NEWELL BRANDS INC. 10-Q

Item 4. Controls and Procedures The Company maintains disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information which is required to be disclosed by the issuer in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. In designing and evaluating such controls and procedures, the Company recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. As required by Rule 13a-15(b) of the Exchange Act, the Company’s management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, have evaluated the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report. Based on that evaluation, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of March 31, 2024, due to material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting described below. Notwithstanding the identified material weaknesses, management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have determined, based on the procedures performed, that the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q fairly represent in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the Company as of, and for, for the periods presented in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“U.S. GAAP”). A material weakness is defined as a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of our annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We continue to have material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting as disclosed in Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting in Item 9A. Controls and Procedures , of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, in that the Company did not maintain effective controls over the reviews of significant assumptions used in the impairment assessment of goodwill, indefinite-lived tradenames and long-lived assets. Specifically, the control activities related to the reviews of the significant assumptions utilized in the impairment assessments were not executed, as designed, at the appropriate level of precision to prevent or detect a material misstatement. These control deficiencies resulted in management adjustments to the impairment loss and the other intangible assets, net accounts, prior to the issuance of the Company’s financial statements. These control deficiencies could result in a material misstatement of the goodwill, indefinite-lived tradenames, long-lived assets and the related accounts and disclosures in the annual or interim consolidated financial statements. Accordingly, our management has determined that these control deficiencies constitute material weaknesses. Remediation Plan The Company is committed to maintaining a strong internal control environment and believes remediation efforts will result in significant improvements in its internal control over financial reporting. Our management, with the oversight of the Audit Committee of the Board, is updating our internal processes and controls to strengthen their effectiveness and has developed a remediation plan, which includes the following actions: 32 Table of Contents • Identifying additional resources to assist in the preparation and reviews of significant assumptions used in the impairment assessments; and • Improving the development of sufficient supporting documentation related to reviews over significant assumptions associated with the Company’s impairment assessments. The Company will monitor the effectiveness of its remediation plan and will refine its remediation plan as appropriate. Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting There have been no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. PART II. OTHER INFORMATION Item 1. Legal Proceedings Information required under this Item is contained above in Part I. Financial Information, Item 1 and is incorporated herein by reference. Item 1A. Risk Factors There have been no material changes in our risk factors from those disclosed in Part I, Item 1A. of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023.