFELP Loan portfolio as well as servicing education loans for Guarantors of FFELP Loans and other institutions, including ED. We provide asset recovery services for loans and receivables on behalf of Guarantors of FFELP Loans and higher education institutions. In addition, we provide asset recovery and other business processing solutions for federal, state, court, and municipal clients, public authorities, and health care organizations. This market is highly fragmented and provides attractive organic growth opportunities.

Non-Education Related Fee Revenues

Non-education related revenues increased 21 percent, from $174 million in 2016 to $211 million in 2017. Non-education related fee revenues in the Business Services segment accounted for 20 percent of total Business Services segment revenues in 2017 compared with 17 percent and 10 percent in 2016 and 2015, respectively.  This revenue is generated from over 1,000 clients in the government, municipal and health care markets.

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Education Related Fee Revenues

In 2017, federal education loan (FFELP and ED) related revenues in the Business Services segment accounted for 78 percent of total Business Services segment revenues compared with 80 percent in 2016.

Navient is currently the largest servicer and collector of loans made under the FFELP program, and the majority of our income has been derived, directly or indirectly, from our portfolio of FFELP Loans and the servicing and asset recovery we provide for Guarantors and third-party owners of FFELP Loans. In 2010, Congress passed legislation ending the origination of education loans under FFELP. As a result, the revenue we earn from providing servicing and asset recovery services on FFELP Loans will decline over time.

Servicing revenues from the FFELP Loans we own represent intercompany charges to the FFELP Loans segment at rates paid to us by the securitization trusts which own the loans. These fees are contractually the first payment priority of the trusts after the payment of the trustee fees and exceed the actual cost of servicing the loans. Intercompany loan servicing revenues declined to $348 million in 2017 from $389 million in 2016. We expect intercompany loan servicing revenues will continue to decline as our FFELP Loan portfolio amortizes.

Since 2009, Navient has been one of four TIVAS that provides loan servicing for federal loans owned by ED. We continually strive to help our customers successfully navigate the repayment of their loans. Under the contract, we seek to improve on the performance metrics that determine the allocation of new accounts under the servicing contract with ED.  Under this servicing contract as of December 31, 2017, we service approximately 6.1 million accounts, or $205.9 billion in loans. We earned $150 million of revenue under the contract for the year ended December 31, 2017. This contract currently expires in 2019.

In December 2016, Great Lakes Higher Education Assistance Corp. (“Great Lakes”) assumed control of United Student Aid Funds, Inc. (“USAF”). As part of this transfer, Great Lakes terminated our contracts with USAF and Northwest Education Loan Association (“NELA”), effective as of December 31, 2017. At the same time, they notified us of their intent to rebid the services we provided for USAF, NELA and Great Lakes. In the third quarter of 2017, we entered into a new contract with Great Lakes in which we agreed to provide asset recovery and portfolio management services on the combined Great Lakes, USAF and NELA portfolios. We were not awarded the default aversion services component of the contract which resulted in the recognition of $47 million of previously deferred revenue, net of a reserve.  Including the $47 million of previously deferred revenue, education related fee revenues related to these services totaled $238 million in 2017 compared to $172 million in 2016.

Since 1997, Navient has provided asset recovery services on defaulted education loans to ED. In February 2015, ED did not grant an additional term extension (“ATE”) and this contract expired by its terms on February 21, 2015. As a result, our Pioneer Credit Recovery (“Pioneer”) subsidiary stopped receiving new account placements under the contract. Shortly after that decision by ED, Pioneer filed a bid protest against ED, which bid protest was eventually consolidated with several other related protests. In an effort to resolve that litigation, in May 2017, ED awarded Pioneer a new ATE on substantially similar terms to the additional term extensions awarded to other contractors in 2015. In December 2017, Pioneer received new accounts under that new contract.

In January 2018, ED completed its ongoing procurement for replacement collection contracts originally begun in 2016. Neither Pioneer nor our other subsidiary, General Revenue Corporation, received a contract award. In February 2018, Pioneer filed a bid protest which protest has been consolidated with the other protests on this procurement. As of the date of this report, ED has the right to place additional accounts with Pioneer under its ATE during the pendency of the new protests. ED’s ability to do so may be affected by any temporary restraining order or injunction granted by the court in the consolidated protests. For additional information on the ED collection contract, please refer to Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Business Segment Earnings Summary – ‘Core Earnings Basis’ – Business Services Segment” of this Form 10-K. As a leading provider of asset recovery services, Pioneer Credit Recovery has a long track record of assisting individuals who default on their student loan payments to recover from the negative consequences of default.  Since 2012, Navient and its subsidiaries have helped more than 261,000 borrowers successfully rehabilitate their loans.

On April 4, 2016, ED published the first part of a two-part RFP related to a new servicing platform for the DSLP. The first part of the RFP focused on screening candidates’ capabilities relative to certain published criteria. In July 2016, Navient was selected as one of three companies eligible to submit responses in the second part of the RFP process. In January 2017, Navient submitted its bid for ED’s single servicing solution contract. While ED announced in May 2017 that it planned to select a single servicer for the DSLP, in August of 2017, the Department cancelled the prior RFP and announced a new upcoming solicitation for the FSA Next Generation Processing and Servicing Environment. Based upon the statements from ED, it is anticipated that the new environment will provide for a single data processing platform to house all student loan information while at the same time allowing for customer account servicing to be performed either by a single contract servicer or by multiple contract servicers. On February 20, 2018, ED issued Phase 1 of a new RFP entitled the Solicitation for the Next Generation Financial Services Environment which is intended to centralize student loan servicing on a single platform. Responses to Phase 1 are due by April 6, 2018.

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Other Segment

Our Other segment primarily consists of activities of our holding company, including the repurchase of debt, our corporate liquidity portfolio, unallocated overhead, restructuring/other reorganization expenses, regulatory-related costs, and the deferred tax asset remeasurement loss recognized due to the enactment of the TCJA in the fourth quarter of 2017. We also include results from certain smaller wind-down operations within this segment.

Employees

At December 31, 2017, we had approximately 6,700 employees. None of our employees are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

Supervision and Regulation

The Dodd-Frank Act

The Dodd-Frank Act was adopted to reform and strengthen regulation and supervision of the U.S. financial services industry. The Dodd-Frank Act contains comprehensive provisions that govern the practices and oversight of financial institutions (including large non-bank financial institutions) and other participants in the financial markets. It imposed significant regulations, additional requirements and oversight on almost every aspect of the U.S. financial services industry, including increased capital and liquidity requirements, limits on leverage and enhanced supervisory authority. Some of these provisions apply to Navient and its various businesses and securitization vehicles.

The Consumer Financial Protection Act established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), which has authority to write regulations under federal consumer financial protection laws and to directly or indirectly enforce those laws and examine financial institutions for compliance. The CFPB is authorized to impose fines and provide consumer restitution in the event of violations, engage in consumer financial education, track consumer complaints, request data and promote the availability of financial services to underserved consumers and communities. It also has authority to prevent unfair, deceptive or abusive practices. Since its creation, the CFPB has been active in its supervision, examination and enforcement of financial services companies, most notably bringing enforcement actions, imposing fines and mandating large refunds to customers of several large banking institutions, auto financing companies and debt collection companies. The CFPB has filed a lawsuit against Navient alleging several unfair, deceptive or abusive practices, and other violations of consumer protection statutes. Additional information on the CFPB lawsuit is included in Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” in this Form 10-K.

The Dodd-Frank Act also authorizes state officials to enforce regulations issued by the CFPB and to enforce the Dodd-Frank Act’s general prohibition against unfair, deceptive and abusive practices. The Attorneys General of the State of Illinois, the State of Washington and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania also filed lawsuits against Navient and some of its subsidiaries containing similar alleged violations of consumer protection laws as the CFPB lawsuit. Additional information on the State Attorneys General lawsuits is included in Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” in this Form 10-K.

Regulatory Outlook

A number of prominent themes appear to be emerging from these actions:

Navient is subject to oversight from several regulatory entities. We expect that the regulators overseeing our businesses will continue to be active and that consumer protection regulations, standards, supervision, examination and enforcement practices will continue to evolve in both detail and scope. This evolution has added and may continue to significantly add to Navient’s compliance, servicing and operating costs. We have invested in compliance through multiple steps including realignment of Navient’s compliance management system to a servicing, collections and business services business model; dedicated compliance resources for certain

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topics (such as the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (“SCRA”); the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”); unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts and practices (“UDAAP”); and third-party vendor management) to focus on regulator and consumer expectations; formation of business support operations to enhance risk, control and compliance functions in each business area; additional regulatory training for front-line employees to ensure obligations are understood and followed during interactions with customers as well as additional regulatory training for our board of directors to enhance their ability to oversee the Company’s risk framework and compliance as it and the regulatory environment changes; expanded oversight of our incentive compensation programs; and expanded oversight and analysis of complaint trends to identify and remediate if necessary, areas of potential consumer harm.

Our current operations and compliance processes may not satisfy evolving regulatory standards.  Past practices or products may become the focus of examinations, inquiries or lawsuits.

As described in Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Risk Management,” Navient has implemented a coordinated, formal enterprise risk management system aimed at reducing business and regulatory risks.

Listed below are some of the most significant recent and pending regulatory changes that have the potential to affect Navient.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB has been active in the education loan industry and undertook a number of initiatives in recent years relative to the private education loan market and education loan servicing. In October 2016, the CFPB also revised the education loan examination procedures, incorporating information it gathered from its three years of supervisory and enforcement work, reflecting its revised supervisory priorities. On January 18, 2017, the CFPB commenced a civil action against Navient Corporation and several of our subsidiaries alleging various servicing failures and violations of Federal consumer financial laws.  Additional information on the CFPB lawsuit is included in Item 3. “Legal Proceedings” in this Form 10-K.

Debt Collection Supervision. The CFPB also maintains supervisory authority over larger consumer debt collectors. On October 24, 2012, the CFPB issued its Larger Participant rule and examination procedures that allow the agency to federally supervise larger consumer debt collectors. The rule, which became effective January 2, 2013, defines larger participants as third-party debt collectors, debt buyers and collection attorneys with more than $10 million in annual receipts resulting from consumer debt collection. Under the rule, Navient’s collection subsidiaries are considered larger participants and are subject to supervision. In July 2016, the CFPB proposed new rules that would change the rules applicable to the debt collection industry generally. Under the proposed rules, debt collectors would, among other things, be required to limit communications attempts with borrowers, provide enhanced disclosure of debt details, and make it easier to dispute the debt. When responding to disputes, collectors would be prohibited from continuing to pursue debt without sufficient evidence. These requirements and restrictions would follow the debt if it were sold or transferred. The CFPB recently updated its regulatory agenda and indicated that the proposed regulations are currently scheduled to be finalized in early 2018. The issuance of the CFPB’s rules does not preempt the various and varied levels of state consumer and collection regulations to which the activities of Navient’s subsidiaries are currently subject. Navient also utilizes third-party debt collectors to collect defaulted and charged-off education loans and will continue to be responsible for oversight of their procedures and controls.

Oversight of Derivatives. The Dodd-Frank Act created a comprehensive new regulatory framework for derivatives transactions, to be implemented by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), other prudential regulators and the SEC. This framework, among other things, subjects certain swap participants to new capital and margin requirements, recordkeeping and business conduct standards and imposes registration and regulation of swap dealers and major swap participants. The scope of potential exemptions continues to be defined through agency rulemakings. Even where Navient or a securitization trust sponsored by Navient qualifies for an exemption, many of its derivatives counterparties are subject to the new capital, margin and business conduct requirements and therefore Navient’s business may be impacted. Where Navient or the securitization trusts it sponsors do not qualify for an exemption, Navient or an existing or future securitization trust sponsored by Navient may be unable to enter into new swaps to hedge interest rate or currency risk or the costs associated with such swaps may increase. With respect to existing securitization trusts, an inability to amend, novate or otherwise materially modify existing swap contracts could result in a downgrade of its outstanding asset-backed securities. As a result, Navient’s business, ability to access the capital markets for financing and costs may be impacted by new regulations for derivatives transactions.

