9 • Legal and regulatory developments could have an impact on our ability to operate our businesses or our financial condition or results of operations or our competitive position or reputation. Reputational impacts, in turn, could affect matters such as business generation and retention, our ability to attract and retain management, liquidity and funding. These legal and regulatory developments could include: (a) the unfavorable resolution of legal proceedings or regulatory and other governmental inquiries; (b) increased litigation risk from recent regulatory and other governmental developments; (c) the results of the regulatory examination process, our failure to satisfy the requirements of agreements with governmental agencies, and regulators’ future use of supervisory and enforcement tools; (d) legislative and regulatory reforms, including changes to laws and regulations involving tax, pension, and the protection of confidential customer information; and (e) changes in accounting policies and principles. • Our business and operating results are affected by our ability to identify and effectively manage risks inherent in our businesses, including, where appropriate, through the effective use of third-party insurance and capital management techniques. • Our ability to anticipate and respond to technological changes can have an impact on our ability to respond to customer needs and to meet competitive demands. • The adequacy of our intellectual property protection, and the extent of any costs associated with obtaining rights in intellectual property claimed by others, can impact our business and operating results. • Our business and operating results can also be affected by widespread natural disasters, terrorist activities or international hostilities, either as a result of the impact on the economy and financial and capital markets generally or on us or on our customers, suppliers or other counterparties specifically. • Also, risks and uncertainties that could affect the results anticipated in forward-looking statements or from historical performance relating to our equity interest in BlackRock, Inc. are discussed in more detail in BlackRock’s 2006 Form 10-K, including in the Risk Factors section, and in BlackRock’s other filings with the SEC, accessible on the SEC’s website and on or through BlackRock’s website at www.blackrock.com. In addition, we grow our business from time to time by acquiring other financial services companies, such as our recent acquisition of Mercantile Bankshares. Acquisitions in general present us with risks other than those presented by the nature of the business acquired. In particular, acquisitions may be substantially more expensive to complete (including as a result of costs incurred in connection with the integration of the acquired company) and the anticipated benefits (including anticipated cost savings and strategic gains) may be significantly harder or take longer to achieve than expected. In some cases, acquisitions involve our entry into new businesses or new geographic or other markets, and these situations also present risks resulting from our inexperience in these new areas. As a regulated financial institution, our pursuit of attractive acquisition opportunities could be negatively impacted due to regulatory delays or other regulatory issues. Regulatory and/or legal issues related to the pre-acquisition operations of an acquired business may cause reputational harm to PNC following the acquisition and integration of the acquired business into ours and may result in additional future costs and expenses arising as a result of those issues. Any annualized, proforma, estimated, third party or consensus numbers in this presentation are used for illustrative or comparative purposes only and may not reflect actual results. Any consensus earnings estimates are calculated based on the earnings projections made by analysts who cover that company. The analysts’ opinions, estimates or forecasts (and therefore the consensus earnings estimates) are theirs alone, are not those of PNC or its management, and may not reflect PNC’s, Mercantile’s or other company’s actual or anticipated results. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information (continued) | 
