fund collateral, net of the distribution of interest earned to the clearing firms, as well as an increase in trading volumes and the reduction of restricted cash related to the CME Clearing Europe Limited (CMECE) guaranty fund.
The increase in 2016 when compared with 2015 was attributable to higher clearing and transaction fees and market data revenue.
Investing activities The increases in cash provided by investing activities from 2015 through 2017 were due to proceeds from the sale of BM&FBOVESPA shares as well as declines in purchases of property and equipment.
The increase in 2017 when compared with 2016 was also attributable to the sale of the remaining Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, S. A.
B.  de C. V.  shares.
Financing activities The increases in cash used by financing activities from 2015 through 2017 were attributable to higher cash dividends declared in 2017 and 2016.
The increase in 2016 was partially offset by proceeds from a finance lease obligation related to the sale leaseback of the datacenter in the first quarter of 2016.
Debt Instruments The following table summarizes our debt outstanding as of December 31, 2017:
## Table 0 ##
(1) In August 2012, we entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement that modified the interest obligation associated with these notes so that the interest payable on the notes effectively became fixed at a rate of 3.32%.
(2) In December 2014, we entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement that modified the interest obligation associated with these notes so that the interest payable on the notes effectively became fixed at a rate of 3.11%.
(3) In August 2012, we entered into a forward-starting interest rate swap agreement that modified the interest obligation associated with these notes so that the interest payable effectively became fixed at a rate of 4.73%.
We maintain a $2.3 billion multi-currency revolving senior credit facility with various financial institutions, which matures in November 2022.
The proceeds from this facility can be used for general corporate purposes, which includes providing liquidity for our clearing house in certain circumstances at CME Group’s discretion and, if necessary, for maturities of commercial paper.
As long as we are not in default under this facility, we have the option to increase it up to $3.0 billion with the consent of the agent and lenders providing the additional funds.
This facility is voluntarily pre-payable from time to time without premium or penalty.
Under this facility, we are required to remain in compliance with a consolidated net worth test, which is defined as our consolidated shareholders’ equity at September 30, 2017, giving effect to share repurchases made and special dividends paid during the term of the agreements (and in no event greater than $2.0 billion in aggregate), multiplied by 0.65.
We currently do not have any borrowings outstanding under this facility.
We maintain a 364-day multi-currency revolving secured credit facility with a consortium of domestic and international banks to be used in certain situations by CME Clearing.
The facility provides for borrowings of up to $7.0 billion.
We may use the proceeds to provide temporary liquidity in the unlikely event of a clearing firm default, in the event of a liquidity constraint or default by a depositary (custodian for our collateral), or in the event of a temporary disruption with the domestic payments system that would delay payment of settlement variation between us and our clearing firms.
Clearing firm guaranty fund contributions received in the form of
HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE COMPANY AND SUBSIDIARIES Notes to Consolidated and Combined Financial Statements (Continued) Note 16: Net Earnings Per Share (Continued) The reconciliations of the numerators and denominators of each of the basic and diluted net EPS calculations were as follows:
## Table 1 ##
(1) The Company considers restricted stock awards that provide the holder with a non-forfeitable right to receive dividends to be participating securities.
As of October 31, 2016 and 2015, there were no shares outstanding of restricted stock that provided the holder with a non-forfeitable right to receive dividends.
For fiscal 2014, net earnings allocated to participating securities were not significant.
(2) On November 1, 2015, the Separation and distribution date, HP Inc.  stockholders received one share of Hewlett Packard Enterprise common stock for every share of HP Inc.  common stock held as of the record date, October 21, 2015.
For comparative purposes, the same number of shares used to compute basic and diluted net earnings per share for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2015 is used in the calculation of basic and diluted net earnings per share for fiscal 2015 and 2014.
(3) For fiscal 2015 and 2014, the Company calculated the weighted-average dilutive effect of employee stock plans after conversion by multiplying the dilutive Hewlett-Packard Company stock-based awards attributable to Hewlett Packard Enterprise employees for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2015 by the price conversion ratio used to convert those awards to equivalent units of Hewlett Packard Enterprise awards on the Separation date.
The price conversion ratio was calculated using the closing price of Hewlett-Packard Company common shares on October 31, 2015 divided by the opening price of Hewlett Packard Enterprise common shares on November 2, 2015.
(4) The Company excludes stock awards where the assumed proceeds exceed the average market price from the calculation of diluted net EPS, because their effect would be anti-dilutive.