Other Significant Sources of Regulation

Many aspects of Navient’s businesses are subject to federal and state regulation and administrative oversight. Some of the most significant of these are described below.

Higher Education Act. Navient is subject to the HEA and its education loan operations are periodically reviewed by ED and Guarantors. As a servicer of federal education loans, Navient is subject to ED regulations regarding financial responsibility and

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administrative capability that govern all third-party servicers of insured education loans. In connection with its servicing operations on behalf of Guarantor clients, Navient must comply with ED regulations that govern Guarantor activities as well as agreements for reimbursement between ED and our Guarantor clients.

The Higher Education Act Reauthorization Bill (H.R. 4508 “Prosper Act”) is currently under consideration by the House of Representatives. The HEA is the primary law that authorizes federal student aid programs for higher education. While the HEA is required to be reviewed and "reauthorized" by Congress every five years, Congress has not reauthorized the HEA since 2008, choosing to temporarily extend the Act each year since 2013. In its current form, the Prosper Act proposes, among other changes, eliminating Stafford and Plus loans for first-time borrowers and replacing these options with a new Federal ONE Loan. The new ONE Loans would only be eligible for two repayment plans, a standard 10-year loan repayment plan of 120 equal payments and a single income-based plan. While some of the provisions of the Prosper Act may ultimately prove beneficial to our customers and to investors, we cannot provide any assurances that the Act, if passed, will not be significantly modified from its current form.  

Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. As a third-party service provider to financial institutions, Navient is also subject to periodic examination by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”). FFIEC is a formal interagency body of the U.S. government empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Federal Reserve Banks (the “FRB”), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”), the National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the CFPB and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions.

Consumer Protection and Privacy. Navient’s education loan servicing business is subject to federal and state consumer protection, privacy and related laws and regulations and is subject to examination by the CFPB. Some of the more significant federal laws and regulations include:

Several states have passed or proposed student loan bills of rights or licensing requirements that may also apply to Navient’s education loan servicing business. It is possible that more states will propose or pass similar or different requirements on either holders of education loans or their servicers. Depending on the nature of these laws or rules, they may impose additional or different requirements than Navient faces at the federal level.

Navient’s business processing services businesses are subject to federal and state consumer protection, privacy and related laws and regulations, including supervision by the CFPB as discussed above. Some of the more significant federal statutes are the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and additional provisions of the acts listed above, as well as the HEA and the various laws and regulations that govern government contractors. These activities are also subject to state laws and regulations similar to the federal laws and regulations listed above.

Navient employs a Risk Appetite Framework which defines the most significant risks impacting our business and provides a process for evaluating and quantifying such risks. Our Enterprise Risk Committee monitors approved risk limits and thresholds to ensure our businesses are operating within approved risk parameters. Through ongoing monitoring of risk exposures, management endeavors to identify potential risks and develop appropriate responses and mitigation strategies. Our Risk Appetite Framework segments Navient’s risks across nine domains: (1) credit; (2) market; (3) funding and liquidity; (4) compliance; (5) legal; (6) operational; (7) reputational/political; (8) governance; and (9) strategy. The risk factors enumerated in this section are presented in a manner that is consistent with our overall risk framework.

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These are not the only risks facing our Company. Additional risks not currently known to us or that we currently deem to be immaterial also may materially adversely affect our business, financial conditions or results of operations in future periods. In addition, our reaction to material future developments as well as our competitors’ and regulators’ reactions to these developments will affect our future results.  

In addition to the other information set forth in this report including any forward-looking statements, you should carefully consider the following factors because these factors could cause our business, actual results of operations or financial condition to be materially different from our historic results or from our anticipated results of operations, cash flows or financial condition for future periods.

CREDIT RISK. Credit risk is the risk to earnings or capital resulting from an obligor’s failure to meet the terms of any contract with us or otherwise fail to perform as agreed. Credit risk is found in all activities where success depends on counterparty, issuer or borrower performance.

Economic conditions and the creditworthiness of third parties could have a material adverse effect on Navient’s business, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

We anticipate that, for a period of time, Navient’s earnings will be largely dependent on the expected future creditworthiness of its education loan customers, especially with respect to its Private Education Loan portfolio. Our research consistently indicates that borrower unemployment rates and the failure of in-school borrowers to graduate or otherwise complete their education are two of the most significant macroeconomic factors that increase loan delinquencies and defaults. Additionally, modifications to the original repayment terms in the form of loan forbearance, deferment, grace periods and the use of payment modification programs, including income-based repayment programs can individually and cumulatively impact the performance of the Company’s FFELP Loan and Private Education Loan portfolios. Modifications to private loans may lower the potential return on investment and may have the related effect of delaying defaults which would otherwise have become apparent in the performance of our portfolios. Therefore, deterioration in the economy could adversely affect the credit quality of our borrowers requiring more frequent use of these loan modification tools. Higher credit-related losses and weaker credit quality could negatively affect Navient’s business, financial condition and results of operations and limit its funding options, including Navient’s access to the capital markets, which could also adversely impact its liquidity position.

Defaults on education loans held by Navient, particularly Private Education Loans, could adversely affect Navient’s earnings.

FFELP Loans are insured or guaranteed by state or not-for-profit agencies and are also protected by contractual rights to recovery from the United States pursuant to guaranty agreements among ED and these agencies. These guarantees generally cover at least 97 percent of a FFELP Loan’s principal and accrued interest and, in limited circumstances, 100 percent of the loan’s principal and accrued interest. Nevertheless, Navient is exposed to credit risk on the non-guaranteed portion of the FFELP Loans in its portfolio. Under certain circumstances, if we fail to service FFELP Loans in compliance with HEA regulations that relate to our ongoing communications with borrowers and default aversion requirements, we may jeopardize the insurance, guarantees and federal support we receive on these loans. A small percentage of our FFELP Loan portfolio has become permanently uninsured as a result of these regulations and we anticipate this will continue to a limited extent in the future. Under such circumstances, Navient bears the full credit exposure on such previously insured loans.

Navient bears the full credit exposure on all its Private Education Loans. Navient believes that delinquencies are an important indicator of the potential future credit performance for Private Education Loans. Navient’s delinquencies as a percentage of Private Education Loans in repayment were 5.8 percent at December 31, 2017. For a complete discussion of Navient’s loan delinquencies, see Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Private Education Loan Portfolio Performance.”

The evaluation of Navient’s allowance for loan losses is inherently subjective and it requires estimates that may be subject to significant changes. Additionally, GAAP accounting rules can require us to determine allowances for loan losses differently based upon the manner in which we acquired the applicable loan assets. For additional information on our allowance for loan losses, please refer to Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates – Allowance for Loan Losses.”  Future defaults could be higher than anticipated due to a variety of factors outside of Navient’s control, such as downturns in the economy, regulatory or operational changes and other unforeseen future trends. According to Company-sponsored independent research, young adults who stopped attending college before earning a degree or certificate are among those most likely to have trouble making payments. Losses on Private Education Loans are also impacted by various risk characteristics that may be specific to individual loans. Loan status (in-school, grace, forbearance, repayment and delinquency), loan seasoning (number of months in which a payment has been made by a customer), underwriting criteria (e.g., credit scores), existence of a cosigner are all factors that can impact the likelihood of default. The type of school may also play a significant role in loan performance. Additionally, general economic and employment conditions, including employment rates for recent college graduates can have a significant impact on loan delinquency and default rates. If actual loan performance is worse than currently

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estimated, it could materially affect Navient’s estimate of the allowance for loan losses and the related provision for loan losses in Navient’s statements of income and as a result adversely affect Navient’s results of operations.

The FASB has recently issued an accounting standard update that will result in a significant change in how we recognize credit losses.

In June 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2016-13, "Financial Instruments – Credit Losses," which replaces the current "incurred loss" model for recognizing credit losses with an "expected loss" model referred to as the Current Expected Credit Loss ("CECL") model. Under the CECL model, we will be required to present certain financial assets carried at amortized cost, such as our loans held for investment, at the net amount expected to be collected. The measurement of expected credit losses is to be based on information about past events, including historical experience, current conditions, and reasonable and supportable forecasts that affect the collectability of the reported amount. This measurement will take place at the time the financial asset is first added to the balance sheet and periodically thereafter. This differs significantly from the "incurred loss" model required under current GAAP, which delays recognition until it is probable a loss has been incurred. Accordingly, we expect that the adoption of the CECL model will materially affect how we determine our allowance for loan losses and could require us to significantly increase our allowance, which would reduce shareholders’ equity and capital. Moreover, the CECL model may create more volatility in the level of our allowance for loan losses. If we are required to materially increase our level of allowance for loan losses, such increase could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The new CECL standard will become effective for us on January 1, 2020. We are currently evaluating the impact the CECL model will have on our allowance for loan losses, but we expect to recognize a one-time cumulative-effect adjustment to our allowance for loan losses as of the beginning of the first reporting period in which we adopt the new standard. We cannot yet determine the magnitude of any such one-time cumulative adjustment or of the overall impact of the new standard on our financial condition or results of operations.

Our recent acquisition of Earnest and our other private education refinance products expose us to credit underwriting risks based upon the credit model we use to forecast loss rates. If we are unable to effectively forecast loss rates, it can materially adversely affect our operating results.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, we acquired Earnest, a leading financial technology and education finance company. Navient underwrites Private Education Loans for our Earnest subsidiary and for similarly originated loans based upon our analysis of extensive credit criteria. Criteria reviewed in underwriting Private Education Loans may include any or all of the following: (i) verified employment or offer of employment, income and assets, which is generally verified through connected accounts; (ii) career experience, stability of employment, and specialization; (iii) qualifying credit history, taking into account credit score; (iv) debt to income ratio; (v) demonstrated ability to pay through free cash flow calculations; (vi) graduation from an eligible post-secondary school; (vii) verified savings in the form of retirement and non-retirement assets; and (viii) individual data points gathered from accounts connected in the application process, such as late fees, overdraft fees, and credit card interest. We define free cash flow generally as after-tax monthly income of a borrower minus the sum of rent or mortgage payments, student loan payments and any other fixed expenses of such borrower.

We do not rely on any single factor in making our underwriting decisions. Each of the above factors are reviewed and weighted depending on the individual borrower’s circumstances at the time the underwriting decision is made. For example, a greater weight may be given to the post-secondary school(s) of a borrower when such borrower is a recent graduate and less weight given to such borrower’s limited employment history or savings. Conversely, in the circumstances where several years have passed since a borrower has graduated from a post-secondary school, less weight may be given to such borrower’s school and greater emphasis may be placed on the borrower’s employment history, credit history and savings. Navient’s proprietary underwriting process weighs these various factors based on the borrower’s overall credit and personal circumstances.

MARKET, FUNDING & LIQUIDITY RISK. Market risk is the risk to earnings or capital resulting from changes in market conditions. Navient is exposed to various types of market risk, in particular the risk of loss resulting in a mismatch between the maturity/duration of assets and liabilities, interest rate risk, foreign currency exchange rates and other risks that arise through the management of our investment, debt and education loan portfolios. Funding and liquidity risk is the risk to earnings, capital or the conduct of our business arising from the inability to meet our obligations when they become due, such as the ability to access the unsecured or asset backed securities credit markets to fund liability maturities or invest in future asset growth and business operations at reasonable market rates.

Navient’s business is affected by the cost and availability of funding in the capital markets.

