Evercore Partners (EVR) Risk Analysis

As a financial services firm, we depend to a large extent on our relationships with our clients and our reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services to attract and retain clients and talent. As a result, if a client is not satisfied with our services, it may be more damaging to our business than in other businesses. Our reputation could be impacted by events that may be difficult or impossible to control, and costly or impossible to remediate. For example, alleged or actual failures by us or our employees to provide satisfactory services or to comply with applicable laws, rules or regulations, errors in our public reports, perceptions of our environmental, social and governance practices or business selection (including client selection), or the public announcement and potential publicity surrounding any of these events, even if inaccurate, satisfactorily addressed, or even if no violation or wrongdoing actually occurred, could adversely impact our reputation, our relationships with clients, our ability to negotiate joint ventures and strategic alliances, and our ability to attract and retain talent, any of which could have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our Equities business has entered into service agreements with third-party service providers for order management, trade execution, settlement and clearance of client securities transactions and research distribution. This business faces the risk of operational failure of any of the vendors we use to facilitate our securities transactions or research distribution. Our senior management and officers oversee and manage these relationships. Poor oversight and control or inferior performance or service on the part of the service provider could result in loss of customers and violations of applicable rules and regulations. Any such failure could adversely affect our ability to effect transactions and to manage our exposure to risk.

Since we operate our business both in the U.S. and internationally, we are subject to many distinct broker-dealer, employment, labor, benefits and tax laws in each jurisdiction in which we operate, including regulations affecting our employment practices and our relations with our employees and service providers. If we are required to comply with new regulations or new interpretations of existing regulations, or if we are unable to comply with these regulations or interpretations, our business could be adversely affected or the cost of compliance may make it difficult to expand into new international markets. Additionally, our competitiveness in international markets may be adversely affected by regulations requiring, among other things, the awarding of contracts to local contractors, the employment of local citizens and/or the purchase of services from local businesses.

Evercore Inc. and Evercore LP are party to a Capital and Liquidity Support Agreement, a Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement and other related agreements with the OCC related to ETC (collectively, the "OCC Agreements"). The OCC Agreements require Evercore Inc. and Evercore LP to provide ETC necessary capital and liquidity support in order to ensure that ETC continues to operate safely and soundly and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In particular, the OCC Agreements require that Evercore Inc. and Evercore LP (1) maintain at least $5 million in Tier 1 capital in ETC or such other amount as the OCC may require and (2) maintain liquid assets in ETC in an amount at least equal to the greater of $3.5 million or 180 days coverage of ETC's operating expenses. If we fail to comply with any of the OCC Agreements, we could become subject to civil money penalties, regulatory enforcement actions, payment of damages and, if the OCC deems it likely that we are unable to fulfill our obligations or breach the OCC Agreements, a forced disposition of ETC. The occurrence of any of these events or the disclosure that these events are probable or under consideration may cause reputational harm and erosion of client trust, due to a perception that we are unable to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, unable to successfully launch new initiatives and businesses, or that our reputation for integrity and high-caliber professional services is no longer valid, any of which could adversely affect our business and operations.

As we have expanded the scope of our businesses and client base, we increasingly confront actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest relating to our Investment Banking & Equities and Investment Management businesses. It is possible that actual, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to client dissatisfaction, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately identifying and managing actual or perceived conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest would have a material adverse effect on our reputation which would materially adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including an inability to recruit additional professionals and a reluctance of potential clients and counterparties to do business with us. Additionally, client-imposed conflicts requirements could place additional limitations on us, for example, by limiting our ability to accept advisory engagements. Policies, controls and procedures that we may be required to implement to address additional regulatory requirements, including as a result of additional foreign jurisdictions in which we operate, our equities business and our underwriting activities, or to mitigate actual or potential conflicts of interest, may result in increased costs, including for additional personnel and infrastructure and information technology improvements, as well as limit our activities and reduce the benefit of positive synergies that we seek to cultivate across our businesses. For example, due to our equity research activities through our equities business, we face potential conflicts of interest, including situations where our publication of research may conflict with the interests of an advisory client, or allegations that research objectivity is being inappropriately impacted by advisory client considerations.

The financial advisory industry is intensely competitive, highly fragmented and subject to rapid change, and we expect it to remain so. We compete on both a global and regional basis, and on the basis of a number of factors, including the quality of our employees, industry knowledge, transaction execution skills, our products and services, innovation, reputation, strength of relationships and price. We have experienced intense competition for advisory mandates in recent years, and we may experience pricing pressures in our Investment Banking & Equities business in the future, as some of our competitors seek to obtain increased market share by reducing fees. When making proposals for fixed-fee engagements, we estimate the costs and timing for completing the engagements. These estimates reflect our best judgment regarding the efficiencies of our methodologies and financial professionals as we plan to deploy them on engagements. Any unexpected costs or unanticipated delays in connection with the performance of such engagements could make these contracts less profitable, or unprofitable, which would have an adverse effect on our profit margins. Several of our competitors include large financial institutions, many of which have far greater financial and other resources and greater name recognition than us and, unlike us, have the ability to offer a wider range of products, which may enhance their competitive position. They also regularly support services we do not provide, such as commercial lending and other financial services and products, which puts us at a competitive disadvantage and could result in pricing pressures or lost opportunities, which could materially adversely affect our revenue and profitability. In addition, we may be at a competitive disadvantage with regard to certain of our competitors who have larger customer bases, have more professionals to serve their clients' needs and are able to provide financing or otherwise commit capital to clients that are often a crucial component of the Investment Banking & Equities transactions on which we advise. In addition to our larger competitors, we face competition from a number of independent investment banks that offer only independent advisory services, which stress their lack of other businesses as a competitive advantage. As these independent firms or new entrants into the market seek to gain market share, there could be additional pricing and competitive pressures, which may impact our ability to implement our growth strategy and ultimately materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

