The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of essDOCS Limited, whose ultimate parent and controlling entity is Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., ('ICE Group'), a corporation registered in Delaware, United States. Related companies in these financial statement refer to members of the ICE Group of companies ('the ICE Group').

The company is a holding company for eCertify Pty Ltd, essDOCS Australia Pty Ltd, ICE Digital Trade Origin Limited and Trade Cert USA Ltd which is a subsidiary of ICE Digital Trade Origin Limited. The company exists to support the wider ICE UK Group's business activities. As such, management monitors the company's performance as part of the ICE UK Group through the compilation and review of various financial and operational key performance indicators ('KPI's). KPI's are not monitored at the company level.

The company is exposed to certain risks through the ordinary course of business and the company’s financial risk management objective is to minimise the effect of these risks. The directors consider the following to be key business risks and uncertainties affecting the company:

Credit risk

Credit risk is the risk that a counterparty fails to discharge an obligation to the company under a financial instrument or customer contract, leading to a financial loss. The company is exposed to credit risk from financial assets including cash and cash equivalents held at banks, amounts owed by group undertakings and other receivables. The company regularly assesses its credit risk exposure and considers the creditworthiness of its counterparties.

Foreign currency exchange risk

Foreign currency risk is the risk that the future cash flows of a transaction will fluctuate because of changes in foreign exchange rates. The majority of transactions during the current period are denominated in British Pound Sterling, thus minimal foreign exchange differences arose. The company does not hold any significant financial instruments at year end which are not denominated in British Pound Sterling and is therefore not exposed to any significant currency risk.

Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the company is unable to fully or promptly meet payment obligations and potential payment obligations as and when they fall due. The company’s objective when managing liquidity is to ensure, as far as possible, that it will have sufficient liquidity to meet its liabilities when they fall due.

On behalf of the board

The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024.

The principal activity of the company continued to be that of a holding company.

The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of authorisation of the financial statements were as follows:

The auditor, Gerald Edelman LLP, is deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.

The directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the directors to prepare financial statements for each financial year. Under that law the directors have elected to prepare the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice (United Kingdom Accounting Standards and applicable law). Under company law, the directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company and of the profit or loss of the company for that period.

In preparing these financial statements, the directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;

• make judgements and accounting estimates that are reasonable and prudent;

• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the company will continue in business.

• state whether applicable UK Accounting Standards have been followed, subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the financial statements

The directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the company’s transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the company and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the company and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

So far as each person who was a director at the date of approving this report is aware, there is no relevant audit information of which the company’s auditor is unaware. Additionally, the directors individually have taken all the necessary steps that they ought to have taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of all relevant audit information and to establish that the company’s auditor is aware of that information.

Global Market Conditions

Global economic, political and financial market events or conditions have at times in the past negatively impacted and may in the future negatively impact our business. Adverse macroeconomic conditions, including recessions, inflation, currency fluctuations, interest rate changes, supply chain issues, geopolitical events or conflicts, political uncertainty and discord, international trade disputes and sanction laws, including the imposition of tariffs or other protectionist measures, actual or anticipated large-scale defaults or failures or slowdown of global trade could impact our business.

The Streamlined Energy and Carbon Report (‘SECR’) disclosures for the Group of companies comprising members of the ICE Group incorporated in the UK ('the ICE UK Group') are presented in a Group SECR report in the financial statements of ICE UK Group holding company ICE Europe Parent Limited, registered company number 7295772, which will be publicly available on Companies House prior to 30 September 2025.

The directors have prepared these financial statements on the going concern basis, notwithstanding that at the balance sheet date the company's liabilities exceeded its assets by £5,954,992 (2023: £3,884,462). The validity of the going concern basis is dependent on the continued support of the company's immediate UK parent undertaking, IntercontinentalExchange Holdings, who has confirmed that it will continue to provide the company with financial support for the foreseeable future and for not less than 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements but only to the extent that money is not otherwise available to you to meet such liabilities.