The capital markets have from time to time experienced periods of significant volatility. This volatility can dramatically and adversely affect financing costs when compared to historical norms or make funding unavailable at any costs. Additional factors that

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could make financing more expensive or unavailable to Navient include, but are not limited to, financial losses, events that have an adverse impact on Navient’s reputation, changes in the activities of Navient’s business partners, events that have an adverse impact on the financial services industry generally, counterparty availability, negative credit rating actions with respect to Navient, asset-backed securities sponsored by Navient or the U.S. federal government, changes affecting Navient’s assets, the ability of existing or future Navient-sponsored securitization trusts to hedge interest rate and currency risk, corporate and regulatory actions, absolute and comparative interest rate changes, general economic conditions and the legal, regulatory and tax environments governing funding transactions, including existing or future securitization and derivatives transactions. If financing is difficult, expensive or unavailable, Navient’s results of operations, cash flow or financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Higher or lower than expected prepayments of loans could change the expected net interest income the Company receives as the holder of the Residual Interests of securitization trusts holding education loans or cause the bonds issued by the securitization trust to be paid at a different speed than originally anticipated. These factors could materially alter our net interest margin or the value of our Residual Interests.

The rate at which borrowers prepay their loans can have a material impact on our net interest margin or the value of our Residual Interests. Prepayment rates and levels are subject to a variety of economic, social, competitive and other factors, including changes in interest rates, availability of alternative financings, regulatory changes affecting the education loan market and the general economy.

FFELP Loans and Private Education Loans may be voluntarily prepaid without penalty by the borrower or consolidated with the borrower’s other education loans through refinancing.

FFELP Loans may also be repaid after default by the Guarantors of FFELP Loans. Conversely, borrowers might not choose to prepay their education loans or the terms of the education loans may be extended as a result of grace periods, deferment periods, income-driven repayment plans or other repayment terms or monthly payment amount modifications agreed to by the servicer, for example. FFELP Loan borrowers may be eligible for various existing income-based repayment programs under which borrowers can qualify for reduced or zero monthly payment or even debt forgiveness after a certain number of years of repayment.

Future initiatives by ED or by Congress to encourage or force consolidation, create additional income-based repayment or debt forgiveness programs or establish other policies and programs that influence the rate at which borrowers repay their loans, could also affect prepayments on education loans. Additionally, recent entrants into the student loan refinancing market may increase borrower prepayments. These companies specialize in consolidating and refinancing student loans and may have certain advantages including lower cost structures, fewer regulatory constraints and the ability to be highly selective in choosing borrowers who are eligible to refinance. We acquired Earnest in 2017 to participate in this refinancing market and to appeal to “digitally native” borrowers with higher incomes, high credit scores or other favorable credit determinants. We cannot be certain that our acquisition of Earnest or similar acquisitions will reduce the rate at which borrowers prepay their loans.  

While we anticipate some variability in prepayment levels, extraordinary or extended increases or decreases in prepayment rates could materially affect our liquidity, interest income, net interest margin and the value of our Residual Interests. Additionally, a prolonged introduction of significant amounts of subsidized funding into the Private Education Loan market at below market interest rates — whether from Federal or private sources —could increase the prepayment rates of our existing Private Education Loans and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and cash flows. When, as a result of unanticipated prepayment levels, education loans within a securitization trust amortize faster than originally contracted, the trust’s pool balance may decline at a rate faster than the prepayment rate assumed when the trust’s bonds were originally issued. If the trust’s pool balance declines faster than originally anticipated, in most of our securitization structures, the bonds issued by that trust will also be repaid faster than originally anticipated. In such cases, the Company’s net interest income may decrease and the value of any retained Residual Interest in the trust may similarly decline.

Conversely, when education loans within a securitization trust amortize more slowly than originally contracted, the trust’s pool balance may decline more slowly than the prepayment rate assumed when the trust’s bonds were originally issued and the bonds may be repaid more slowly than originally anticipated. In these cases, the Company’s net interest income increases and the value of any retained Residual Interest in the trust may increase. In addition, if the prepayment rate is especially slow and certain rights of the sellers or the servicer are not exercised or are insufficient or other action is not taken to counter the slower prepayment rate, the trust’s bonds may not be repaid by their legal final maturity date(s), which could result in an event of default under the underlying securitization agreements. Beginning in 2016, Moody’s and Fitch took final ratings actions on our non-recourse FFELP ABS sponsored by our affiliates due to concerns that trust cash flows may not be sufficient to pay all bonds by the legal final maturity date. For a discussion of the rating agencies actions and the Company’s efforts to mitigate the “legal final maturity” risk, see Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources — Funding and Liquidity Risk Management.”

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Finally, rating agencies may place bonds on watch or change their ratings on (or their ratings methodology for) the bonds issued by a securitization trust, possibly raising or lowering their ratings, based upon these prepayment rates and their perception of the risk posed by those rates to the timing of the trust cash flows. Placing bonds on watch, or changing ratings negatively or proposing or making changes to ratings methodology could: (i) affect our liquidity; (ii) impede our access to the securitization markets; (iii) require changes to our securitization structures; (iv) impact our net interest margins; and/or (v) raise or lower the value of our Residual Interests of our future securitization transactions.

High or increasing interest rate environments may cause Navient’s Floor Income to decline, which may adversely affect its earnings.

FFELP Loans disbursed before April 1, 2006 generally earn interest at the higher of either the borrower rate, which is fixed over a period of time, or a floating rate based on a Special Allowance Payment or SAP formula set by ED. Navient has generally financed its FFELP Loans with floating rate debt whose interest is matched closely to the floating nature of the applicable SAP formula. Historically, these loans have been indexed to either the Treasury bill, commercial paper or one-month LIBOR rates. If a decline in interest rates causes the borrower rate to exceed the SAP formula rate, Navient will continue to earn interest on the loan at the fixed borrower rate while the floating rate interest on Navient debt will continue to decline. The additional spread earned between the fixed borrower rate and the SAP formula rate is referred to as “Floor Income.” The replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate may have a further detrimental impact on our LIBOR-indexed debt if rates suddenly rise as new market borrowing activity transfers to other benchmark rates.

Depending on the type of FFELP Loan and when it was originated, the borrower rate is either fixed to term or is reset to a market rate on July 1 of each year. For loans where the borrower rate is fixed to term, Navient may earn Floor Income for an extended period of time; for those loans where the borrower interest rate is reset annually on July 1, Navient may earn Floor Income to the next reset date. In accordance with legislation enacted in 2006, holders of FFELP Loans are required to rebate Floor Income to ED for all FFELP Loans disbursed on or after April 1, 2006.

Floor Income can be volatile as rates on the underlying education loans move up and down. Subject to prevailing market conditions, Navient generally hedges this risk by using derivatives in an effort to lock in a portion of our Floor Income over the term of the contract. A rise in interest rates will reduce the amount of Floor Income received on the FFELP Loans not presently hedged with derivatives, which will compress Navient’s net interest margins. Additionally, net interest margins can be negatively impacted by unusual variances between one-month and three-month LIBOR.

Navient’s credit ratings are important to its liquidity. A reduction in its credit ratings could adversely affect its liquidity, increase its borrowing costs or limit its access to the capital markets.

As of December 31, 2017, Moody’s, S&P and Fitch rated Navient’s long term unsecured debt below investment grade. In addition, the capital markets for sub-investment grade companies are not as liquid as those involving investment grade entities. These factors have resulted in a higher cost of funds for the Company, and has caused our senior unsecured debt to trade with greater volatility.

Navient’s unsecured debt totaled $13.9 billion at December 31, 2017, and Navient utilizes the unsecured debt markets to help fund its business and refinance outstanding debt. The amount, type and cost of its funding directly affects the cost of operating its business and growing its assets and is dependent upon outside factors, including its credit rating from rating agencies. There can be no assurance that the Company’s credit ratings will not be reduced further. A reduction in the credit ratings of the Company’s senior unsecured debt could adversely affect Navient’s liquidity, increase its borrowing costs, limit its access to the capital markets and place incremental pressure on its net interest income.

Adverse market conditions or an inability to effectively manage its liquidity risk could negatively impact Navient’s ability to meet its liquidity and funding needs, which could materially and adversely impact its results of operations, cash flow or financial condition.

Navient must effectively manage its liquidity risk. Navient requires liquidity to meet cash requirements such as day-to-day operating expenses, required payments of principal and interest on borrowings, and distributions to stockholders. As of December 31, 2017, a total of $5.7 billion of our unsecured debt will mature before the year-end of 2020. We expect to fund our ongoing liquidity needs, including the repayment of $1.3 billion of senior unsecured notes that mature in 2018, primarily through our current cash, investments and unencumbered FFELP Loan portfolio, the predictable operating cash flows provided by operating activities ($1.2 billion in the year ended December 31, 2017), the repayment of principal on unencumbered education loan assets, and the distribution of overcollateralization from our securitization trusts. We may also draw down on our secured FFELP Loan and Private Education Loan facilities, issue term ABS, enter into additional repurchase facilities called “Private Education Loan ABS Repurchase Facilities” to finance the Residual Interests in existing Private Education Loan ABS trusts or issue additional unsecured debt. Navient

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may maintain too much liquidity, which can be costly, or may be too illiquid, which could result in financial distress during times of financial stress or capital market disruptions.

The interest rate characteristics of Navient’s earning assets do not always match the interest rate characteristics of its funding arrangements, which may increase the price of, or decrease Navient’s ability to obtain, necessary liquidity.

Net interest income will be the primary source of cash flow generated by Navient’s portfolios of FFELP Loans and Private Education Loans. At the present, interest earned on FFELP Loans and Private Education Loans is primarily indexed to one-month LIBOR and either one-month LIBOR or the one-month Prime rate, respectively, but Navient’s debt is primarily indexed to rates other than one-month LIBOR and Prime.

The different interest rate characteristics of Navient’s loan portfolios and the liabilities funding these loan portfolios result in basis risk and repricing risk. It is not economically feasible to hedge all of Navient’s exposure to such risks. While the asset and hedge indices are short-term with rate movements that are typically highly correlated, there can be no assurance that the historically high correlation will not be disrupted by capital market dislocations or other factors not within our control. For example, during the second half of 2016, Navient experienced widening spreads between one-month and three-month LIBOR and the cost of hedging this variance was prohibitive. We cannot provide any assurance that such a situation will not reoccur which will reduce our net interest margins and net income. In these circumstances, Navient’s earnings could be materially adversely affected.

Navient’s use of derivatives to manage interest rate and foreign currency sensitivity exposes it to credit and market risk that could have a material adverse effect on its earnings and liquidity.

Navient strives to maintain an overall strategy that uses derivatives to minimize the economic effect of interest rate and/or foreign currency changes. However, developing an effective strategy for dealing with these movements is complex, and no strategy can completely avoid the risks associated with these fluctuations. For example, Navient’s education loan portfolio is subject to prepayment risk that could result in its being under- or over-hedged, which could result in material losses. In addition, Navient’s use of derivatives in its risk management activities could expose it to mark-to-market losses if interest rates or foreign currencies move in a materially different way than was expected when Navient entered into the related derivative contracts. As a result, there can be no assurance that hedging activities using derivatives will effectively manage Navient’s interest rate or foreign currency sensitivity, have the desired beneficial impact on its results of operations or financial condition or not adversely impact its liquidity and earnings.

