Simon Property (SPG) Risk Factors

To qualify to be taxed as REITs for U.S. federal income tax purposes, Simon and the Subsidiary REITs must ensure that, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of their respective assets consist of cash, cash items, government securities and "real estate assets" (as defined in the Internal Revenue Code), including certain mortgage loans and securities. The remainder of their respective investments (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a taxable REIT subsidiary, or TRS) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. Additionally, in general, no more than 5% of the value of Simon's and the Subsidiary REITs' total assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities issued by a TRS) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of their respective total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. If Simon or any of the Subsidiary REITs fails to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, Simon or any such Subsidiary REIT must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing its REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we might be required to liquidate or forgo otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to equity holders. Moreover, if Simon or the Subsidiary REITs are compelled to liquidate their investments to meet any of the asset, income or distribution tests, or to repay obligations to lenders, Simon or such subsidiaries may be unable to comply with one or more of the requirements applicable to REITs or may be subject to a 100% tax on any resulting gain if such sales constitute prohibited transactions. In addition to the asset tests set forth above, to qualify to be taxed as REITs, Simon and the Subsidiary REITs must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, the sources of their respective income, the amounts they distribute to equity holders and the ownership of their respective shares. We might be unable to pursue investments that would be otherwise advantageous to us in order to satisfy the source-of-income or asset-diversification requirements for qualifying as REITs. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our ability to make certain attractive investments.

Under the rules applicable to U.S. federal income tax audits of partnerships, subject to certain exceptions, any audit adjustment to items of income, gain, loss, deduction, or credit of a partnership (and any partner's distributive share thereof) is determined, and taxes, interest, or penalties attributable thereto could be assessed and collected, at the partnership level. Absent available elections, it is possible that a partnership in which we directly or indirectly invest could be required to pay additional taxes, interest and penalties as a result of an audit adjustment, and we, as a direct or indirect partner of these partnerships, could be required to bear the economic burden of those taxes, interest, and penalties even though Simon and the Subsidiary REITs, as REITs, may not otherwise have been required to pay additional corporate-level taxes had they owned the assets of the partnership directly. The partnership tax audit rules apply to the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries that are classified as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. There can be no assurance that these rules will not have a material adverse effect on us.

Many of our properties contain, or at one time contained, asbestos containing materials or underground storage tanks (primarily related to auto service center establishments or emergency electrical generation equipment), and as a result we may be subject to regulatory action in connection with U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to hazardous or toxic substances. We may also be held liable to third parties for personal injury or property damage incurred by the parties in connection with any such substances. The costs of investigation, removal or remediation of hazardous or toxic substances, and related liabilities, may be substantial and could materially and adversely affect us. The presence of hazardous or toxic substances, or the failure to remediate the related contamination, may also adversely affect our ability to sell, lease or redevelop a property or to borrow money using a property as collateral. Although we believe that our portfolio is in substantial compliance with U.S. federal, state and local environmental laws and regulations regarding hazardous or toxic substances, this belief is based on limited testing. Nearly all of our U.S. properties have been subjected to Phase I or similar environmental audits. These environmental audits have not revealed, nor are we aware of, any environmental liability that we believe is reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on us. However, we cannot assure you that: - previous environmental studies with respect to the portfolio reveal all potential environmental liabilities;- any previous owner, occupant or tenant of a property did not create any material environmental condition not known to us;- the current environmental condition of the portfolio will not be affected by tenants and occupants, by the condition of nearby properties, or by other unrelated third parties; or - future uses or conditions (including, without limitation, changes in applicable environmental laws and regulations or the interpretation thereof) will not result in environmental liabilities.

