DFS Annual Report

We may be unable to hire and retain talented employees, including management. Our success depends, in part, on our general ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly skilled employees. The loss of a significant number of our employees or the inability to attract, hire, develop, train and retain additional skilled personnel could have a serious negative effect on our business. We believe our ability to retain our client base and to attract new clients is directly related to our sales force and client service personnel, and if we cannot retain these key employees, our business could suffer. In addition, many members of our management have significant industry experience that is valuable to our competitors. We expect that our executive officers will have non-solicitation agreements contractually prohibiting them from soliciting our clients and employees within a specified period of time after they leave Donnelley Financial. If one or more members of our senior management team leave and cannot be replaced with a suitable candidate quickly, we could experience difficulty in managing our business properly, which could negatively impact our results of operations, financial position and cash flow. The trend of increasing costs to provide health care and other benefits to our employees and retirees may continue. We provide health care and other benefits to both employees and retirees. For many years, costs for health care have increased more rapidly than general inflation in the U.S. economy. If this trend in health care costs continues, our cost to provide such benefits could increase, adversely impacting our profitability. Changes to health care regulations in the U.S. and internationally may also increase our cost of providing such benefits. Changes in market conditions, changes in discount rates, or lower returns on assets may increase required pension and other post-retirement benefits plan contributions in future periods. The funded status of our pension and other post-retirement benefits plans is dependent upon many factors, including returns on invested assets and the level of certain interest rates. As experienced in prior years, declines in the market value of the securities held by the plans coupled with historically low interest rates have substantially reduced, and in the future could further reduce, the funded status of the plans. These reductions may increase the level of expected required pension and other post- retirement benefits plan contributions in future years. Various conditions may lead to changes in the discount rates used to value the year-end benefit obligations of the plans, which could partially mitigate, or worsen, the effects of lower asset returns. If adverse conditions were to continue for an extended period of time, our costs and required cash contributions associated with pension and other post-retirement benefits plans may substantially increase in future periods. We are exposed to risks related to potential adverse changes in currency exchange rates. We are exposed to market risks resulting from changes in the currency exchange rates of the currencies in the countries in which we do business. Although operating in local currencies may limit the impact of currency rate fluctuations on the operating results of our non-U.S. activities, fluctuations in such rates may affect the translation of these results into our financial statements. To the extent borrowings, sales, purchases, net sales and expenses or other transactions are not in the applicable local currency, we may enter into foreign currency spot and forward contracts to hedge the currency risk. Management cannot be sure, however, that our efforts at hedging will be successful, and such efforts could, in certain circumstances, lead to losses. There are risks associated with operations outside the United States. We have operations outside the United States. We work with capital markets clients around the world, and in 2016 our International segment accounted for 14% of our combined net sales. Our operations outside of the United States are primarily focused in Europe, Asia, Canada and Latin America. As a result, we are subject to the risks inherent in conducting business outside the United States, including: • costs of customizing products and services for foreign countries; • difficulties in managing and staffing international operations; • increased infrastructure costs including legal, tax, accounting and information technology; • reduced protection for intellectual property rights in some countries; • potentially greater difficulties in collecting accounts receivable, including currency conversion and cash repatriation from foreign jurisdictions; • increased licenses, tariffs and other trade barriers; • potentially adverse tax consequences; 19