Navient’s use of derivatives also exposes it to market risk and credit risk. Market risk is the chance of financial loss resulting from changes in interest rates, foreign exchange rates and market liquidity. For example, during 2016, Navient’s net interest margin was negatively impacted by unusually wide variances between one-month and three-month LIBOR. Navient’s Floor Income Contracts and some of the basis swaps it uses to manage earnings variability caused by different reset characteristics on interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities do not qualify for hedge accounting treatment. Therefore, the change in fair value, called the “mark-to-market,” of these derivative instruments is included in Navient’s statement of income without a corresponding mark-to-market of the economically hedged item. A decline in the fair value of these derivatives could have a material adverse effect on Navient’s reported earnings.

Credit risk is the risk that a counterparty will not perform its obligations under a contract. Credit risk is limited to the loss of the fair value gain in a derivative that the counterparty or clearinghouse owes or will owe in the future to Navient. If a counterparty or clearinghouse fails to perform its obligations, Navient could, depending on the type of counterparty arrangement, experience a loss of liquidity or an economic loss. In addition, Navient might not be able to cost effectively replace the derivative position depending on the type of derivative and the current economic environment.

Navient’s securitization trusts, which it consolidates on its balance sheet, had $6.7 billion of Euro and British Pound Sterling denominated bonds outstanding as of December 31, 2017. To convert these non-U.S. dollar denominated bonds into U.S. dollar liabilities, the trusts have entered into foreign-currency swaps with highly rated counterparties. A failure by a swap counterparty to perform its obligations could, if the swap has a positive fair value to Navient, materially and adversely affect Navient’s earnings.

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REGULATORY, COMPLIANCE & LEGAL RISK. Compliance risk is the risk to earnings or capital or reputation arising from violations of, or non-conformance with, laws, rules, regulations, prescribed practices, internal policies and procedures, or ethical standards. Legal risk is the risk to earnings, capital or reputation manifested by claims made through the legal system and may arise from a product or service, a transaction, a business relationship, property (real, personal or intellectual), conduct of an employee or change in law or regulation.

Navient’s businesses are subject to a wide variety of laws, rules, regulations and government policies that may change in significant ways and changes to such laws and regulations or changes in existing regulatory guidance or their interpretation or enforcement could materially adversely impact Navient’s business and results of operations.

Our businesses are subject to regulation under a wide variety of U.S. federal and state and non-U.S. laws, rules, regulations and policies. There can be no assurance that these laws, rules, regulations and policies will not be changed in ways that will require us to modify our business models or objectives or in ways that affect our returns on investment by restricting existing activities or services, change how our companies operate or the characteristics of our assets, subjecting them to escalating costs or prohibiting them outright.

In particular, the CFPB has authority with respect to Navient’s loan servicing business. It has authority to write regulations under federal consumer financial protection laws and to directly or indirectly enforce those laws and examine Navient for compliance. The CFPB also has examination and enforcement authority with respect to various federal consumer financial laws for some providers of consumer financial products and services, including Navient. In July 2016, the CFPB proposed new rules that would, among other things, impose strict limitations on the frequency with which we are permitted to contact borrowers. The cumulative impact of these proposed regulations, if implemented, could have a material effect on our asset recoveries and may result in significant capital expenditures to develop systems that enable us to comply with the new regulations.

The CFPB is authorized to impose monetary penalties, collect fines and provide consumer restitution in the event of violations, engage in consumer financial education, track consumer complaints, request data and promote the availability of financial services to underserved consumers and communities. The CFPB has authority to prevent unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices and to ensure that all consumers have access to fair, transparent and competitive markets for consumer financial products and services. The review of products and practices to prevent unfair, deceptive or abusive conduct will be a continuing focus of the CFPB. The ultimate impact of this heightened scrutiny is uncertain, but it has resulted in, and could continue to result in, changes to pricing, practices, products and procedures. It could also result in increased costs related to regulatory oversight, supervision and examination, additional remediation efforts and possible penalties.

In addition, where a company has violated Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act or CFPB regulations implemented under Title X of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Dodd-Frank Act empowers state attorneys general and state regulators to bring civil actions to remedy violations of state law. If the CFPB or one or more state attorneys general or state regulators believe that Navient has violated any of the applicable laws or regulations, they could exercise their enforcement powers in ways that could have a material adverse effect on Navient or its business. Since the CFPB filed its action against the Company in January of 2017, the attorneys general of Illinois, Washington and Pennsylvania have filed separate actions alleging various violations of state and federal consumer protection laws.

Loans serviced under the FFELP are subject to the HEA and related laws, rules, regulations and policies. Navient’s servicing operations are designed and monitored to comply with the HEA, related regulations and program guidance; however, ED could determine that Navient is not in compliance for a variety of reasons, including that it misinterpreted ED guidance or incorrectly applied the HEA and its related laws, rules, regulations and policies. Failure to comply could result in fines, the loss of the insurance and related federal guarantees on affected FFELP Loans, expenses required to cure servicing deficiencies, suspension or termination of its right to participate as a FFELP servicer, negative publicity and potential legal claims. The imposition of significant fines, the loss of the insurance and related federal guarantees on a material number of FFELP Loans, the incurrence of additional expenses and/or the loss of its ability to participate as a FFELP servicer could individually or in the aggregate have a material, negative impact on its business, financial condition or results of operations. From time to time, legislation is also considered that could affect the treatment of our loan assets in bankruptcy.

In addition to CFPB regulation, Navient’s asset recovery business is also subject to regulation and oversight by various state and federal agencies, particularly in the area of consumer protection, and is subject to numerous state and federal laws and regulations.

Imposition of new laws, rules or regulations or the failure to comply with these laws and regulations may result in significant costs, including litigation costs, and/or business sanctions including but not limited to termination or non-renewal of contracts.

Expanded regulatory and governmental oversight of Navient’s businesses will increase its costs and risks.

Navient’s businesses and operations are increasingly subject to governmental and regulatory oversight and scrutiny, both at the federal and state levels. Navient is now, and may be subject in the future, to inquiries and audits from state and federal regulators as well as litigation from private plaintiffs. In recent years, Navient has entered into consent orders and other settlements with the FDIC,

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the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and other banking and state regulators. Navient has paid fines and penalties or provided monetary and other relief in connection with many of these actions and settlements. We have also enhanced our procedures and controls, expanded the risk and control functions within each line of business, invested in technology and hired additional risk, control and compliance personnel.

If Navient fails to successfully address the requirements of the Consent Orders or other settlements it is currently subject, or more generally to effectively enhance its risk and control procedures and processes to meet the heightened expectations of its regulators and other government agencies, it could be required to enter into further orders and settlements, pay additional fines, penalties or judgments, or accept material regulatory restrictions on its businesses, which could adversely affect its operations and, in turn, its financial results.

Navient expects heightened regulatory scrutiny and governmental investigations and enforcement actions to continue for it and for the financial services industry as a whole. Navient anticipates that regulators will continue to take formal enforcement action, rather than taking informal supervisory actions, more frequently than they have done historically. Such actions can have significant consequences for a financial institution such as Navient, including loss of customers and business and the inability to operate certain businesses.

Due to the uncertainty engendered by these new regulations, guidance and actions, coupled with the likelihood of additional changes or additions to the local, state and federal statutes, regulations and practices applicable to its business, Navient is not able to estimate the ultimate impact of changes in law on its financial results, business operations or strategies. Navient believes that the cost of responding to and complying with these evolving laws and regulations, as well as any guidance from enforcement actions, will continue to increase, as will the risk of penalties and fines from any enforcement actions that may be imposed on its businesses. Navient’s profitability, results of operations, financial condition, cash flows or future business prospects could be materially and adversely affected as a result.

Navient’s framework for managing risks may not be effective in mitigating the risk of loss.

Navient’s risk management framework seeks to mitigate risk and appropriately balance risk and returns. Navient has established processes and procedures intended to identify, measure, monitor, control and report the types of risk to which it is subject. Navient seeks to monitor and control risk exposure through a framework of policies, procedures, limits and reporting requirements. Management of risks in some cases depends upon the use of analytical and forecasting models. If the models that Navient uses to mitigate these risks are inadequate, it may incur increased losses. In addition, there may be risks that exist, or that develop in the future, that Navient has not appropriately anticipated, identified or mitigated. If Navient’s risk management framework does not effectively identify or mitigate risks, Navient could suffer unexpected losses, and its results of operations, cash flow or financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

We are subject to various legal proceedings and some of these legal proceedings or other contingencies may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results from operations.

We are subject to a variety of legal proceedings in virtually every part of our businesses including the legal proceedings described in the Legal Proceedings section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. While we believe we have adopted appropriate legal and risk management and compliance programs, the diverse nature of our operations, including operations of business we have recently acquired, means that legal and compliance risks will continue to exist and additional legal proceedings and other contingencies, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty, will arise from time to time. Some of these legal proceedings or other contingencies may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition or results from operations.

Navient is subject to evolving and complex tax laws, which may result in additional liabilities that may affect its results of operations.

Navient is subject to evolving and complex federal and state tax laws. Significant judgment is required for determining Navient’s tax liabilities. Navient’s tax returns continue to be periodically examined by various tax authorities. Navient has, among other tax liabilities, risks for future tax contingencies arising from operations post-Spin-Off. Due to the complexity of tax contingencies, the ultimate resolution of any tax matters related to operations post-Spin-Off may result in payments greater or less than amounts accrued.

In addition, Navient may be impacted by changes in tax laws, including tax rate changes, changes to the laws related to the treatment and remittance of foreign earnings, new tax laws and subsequent interpretations of tax laws by federal and state tax authorities.

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Incorrect estimates and assumptions by management in connection with the preparation of Navient’s consolidated financial statements could adversely affect Navient’s reported assets, liabilities, income, revenue or expenses.

The preparation of Navient’s consolidated financial statements requires management to make critical accounting estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income, revenue or expenses during the reporting periods. Incorrect estimates and assumptions by management could adversely affect Navient’s reported amounts of assets, liabilities, income, revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. If Navient makes incorrect assumptions or estimates, it may under- or overstate reported financial results, which could materially and adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations.

OPERATIONAL RISKS. Operational risk relates to risks arising from systems, process, people and external events that affect the operation of our business, it includes information management, data protection and cybersecurity, business disruption and other risks including human resources.

If Navient does not effectively and continually align its cost structure with its business operations, its results of operations and financial condition could be materially adversely affected.

Navient continually needs to align its cost structure with its business operations. Navient’s ability to properly size its cost structure is dependent upon a number of variables, including its ability to successfully execute on its business plans and growth initiatives and future legislative or regulatory changes. If Navient undertakes cost reductions based on its business plan, those reductions could be too dramatic and could cause disruptions in its business, reductions in the quality of the services it provides or cause it to fail to comply with applicable regulatory standards. Alternatively, Navient may fail to implement, or be unable to achieve, necessary cost savings commensurate with its business and prospects. In either case, Navient’s business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

A failure of the operating systems or infrastructure of Navient could disrupt its business, cause significant losses, result in regulatory action or damage its reputation.

A failure of Navient’s operating systems or infrastructure could disrupt our business. Navient’s business is dependent on its ability to process and monitor large numbers of daily transactions in compliance with contractual, legal and regulatory standards and its own product specifications, both currently and in the future. As Navient’s processing demands and loan portfolios change, both in volume and in terms and conditions, Navient’s ability to develop and maintain its operating systems and infrastructure may become increasingly challenging. There is no assurance that Navient has adequately or efficiently developed, maintained or acquired such systems and infrastructure or will do so in the future.

The servicing, financial, accounting, data processing and other operating systems and facilities that support Navient’s business may fail to operate properly or become disabled as a result of events that are beyond Navient’s control, adversely affecting its ability to timely process transactions. Any such failure could adversely affect Navient’s ability to service its clients, and result in financial loss or liability to its clients, disrupt its business, and result in regulatory action or cause reputational damage.