Accordingly, these financial statements do not include any adjustments that would result from the discontinuance of their financial support. On this basis, the director considers that it is appropriate for the financial statements to be prepared on the going concern basis.

We have audited the financial statements of essDOCS Ventures I Limited (the 'company') for the year ended 31 December 2024 which comprise the statement of comprehensive income, the statement of financial position, the statement of changes in equity and notes to the financial statements, including significant accounting policies. The financial reporting framework that has been applied in their preparation is applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards, including Financial Reporting Standard 102 The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

In our opinion the financial statements:

• give a true and fair view of the state of the company's affairs as at 31 December 2024 and of its loss for the year then ended;

• have been properly prepared in accordance with United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice; and

• have been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006.

Basis for opinion

We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing (UK) (ISAs (UK)) and applicable law. Our responsibilities under those standards are further described in the Auditor's responsibilities for the audit of the financial statements section of our report. We are independent of the company in accordance with the ethical requirements that are relevant to our audit of the financial statements in the UK, including the FRC’s Ethical Standard, and we have fulfilled our other ethical responsibilities in accordance with these requirements. We believe that the audit evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion.

Material uncertainty related to going concern

In forming our opinion, we have considered the adequacy of the disclosures made in note 1.2 of the financial statements concerning the financial support provided by IntercontinentalExchange Holdings. In view of the fact that the preparation of the financial statements on the going concern basis assumes this continued support, we consider that attention should be drawn to this disclosure but our opinion is not qualified in this respect.

Other information

The other information comprises the information included in the annual report other than the financial statements and our auditor's report thereon. The directors are responsible for the other information contained within the annual report. Our opinion on the financial statements does not cover the other information and, except to the extent otherwise explicitly stated in our report, we do not express any form of assurance conclusion thereon. Our responsibility is to read the other information and, in doing so, consider whether the other information is materially inconsistent with the financial statements or our knowledge obtained in the course of the audit, or otherwise appears to be materially misstated. If we identify such material inconsistencies or apparent material misstatements, we are required to determine whether this gives rise to a material misstatement in the financial statements themselves. If, based on the work we have performed, we conclude that there is a material misstatement of this other information, we are required to report that fact.

We have nothing to report in this regard.

Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006

In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:

• the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and

• the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In the light of the knowledge and understanding of the company and its environment obtained in the course of the audit, we have not identified material misstatements in the strategic report and the directors' report. We have nothing to report in respect of the following matters in relation to which the Companies Act 2006 requires us to report to you if, in our opinion:

• adequate accounting records have not been kept, or returns adequate for our audit have not been received from branches not visited by us; or

• the financial statements are not in agreement with the accounting records and returns; or

• certain disclosures of directors' remuneration specified by law are not made; or

• we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.

As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.

Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.

Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The extent to which our procedures are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud, is detailed below.

We planned our audit so that we have a reasonable expectation of detecting material misstatements in the financial statements resulting from irregularities, fraud or non-compliance with law or regulations.

In identifying and assessing risks of material misstatement in respect of irregularities, including fraud and non-compliance with laws and regulations, our procedures included the following:

• The engagement partner ensured that the engagement team collectively had the appropriate competence, capabilities and skills to identify or recognise non-compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• Enquiring of management of whether they are aware of any non-compliance with laws and regulations.

• Enquiring of management whether they have knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud.

• Enquiring of management their internal controls established to mitigate risk related to fraud or non-compliance with laws and regulations.

• Discussions amongst the engagement team on how and where fraud might occur in the financial statements and any potential indicators of fraud. As part of this discussion, we identified potential for fraud in posting of unusual journals and foreign exchange gains or losses.

• Obtaining understanding of the legal and regulatory framework the company operates in focusing on those laws and regulations that had a direct effect on the financial statements or that had a fundamental effect on the operations. The key laws and regulations we considered in this context included UK Companies Act, tax legislation, employment law, Health and Safety and GDPR.

