What changed in this filing

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Item 1A. Risk Factors

2025-10-10 compared with 2024-10-10 · 115 added, 52 removed, 90 unchanged (65% of the section changed)

Risk Factors 20

culture, effectively manage and monitor our people and operations, effectively communicate our core values, policies and procedures, strategies and goals, and motivate, engage and retain our people, particularly given our world-wide operations, rate of new hires, and the significant percentage of our employees who have the option to work remotely.

The size and scope of our operations increase the possibility that we will have employees who engage in unlawful or fraudulent activity, or otherwise expose us to unacceptable business risks, despite our efforts to train them and maintain internal controls to prevent such instances.

For example, employee misconduct could involve the improper use of sensitive or confidential information entrusted to us, or obtained inappropriately, or the failure to comply with legislation or regulations regarding the protection of sensitive or confidential information, including personal data and proprietary information.

Furthermore, the inappropriate use of social networking sites and unapproved technologies, such as public-facing, free AI tools, by our employees could result in breaches of confidentiality, unauthorized disclosure of non-public company information or damage to our reputation.

If we do not continue to develop and implement the right processes and tools to manage our enterprise and instill our culture and core values into all of our employees, our ability to compete successfully and achieve our business objectives could be impaired.

In addition, from time to time, we have made, and may continue to make, changes to our operating model, including how we are organized, as the needs and size of our business change, and if we do not successfully implement the changes or operate effectively under any new operating model, including the Reinvention Services change effective September 1, 2025, our business and results of operation may be negatively impacted.

We might not be successful at acquiring, investing in or integrating businesses, entering into joint ventures or divesting businesses.

We expect to continue pursuing strategic acquisitions, investments and joint ventures to enhance or add to our skills and capabilities or offerings of solutions and services, or to enable us to expand in certain geographic and other markets.

We have in the past and may again in the future increase the amount of capital invested in such opportunities.

These acquisitions and other transactions and investments involve challenges and risks, such as that we may not succeed in completing targeted transactions, including as a result of the market becoming increasingly competitive, or achieve desired results of operations.

To the extent that we increase the capital invested in such opportunities, the risks associated with such investments, further described below, also increase.

Furthermore, we face risks in successfully integrating any businesses we might acquire, and these risks may be magnified by the size and number of transactions we have executed.

Ongoing business may be disrupted, and our management’s attention may be diverted by acquisition, investment, transition or integration activities.

In addition, we might need to dedicate additional management and other resources, and our organizational structure could make it difficult for us to efficiently integrate acquired businesses into our ongoing operations and assimilate and retain employees of those businesses into our culture and operations.

The loss of key executives, employees, customers, suppliers, vendors and other business partners of businesses we acquire may adversely impact the value of the assets, operations or businesses.

Furthermore, acquisitions or joint ventures may result in significant costs and expenses, including those related to retention payments, equity compensation, severance pay, early retirement costs, intangible asset amortization and asset impairment charges, enhancing controls, procedures and policies including those related to financial reporting, disclosure, and cyber and information security, assumed litigation and other liabilities, and legal, accounting and financial advisory fees, which could negatively affect our profitability as these costs and expenses grow along with the increased capital invested in such acquisitions and joint ventures.

We may have difficulties as a result of entering into new markets where we have limited or no direct prior experience or where competitors may have stronger market positions.

In some cases, we have failed to, and may in the future fail to fully realize the expected benefits or strategic objectives of any acquisition, investment or joint venture we undertake.

We might not achieve our expected return on investment or may lose money.

We may be adversely impacted by liabilities that we assume from a company we acquire or in which we invest, including from that company’s known and unknown obligations, intellectual property or other assets, terminated employees, current or former clients or other third parties.

In addition, we may fail to identify or adequately assess the magnitude of certain liabilities, shortcomings or other circumstances prior to acquiring, investing in or partnering with a company, including potential exposure to regulatory sanctions or liabilities resulting from an acquisition target’s previous activities, or from an acquisition’s controls related to financial reporting, disclosure, and cyber and information security environment.

The number of transactions we execute annually may increase this risk.

If any of these circumstances occurs, they could result in unexpected regulatory or legal exposure, including litigation with new or existing clients, unfavorable accounting treatment, unexpected increases in taxes or other adverse effects on our relationships with clients and our business.