Despite the plans and facilities Navient has in place, its ability to conduct business may be adversely affected by a disruption in the infrastructure that supports its business. This may include a disruption involving electrical, communications, Internet, transportation or other services used by Navient or third parties with which it conducts business. Notwithstanding efforts to maintain business continuity, a disruptive event impacting Navient’s processing locations could adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations.

Navient depends on secure information technology, and a breach of its information technology systems could result in significant losses, disclosure of confidential customer information and reputational damage, which would adversely affect Navient’s business.

Navient’s operations rely on the secure processing, storage and transmission of personal, confidential and other information in its computer systems and networks. Although Navient takes protective measures it deems reasonable and appropriate, its computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to unauthorized access, computer viruses, malicious attacks and other events that could have a security impact beyond Navient’s control. These technologies, systems and networks, and those of third parties, may become the target of cyber-attacks or information security breaches that could result in the unauthorized release, gathering, monitoring, misuse, loss or destruction of Navient’s or its customers’ confidential, proprietary and other information, or otherwise disrupt Navient’s business operations or those of its customers or other third parties. Information security risks for institutions that handle large numbers of financial transactions on a daily basis such as Navient have generally increased in recent years, in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the use of the Internet and telecommunications technologies to conduct financial transactions, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists, activists and other external parties.

If one or more of such events occur, personal, confidential and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, Navient’s computer systems and networks could be jeopardized or could cause interruptions or malfunctions in Navient’s operations that could result in significant losses or reputational damage. Navient routinely transmits and receives personal, confidential and proprietary information, some of it through third parties. Navient maintains secure transmission capability and works

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to ensure that third parties follow similar procedures. Nevertheless, an interception, misuse or mishandling of personal, confidential or proprietary information being sent to or received from a customer or third party could result in legal liability, regulatory action and reputational harm. In the event personal, confidential or other information is jeopardized, intercepted, misused or mishandled, Navient may need to expend significant additional resources to modify its protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures, and it may be subject to fines, penalties, litigation and settlement costs and financial losses that may either not be insured against or not be fully covered through insurance. If one or more of such events occur, Navient’s business, financial condition or results of operations could be significantly and adversely affected.

Navient depends on third parties for a wide array of services, systems and information technology applications, and a breach or violation of law by one of these third parties could disrupt Navient’s business or provide its competitors with an opportunity to enhance their position at Navient’s expense.

Navient depends on third parties for a wide array of services, systems and information technology applications. Third-party vendors are significantly involved in many aspects of Navient’s software and systems development, servicing systems, the timely transmission of information across its data communication network, and for other telecommunications, processing, remittance and technology-related services in connection with Navient’s servicing or payment services businesses. Navient also utilizes various third-party debt collectors in the collection of defaulted Private Education Loans and in other areas. If a service provider fails to provide the services required or expected, or fails to meet applicable contractual or regulatory requirements such as service levels or compliance with applicable laws, the failure could negatively impact Navient’s business by adversely affecting its ability to process customers’ transactions in a timely and accurate manner, otherwise hampering Navient’s ability to serve its customers, or subjecting Navient to litigation and regulatory risk for matters as diverse as poor vendor oversight or improper release or protection of personal information. Such a failure could also adversely affect the perception of the reliability of Navient’s networks and services and the quality of its brands, which could materially adversely affect Navient’s business and results of operations.

Navient’s work with government clients exposes it to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment.

Navient’s clients include federal, state and local governmental entities. This work carries various risks inherent in the government contracting process. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

The occurrences or conditions described above could affect not only Navient’s business with the particular government entities involved, but also its business or potential future business with other entities of the same or other governmental bodies or with commercial clients, and could have a material adverse effect on its business or its results of operations.

If Navient is unable to attract and retain professionals with strong leadership skills, its business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially adversely affected.

Navient’s success is dependent, in large part, on its ability to attract and retain personnel with the knowledge and skills to lead its business. Experienced personnel in its industry are in high demand, and competition for talent is very high. Navient must hire, retain and motivate appropriate numbers of talented people with diverse skills in order to serve its clients, respond quickly to rapid and ongoing technology, industry and macroeconomic developments, and grow and manage its business. As Navient expands its services and solutions, it must also hire and retain an increasing number of professionals with different skills and professional expectations than those of the professionals it has historically hired and retained. If Navient is unable to successfully integrate, motivate and retain these professionals, its ability to continue to secure work in those industries and for its services and solutions may suffer.

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REPUTATIONAL/POLITICAL RISK. Reputational risk is the risk to earnings or capital arising from damage to our reputation in the view of, or loss of the trust of, customers and the general public. Political risk is the closely related risk to earnings or capital arising from damage to our relationships with governmental entities, regulators and political leaders and candidates. These risks can arise due to both our own acts and omissions (both real and perceived), and the acts and omissions of other industry participants or other third parties, and they are inherent in all of our businesses.

Federal funding constraints and spending policy changes triggered by associated federal spending deadlines and ongoing lawmaker and regulatory efforts to change the student lending sector may result in disruption of federal payments for services Navient provides to the government, which could materially and adversely affect Navient’s business strategy or future business prospects.

Navient receives payments from the federal government on its FFELP Loan portfolio and for other services it provides, including servicing loans under the DSLP, providing default aversion and contingency collections to ED, and providing performance-based services to the IRS to support its national recovery program. Payments for these services may be affected by various factors, including the following:

ED has also announced its intention to replace the current servicing contracts with various third parties including Navient’s Direct Loan servicing contract. ED has not issued a new RFP or RFPs for these services. As such, it is impossible to predict what changes, if any, will result.

It is possible that the administration and Congress in the future could engage in a prolonged debate linking the federal deficit, debt ceiling and other budget issues. If U.S. lawmakers in the future fail to reach agreement on these issues, the federal government could stop or delay payment on its obligations, including those on services Navient provides. The 2016 presidential election in the United States had resulted in significant changes (or uncertainty) in governmental policies, regulatory environments, spending sentiment and many other factors and conditions, some of which could adversely impact Navient’s business, financial condition and results of operations. Further, legislation to address the federal deficit and spending could impose proposals that would adversely affect FFELP and DSLP-related servicing businesses. A protracted reduction, suspension or cancellation of the demand for the services Navient provides, or proposed changes to the terms or pricing of services provided under existing contracts with the federal government, including its contract with ED, could have a material adverse effect on Navient’s revenues, cash flows, profitability and business outlook, and, as a result, could materially adversely affect its business, financial condition and results of operations. Navient cannot predict how or what programs or policies will be impacted by any actions that the Administration, Congress or the federal government may take.

Reputational Risk and Social Factors May Impact Our Results and Damage Our Brand.

Negative public opinion or damage to our brand could also result from actual or alleged conduct in any number of activities or circumstances, including lending practices, regulatory compliance, security breaches (including the use and protection of customer information), corporate governance, and sales and marketing, and from actions taken by regulators or other persons in response to such conduct. Such conduct could fall short of our customers’ and the public’s heightened expectations of companies of our size with rigorous data, privacy and compliance practices, and could further harm our reputation. In addition, third parties with whom we have important relationships may take actions over which we have limited control that could negatively impact perceptions about us or the financial services industry. The proliferation of social media may increase the likelihood that negative public opinion from any of the events discussed above will impact our reputation and business.

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RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR SPIN-OFF

Navient owes obligations, including service and indemnification obligations, to SLM BankCo under various transaction agreements that were executed as part of the Spin-Off. These obligations could be materially disruptive to Navient’s business or subject it to substantial liabilities, including contingent liabilities and liabilities that are presently unknown.

In connection with the Spin-Off, Navient, SLM Corporation and SLM BankCo entered into various agreements. The performance by Navient of its obligations to SLM BankCo under these agreements may require the diversion of a significant amount of Navient management’s time from Navient’s operations and could be disruptive to its business operations.

The separation and distribution agreement between Navient, SLM Corporation and SLM BankCo provides for, among other things, indemnification obligations designed to make Navient financially responsible for substantially all liabilities that may exist whether incurred prior to or after the Spin-Off, relating to the business activities of SLM Corporation prior to the Spin-Off, other than those arising out of the consumer banking business and expressly assumed by SLM BankCo pursuant to the Spin-Off and the separation and distribution agreement. This includes Navient being financially responsible for all servicing and collections activities that it performed or directed on behalf of Sallie Mae Bank. If Navient is required to indemnify SLM BankCo under the circumstances set forth in the separation and distribution agreement, Navient may be subject to substantial liabilities including liabilities that are accrued, contingent or otherwise and regardless of whether the liabilities were known or unknown at the time of the Spin-Off. SLM BankCo is party to various claims, litigation and legal, regulatory and other proceedings resulting from ordinary business activities relating to its current and former operations. Previous business activities of SLM BankCo, including originations and acquisitions of various classes of consumer loans outside of Sallie Mae Bank, may also result in liability due to future laws, rules, interpretations or court decisions which purport to have retroactive effect, and such liability could be significant. SLM BankCo may also be subject to liabilities related to past activities of acquired businesses. It is inherently difficult, and in some cases impossible, to estimate the probable losses associated with contingent and unknown liabilities of this nature, but future losses may be substantial and will be borne by Navient in accordance with the terms of the separation and distribution agreement.

There could be significant liability to Navient if the Spin-Off is determined to be a taxable transaction.

The Spin-Off of Navient from SLM BankCo was intended to qualify as a reorganization under various provisions of the Code and as such to not be a taxable transaction. The Spin-Off was therefore conditioned on the receipt by SLM Corporation of a private letter ruling from the IRS to the effect that, among other things, (i) the merger of SLM Corporation with and into a limited liability company wholly owned by SLM BankCo (the “SLM Merger”) (together with the conversion of the shares of SLM Corporation common and preferred stock into shares of SLM BankCo common and preferred stock pursuant to the SLM Merger) would qualify as a “reorganization” within the meaning of Section 368(a)(1)(F) of the Code and will not be integrated with the rest of the Spin-Off, and (ii) the Spin-Off would qualify as a “reorganization” for U.S. federal income tax purposes under Sections 355 and 368(a)(1)(D) of the Code. In addition, the Spin-Off was conditioned on SLM BankCo’s receipt of an opinion from outside tax counsel to the effect that, with respect to certain requirements for tax-free treatment under Section 355 of the Code on which the IRS will not rule, such requirements will be satisfied. Both of these conditions were satisfied or waived prior to the Spin-Off. Navient received the private letter ruling from the IRS after the Spin-Off.

The ruling and the opinion rely on facts, assumptions, representations and undertakings from SLM Corporation, SLM BankCo and Navient regarding the past and future conduct of the companies’ respective businesses and other matters. If any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings is incorrect, SLM BankCo and its stockholders may not be able to rely on the ruling or the opinion of tax counsel and could be subject to significant tax liabilities. In addition, notwithstanding receipt of the private letter ruling from the IRS and opinion of tax counsel, the IRS could determine on audit that the SLM Merger and/or Spin-Off was taxable if it determines that any of these facts, assumptions, representations or undertakings were not correct or have been violated or if it disagrees with the conclusions in the opinion that are not covered by the private letter ruling, or for other reasons, including as a result of significant changes in the share ownership of SLM BankCo or Navient after the Spin-Off. If the SLM Merger and/or Spin-Off is determined to be taxable for U.S. federal income tax purposes, SLM BankCo and its stockholders that are subject to U.S. federal income tax could incur significant U.S. federal income tax liabilities and Navient could incur significant liabilities related thereto.

GOVERNANCE RISK. Governance risk is the risk of not establishing and maintaining a control environment that aligns with stakeholder and regulatory expectations, including our relationship with the regulators as well as compliance environment within the Company and board oversight. These risks are inherent in all of our businesses.

Certain provisions of Delaware law and Navient’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws prevent or delay an acquisition of Navient, which could decrease the trading price of Navient’s common stock.