Audit response to risks identified

Fraud due to management override

To address the risk of fraud through management bias and override of controls, we:

• Performed substantive procedures to identify any unusual or unexpected relationships, including reviewing large and unusual bank transactions.

• Audited the risk of management override of controls, including through testing journal entries for appropriateness.

• Investigated the rationale behind significant or unusual transactions.

Irregularities and non-compliance with laws and regulations

In response to the risk of irregularities and non compliance with laws and regulations, we designed procedures which included, but are not limited to:

• Agreeing financial statements disclosures to underlying supporting documentation.

• Enquiring of management as to actual and potential litigation claims.

The test nature and other inherent limitations of an audit, together with the inherent limitations of any accounting and internal control system, mean that there is an unavoidable risk that even some material misstatements in respect of irregularities may remain undiscovered even though the audit is properly planned and performed in accordance with ISAs (UK). Furthermore, the more removed those laws and regulations are from financial transactions, the less likely that we would become aware of non-compliance. Our examination should therefore not be relied upon to disclose all such material misstatements or frauds, errors or instances of non-compliance that might exist. The responsibility for safeguarding the assets of the company and for the prevention and detection of fraud, error and non-compliance with law or regulations rests with the director of the company.

A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.

Use of our report

This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

The Statement of Comprehensive Income has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.

The notes on pages 10 to 15 form part of these financial statements.

essDOCS Ventures I Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 73 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3QQ.

These financial statements have been prepared in accordance with FRS 102 “The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland” (“FRS 102”) and the requirements of the Companies Act . The disclosure requirements of FRS 102 have been applied other than where additional disclosure is required to show a true and fair view. The date of transition to FRS 102 was 1 January 2021. The reported financial position and financial performance for the previous period are not affected by the transition to FRS 102.The Company has availed itself of the exemption from the preparation of group accounts afforded by section 400 of the Companies Act 2006.

Financial Reporting Standard 102 - reduced disclosure exemptions

The company has taken advantage of the following disclosure exemptions in preparing these financial statements, as permitted by the FRS 102, 'The Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland':

• the requirements of Section 7 Statement of Cash Flows;

• the requirements of Section 3 Financial Statement Presentation paragraph 3.17(d);

• the requirements of Section 11 Financial Instruments paragraphs 11.42 to 11.48A;

• the requirements of Section 12 Other Financial Instruments paragraphs 12.26 to 12.29;

• the requirements of Section 33 Related Party Disclosures paragraph 33.7.

This information is included in the consolidated financial statements of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., as at 31 December 2024 and these financial statements may be obtained from www.ice.com.

The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.

The financial statements have been prepared on the historical cost basis. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.

The directors have prepared these financial statements on the going concern basis, notwithstanding that at the balance sheet date the company's liabilities exceeded its assets by £5,954,992 (2023: £3,884,462). The validity of the going concern basis is dependent on the continued support of the company's immediate UK parent undertaking, IntercontinentalExchange Holdings, who has confirmed that it will continue to provide the company with financial support for the foreseeable future and for not less than 12 months from the date of approval of these financial statements but only to the extent that money is not otherwise available to you to meet such liabilities.true

Accordingly, these financial statements do not include any adjustments that would result from the discontinuance of their financial support. On this basis, the director considers that it is appropriate for the financial statements to be prepared on the going concern basis.

Interests in subsidiaries, associates and jointly controlled entities are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost less any accumulated impairment losses. The investments are assessed for impairment at each reporting date and any impairment losses or reversals of impairment losses are recognised immediately in profit or loss.

A subsidiary is an entity controlled by the company. Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of the entity so as to obtain benefits from its activities.

An associate is an entity, being neither a subsidiary nor a joint venture, in which the company holds a long-term interest and where the company has significant influence. The company considers that it has significant influence where it has the power to participate in the financial and operating decisions of the associate.