In addition, we have a lesser degree of control over the business operations of the joint ventures and businesses in which we have made minority investments or in which we have acquired less than 100% of the equity.

This lesser degree of control may expose us to additional reputational, financial, legal, compliance or operational risks.

Litigation, indemnification claims and other unforeseen claims and liabilities may arise from the acquisition or operation of acquired businesses.

For example, we may face litigation or other claims as a result of certain terms and conditions of the acquisition agreement, such as earnout payments or closing working capital adjustments.

Alternatively, shareholder litigation may arise as a result of proposed acquisitions.

If we are unable to complete the number and kind of investments for which we plan, or if we are inefficient or unsuccessful at integrating acquired businesses into our operations, we may not be able to achieve our planned rates of growth or improve our market share, profitability or competitive position in specific markets or services.

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Risk Factors 21

We also periodically evaluate, and have engaged in, the disposition of assets and businesses.

Divestitures could involve difficulties in the separation of operations, services, products and people, the diversion of management’s attention, the disruption of our business and the potential loss of key employees.

After reaching an agreement with a buyer for the disposition of a business, the transaction may be subject to the satisfaction of pre-closing conditions, including obtaining necessary regulatory and government approvals, which, if not satisfied or obtained, may prevent us from completing the transaction.

Divestitures may also involve continued financial involvement in or liability with respect to the divested assets and businesses, such as indemnities or other financial obligations, in which the performance of the divested assets or businesses could impact our results of operations.

Any divestiture we undertake could adversely affect our results of operations.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

Our business could be materially adversely affected if we incur legal liability.

We are subject to, and may become a party to, a variety of litigation or other claims and suits that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business.

Our business is subject to the risk of litigation involving current and former employees, clients, ecosystem partners, subcontractors, suppliers, competitors, shareholders, government agencies or others through private actions, class actions, whistleblower claims, administrative proceedings, regulatory actions or other litigation.

Regardless of the merits of the claims, the cost to defend current and future litigation may be significant, and such matters can be time-consuming and divert management’s attention and resources.

The results of litigation and other legal proceedings are inherently uncertain, and adverse judgments or settlements in some or all of these legal disputes may result in materially adverse monetary damages, fines, penalties, debarment or injunctive relief against us and/or require changes to our business practices or other actions that could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, or reputation.

Any claims or litigation, even if fully indemnified or insured, could damage our reputation and make it more difficult to compete effectively or to obtain adequate insurance in the future or otherwise have a material adverse effect.

We could be subject to significant legal liability and litigation expense if we fail to meet our contractual obligations, contribute to internal control or other deficiencies of a client or otherwise breach obligations to third parties, including clients, ecosystem partners, employees and former employees, and other parties with whom we conduct business, or if our subcontractors breach or dispute the terms of our agreements with them and impede our ability to meet our obligations to our clients, or if our solutions or services cause bodily injuries or death to our people, clients or the public, or property damage.

For example, by taking over the operation of certain portions of our clients’ businesses, including functions and systems that are critical to the core businesses of our clients, by contributing to the design, development, manufacturing and/or engineering of client products, or by providing various operational technology, digital manufacturing and robotics or other industrial automation equipment solutions, and advisory, management and engineering services for infrastructure projects, we may be exposed to additional and evolving operational, regulatory, reputational or other risks specific to these areas, including risks related to data security, product liability, health and safety, hazardous materials and other environmental risks.

A failure of a client’s system, product or infrastructure based on our solutions or services could also subject us to regulatory scrutiny or claims for significant damages that could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

In order to remain competitive, we increasingly enter into agreements based on our clients’ contract terms after conducting an assessment of the risk of doing so, which may expose us to additional risk.

In addition, the contracting practices of competitors, along with the demands of increasingly sophisticated clients, may cause contract terms and conditions that are unfavorable to us to become new standards in the industry.

We may commit to providing solutions or services that we are unable to deliver or whose delivery may reduce our profitability or cause us financial loss.

If we cannot or do not meet our contractual obligations and if our potential liability is not adequately limited through the terms of our agreements, liability limitations are not enforced or a third party alleges fraud or other wrongdoing to prevent us from relying upon those contractual protections, we might face significant legal liability and litigation expense and our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Moreover, as we expand our solutions and services into new areas, we may be exposed to additional and evolving risks specific to these new areas.