The assumed proceeds of a stock award include the sum of its exercise price (if the award is an option), average unrecognized compensation cost and excess tax benefit.
For the fiscal years ended October 31, 2015 and 2014, the Company’s anti-dilutive shares were calculated by multiplying the anti-dilutive Hewlett-Packard Company stock-based awards attributable to Hewlett Packard Enterprise employees for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2015 by the price conversion ratio used to convert those awards to equivalent units of Hewlett Packard Enterprise awards on the Separation date.
The price conversion ratio was calculated using the closing price of Hewlett-Packard Company common shares on October 31, 2015 divided by the opening price of Hewlett Packard Enterprise common shares on November 2, 2015.
Hewlett Packard Enterprise is involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and proceedings including those consisting of IP, commercial, securities, employment, employee benefits and environmental matters, which arise in the ordinary course of business.
In addition, as part of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc.  (formerly known as ‘‘Hewlett-Packard Company’’) agreed
PART II Item 5.
Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities Our common stock began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’) under the symbol ‘‘PFG’’ on October 23, 2001.
Prior to such date, there was no established public trading market for our common stock.
On February 6, 2013, there were 384,486 stockholders of record of our common stock.
The following table presents the high and low prices for our common stock on the NYSE for the periods indicated and the dividends declared per share during such periods.
## Table 2 ##
We changed to paying dividends quarterly on our common stock in 2012.
Previously, we paid our common stock dividends annually.
Future dividend decisions will be based on and affected by a number of factors, including our results and financial requirements and the impact of regulatory restrictions.
See Item 7.
‘‘Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Liquidity and Capital Resources’’ for a discussion of regulatory restrictions on Principal Life’s ability to pay dividends.
The following table presents the amount of our share purchase activity for the periods indicated:

<table><tr><td>(in millions)</td><td>Par Value</td></tr><tr><td>Fixed rate notes due September 2022, stated rate of 3.00%<sup>-1</sup></td><td>$750.0</td></tr><tr><td>Fixed rate notes due March 2025, stated rate of 3.00%<sup>-2</sup></td><td>750.0</td></tr><tr><td>Fixed rate notes due September 2043, stated rate of 5.30%<sup>-3</sup></td><td>750.0</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td></td><td colspan="3">Fiscal years ended October 31,</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>2016</td><td>2015</td><td>2014</td></tr><tr><td></td><td colspan="3">In millions, except per share amounts</td></tr><tr><td>Numerator:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Net earnings</td><td>$3,161</td><td>$2,461</td><td>$1,648</td></tr><tr><td>Denominator:<sup>-1(2)</sup></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Weighted-average shares used to compute basic net EPS</td><td>1,715</td><td>1,804</td><td>1,804</td></tr><tr><td>Dilutive effect of employee stock plans<sup>-3</sup></td><td>24</td><td>30</td><td>30</td></tr><tr><td>Weighted-average shares used to compute diluted net EPS</td><td>1,739</td><td>1,834</td><td>1,834</td></tr><tr><td>Net earnings per share:</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Basic</td><td>$1.84</td><td>$1.36</td><td>$0.91</td></tr><tr><td>Diluted</td><td>$1.82</td><td>$1.34</td><td>$0.90</td></tr><tr><td>Anti-dilutive weighted-average stock awards<sup>-4</sup></td><td>32</td><td>28</td><td>28</td></tr></table>
<table><tr><td> </td><td> High</td><td> Low</td><td> Dividends</td></tr><tr><td> 2012</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>First quarter</td><td>$29.84</td><td>$24.21</td><td>$0.18</td></tr><tr><td>Second quarter</td><td>$29.96</td><td>$23.09</td><td>$0.18</td></tr><tr><td>Third quarter</td><td>$29.20</td><td>$24.26</td><td>$0.21</td></tr><tr><td>Fourth quarter</td><td>$28.71</td><td>$25.83</td><td>$0.21</td></tr><tr><td> 2011</td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>First quarter</td><td>$34.70</td><td>$30.28</td><td>$—</td></tr><tr><td>Second quarter</td><td>$35.00</td><td>$27.81</td><td>$—</td></tr><tr><td>Third quarter</td><td>$31.00</td><td>$21.55</td><td>$—</td></tr><tr><td>Fourth quarter</td><td>$28.76</td><td>$20.48</td><td>$0.70</td></tr></table>

Question: what was the decrease in the interest payable between august 2012 and in december 2014?
Answer: -0.21