Certain provisions of Delaware law and of Navient’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated by-laws are intended to deter coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids by, among other things, encouraging

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prospective acquirers to negotiate directly with Navient’s board of directors rather than to attempt a hostile takeover. These provisions include, among others:

In addition, Navient’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation makes it subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law. Section 203 generally provides that, with limited exceptions, persons who acquire, or are affiliated with a person that acquires, 15 percent or more of the outstanding voting stock of a Delaware corporation shall not engage in any business combination with that corporation, including by merger, consolidation or acquisitions of additional shares, for a three-year period following the time at which that person or its affiliates becomes the holder of 15 percent or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock. Being subject to Section 203 could cause a delay in or completely prevent a change of control that stockholders may favor.

Navient believes these provisions protect its stockholders from coercive or otherwise unfair takeover tactics by requiring potential acquirers to negotiate with Navient’s board of directors and by providing our board of directors with more time to assess any acquisition proposal. These provisions are not intended to make the Company immune from takeovers. However, these provisions will apply even if the offer may be considered beneficial by some stockholders and could delay or prevent an acquisition that Navient’s board of directors determines is not in the best interests of Navient and Navient’s stockholders.

Stockholders’ percentage ownership in Navient may be diluted in the future.

In the future, stockholders’ percentage ownership in Navient may be diluted as a result of equity issuances for acquisitions, capital market transactions or otherwise, including equity awards that Navient may grant to its directors, officers and employees. For a period of time, Navient will continue and certain SLM BankCo employees may continue to have options to purchase shares of Navient common stock after the Spin-Off as a result of conversion of a portion of their SLM Corporation stock options to Navient stock options. From time to time, Navient may issue additional stock options or other equity-based awards to its employees under Navient’s employee benefits plans. Such awards will have a dilutive effect on Navient’s earnings per share, which could adversely affect the market price of shares of Navient common stock.  

In addition, Navient’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes Navient to issue, without the approval of Navient’s stockholders, one or more series of preferred stock. Navient’s board of directors generally may determine the rights of preferred stockholders including their powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other special rights, including preferences over Navient’s common stock with respect to dividends and distributions. If Navient’s board were to approve the issuance of preferred stock in the future, the terms of one or more series of such preferred stock could dilute the voting power or reduce the value of Navient’s common stock. For example, Navient could grant the holders of preferred stock the right to elect some number of Navient’s directors in all circumstances or upon the happening of specified events, or the right to veto specified transactions. Similarly, it could grant the preferred stockholders certain repurchase or redemption rights or liquidation preferences that could affect the value of the common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation designates the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our shareholders, which could limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed to us or our shareholders by any of our directors, officers, employees or agents, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”) or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. By becoming a shareholder in our company, holders of our common stock will be deemed to have notice of and have consented to the provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation related to choice of forum. The choice of forum provision in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation may limit our shareholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

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STRATEGIC RISK. Strategic risk is the risk to results of operations, cash flow or financial condition arising from our potential inability to successfully carry out our strategy. This risk can arise due to both our own acts or omissions, and the acts or omissions of other industry participants or other third parties, and it is inherent in all of our businesses. The success of our business plans depends upon achieving our strategic objectives, including through acquisition, joint ventures, dispositions and restructurings.

Acquisitions or strategic investments that Navient pursues may not be successful and could disrupt its business, harm its financial condition or reduce its earnings.

Navient’s growth strategy includes making opportunistic acquisitions of, or material investments in, loan portfolios, complementary businesses and products. In 2017, we acquired Duncan Solutions, a transportation revenue management company, and Earnest, a financial technology loan origination platform. Navient may not be able to identify suitable opportunities and, if not, this strategy could fail. Even if it is able to identify suitable opportunities, Navient may not be able to obtain financing necessary to allow Navient to make such acquisitions or investments on satisfactory terms or at all or obtain necessary regulatory approvals, or be able to complete the transactions on satisfactory terms. If the purchase price of any acquisition or investment is paid in cash, it may have an adverse effect on Navient’s financial condition; if the purchase price is paid with Navient stock, it could be dilutive to stockholders. Navient may assume liabilities, including unrecorded liabilities that are not discovered at the time of the transaction, and the repayment of those liabilities may have an adverse effect on our results of operations, cash flow or financial condition.

In addition to the financial risks, acquisitions involve operational risks and Navient may not be able to successfully integrate personnel, operations, businesses, products or technologies acquired in an acquisition. There may be additional risks if Navient enters into a line of business in which it has limited experience or which operates in a legal, regulatory or competitive environment with which Navient is not familiar. Navient may not have or be able to maintain the expertise needed to manage the new business. The expected benefits of acquisitions and investments also may not be realized for various reasons, including the loss of key personnel, customers or vendors. If Navient fails to integrate or realize the expected benefits of its acquisitions or investments, it may lose the return on these acquisitions or investments or incur additional transaction costs, and its business and financial condition may be harmed as a result.

Under the separation and distribution agreement, Navient is precluded from conducting certain activities until January 1, 2019, including originating Private Education Loans. As a result, interest income and fee-based servicing revenue derived from its existing Private Education Loan portfolio is anticipated to decline as our existing portfolio amortizes. We also may not be able to develop revenue streams to replace the declining revenue from Private Education Loans.

Navient is not presently originating new in-school Private Education Loans and as part of its Spin-Off transaction agreed not to originate certain of these loans until January 1, 2019. As a result, interest income on Navient’s Private Education Loan portfolio and fee-based revenue on that portfolio are anticipated to decline over time as the loans are paid down, refinanced or charged off. If Navient does not begin to originate Private Education Loans as permitted under its separation and distribution agreement, acquire additional Private Education Loans or otherwise grow or develop new revenue streams to replace or supplement its Private Education Loan net interest and servicing revenue, Navient’s consolidated revenue and operating income will continue to decrease which could materially and adversely impact our results of operations, cash flow or financial condition.

Navient’s businesses operate in competitive environments and could lose market share and revenues if competitors compete more aggressively or effectively.

Navient competes with for-profit and not-for-profit servicing, asset recovery and business processing businesses, many with strong records of performance. Navient competes based on effectiveness and customer service metrics. To the extent its competitors compete aggressively or more effectively than Navient, Navient could lose market share to them or Navient’s service offerings may not prove to be profitable.

Since the second quarter of 2009, Navient has been one of four large servicers (TIVAS) awarded a servicing contract by ED to service federal loans owned by ED. On August 27, 2014, ED extended its servicing contract with Navient to service federal loans for five more years. Under the terms of the contract extension, the allocation of additional volume will be determined twice each year based on the relative performance of the servicers utilizing five performance metrics. Quarterly scores in each metric are be averaged together twice each year to calculate the final result for each metric. Beginning on January 1, 2015, ED increased the aggregate allocation for not-for-profit servicers to 25 percent of all new DSLP borrowers.

If Navient is unable to improve its performance and increase its relative standing compared to the three other servicing companies with whom it competes, its ability to maintain or increase its servicing business with ED may be materially adversely affected.

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Legislation passed by Congress in 2010 ended new loan originations under the FFELP program, and, as a result, net income on Navient’s existing FFELP Loan portfolio is anticipated to decline over time. Navient may not be able to develop revenue streams to fully replace the declining revenue from FFELP Loans.

In 2010, Congress passed legislation ending the origination of education loans under the FFELP program. Since then, all federal education loans have been originated through the DSLP of the ED. While the 2010 law did not alter or affect the terms and conditions of existing FFELP Loans, it significantly impacted the education loan industry. As a result of this legislation, net income on Navient’s FFELP Loan portfolio is anticipated to decline over time as existing FFELP Loans are paid down, refinanced or repaid after default by Guarantors. Additionally, the law has encouraged consolidation among FFELP servicers and guaranty agencies.

None.  

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Item 2.Properties

The following table lists the principal facilities owned by us as of December 31, 2017:

The following table lists the principal facilities leased by us as of December 31, 2017:

None of the facilities that we own is encumbered by a mortgage. We believe that our headquarters, loan servicing centers, data center, back-up facility and data management and collections centers are generally adequate to meet our long-term needs and business goals. Our headquarters is currently in leased space at 123 Justison Street, Wilmington, Delaware, 19801.

We and our subsidiaries and affiliates are subject to various claims, lawsuits and other actions that arise in the normal course of business. We believe that these claims, lawsuits and other actions will not, individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations, except as otherwise disclosed. Most of these matters are claims including individual and class action lawsuits against our servicing or business processing subsidiaries alleging the violation of state or federal laws in connection with servicing or collection activities on their education loans and other debts.

In the ordinary course of our business, the Company and our subsidiaries and affiliates receive information and document requests and investigative demands from state attorneys general, U.S. Attorneys, legislative committees, individual members of Congress and administrative agencies. These requests may be informational or regulatory in nature and may relate to our business practices, the industries in which we operate, or other companies with whom we conduct business. Generally, our practice has been and continues to be to cooperate with these bodies and to be responsive to any such requests.

The number of these inquiries and the volume of related information demands continue to increase and therefore continue to increase the time, costs and resources we must dedicate to timely respond to these requests and may, depending on their outcome, result in payments of restitution, fines and penalties.

Certain Cases

On March 18, 2011, an education loan borrower filed a putative class action complaint against SLM Corporation as it existed prior to the Spin-Off (“Old SLM”) in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint was captioned Tina M. Ubaldi v. SLM Corporation et. al. The plaintiff brought the complaint on behalf of a putative class consisting of other similarly situated California borrowers. The complaint alleged, among other things, that Old SLM’s practice of charging late fees that were proportional to the amount of missed payments constituted liquidated damages in violation of California law and that Old SLM engaged in unfair business practices by charging daily interest on private educational loans. Plaintiffs subsequently amended their complaint to include usury claims under California state law and to seek restitution of late charges and interest paid by members of the

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putative class and other relief. In the fourth quarter of 2016, the parties reached a settlement in principle that would resolve the Ubaldi matter, as well as the related lawsuit of Marlene Blyden v. Navient Corporation, et al. A reserve was established for this matter as of December 31, 2016. Plaintiffs filed on September 25, 2017, an Amended Motion for Preliminary Approval of Settlement. This motion awaits action by the Court. While we cannot provide any assurances that the Court will ultimately approve the proposed settlement, we do not believe that the financial impact of the final settlement, if any, will be material. The Company agreed to settle these matters to avoid the burden, expense, risk, and uncertainty of continued litigation.

During the first quarter of 2016, Navient Corporation, certain Navient officers and directors, and the underwriters of certain Navient securities offerings were sued in three putative securities class action lawsuits filed on behalf of certain investors in Navient stock or Navient unsecured debt. These three cases, which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, were consolidated by the District Court, with Lord Abbett Funds appointed as Lead Plaintiff. The caption of the consolidated case is Lord Abbett Affiliated Fund, Inc., et al. v. Navient Corporation, et al. The plaintiffs filed their amended and consolidated complaint in September 2016. In September 2017, the Court granted the Navient defendants’ motion and dismissed the complaint in its entirety with leave to amend. The plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint with the court on November 17, 2017. The Navient defendants deny the allegations and intend to vigorously defend against the allegation in this lawsuit and anticipate filing their motion to dismiss prior to the applicable deadline. Additionally, two putative class actions have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey captioned Eli Pope v. Navient Corporation, John F. Remondi, Somsak Chivavibul and Christian Lown, and Melvin Gross v. Navient Corporation, John F. Remondi, Somsak Chivavibul and Christian M. Lown, both of which allege violations of the federal securities laws under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These cases have been consolidated and we anticipate a consolidated amended complaint will be filed in early 2018. The Company denies the allegations and intends to vigorously defend itself.