In addition, we engage in platform trust and safety services on behalf of clients, including content moderation, which could have a negative impact on our employees due to the nature of the materials they review.

We have been subject to media coverage regarding our provision of these services as well as litigation related to the provision of these services, which may result in adverse judgments or settlements or government inquiries and investigations.

Similarly, we periodically are and in the future could become the target of litigation, investigations, or other proceedings initiated by government authorities or private actors alleging that our activities or positions related to ESG (including inclusion and diversity) are anti-competitive, discriminatory or otherwise unlawful.

While we maintain insurance for certain potential liabilities, such insurance does not cover all types and amounts of potential liabilities and is subject to various exclusions as well as caps on amounts recoverable.

Even if we believe a claim is covered by insurance, insurers may dispute our entitlement to recovery for a variety of potential reasons, which may affect the timing and, if they prevail, the amount of our recovery.

Our global operations expose us to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements, and violation of these regulations could harm our business.

We are subject to numerous, changing, and sometimes conflicting, legal regimes on matters as diverse as anticorruption, import/export controls, content requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, immigration, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, including ESG regulation and reporting requirements, anti-competition, anti-money-laundering, data privacy and protection, government compliance, wage-and-hour standards, employment and labor relations, product liability, health and safety, environmental, human rights and AI regulations, such as the European Union’s AI Act.

The sanctions environment has resulted in new sanctions and trade restrictions, which may impair trade with sanctioned individuals and countries, and negative impacts to regional trade ecosystems among our clients, ecosystem partners, and us.

For example, as a result of the sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we are restricted from offering certain of our services to clients in some locations.

The global nature of our operations and supply chains, including emerging markets where legal systems may be less developed or understood by us, and the diverse nature of our operations across a number of regulated industries, further increase the difficulty of compliance.

Compliance with diverse legal requirements is costly, time-consuming and requires significant resources.

Violations of one or more of these regulations in the conduct of our business could result in significant fines, enforcement actions or criminal sanctions against us and/or our employees, prohibitions on doing business and damage to our reputation.

Violations of these regulations in connection with the performance of our obligations to our clients also could result in liability for significant monetary damages, fines, enforcement actions and/or criminal prosecution or sanctions, unfavorable publicity and other reputational damage and restrictions on our ability to effectively carry out our contractual obligations and thereby expose us to potential claims from our clients.

Due to the varying degrees of development of the legal systems of the countries in which we operate, local laws may not be well developed or provide sufficiently clear guidance and may be insufficient to protect our rights.

In particular, in many parts of the world, including countries in which we operate and/or seek to expand, practices in the local business community might not conform to international business standards and could violate anticorruption laws, or regulations, including the U.S.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K.

Bribery Act 2010.

Our employees, subcontractors, vendors, agents, alliance or joint venture partners, the companies we acquire and their employees, subcontractors, vendors and agents, and other third parties with which we associate, could take actions that violate policies or procedures designed to promote legal and regulatory compliance or applicable anticorruption laws or regulations.

Violations of these laws or regulations by us, our employees or any of these third parties could subject us to criminal or civil enforcement actions (whether or not we participated or knew about the actions leading to the violations), including fines or penalties, disgorgement of profits and suspension or disqualification from work, including U.S.

federal contracting, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, including our results of operations and our reputation.

Changes in laws and regulations could also mandate significant and costly changes to the way we implement our services and solutions or could impose additional taxes on our services and solutions.

For example, changes in laws and regulations to limit using off-shore resources in connection with our work or to penalize companies that use off-shore resources, which have been proposed from time to time in various jurisdictions, could adversely affect our results of operations.

Such changes may result in contracts being terminated or work being transferred onshore, resulting in greater costs to us, and could have a negative impact on our ability to obtain future work from government clients.

Increasing focus on ESG matters has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, the adoption of legal and regulatory requirements designed to mitigate the effects of climate change on the environment, as well as legal and regulatory requirements requiring climate, human rights and supply chain-related disclosures.

If new laws or regulations are more stringent than current legal or regulatory requirements, we may experience increased compliance burdens and costs to meet such obligations.

