Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption and anti-money laundering laws, foreign export controls and trade sanctions, and similar laws, could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences.
Failure to comply with anti-bribery, anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and similar laws could subject us to penalties and other adverse consequences. We are subject to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, or the FCPA, the U.S. domestic bribery statute contained in 18 U.S.C. § 201, the U.S. Travel Act, the USA PATRIOT Act and other federal, state, and local laws that address anti-bribery, anti-corruption, and anti-money laundering. If we expand internationally, we may become subject to the anti-corruption, anti-bribery, and anti-money laundering laws of other countries. Anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws have been enforced aggressively in recent years and are interpreted broadly to generally prohibit companies, their employees, agents, representatives, business partners, and third-party intermediaries from authorizing, offering, or providing, directly or indirectly, improper payments or benefits to recipients in the public or private sector.
If we pursue international expansion, our risks under these laws may increase as we, our employees, agents, representatives, business partners, and our third-party intermediaries may have direct or indirect interactions with officials and employees of government agencies or state-owned or affiliated entities and we may be held liable for the corrupt or other illegal activities of these employees, agents, representatives, business partners, or third-party intermediaries even if we do not explicitly authorize such activities. These laws also require that we keep accurate books and records and maintain internal controls and compliance procedures designed to prevent any such actions. While we have policies and procedures to address compliance with such laws, we cannot assure you that none of our employees, agents, representatives, business partners, or third-party intermediaries will take actions in violation of our policies and applicable law, for which we may be ultimately held responsible.
In some cases, our solutions may be subject to U.S. and foreign export controls, trade sanctions, and import laws and regulations. Governmental regulation of the import or export of our solutions, or our failure to obtain any required import or export authorization for our solutions, when applicable, could harm future international sales and adversely affect our revenue. Compliance with applicable regulatory requirements regarding the export of our solutions may create delays in the introduction of our solutions in international markets or, in some cases, prevent the export of our solutions to some countries altogether. Furthermore, U.S. export control laws and economic sanctions prohibit the shipment of certain products and services to countries, governments, and persons targeted by U.S. sanctions. If we fail to comply with export and import regulations and such economic sanctions, penalties could be imposed, including fines and/or denial of certain export privileges. Moreover, any new export or import restrictions, new legislation or shifting approaches in the enforcement or scope of existing regulations, or in the countries, persons, or products targeted by such regulations, could result in decreased use of our solutions by, or in our decreased ability to export our solutions to, existing or potential customers with international operations. Any decreased use of our solutions or limitation on our ability to export or sell our solutions would likely adversely affect our business.
Any allegations or violation of the FCPA or other applicable anti-bribery or anti-corruption laws, anti-money laundering laws, or foreign export controls and trade sanctions could result in whistleblower complaints, sanctions, settlements, prosecution, enforcement actions, fines, damages, adverse media coverage, investigations, loss of export privileges, severe criminal or civil sanctions, or suspension or debarment from U.S. government contracts, all of which may have an adverse effect on our reputation, business, results of operations, and prospects. Responding to any investigation or action will likely result in a materially significant diversion of management’s attention and resources and significant defense costs and other professional fees. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold us liable for successor liability for FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire. As a general matter, investigations, enforcement actions and sanctions could harm our reputation, business, results of operations, and financial condition.
If one or more U.S. states or local jurisdictions successfully assert that we should have collected or in the future should collect additional sales or use taxes on our fees, we could be subject to additional liability with respect to past or future sales, and the results of our operations could be adversely affected.
We do not collect state and local sales and use taxes in all jurisdictions in which our customers are located, based on our belief that such taxes are not applicable. Sales and use tax laws and rates vary by jurisdiction and such laws are subject to interpretation. Jurisdictions in which we do not collect sales and use taxes may assert that such taxes are applicable, which could result in the assessment of such taxes, interest, and penalties, and we could be required to collect such taxes in the future. This additional sales and use tax liability could adversely affect the results of our operations. In addition, one or more states, the federal government or other countries may seek to impose additional reporting, record-keeping,
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