Entities in which the company has a long term interest and shares control under a contractual arrangement are classified as jointly controlled entities.

Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial assets and include deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.

The company has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.

Financial instruments are recognised in the company's statement of financial position when the company becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.

Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

Basic financial assets, which include debtors and cash and bank balances, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.

Financial assets, other than those measured at fair value through profit or loss, are assessed for indicators of impairment at each reporting end date.

Financial assets are impaired where there is objective evidence that, as a result of one or more events that occurred after the initial recognition of the financial asset, the estimated future cash flows of the investment have been affected.

Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.

Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.

Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.

Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.

The tax expense represents the sum of the tax currently payable and deferred tax.

The tax currently payable is based on taxable profit for the year. Taxable profit differs from net profit as reported in the Statement of Comprehensive Income because it excludes items of income or expense that are taxable or deductible in other years and it further excludes items that are never taxable or deductible. The company’s liability for current tax is calculated using tax rates that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the reporting end date.

Deferred tax liabilities are generally recognised for all timing differences and deferred tax assets are recognised to the extent that it is probable that they will be recovered against the reversal of deferred tax liabilities or other future taxable profits. Such assets and liabilities are not recognised if the timing difference arises from goodwill or from the initial recognition of other assets and liabilities in a transaction that affects neither the tax profit nor the accounting profit.

The carrying amount of deferred tax assets is reviewed at each reporting end date and reduced to the extent that it is no longer probable that sufficient taxable profits will be available to allow all or part of the asset to be recovered. Deferred tax is calculated at the tax rates that are expected to apply in the period when the liability is settled or the asset is realised. Deferred tax is charged or credited in the Statement of Comprehensive Income, except when it relates to items charged or credited directly to equity, in which case the deferred tax is also dealt with in equity. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the company has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority.

Transactions in currencies other than pounds sterling are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing at the dates of the transactions. At each reporting end date, monetary assets and liabilities that are denominated in foreign currencies are retranslated at the rates prevailing on the reporting end date. Gains and losses arising on translation in the period are included in profit or loss.

In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.

Carrying value of investments

Management has carried out an annual impairment test of the investments held. The value in use of the subsidiary has been undertaken for a 5 year period from 2025 to 2029. The growth rate was determined on managements expected earnings growth rate, consistent with assumptions that a market participant would make.

There were no employees during the year apart from the directors.

The actual charge for the year can be reconciled to the expected (credit)/charge for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:

On 11 July 2023, the UK Finance (No. 2) Act 2023 enacted Pillar Two income taxes legislation effective from 1 January 2024, which includes the Multinational Top-up Tax, the Domestic Top-up Tax and an election to apply a transitional safe harbour to extend certain effective dates to accounting periods commencing on or before 31 December 2026. Under the legislation, the company would be required to pay, in the United Kingdom, top-up tax on profits in each jurisdiction in which the company operates that are taxed at an effective tax rate of less than 15 per cent.

The company is in scope of the enacted legislation, has performed an assessment of its potential exposure to Pillar Two income taxes based on the most recent tax filings, country-by-country reporting and financial statements and concluded that the Pillar Two effective tax rates in all jurisdictions in which the company operates are above 15 per cent, resulting in the company having no exposure to Pillar Two income taxes in 2024.

Details of the company's subsidiaries at 31 December 2024 are as follows:

*Entities currently undergoing strike-off action.

The company has taken advantage of the exemption available under FRS 102, whereby it has not disclosed transactions with the ultimate parent company or any wholly owned subsidiary undertaking of the ICE Group.

The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of essDOCS Limited, a company incorporated and registered in Malta. The ultimate parent company and controlling entity is Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., a corporation registered in Delaware, United States.

The company's financial statements have been included in the group financial statements of the ultimate parent company, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., which is the smallest and the largest group of which the company is a member and for which group financial statements are prepared.

The group financial statements of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., may be obtained from the website www.ice.com

No material post balance sheet events have been identified.