In addition, our selection of voluntary disclosure frameworks and standards, and the interpretation or application of those frameworks and standards, may change from time to time or may not meet the expectations of investors or other stakeholders.

Our ability to achieve our ESG commitments (such as our 2040 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target and our 2025 gender parity goal) is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control.

Examples of such risks include:

(1) the availability and cost of low- or non-carbon-based energy sources and technologies and the ability of our suppliers to harness new technologies to reduce emissions;

(2) evolving regulatory requirements affecting ESG standards or disclosures;

(3) the availability of suppliers that can meet our sustainability, diversity and other standards;

and (4) our ability to recruit, develop, and retain sufficient diverse talent.

In addition, standards for tracking and reporting on ESG

Even if we believe a claim is covered

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Risk Factors 22

matters, including climate change and human rights related matters, have not been harmonized and continue to evolve.

Methodologies for reporting ESG data may be updated and previously reported ESG data may be adjusted to reflect improvement in availability and quality of third-party data, changing assumptions, changes in the nature and scope of our operations and other changes in circumstances.

Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future.

by insurance, insurers may dispute our entitlement to recovery for a variety of potential reasons, which may affect the timing and, if they prevail, the amount of our recovery.

Our work with government clients exposes us to additional risks inherent in the government contracting environment.

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These agencies also conduct reviews and investigations and make inquiries regarding our accounting, information technology and other systems in connection with our performance and business practices with respect to our government contracts.

Negative findings from existing and future audits, investigations or inquiries, or failure to comply with applicable IT security or supply chain requirements, could affect our future sales and profitability by preventing us, by operation of law or in practice, from receiving new government contracts for some period of time, or result in other adverse consequences described in the following paragraphs.

Negative findings from existing and future audits, investigations or inquiries, or failure to comply with applicable IT security, supply chain, or other requirements, could affect our future sales and profitability by preventing us, by operation of law or in practice, from receiving new government contracts for some period of time, or result in other adverse consequences described in the following paragraphs.

In addition, if the U.S.

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The inherent limitations of internal controls may not prevent or detect all improper or illegal activities.

• On January 21, 2025, an executive order was issued requiring U.S.

federal contractors to certify that they do not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity and inclusion that violate any applicable federal anti-discrimination laws.

Additionally, various U.S federal and state government agencies and departments may initiate legal proceedings asserting our actions or programs violate the U.S False Claims Act, civil rights laws or other similar federal or state orders, laws or regulations.

A violation of these or similar federal or state orders, laws or regulations, may expose us to penalties and sanctions discussed above and jeopardize our ability to continue to do work with the U.S.

federal government and certain state governments, which may materially adversely affect our future results of operations.

government contracting regulations impose strict compliance and heightened disclosure obligations.

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government, the U.S.

Department of Justice (“DOJ”) initiated a civil and criminal investigation concerning whether one or more employees provided inaccurate submissions to an assessor who was evaluating on behalf of the U.S.

Department of Justice initiated a civil and criminal investigation concerning whether one or more employees provided inaccurate submissions to an assessor who was evaluating on behalf of the U.S.

government an AFS service offering and whether the service offering fully implemented required federal security controls.

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For example, these contracts often contain high or unlimited liability for breaches and feature less favorable payment terms and sometimes require us to take on liability for the performance of third parties.

• Government entities typically fund projects through appropriated monies.

While these projects are often planned and executed as multi-year projects, government entities usually reserve the right to change the scope of or terminate these

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Risk Factors 23

projects for lack of approved funding and/or at their convenience.

Elections, changes in government or political developments, including government closures or shutdowns, budget deficits, shortfalls or uncertainties, government spending reductions or other debt constraints could result in our projects being reduced in price or scope or terminated altogether, which also could limit our recovery of incurred costs, reimbursable expenses and profits on work completed prior to the termination.

• Government entities typically fund projects through appropriated monies.

While these projects are often planned and executed as multi-year projects, government entities usually reserve the right to change the scope of or terminate these projects for lack of approved funding and/or at their convenience.