As a financial services firm, our businesses are materially affected by conditions in the financial markets and economic conditions in the U.S. and throughout the world. Financial markets and economic conditions can be negatively impacted by many factors beyond our control, such as the inability to access credit markets, rising interest rates or inflation, terrorism, political uncertainty, supply chain disruptions, uncertainty in the federal fiscal or monetary policy of U.S. or foreign governments, an evolving regulatory environment (and the timing and nature of regulatory reform), climate change, extreme weather events or natural disasters, the emergence or continuation of widespread health emergencies or pandemics, cyberattacks or campaigns, military conflicts or other geopolitical events. Unfavorable market or economic conditions, as well as volatility in the financial markets, can materially reduce the demand for our services and present challenges. Revenue generated by our Investment Banking & Equities business is related to the volume and value of the transactions in which we are involved. The majority of our bankers are focused on covering clients in the context of providing M&A services and those activities generate a substantial portion of our revenues. During periods of unfavorable market and economic conditions, our operating results may be adversely affected by a decrease in the volume and value of M&A transactions and increasing price competition among financial services companies seeking advisory engagements. Our clients engaging in M&A transactions often rely on access to the credit and/or capital markets to finance their transactions. The uncertainty of available credit and interest rates and the volatility of the capital markets, and the fact that we do not provide financing or otherwise commit capital to clients, can adversely affect the size, volume, timing and ability of such clients to successfully complete M&A transactions and adversely affect our Investment Banking & Equities business. In addition, our profitability would be adversely affected due to our fixed costs and the possibility that we would be unable to reduce our variable costs without reducing revenue or within a timeframe sufficient to offset any decreases in revenue relating to changes in market and economic conditions. We also seek to generate greater business from our liability management and restructuring and capital markets services and our Equities business. However, we cannot be certain that we will be able to significantly offset lower revenues from a decline in our M&A activities with increased revenues generated from liability management and restructuring and capital markets services or from our Equities business. Our liability management and restructuring services, which provide financial advice and investment banking services to companies in financial transition, as well as to creditors, shareholders and potential acquirers, our capital markets services, which provide corporations and financial sponsors with advice relating to a broad array of financing issues, and our Equities business, which provides equity research and agency securities trading for institutional investors, are smaller than our M&A advisory business and we expect that they will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Unfavorable market conditions may also lead to a reduction in revenues from our underwriting and placement agent activities, our private funds advisory and private capital markets businesses, and the demand for the research and other services provided by our Equities business could correspondingly decline.

As part of our business, we manage, utilize and store sensitive or confidential client or employee data, including personal data. As a result, we are subject to various risks and costs associated with the collection, handling, storage and transmission of personal data, including those related to compliance with U.S. and foreign data protection and privacy laws and other contractual obligations, as well as those associated with the compromise of our systems collecting such personal data. These laws and regulations are increasing in complexity and number and the burden of our compliance with them is growing. For example, the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), which applies across the EU and the U.K., imposes stringent requirements regarding the processing of personal data. Failure to meet the GDPR requirements could, in serious cases, result in penalties of up to four percent of annual worldwide revenue turnover. Several other jurisdictions, including in the United States, have also adopted or are considering similar legislation. For example, the California Consumer Privacy Act provides data privacy rights for consumers and privacy related operational requirements for companies and similar data privacy laws have been enacted in other states, which may increase our compliance costs. If any person, including any of our employees, negligently disregards or intentionally breaches our established controls with respect to client or employee data, or otherwise mismanages or misappropriates that data, we could be subject to significant monetary damages, regulatory enforcement actions, fines and/or criminal prosecution. In addition, unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client or employee data, whether through cyber-attacks, systems failure, employee negligence, fraud or misappropriation, could damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients and related revenue in the future. Potential liability in the event of a security breach of client data could be significant and depending on the circumstances giving rise to the breach, this liability may not be subject to a contractual limit of liability or an exclusion of consequential or indirect damages. Any failure to comply with these regulations could expose us to liability and/or reputational damage. In addition, our businesses are increasingly subject to laws and regulations relating to surveillance, encryption and data on-shoring in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Compliance with these laws and regulations may require us to change our policies, procedures and technology for information security, which could, among other things, make us more vulnerable to cyber-attacks and misappropriation, corruption or loss of information or technology.