The Company has been named as defendant in a number of putative class action cases alleging violations of various state and federal consumer protection laws including the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”), the Consumer Financial Protection Act of 2010 (“CFPA”), the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) and various other state consumer protection laws.  

On January 18, 2017, the CFPB and Attorneys General for the State of Illinois and the State of Washington initiated civil actions naming Navient Corporation and several of its subsidiaries as defendants alleging violations of certain Federal and State consumer protection statutes, including the CFPA, the FCPA, FCRA, FDCPA and various state consumer protection laws. On October 5, 2017, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania initiated a civil action against Navient Corporation and Navient Solutions, LLC, containing similar alleged violations of the CFPA and the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. We refer to the Illinois Attorney General, the Pennsylvania Attorney General and the Washington Attorney General collectively as the “Attorneys General.” We intend to vigorously defend against the allegations in each of these cases. For additional information on these civil actions, please refer to section entitled “Regulatory Matters” below.

At this point in time, the Company is unable to anticipate the timing of a resolution or the ultimate impact that these legal proceedings may have on the Company’s consolidated financial position, liquidity, results of operation or cash flows. As a result, it is not possible at this time to estimate a range of potential exposure, if any, for amounts that may be payable in connection with these matters and reserves have not been established. It is possible that an adverse ruling or rulings may have a material adverse impact on the Company.

Regulatory Matters

With respect to alleged civil violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (the “SCRA”), Navient Solutions LLC (“Solutions’), a wholly owned subsidiary of Navient, and Sallie Mae Bank entered into a consent order with the DOJ in May 2014. The DOJ consent order (the “DOJ Order”) covers all loans either owned by Sallie Mae Bank or serviced by Solutions from November 28, 2005 until the effective date of the settlement. In the third quarter of 2016, the Company completed the distributions from the fund by distributing the remaining funds to charities approved by the DOJ pursuant to the terms of the order. The total reserves established by the Company in 2013 and 2014 to cover these costs were $177 million, and as of December 31, 2017, substantially all of this amount had been paid to customers or credited or refunded to customer accounts. The final cost of these proceedings will remain uncertain until the remaining consent order is lifted or terminates in accordance with its terms in late 2018. The Company believes it has complied with the terms of the DOJ Order.

As previously disclosed, the Company and various of its subsidiaries have been subject to the following investigations and inquiries:

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On January 18, 2017, the CFPB and Attorneys General for the State of Illinois and the State of Washington initiated civil actions naming Navient Corporation and several of its subsidiaries as defendants alleging violations of Federal and State consumer protection statutes, including the DFPA, FCRA, FDCPA and various state consumer protection laws. On October 5, 2017, the Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania initiated a civil action against Navient Corporation and Navient Solutions, LLC, alleging violations of the CFPA and the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. These civil actions are related to matters which were covered under the CIDs and the NORA letter discussed above that were previously issued by the CFPB and the Attorneys General. The Company filed its Motion to Dismiss on March 20, 2017 with respect to the Attorneys General actions and on March 24, 2017 with respect to the CFPB action. In relation to the CFPB action, after a hearing, our Motion to Dismiss was denied in full in August 2017. In relation to the Washington action, following a hearing, our Motion to Dismiss was denied in full in July 2017. In relation to the Illinois action, a hearing on our Motion to Dismiss was held on July 18, 2017 and no ruling has been issued as of the date of this Form 10-K. In addition to these matters, a number of lawsuits have been filed by nongovernmental parties or, in the future, may be filed by additional governmental or nongovernmental parties seeking damages or other remedies related to similar issues raised by the CFPB and the Attorneys General.  In relation to the Pennsylvania Attorney General lawsuit, the Company filed its Motion to Dismiss on December 22, 2017. This motion has not been heard by the court. As the Company has previously stated, we believe the suits improperly seek to impose penalties on Navient based on new, unannounced servicing standards applied retroactively only against one servicer, and that the allegations are false. As stated above, we intend to vigorously defend against the allegations in each of these cases.

In addition, Navient and its subsidiaries are subject to examination or regulation by the SEC, CFPB, FFIEC, ED and various state agencies as part of its ordinary course of business. Items or matters similar to or different from those described above may arise during the course of those examinations. We also routinely receive inquiries or requests from various regulatory entities or bodies or government agencies concerning our business or our assets. Generally, the Company endeavors to cooperate with each such inquiry or request.

Under the terms of the Separation Agreement, Navient has agreed to indemnify SLM BankCo for all claims, actions, damages, losses or expenses that may arise from the conduct of all activities of pre-Spin-Off SLM BankCo occurring prior to the Spin-Off other than those specifically excluded in the Separation and Distribution Agreement. As a result, subject to the terms, conditions and limitations set forth in the Separation and Distribution Agreement, Navient has agreed to indemnify and hold harmless Sallie Mae and its subsidiaries, including Sallie Mae Bank from liabilities arising out of the regulatory matters and CFPB and State Attorneys General lawsuits mentioned above, other than fines or penalties directly levied against Sallie Mae Bank and other matters specifically excluded. Navient has no additional reserves related to indemnification matters with SLM BankCo as of December 31, 2017.

OIG Audit

The Office of the Inspector General (the “OIG”) of ED commenced an audit regarding Special Allowance Payments (“SAP”) on September 10, 2007. On September 25, 2013, we received the final audit determination of Federal Student Aid (the “Final Audit Determination”) on the final audit report issued by the OIG on August 3, 2009 related to this audit. The Final Audit Determination concurred with the final audit report issued by the OIG and instructed us to make adjustment to our government billing to reflect the policy determination. In August 2016, we filed our notice of appeal relating to this Final Audit Determination to the Administrative Actions and Appeals Service Group of ED. A hearing on this matter was held in April 2017 and a ruling has not yet been issued. We continue to believe that our SAP billing practices were proper, considering then-existing ED guidance and lack of applicable regulations. The Company established a reserve for this matter in 2014 as part of the total reserve for pending regulatory matters discussed previously and does not believe, at this time, that an adverse ruling would have a material effect on the Company as a whole.

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N/A

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PART II.

Our common stock is listed and traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NAVI. As of January 31, 2018, there were 263,388,482 shares of our common stock outstanding and 341 holders of record.

The following table presents the high and low sales prices for Navient’s common stock for each quarter within the two most recent fiscal years.

We paid quarterly cash dividends on our common stock of $0.16 per share for each quarter of 2016 and 2017.

Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information relating to our purchases of shares of our common stock in the three months ended December 31, 2017.

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Stock Performance

The following performance graph compares the monthly dollar change in our cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock to that of the S&P 500 Financials Index and the S&P 500 following the Spin-Off on April 30, 2014. The graph assumes a base investment of $100 at May 1, 2014 and reinvestment of dividends through December 31, 2017.

Cumulative Total Stockholder Return since Spin-Off

Source: Bloomberg Total Return Analysis

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Selected Financial Data 2013-2017

(Dollars in millions, except per share amounts)

The following table sets forth our selected financial and other operating information prepared in accordance with GAAP. The selected financial data in the table is derived from our consolidated financial statements. The data should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, related notes, and Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.”

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The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion and analysis also contains forward-looking statements and should also be read in conjunction with the disclosures and information contained in “Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements” and Item 1A. “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Through this discussion and analysis, we intend to provide the reader with some narrative context for how our management views our consolidated financial statements, additional context within which to assess our operating results, and information on the quality and variability of our earnings, liquidity and cash flows.

Selected Historical Financial Information and Ratios

For a discussion of how “Core Earnings” results are different than GAAP results, see “‘Core Earnings’ — Definition and Limitations” and “Differences between ‘Core Earnings’ and GAAP.”

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Overview

The following discussion and analysis presents a review of our business and operations as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017.

We monitor and assess our ongoing operations and results based on the following four reportable segments: (1) FFELP Loans (2) Private Education Loans, (3) Business Services and (4) Other. See “‘Core Earnings’ — Definition and Limitations” for further discussion.

FFELP Loans Segment

In the FFELP Loans segment, we acquire and finance FFELP Loans. Although FFELP Loans are no longer originated, we continue to pursue acquisitions of FFELP Loan portfolios. These acquisitions leverage our servicing scale and generate incremental earnings and cash flow. In this segment, we generate revenue primarily through net interest income on the FFELP Loan portfolio (after provision for loan losses). This segment is expected to generate significant amounts of earnings and cash flow over the remaining life of the portfolio.

Private Education Loans Segment

In this segment, we originate, acquire, finance, and service Private Education Loans. In 2017, we began originating Private Education Refinance Loans. Private Education Loans primarily bridge the gap between the cost of higher education and the amount funded through financial aid, federal loans, or students’ and families’ resources. They also allow borrowers to refinance existing education loans at a lower rate. Originations and acquisitions leverage our servicing scale and generate incremental earnings and cash flow. In this segment, we generate revenue primarily through net interest income on the Private Education Loan portfolio (after provision for loan losses). This segment is expected to generate significant amounts of earnings and cash flow over the remaining life of the portfolio.

Business Services Segment

Our Business Services segment generates revenue from business processing solutions related to servicing, asset recovery and other business processing activities. Within this segment, we generate revenue primarily through servicing our FFELP Loan portfolio as well as servicing education loans for Guarantors of FFELP Loans and other institutions, including ED. We provide asset recovery services for loans and receivables on behalf of Guarantors of FFELP Loans and higher education institutions. In addition, we provide asset recovery and other business processing solutions for federal, state, court, and municipal clients, public authorities, and health care organizations.

Other

Our Other segment primarily consists of activities of our holding company, including the repurchase of debt, our corporate liquidity portfolio, unallocated overhead, restructuring/other reorganization expenses, regulatory-related costs, and the deferred tax asset remeasurement loss recognized due to the enactment of the TCJA in the fourth quarter of 2017. We also include results from certain smaller wind-down operations within this segment.

Key Financial Measures

Our operating results are primarily driven by net interest income, provisions for loan losses and expenses incurred in our education loan portfolios; the revenues and expenses generated by our servicing, asset recovery and business processing businesses; gains and losses on loan sales and debt repurchases; and income tax expense. A brief summary of our key financial measures are listed below.

Net Interest Income

The most significant portion of our earnings is generated by the spread earned between the interest income we receive on assets in our education loan portfolios and the interest expense on debt funding these loans. We report these earnings as net interest income. Net interest income in our FFELP Loans and Private Education Loans segments are driven by significantly different factors.

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FFELP Loans Segment

Net interest income will be the primary source of net income generated by this segment. We expect this portfolio to have an amortization period in excess of 20 years with a 7-year remaining weighted average life. Interest earned on our FFELP Loans is primarily indexed to daily one-month LIBOR and our cost of funds is primarily indexed to rates other than daily one-month LIBOR, creating the possibility of basis and repricing risk related to these assets. The FFELP Loans segment’s “Core Earnings” net interest margin was 0.79 percent in 2017 compared with 0.85 percent in 2016. At December 31, 2017, 84 percent of our FFELP Loan portfolio was funded to term with non-recourse, long-term securitization debt. As of December 31, 2017, we had $81.7 billion of FFELP Loans outstanding, compared with $87.7 billion outstanding at December 31, 2016.

A source of variability in net interest income could be Floor Income we earn on certain FFELP Loans. Pursuant to the terms of the FFELP, certain FFELP Loans can earn interest at the stated fixed rate of interest as underlying debt interest rate expense remains variable. We refer to this additional spread income as “Floor Income.” Floor Income can be volatile since it is dependent on interest rate levels. We frequently hedge this volatility with derivatives which lock in the value of the Floor Income over the term of the contract.