Elections, changes in government or political developments, including government closures or shutdowns, budget deficits, shortfalls or uncertainties, government spending reductions or other debt constraints have resulted and could in the future result in our projects being reduced in price or scope, delayed or terminated altogether, which also could limit our recovery of incurred costs, reimbursable expenses and profits on work completed prior to the termination.

Furthermore, if insufficient funding is appropriated to the government entity to cover termination costs, we may not be able to fully recover our investments.

• In 2025, the U.S.

administration began efforts to reduce federal spending and the size of the federal workforce under the guidance of the Department of Government Efficiency.

In addition, the General Services Administration (GSA)–the U.S.

federal procurement agency–has instructed all federal agencies to review their contracts with consulting firms and technology product resellers contracting with the U.S.

federal government, including AFS.

These and similar spending reductions and contract reviews have resulted in and are likely to continue to result in contract terminations, delays and cancellations of new procurements, and reductions in price and contract scope at AFS as well as at other state and local governments, all of which have had an adverse effect on AFS’s results, and could in the future have a material impact on our results of operations or financial condition.

• Political and economic factors such as pending elections, the outcome of recent elections, changes in leadership among key executive or legislative decision makers, revisions to governmental tax or other policies and reduced tax revenues can affect the number and terms of new government contracts signed or the speed at which new contracts are signed, decrease future levels of spending and authorizations for programs that we bid, shift spending priorities to programs in areas for which we do not provide services and/or lead to changes in enforcement or how compliance with relevant rules or laws is assessed.

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

If we are unable to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or if our services or solutions infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or we lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, our business could be adversely affected.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our proprietary platforms, methodologies, processes, software, hardware and other solutions.

Existing laws of the various countries in which we provide services or solutions may offer only limited intellectual property protection of our services or solutions, and the protection in some countries may be very limited.

Our global operations expose us to numerous and sometimes conflicting legal and regulatory requirements, and violation of these regulations could harm our business.

We are subject to numerous, changing, and sometimes conflicting, legal regimes on matters as diverse as anticorruption, import/export controls, content requirements, trade restrictions, tariffs, taxation, sanctions, boycotts, immigration, internal and disclosure control obligations, securities regulation, including ESG regulation and reporting requirements, anti-competition, anti-money-laundering, data privacy and protection, government compliance, wage-and-hour standards, employment and labor relations, product liability, health and safety, environmental, human rights and AI regulations, such as the European Union’s AI Act.

For example, as a result of the sanctions imposed in response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, we are restricted from offering certain of our services to clients in some locations.

It is also possible that compliance with sanctions imposed by one country could lead to reputational harm or other negative impacts to our business in another country or countries.

Compliance with diverse legal requirements is costly, time-consuming and requires significant resources.

Due to the varying degrees of

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Risk Factors 24

development of the legal systems of the countries in which we operate, local laws may not be well developed or provide sufficiently clear guidance and may be insufficient to protect our rights.

Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K.

Bribery Act 2010.

federal contracting, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, including our results of operations and our reputation.

Changes in laws and regulations could also mandate significant and costly changes to the way we implement our solutions and services or could impose additional taxes on our solutions and services.

Increasing focus on ESG matters has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, the adoption of legal and regulatory requirements related to climate change, human rights and supply chain-related matters.

New laws, regulations or interpretations may be more stringent than, or conflict with, other legal or regulatory requirements, which may result in increased compliance burdens and costs or changes to our operations to satisfy such obligations.

Our ability to achieve our ESG ambitions (such as our 2040 net-zero greenhouse gas emissions target) is subject to numerous risks, many of which are outside of our control.

In addition, standards for tracking and reporting on ESG matters, including climate change and human rights related matters, have not been harmonized and continue to evolve.

Our processes and controls for reporting ESG matters across our operations are evolving along with multiple disparate standards for identifying, measuring, and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required by the SEC, European and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current ambitions, reported progress in achieving such ambitions, or ability to achieve such ambitions in the future.

If we are unable to protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, or if our solutions or services infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others or we lose our ability to utilize the intellectual property of others, our business could be adversely affected.

Our success depends, in part, upon our ability to obtain intellectual property protection for our proprietary assets, platforms, methodologies, processes, software, hardware and other solutions.

Existing laws of the various countries in which we provide solutions or services may offer only limited intellectual property protection of our solutions or services, and the protection in some countries may be very limited.