Epidemics, pandemics or other health crises could have, a material negative impact on economic and market conditions around the world and an adverse impact on economic activity in retail real estate, as occurred during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Governments and other authorities could respond to epidemics, pandemics or other health crises, by imposing or re-imposing measures intended to control the spread of disease, including restrictions on freedom of movement, group gatherings and business operations such as travel bans, border closings, business closures, quarantines, stay-at-home, shelter-in-place orders, density limitations and social distancing measures. Although we cannot determine the severity of any such measures in the future, which depend on the government's recognition of the negative impacts on local communities and infrastructure resulting from future mandates and associated government responses, any restrictions could negatively impact us, our tenants and consumer behavior. Demand for retail space and the profitability of our properties depends, in part, on the ability and willingness of tenants to enter into and perform obligations under leases, and the willingness of customers to visit our properties. Even without strict governmental restrictions, such as those put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, the willingness of consumers to visit our properties may be reduced and our tenants' businesses adversely affected, based upon many factors, including local transmission rates of disease, the development, availability, distribution, effectiveness and acceptance of existing and new vaccines, the effectiveness and availability of cures or treatments, and overall sensitivity to risks associated with the transmission of diseases. In addition, some of our properties are located at or within a close proximity to tourist destinations, and these properties and our tenants' businesses may be heavily and adversely impacted by reductions in travel and tourism resulting from travel bans or restrictions and general concern regarding the risk of travel, as was the case during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the impact of epidemics, pandemics or other public health crises, and governmental reactions thereto, on our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, liquidity and ability to satisfy our debt service obligations and make distributions to our shareholders could depend on additional factors, including: - the financial condition and viability of our tenants, and their ability or willingness to pay rent in full;- state, local, federal and industry-initiated tenant relief efforts that may adversely affect landlords, including us, and their ability to collect rent and/or enforce remedies for the failure to pay rent;- the increased popularity and further utilization of e-commerce;- our ability to renew leases or re-lease available space in our properties on favorable terms or at all, including as a result of a deterioration in the economic and market conditions in the markets in which we own properties or due to restrictions intended to prevent the spread of disease, including any government mandated closures of businesses that frustrate our leasing activities;- a severe and prolonged disruption and instability in the global financial markets, including the debt and equity capital markets,  which may affect our or our tenants' ability to access capital necessary to fund our or their respective business operations or repay, refinance or renew maturing liabilities on a timely basis, on attractive terms, or at all and may adversely affect the valuation of financial assets and liabilities, any of which could affect our and our tenants' ability to meet liquidity and capital expenditure requirements;- a refusal or failure of one or more lenders under our existing or future credit facilities to fund their respective financing commitment to us may affect our ability to access capital necessary to fund our business operations and to meet our liquidity and capital expenditure requirements;- a reduction in the cash flows generated by our properties and the values of our properties that could result in impairments or limit our ability to dispose of them at attractive prices or obtain debt financing secured by our properties;- the complete or partial closure of one or more of our tenants' manufacturing facilities or distribution centers, temporary or long-term disruption in our tenants' supply chains from local and international suppliers and/or delays in the delivery of our tenants' inventory, any of which could reduce or eliminate our tenants' sales, cause the temporary closure of our tenants' businesses, and/or result in their bankruptcy or insolvency;- a negative impact on consumer discretionary spending caused by high unemployment levels, reduced economic activity or a severe or prolonged recession;- our and our tenants' ability to manage our respective businesses to the extent our and their management or personnel (including on-site employees) are impacted in significant numbers or are otherwise not willing, available or allowed to conduct work, including any impact on our tenants' ability to deliver timely information to us that is necessary for us to make effective decisions; and - our and our tenants' ability to ensure business continuity in the event our or our tenants' continuity of operations plan is (i) not effective or improperly implemented or deployed or (ii) compromised due to increased cyber and remote access activity during such epidemic, pandemic or other public health crisis. To the extent any of these risks and uncertainties adversely impact us in the ways described above or otherwise, they may also have the effect of heightening many of the other risks described herein.

Bankruptcy filings by retailers can occur regularly in the course of our operations. Although we have not seen an increase in tenant bankruptcies in the last few years, in previous years a number of companies in the retail industry, including certain of our tenants, declared bankruptcy. If a tenant files for bankruptcy, the tenant may have the right to reject and terminate one or more of its leases with us, and we cannot be sure that it will affirm one or more of its leases and continue to make rental payments to us in a timely manner. A bankruptcy filing by, or relating to, one of our tenants would generally prohibit us from evicting this tenant, and bar all efforts by us to collect pre-bankruptcy debts from that tenant, or from their property, unless we receive an order permitting us to do so from the bankruptcy court. In addition, we cannot evict a tenant solely because of its bankruptcy. If a lease is assumed by the tenant in bankruptcy, all pre-bankruptcy balances due under the lease must be paid to us in full. If a lease is rejected, the unsecured claim we hold against a bankrupt tenant might be paid only to the extent that funds are available and only in the same percentage as is paid to all other holders of unsecured claims, and there are restrictions under bankruptcy laws that limit the amount of the claim we can make if a lease is rejected. As a result, it is likely that we would recover substantially less than the full value of any unsecured claims we hold. In addition, we may make lease modifications either pre- or post-bankruptcy for certain tenants undergoing significant financial distress in order for them to continue as a going concern. Furthermore, we may be required to incur significant expense in re-tenanting the space formerly leased to the bankrupt tenant. We continually seek to re-lease vacant spaces resulting from tenant terminations. The bankruptcy of a tenant, particularly an anchor tenant or a national tenant with multiple locations, may require a substantial redevelopment of its space, the success of which cannot be assured, and may make the re-tenanting of its space difficult and costly. Any such bankruptcies also make it more difficult to lease the remainder of the space at the affected property or properties. Future tenant bankruptcies may strain our resources and impact our ability to successfully execute our re-leasing strategy and could materially and adversely affect us.