Private Education Loans Segment

Net interest income will be the primary source of net income generated by this segment. We expect this portfolio to have an amortization period in excess of 20 years with a 6-year remaining weighted average life. Interest earned on our Private Education Loans is generally indexed to either Prime or one-month LIBOR rates and our cost of funds is primarily indexed to one-month or three-month LIBOR, creating the possibility of basis and repricing risk related to these assets. The Private Education Loans segment’s “Core Earnings” net interest margin was 3.33 percent in 2017 compared with 3.41 percent in 2016. At December 31, 2017, 55 percent of our Private Education Loan portfolio was funded to term with non-recourse, long-term securitization debt. As of December 31, 2017, we had $23.4 billion of Private Education Loans outstanding, compared with $23.3 billion outstanding at December 31, 2016.

Provisions for Loan Losses

Management estimates and maintains an allowance for loan losses at a level sufficient to cover charge-offs expected over the next two years, plus an additional allowance to cover life-of-loan expected losses for loans classified as a troubled debt restructuring (“TDR”). The provision for loan losses increases the related allowance for loan losses. Generally, the provision for loan losses rises when future charge-offs are expected to increase and falls when future charge-offs are expected to decline. Our loss exposure and resulting provision for loan losses is small for FFELP Loans because we generally bear a maximum of 3 percent loss exposure on defaults. We bear the full credit exposure on our Private Education Loans. Our provision for loan losses in our FFELP Loans segment was $42 million in 2017 compared with $43 million in 2016. Losses in our Private Education Loans segment are determined by risk characteristics, such as school type, loan status (in-school, grace, forbearance, repayment and delinquency), loan seasoning
(number of months a payment has been made by a customer), underwriting criteria (e.g., credit scores), existence of a cosigner and the current economic environment. Our provision for loan losses in our Private Education Loans segment was $382 million in 2017 compared with $383 million in 2016.

Charge-Offs and Delinquencies

When we conclude a loan is uncollectible, the unrecoverable portion of the loan is charged against the allowance for loan losses in the applicable segment. Charge-off data provides relevant information with respect to the performance of our loan portfolios. Management focuses on delinquencies as well as the progression of loans from early to late stage delinquency. The Private Education Loans segment’s charge-offs decreased to $443 million in 2017, down $70 million from $513 million in 2016. Delinquencies are a very important indicator of the potential future credit performance. Private Education Loan delinquencies decreased to $1.3 billion in 2017, down $310 million from $1.6 billion in 2016. The FFELP Loans segment’s charge-offs decreased to $49 million in 2017 compared with $54 million in 2016.

Servicing, Asset Recovery and Business Processing Revenues

We earn servicing revenues from servicing education loans which is primarily driven by the underlying volume of loans we are servicing on behalf of others. We earn asset recovery revenue primarily related to default aversion and post-default collection work we perform on education loans and on various receivables on behalf of our federal, state, court and municipal clients. The fees we recognize are primarily driven by our success in collecting or rehabilitating defaulted or delinquent loans and receivables. We also earn business processing revenue related to transaction processing we perform on behalf of our municipal, public authority and health care clients. The fees we recognize are primarily driven by the number of transactions processed.

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Other Income / (Loss)

In managing our loan portfolios and funding sources, we periodically engage in sales of loans and the repurchase of our outstanding debt. In each case, depending on market conditions, we may incur gains or losses from these transactions that affect our results from operations.

Operating Expenses

The operating expenses reported for our Private Education Loans and Business Services segments are those that are directly attributable to the generation of revenues by those segments. The operating expenses for the FFELP Loans segment primarily represent an intercompany servicing charge from the Business Services segment and do not reflect our actual underlying costs incurred to service the loans. We include unallocated corporate overhead expenses and certain information technology costs (together referred to as “Overhead”) as well as restructuring/other reorganization and regulatory-related costs in our Other segment. Overhead expenses primarily include executive management, the board of directors, accounting, finance, legal, human resources, compliance and risk management, stock-based compensation expense and certain information technology and infrastructure costs. Regulatory-related costs include actual settlement amounts as well as third-party professional fees we incur in connection with regulatory matters.

Income Tax Expense

The TCJA, enacted on December 22, 2017, made significant changes to all aspects of income taxation, including a reduction to the corporate federal statutory tax rate.  GAAP requires the effects of the TCJA to be recognized in the period the law is enacted, even though the effective date of the law for most provisions is January 1, 2018.  The primary impact to us is the reduction to the corporate federal statutory tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent as of January 1, 2018.  This rate reduction required us to remeasure our deferred tax asset at December 31, 2017, at the 21 percent corporate federal statutory tax rate and resulted in a DTA Remeasurement Loss of $208 million for GAAP and $224 million for “Core Earnings,” which is reflected as incremental income tax expense in 2017.  This non-cash remeasurement adjustment is included in the Other segment.  Future periods’ income tax expense will be significantly benefitted as our corporate federal statutory tax rate will be 21 percent compared to 35 percent previously.

“Core Earnings”

We report financial results on a GAAP basis and also present certain “Core Earnings” performance measures. Our management, equity investors, credit rating agencies and debt capital providers use these “Core Earnings” measures to monitor our business performance. “Core Earnings” is the basis in which we prepare our segment disclosures as required by GAAP under ASC 280, “Segment Reporting” (see “Note 15 — Segment Reporting”). For a full explanation of the contents and limitations of “Core Earnings,” see the section titled “‘Core Earnings’ — Definition and Limitations” of this Item 7.

2017 Summary of Results

2017 GAAP net income was $292 million ($1.04 diluted earnings per share), versus net income of $681 million ($2.12 diluted earnings per share) in the prior year. The changes in GAAP net income are impacted by the same “Core Earnings” items discussed below, as well as changes in net income attributable to (1) restructuring and reorganization expense incurred in connection with the spin-off of Navient from SLM Corporation on April 30, 2014, (2) unrealized, mark-to-market gains/losses on derivatives and (3) goodwill and acquired intangible asset amortization and impairment. These items are recognized in GAAP but have not been included in “Core Earnings” results. In 2017, GAAP results included gains of $45 million from derivative accounting treatment that are excluded from “Core Earnings” results, compared with gains of $212 million in the prior year. See “‘Core Earnings’ — Definition and Limitations — Differences between ‘Core Earnings’ and GAAP” for a complete reconciliation between GAAP net income and “Core Earnings.”

“Core Earnings” for the year were $251 million ($0.89 diluted “Core Earnings” per share), compared with $587 million ($1.82 diluted “Core Earnings” per share) for 2016. The decrease in 2017 diluted “Core Earnings” per share compared with 2016 was primarily the result of the $224 million DTA Remeasurement Loss, $29 million of restructuring expenses and a $224 million reduction in net interest income primarily due to the amortization of the portfolio. Excluding the DTA Remeasurement Loss of $224 million and restructuring and regulatory-related expenses of $43 million, full-year 2017 “Core Earnings” net income was $502 million ($1.79 diluted “Core Earnings” per share) compared with full-year 2016 “Core Earnings” net income of $597 million ($1.86 diluted “Core Earnings” per share), excluding regulatory-related expenses of $17 million.    

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During 2017, we:

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Results of Operations

We present the results of operations below first on a consolidated basis in accordance with GAAP. Following our discussion of consolidated earnings results on a GAAP basis, we present our results on a segment basis. We have four business segments: FFELP Loans, Private Education Loans, Business Services and Other. Since these segments operate in distinct business environments and we manage and evaluate the financial performance of these segments using non-GAAP financial measures, these segments are presented on a “Core Earnings” basis (see “‘Core Earnings’ — Definition and Limitations”).

GAAP Consolidated Statements of Income

Consolidated Earnings Summary — GAAP basis

Year Ended December 31, 2017 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2016

For the year ended December 31, 2017, net income was $292 million, or $1.04 diluted earnings per common share, compared with net income of $681 million, or $2.12 diluted earnings per common share, for the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease in net income was primarily due to a $293 million decrease in net interest income, a $95 million decrease in net gains on derivative and hedging activities, a $29 million increase in restructuring/other reorganization expenses and a $208 million DTA Remeasurement Loss. This was partially offset by an $85 million increase in asset recovery and business processing revenue.

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The primary contributors to each of the identified drivers of changes in net income for the current period compared with the year-ago period are as follows:

We repurchased 29.6 million and 59.6 million shares of our common stock during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively, as part of our common share repurchase programs. As a result, our average outstanding diluted shares decreased by 41 million common shares (or 13 percent) from the year-ago period.

Year Ended December 31, 2016 Compared with Year Ended December 31, 2015

For the year ended December 31, 2016, net income was $681 million, or $2.12 diluted earnings per common share, compared with net income of $984 million, or $2.58 diluted earnings per common share, for the year ended December 31, 2015. The decrease in diluted earnings per share was primarily due to a $516 million decrease in net interest income, a $49 million decrease in net gains on derivative and hedging activities, a $36 million decrease in servicing revenue, a $33 million increase in operating expenses, a $20 million decrease in gains on debt repurchases and a $10 million decrease in other income. This was partially offset by a $152 million decrease in the provision for loan losses, a $32 million decrease in restructuring and other reorganization expenses, a $23 million increase in asset recovery and business processing revenue, a $9 million decrease in losses on sales of loans and investments and fewer shares outstanding due to common share repurchases.

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The primary contributors to each of the identified drivers of changes in net income for the year ended December 31, 2016 compared with the year ended December 31, 2015 are as follows:

We repurchased 59.6 million shares and 56.0 million shares of our common stock during the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively, as part of our common share repurchase program. Primarily as a result of ongoing common share repurchases, our average outstanding diluted shares decreased by 60 million common shares (or 16 percent) from the year-ago period.

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“Core Earnings” — Definition and Limitations

We prepare financial statements and present financial results in accordance with GAAP. However, we also evaluate our business segments and present financial results on a basis that differs from GAAP. We refer to this different basis of presentation as “Core Earnings.” We provide this “Core Earnings” basis of presentation on a consolidated basis for each business segment because this is what we review internally when making management decisions regarding our performance and how we allocate resources. We also refer to this information in our presentations with credit rating agencies, lenders and investors. Because our “Core Earnings” basis of presentation corresponds to our segment financial presentations, we are required by GAAP to provide “Core Earnings” disclosure in the notes to our consolidated financial statements for our business segments.

“Core Earnings” are not a substitute for reported results under GAAP. We use “Core Earnings” to manage our business segments because “Core Earnings” reflect adjustments to GAAP financial results for three items, discussed below, that are either related to the Spin-Off or create significant volatility mostly due to timing factors generally beyond the control of management. Accordingly, we believe that “Core Earnings” provide management with a useful basis from which to better evaluate results from ongoing operations against the business plan or against results from prior periods. Consequently, we disclose this information because we believe it provides investors with additional information regarding the operational and performance indicators that are most closely assessed by management. When compared to GAAP results, the three items we remove to result in our “Core Earnings” presentations are:

While GAAP provides a uniform, comprehensive basis of accounting, for the reasons described above, our “Core Earnings” basis of presentation does not. “Core Earnings” are subject to certain general and specific limitations that investors should carefully consider. For example, there is no comprehensive, authoritative guidance for management reporting. Our “Core Earnings” are not defined terms within GAAP and may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies. Accordingly, our “Core Earnings” presentation does not represent a comprehensive basis of accounting. Investors, therefore, may not be able to compare our performance with that of other financial services companies based upon “Core Earnings.” “Core Earnings” results are only meant to supplement GAAP results by providing additional information regarding the operational and performance indicators that are most closely used by management, our board of directors, credit rating agencies, lenders and investors to assess performance.

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The following tables show “Core Earnings” for each business segment and our business as a whole along with the adjustments made to the income/expense items to reconcile the amounts to our reported GAAP results as required by GAAP and reported in
“Note 15 — Segment Reporting.”