We rely upon a combination of confidentiality policies and procedures, nondisclosure and other contractual arrangements, and patent, trade secret, copyright and trademark laws to protect our intellectual property rights.

These laws are subject to change at any time and could further limit our ability to obtain or maintain intellectual property protection.

For example, the intellectual property legal landscape relating to AI (including generative AI) is expected to continue to evolve in many countries in which we operate.

As a result, there is uncertainty concerning the scope of patent and other intellectual property protection for AI models, software and business methods, which are fields in which we rely on intellectual property laws to protect our rights.

Even where we obtain intellectual property protection, our intellectual property rights may not prevent or deter competitors, former employees, or other third parties from reverse engineering our solutions or proprietary methodologies and processes or independently developing services or solutions similar to or duplicative of ours.

For example, the intellectual property legal landscape relating to AI is expected to continue to evolve in many countries in which we operate.

As a result, there is uncertainty concerning the scope of patent and other intellectual property protection for AI models and outputs, which are fields in which we rely on intellectual property laws to protect our rights.

Even where we obtain intellectual property protection, our intellectual property rights may not prevent or deter competitors, former employees, or other third parties from reverse engineering our solutions or proprietary methodologies and processes or independently developing solutions or services similar to or duplicative of ours.

Further, the steps we take in this regard might not be adequate to prevent or deter infringement or other misappropriation of our intellectual property by competitors, former employees or other third parties, and we might not be able to detect unauthorized use of, or take appropriate and timely steps to enforce, our intellectual property rights.

Enforcing our rights might also require considerable time, money and oversight, and we may not be successful in enforcing our rights.

In addition, we cannot be sure that our services and solutions, including, for example, our AI, software and hardware solutions, or the solutions of others that we offer to our clients, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties (including competitors as well as non-practicing holders of intellectual property assets), and these third parties could claim that we or our clients are infringing upon their intellectual property rights.

In addition, we cannot be sure that our solutions and services, including, for example, our AI, software and hardware solutions, or the solutions of others that we offer to our clients, do not infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties (including competitors as well as non-practicing holders of intellectual property assets), and these third parties could

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Risk Factors 25

claim that we or our clients are infringing upon their intellectual property rights.

Furthermore, although we have established policies and procedures to respect the intellectual property rights of third parties and that prohibit the unauthorized use of intellectual property, we may not be aware if our employees have misappropriated and/or misused intellectual property, and their actions could result in claims of intellectual property misappropriation and/or infringement from third parties.

These claims could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some services or solutions in the future.

These claims could harm our reputation, cause us to incur substantial costs or prevent us from offering some solutions or services in the future.

Any related proceedings could require us to expend significant resources over an extended period of time.

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In some instances, the amount of these indemnities could be greater than the revenues we receive from the client.

Any claims or litigation in this area could be time-consuming and costly, damage our

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Risk Factors 32

reputation and/or require us to incur additional costs to obtain the right to continue to offer a service or solution to our clients.

Any claims or litigation in this area could be time-consuming and costly, damage our reputation and/or require us to incur additional costs to obtain the right to continue to offer a service or solution to our clients.

If we cannot secure this right at all or on reasonable terms, or we are unable to implement in a cost-effective manner alternative technology, our results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

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Any infringement action brought against us or our clients could be costly to defend or lead to an expensive settlement or judgment against us.

Further, we rely on third-party software, hardware, data and other intellectual property in providing some of our services and solutions.

If we lose our ability to continue using any such software, hardware, data or intellectual property for any reason, including because it is found to infringe the rights of others, we will need to obtain substitutes or seek alternative means of obtaining the technology necessary to continue to provide such services and solutions.

Further, we rely on third-party software, hardware, data and other intellectual property in providing some of our solutions and services.

Our inability to replace such software, hardware, data or intellectual property effectively or in a timely and cost-effective manner could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

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Nonetheless, we could be subject to criticism in connection with our incorporation in Ireland.

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Unresolved Staff Comments 26

Compared sentence by sentence after normalising whitespace, quotation marks, case and digits, so re-formatting and restated figures do not read as changed language. Wording changes appear as one removal and one addition. The current filing and the prior one are authoritative.

What changed 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors