Regal Rexnord (RRX) Risk Analysis

A significant amount of our revenue is generated from customers located outside of the US, and a substantial portion of our assets and associates are located outside of the US which requires us to interpret the income tax laws and rulings in each of those taxing jurisdictions. Due to the subjectivity of tax laws between those jurisdictions as well as the subjectivity of factual interpretations, our estimates of income tax liabilities may differ from actual payments or assessments. Claims from taxing authorities related to these differences could have an adverse impact on our operating results and financial position.

The effects of climate change could create financial, reputational, or other risks to our business. For example, the effects of climate change could disrupt our operations by impacting the availability and the cost of materials needed for manufacturing, exacerbate existing risks to our supply chain and increase insurance and other operating costs, including energy costs impacted by carbon prices or offsets. These factors may impact our decisions to construct new facilities or maintain existing facilities in areas most prone to physical climate risks. We could also face indirect financial risks passed through the supply chain and disruptions that could result in increased prices for our products and the resources needed to produce them. Additionally, we are subject to environmental laws that could impose significant costs on us. See "We are subject to environmental laws that could impose significant costs on us and the failure to comply with such laws could subject us to sanctions and material fines and expenses" for more information. There continues to be a lack of consistent climate regulation, which creates economic and regulatory uncertainty. Increased international, regional, state, and/or federal requirements or other stakeholder expectations have and could further mandate more restrictive or expansive standards, more prescriptive reporting of environmental, social and governance metrics than the voluntary commitments we have adopted, or require related changes on a more accelerated time frame than we anticipate. For example, we are subject to the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive ("CSRD") and California's climate disclosure rules, among others. These regulations are inconsistent, and are rapidly emerging and evolving, and have increased, and are expected to continue to increase, our compliance costs. For example, the CSRD has established extensive ESG-related disclosure requirements based on the European Sustainability Reporting Standards, including certain assurance obligations. The standards used to identify and collect the information and data required pursuant to the CSRD are still developing and uncertain, and this lack of certainty could result in increased costs related to complying with our reporting obligations under the CSRD. In addition, a number of governmental bodies have finalized, proposed or are contemplating legislative and regulatory changes in response to the potential effect of climate change. These regulations may affect our operations, supply chain, and overall business strategy, potentially leading to increased expenses, operational disruptions or limitations on our ability to compete in certain markets. If our product portfolio does not align with these regulations, we may be required to make increased research and development and other capital expenditures to improve our product portfolio in order to meet new regulations and standards. Further, our customers and the markets we serve may impose emissions or other environmental standards through regulation, market-based emissions policies or consumer preference that we may not be able to meet due to the level of capital investment or technological advancement. While we are committed to continuous improvements to our product portfolio to meet and exceed anticipated regulations and preferences, there can be no assurance that our commitments will be successful, that our products will be accepted by the market, that proposed regulation or deregulation will not have a negative competitive impact, or that economic returns will reflect our investments in new product development. As of the date of this filing, we have made several public commitments regarding our intended reduction of carbon emissions, including commitments to achieve Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emission neutrality by 2032, and net zero across Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 2050. Although we intend to meet these commitments, we have expended resources and we may be required to further expend significant resources to do so, which could increase our operational costs. If we either are unable to meet these commitments, or progress toward our commitments more slowly than expected, or if such commitments are criticized by certain groups, then we could incur adverse publicity and reaction from investors, activist groups and other stakeholders, which could adversely impact the perception of our brands and our products by current and potential customers, as well as investors, which would in turn adversely impact our results of operations.

We are subject to a variety of domestic and foreign laws, rules and regulations relating to improper payments to government officials, bribery, anti-kickback and false claims rules, competition, export and import compliance, money laundering and data privacy. If our associates, agents or business partners engage in activities in violation of these laws, rules or regulations, we may be subject to civil or criminal fines or penalties or other sanctions, may incur costs associated with government investigations, or may suffer damage to our reputation.

The funded status of our defined benefit pension plans depends on such factors as asset returns, market interest rates, legislative changes and funding regulations. If the returns on the assets of any of our plans were to decline in future periods, if market interest rates were to decline, if the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation were to require additional contributions to any such plans as a result of acquisitions or if other actuarial assumptions were to be modified, our future required cash contributions and pension costs to such plans could increase. Any such increases could impact our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The need to make contributions to such plans may reduce the cash available to meet our other obligations, including our obligations under our borrowing arrangements or to meet the needs of our business.

We depend on, and expect to continue to depend on, revenues from several significant OEM customers and distributors, and any loss, cancellation or reduction of, or delay in, purchases by these customers or distributors may have a material adverse effect on our business. Our success depends on our continued ability to develop and manage these relationships. We have longstanding relationships with these customers and distributors and we expect these relationships will continue for the foreseeable future. Our reliance on these sales makes our relationships important to our business. We cannot assure you that we will be able to retain these key customers and distributor relationships. Some of our customers or distributors may in the future shift some or all of their purchases of products from us to our competitors or to other sources. The loss of one or more of our large customers or distributors, any reduction or delay in sales to these parties, our inability to develop relationships successfully with additional customers or distributors, or future price concessions that we may make could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Portions of our total sales are dependent directly upon the level of capital expenditures by customers in key markets and industries, such as HVAC, refrigeration, power generation, oil and gas, unit material handling, water heating and aerospace. Some of these key markets and industries are inherently cyclical and can be impacted by governmental policy and the general macroeconomic climate. A significant or prolonged decline or disruption in one of those markets or industries may result in some of such customers delaying, canceling or modifying projects, or may result in nonpayment of amounts that are owed to us. These effects could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.