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4
Risk Factors
Risks related to the Group’s business and industry
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Worldline
2016 Registration Document
its success and growth.
recruit, retain and develop qualified personnel is critical to
In an industry such as that of the Group, the ability to attract,
entire spectrum of the Group’s intellectual capital needs. While a
personnel who can provide the needed expertise across the
grow, it must retain, recruit and develop the necessary
intellectual capital. For the Group to successfully compete and
developments that requires a wide-ranging set of expertise and
rapidly changing technological, social, economic and regulatory
All of the Group’s businesses function at the intersection of
or effective successors. The Group’s effort to retain and develop
effectively replace current personnel who depart with qualified
succeed in recruiting additional personnel or may fail to
payment technology, is competitive and the Group may not
qualified personnel, particularly in the area of information and
unpredictability of human capital. However, the market for
maintaining continuity in the midst of the inevitable
develop its personnel to provide succession plans capable of
experience with the Group’s operations, the Group must
number of the Group’s key personnel have substantial
results of operations.
adverse effect on the Group’s business, financial condition and
Failure to retain or attract key personnel could have a material
and key competences in the acquired companies is essential.
its acquisition strategy, the Group’s ability to retain employees
which could adversely affect the Group’s profitability. As part of
personnel may also result in significant additional expenses,
could impede its growth or harm its operating results.
encounter difficulties implementing its strategy, which
may incur higher costs or other financial consequences and
arising as a result of expansion and acquisitions, the Group
associated with international operations, including those
If the Group fails to address the challenges and risks
emerging markets, including in Latin America and India, and
Furthermore, the Group currently operates in a number of
associated with having widespread international operations.
and Asia. The Group is therefore subject to risks and costs
also has operations throughout Europe and in Latin America
from operations in France and the Benelux region, the Group
While the Group currently generates over half of its revenue
risks are typically amplified.
into additional emerging and developing markets where such
intends to continue to expand both within these markets and
risks, including:
The Group’s international operations expose it to a number of
laws and regulations;
multiple, changing, and often inconsistent enforcement of
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security or other compliance requirements;
local regulatory or industry imposed requirements, including
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strong global or local competitors that may have a longer
history in and greater familiarity with the international
markets in which the Group operates;
competition from existing market participants, including
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tariffs and trade barriers;
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higher costs and complexities of compliance, and risk of
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non-compliance, with international and US laws and
regulations such as import and trade regulations and
embargoes, trade sanctions, anti-money laundering and
anti-corruption regulations, export requirements and local
tax laws;
laws and business practices that may favor local
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competitors;
restrictions on the repatriation of funds, including remittance
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of dividends by foreign subsidiaries, foreign currency
exchange restrictions, and currency exchange rate
fluctuations;
less favorable payment terms and increased difficulty in
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collecting accounts receivable and developing payment
histories that support collectability of accounts receivable
and revenue recognition;
obstacles to its use of, and access to, property and data
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centers important for its operations, especially in emerging
countries;
different and/or more stringent labor laws and practices,
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such as the mandatory use of workers’ councils and labor
unions, or laws that provide for broader definitions of
employer/employee relationships;
different and/or more stringent data protection, privacy and
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other laws;
political or economic conditions;
changes or instability in a specific country’s or region’s
●
greater difficulty in safeguarding intellectual property in
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areas such as China, India and Latin America; and
currency exchange rate exposure, to the extent that a
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portion of the Group’s revenue is generated in currencies
other than the euro (the currency in which its financial
statements are denominated).
Argentina. See Section
20.6, “Legal Proceedings” for a detailed
discussion of this matter.
adverse effect on the Group’s business, reputation, results of
operation and financial condition. These risks and costs are
heightened to the extent the Group pursues international
expansion in emerging or developing markets. The Group is
currently facing an instance of such risk, namely the
investigation led by the Public Prosecutor in relation to the
transport of funds by a former sub-contractor of the Group in
connection with the smartcard public transportation fare
collection scheme that Worldline’s Argentinian subsidiary
(“Worldline Argentina”) operates in the city of Cordoba,
Failure to effectively manage any of the above risks, including
through the development, maintenance and implementation of
an effective system of internal controls, could have a material