alternatively developed structure may incorporate new structural elements or otherwise substantially deviate to the disadvantage of customers from what our founders originally contemplated and publicly communicated. For example, under the alternative structure, Sono Points will be forfeited, if a customer terminates his/her reservation and the relevant Sono Points will fall back to the founders and not lead to a proportionate increase of Sono Points (or participations in the community pool) of the remaining customers. Further, the shares underlying the Sono Points and contributed into the community pool may generally be transferred by the founders under certain conditions, which may negatively affect the actual value of participation entitlements associated with Sono Points. In addition, the alternative structure allows the allocation of additional Sono Points to new customers, which would result in the dilution of the participation entitlements of existing customers. Therefore, not all customers who were previously promised Sono Points may ultimately receive Sono Points at the terms and conditions originally communicated or at all. Disappointed customers who may not receive Sono Points at the terms and conditions originally promised or at all and/or other members of our community may initiate lawsuits against our founders or us and may trigger waves of negative publicity should we not be able to offer, in full or in part, a feasible structure for the granting of Sono Points in all relevant jurisdictions. Further, we cannot preclude that Sono Group N.V. or Sono Motors GmbH will be held liable with respect to any possible significant obligations or claims under the Sono Points scheme.
We may or will be, as the case may be, subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, financial and economic sanctions and similar laws and our compliance systems may not be sufficient to adequately prevent or detect legal, financial and operational risks.
Our business may or will be subject to various laws and regulations relating to, among other things, prevention of illegal employment, bribery and corruption, and money laundering, as well as compliance with antitrust, data protection (particularly the EU General Data Protection Regulation), consumer protection, minimum wage regulations, various criminal as well as export control regulations and trade and economic sanctions and embargoes on certain countries, persons, groups and/or entities, projects and/or activities. We are reliant on the compliance of our employees and the members of our management board, our contractors, consultants, agents, vendors and (other) collaboration partners with applicable laws and compliance policies implemented by us.
However it cannot be excluded that our employees, the members of the management board, our contractors, consultants, agents, vendors and (other) collaboration partners have committed or will commit criminal, unlawful or unethical acts (including corruption) or that our compliance and risk management and its monitoring capabilities may prove insufficient to prevent or detect any breaches of the law. Any such acts or breaches of law could result in whistle-blower complaints, adverse media coverage, (criminal) investigations, significant civil, administrative, and criminal penalties and damage claims, disgorgement or other sanctions, (collateral) consequences, remedial measures and legal expenses, and cause considerable damage to our reputation, thereby negatively affecting our business, results of operations, financial condition and future business opportunities.
We may become subject to additional Dutch and German taxes, in particular, due to the statutory seat of Sono Group N.V. in The Netherlands.
There is a risk that the German tax authorities classify Sono Group N.V. as Dutch tax resident. If the German tax authorities conclude that Sono Group N.V. is not, has ceased, or ceases to be (also as a consequence of the change of facts or the law), a German tax resident, it could, inter alia, become subject to German exit taxation. This could have serious German tax consequences, including German exit taxes or the increase of German withholding taxes on dividends received by the Company. Such German exit taxes could lead to the taxation of the built-in gains in the assets (e.g., intellectual property or goodwill) of Sono Group N.V.
If we do pay dividends, we may need to withhold tax on such dividends payable to holders of our shares in both Germany and The Netherlands.
We currently do not intend to pay any dividends to holders of our ordinary shares. However, if we do pay dividends, we may need to withhold tax on such dividends in both Germany and The Netherlands.
As an entity incorporated under Dutch law, any dividends distributed by us are subject to Dutch dividend withholding tax based on Dutch domestic law. However, on the basis of the 2012 Convention between the Federal Republic of Germany and the Kingdom of The Netherlands for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income, or the “double tax treaty between Germany and The Netherlands,”The Netherlands will be restricted in imposing these taxes if we are also a tax resident of Germany and our effective management is located in Germany. This withholding tax restriction does, however, not apply,and Dutch dividend withholding tax is still required to be withheld from dividends, if and when paid to Dutch resident holders of our ordinary shares and non-Dutch resident holders of our ordinary shares that have a permanent establishment in The Netherlands to which their shareholding is attributable. As a