T Rowe Price (TROW) Risk Factors

Our regulatory environment is frequently altered by new laws and regulations and by revisions to, and evolving interpretations of, existing regulations. New laws and regulations present areas of uncertainty susceptible to alternative interpretations; regulators and prospective litigants may not agree with reasoned interpretations we adopt. Future changes could require us to modify or curtail our investment offerings and business operations which may impact our expenses and profitability. Additionally, some laws and regulations may not directly apply to our business but may impact the capital markets, service providers or have other indirect effects on our ability to provide services to our clients. Potential impacts of current or proposed legal or regulatory requirements include, without limitation, the following: - There has been increasing focus on the framework of the U.S. retirement system at the federal and state levels. We could experience adverse business impacts if legislative and regulatory changes limit retirement plans to certain products and services, or favor certain investment vehicles, that we do not offer, materially limit retirement savings opportunities or foster substantial outflows from retirement savings plans for non-retirement purposes. - There has been substantial regulatory and legislative activity at federal and state levels regarding standards of care for financial services firms, related to both retirement and taxable accounts. Actions taken by applicable regulatory or legislative bodies may impact our business activities and increase our costs. In October 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor proposed a new rule updating the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA ("Retirement Security Rule"), which would apply to retirement plans and accounts that comprise a majority of our accounts. We are monitoring the rulemaking process and the potential impact the Retirement Security Rule may have on our business. - The Commodity Futures Trading Commission ("CFTC") regulation may limit the ability of certain sponsored investment products to use futures, swaps, and other derivatives. We have registered certain subsidiaries with the CFTC, subjecting us to additional regulatory requirements and costs, but also providing us additional flexibility to utilize such products. Nonetheless, there are still certain limitations on our investment products due to CFTC rules. - There has been increased global regulatory focus on the manner in which intermediaries are paid for distribution of mutual funds or other collective investments funds. Changes to long-standing market practices related to fees or enhanced disclosure requirements may negatively impact sales of mutual funds or other collective investments funds by intermediaries, especially if such requirements are not applied to other investment products. - We remain subject to various state, federal and international laws and regulations (and associated judicial decisions) related to privacy, data collection and use, including the EU's GDPR and the CCPA; cybersecurity; current and emerging technology, including generative AI technology; storage, localization, retention and destruction of data; disclosure, transfer, availability, security and integrity of data; notification of regulators and/or impacted parties regarding adverse data-related events, including the SEC's cybersecurity disclosure rules; and other similar matters that can concern the data of our clients and employees. Requirements in these areas continue to expand and evolve throughout the globe, most commonly in ways that increase the complexity and costs of compliance. For example, in addition to the EU's GDPR data protection rules, we also are or may become subject to or affected by additional country, federal and state laws, regulations and guidance impacting consumer privacy, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act. Future changes to laws and regulations in these areas could impose significant limitations on our operations, require changes to our business, or restrict our collection, use or storage of data or related technologies, which may increase our compliance expenses and make our business more costly or less efficient to conduct. - Regulators have imposed certain clearing, margin, trade reporting, electronic trading and recordkeeping requirements on market participants aimed at market stabilization and risk reduction, such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act in the U.S. and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation in the EU. These requirements have introduced operational complexity and additional costs to derivatives portfolios. - The revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ("MiFID II Directive") and Regulation ("MiFIR") (together "MiFID II") applies across the EU and member states of the European Economic Area beginning on January 3, 2018. Implementation of MiFID II has significantly impacted both the structure and operation of EU financial markets. Some of the main changes introduced under MiFID II include applying enhanced disclosure requirements, enhancing conduct of business and governance requirements, broadening the scope of pre and post trade transparency, increasing transaction reporting requirements, transforming the relationship between client commissions and research, and further regulation of trading venues. Compliance with MiFID II has increased operational complexity and increased our costs. For example, we began to pay for third-party investment research used by our UK-based investment manager, T. Rowe Price International Ltd, in 2018, and we pay for all the research needs of our investment professionals globally. - New laws or regulations involving ESG integration and disclosure may materially impact the asset management industry. For example, the EU's Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation imposes mandatory ESG disclosure obligations on asset managers and other financial markets participants, requiring all covered firms to disclose how financial products integrate sustainability risks in the investment process, including whether they consider adverse sustainability impacts, and sustainability-related information for products promoting sustainable objectives. The availability of such disclosures may impact the investment decisions of European investors. Furthermore, federal regulators, as well as state legislatures and regulators in the U.S. have proposed or adopted laws and regulations to pursue similar initiatives, such as the SEC's proposed climate disclosure rules. Conversely, some U.S. states have adopted or proposed legislation or otherwise have taken official positions restricting or prohibiting state government entities from doing certain business with entities they believe are discriminating against particular industries or considering ESG factors in their investment processes and proxy voting. As jurisdictions globally continue to develop legal frameworks on ESG and sustainability regulations, our industry and business may face increasingly fragmented regulatory frameworks, which may result in complex and potentially conflicting compliance obligations and legal and regulatory uncertainty. We cannot predict the nature of future changes to the legal and regulatory requirements applicable to our business, nor the extent of the impacts that will result from current or future proposals. However, any such changes are likely to increase the costs of compliance and the complexity of our operations, as well as result in changes to our product or service offerings. The changing regulatory landscape may also impact a number of service providers that provide services to us and, to the extent such service providers alter their operations or increase their fees, it may impact our expenses or those of the products we offer.

Based on the global nature of our business, from time to time we are subject to tax audits in various jurisdictions. The calculation of our tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax regulations in a multitude of jurisdictions across our global operations. Tax authorities may disagree with certain positions we have taken and assess additional taxes (and, in certain cases, interest, fines, or penalties). We have a process to evaluate whether to record tax liabilities for anticipated tax audit issues based on our estimate of whether, and the extent to which, additional income taxes will be due, and adjust these liabilities in light of changing facts and circumstances. Due to the complexity of some of these uncertainties, however, the ultimate resolution may result in a payment that is materially different from our estimates and impact our financial results.

Many competitors offer similar products to those offered by us, and the failure or negative performance of competitors' products could lead to a loss of confidence in similar products we offer, irrespective of the performance of such products. Any loss of confidence in a product type could lead to withdrawals, redemptions and liquidity issues in such products, which may cause our AUM, revenue and earnings to decline.

Our business and those of our clients could be impacted by climate change-related risks. Climate change may present risk to our business through changes in the physical climate or from the process of transitioning to a lower-carbon economy. Climate-related physical risks arise from the direct impacts of a changing climate in the short- and long-term. Such risks may include an increase in the intensity and frequency of extreme weather events, changes in temperature and rising sea level, which may damage infrastructure and facilities, increase our energy costs, negatively impact our workforce, as well as disrupt connectivity or supply chains. Climate-related transition risks arise from exposure to the transition to a lower-carbon economy through policy, regulatory, technology and market changes. For instance, new regulations or guidance relating to climate change, as well as the perspectives of stakeholders regarding climate change, may impact our business and reputation, which could increase costs on our business. Climate-related physical and transition risks could impact us both directly and indirectly through adverse impacts to our clients and the global economy in general, including as a result of interruptions to infrastructure and our operations, declines in asset values and stranded assets, changes in client preferences, increased regulatory and compliance costs and significant business disruptions. Any of these risks may have a material adverse effect on our AUM, revenue and earnings.