S&P Global (SPGI) risk factors, FY2024 10-K

Cybersecurity, Technology and Innovation Risks

1. 01The markets in which we operate continuously change to adapt to customer needs. Our inability to innovate and compete with new or enhanced products and services of our competitors could impact our profitability
2. 02Our inability to successfully develop, adapt, or implement new and improved processes and technology could materially adversely impact our business, financial condition or results of operations
3. 03will need to deploy improved processes and technology to innovate, design, develop, assemble, test, market, and support new products and enhancements to our existing products in a timely and cost-effective manner
4. 04Increased availability of free or relatively inexpensive information sources may materially reduce demand for our products and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
5. 05Our approach to AI may not be successful, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations
6. 06Social, ethical and operational issues relating to the use of new and evolving technologies, such as AI, in our offerings could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations
7. 07Our use of open source software could result in litigation or impose unanticipated restrictions on our ability to commercialize our products and services
8. 08Our ability to protect our intellectual property rights could impact our competitive position
9. 09We rely heavily on network systems and the Internet and any failures or disruptions may adversely affect our ability to serve our customers
10. 10Our operations and infrastructure may malfunction or fail, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations

Legal and Regulatory Risks

1. 11Exposure to litigation and government and regulatory proceedings, investigations and inquiries (including market studies) could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
2. 12Changes in the global privacy, data localization and data protection legislative, regulatory, and commercial environments in which we operate may materially and adversely impact our ability to collect, compile, use, and publish data and may impact our financial results
3. 13meaningfully limit the success of future attempts to compromise our information or information technology systems
4. 14Future legislation, regulatory reform or policy changes, especially abrupt changes, could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations
5. 15Increasing regulation of our Ratings business in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere can increase our costs of doing business and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
6. 16issuance of our credit ratings or our other products and services and may have a material adverse effect on our operations, profitability and competitiveness, the demand for our credit ratings or our other products and services, and the manner in which our credit ratings are utilized
7. 17We may become subject to liability or face reputational harm due to our offerings

Business and Operational Risks

1. 18price references, whether price assessments, benchmarks or the related trading activity in physical commodities and commodities derivatives, could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows
2. 19Inability to attract, retain or train key qualified personnel or to navigate key management transitions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations
3. 20Our acquisitions, divestitures and other strategic transactions may not produce anticipated results, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
4. 21The markets in which we operate are intensely competitive, and our inability to successfully compete could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations
5. 22A significant increase in operating costs and expenses could have a material adverse effect on our profitability
6. 23Consolidation of customers, reduced staffing levels of customers or reduced spending by customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
7. 24From time to time, we lose key outside suppliers of data, products, and services or the data, products, or services of these suppliers have errors or are delayed, resulting in a disruption or inability to provide our clients with the information, products or services they desire
8. 25Our inability to successfully recover should we, our third-party service providers or our clients experience a disaster or other business continuity problem could cause material financial loss, loss of human capital, regulatory actions, reputational harm, damaged client relationships or legal liability
9. 26Our reputation, credibility, and brand are key assets and competitive advantages of our Company and our business may be affected by how we are perceived in the marketplace
10. 27We are exposed to multiple risks associated with the global nature of our operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition or results of operations
11. 28Adverse developments in any of these areas could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations
12. 29Outsourcing certain aspects of our business could result in material financial loss, increased costs, regulatory actions and penalties, reputational harm, unauthorized access to our systems, system or network disruption and improper disclosure of confidential information
13. 30Climate change and the transition to renewable energy and a net zero economy pose operational, commercial and regulatory risks
14. 31Our expansion into and investments in new markets may not be successful, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations
15. 32Our indebtedness, or a downgrade to our credit ratings, could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations