Risks Relating to Hedging Activities and Conflicts of Interest
■Hedging activities by BNS and SCUSA may negatively impact investors in the securities and cause our respective interests and those of our clients and counterparties to be contrary to those of investors in the securities. We, SCUSA or one or more of our other affiliates has hedged or expects to hedge our obligations under the securities. Such hedging transactions may include entering into swap or similar agreements, purchasing shares of the index constituent stocks and/or purchasing futures, options and/or other instruments linked to the underlying index and/or one or more of the index constituent stocks. We, SCUSA or one or more of our other affiliates also expects to adjust the hedge by, among other things, purchasing or selling any of the foregoing, and perhaps other instruments linked to the underlying index and/or one or more of the index constituent stocks, at any time and from time to time, and to unwind the hedge by selling any of the foregoing on or before the valuation date. We, SCUSA or one or more of our other affiliates may also enter into, adjust and unwind hedging transactions relating to other basket- or index-linked securities whose returns are linked to changes in the value of the underlying index and/or one or more of the index constituent stocks. Any of these hedging activities may adversely affect the value of the underlying index — directly or indirectly by affecting the price of the index constituent stocks — and therefore the market value of the securities and the amount you will receive, if any, on the securities.
You should expect that these transactions will cause BNS, SCUSA or our other affiliates, or our clients or counterparties, to have economic interests and incentives that do not align with, and that may be directly contrary to, those of an investor in the securities. None of BNS, SCUSA or any of our other affiliates will have any obligation to take, refrain from taking or cease taking any action with respect to these transactions based on the potential effect on an investor in the securities, and any of the foregoing may receive substantial returns with respect to these hedging activities while the value of, and return on, the securities declines.
■We, SCUSA and our other affiliates regularly provide services to, or otherwise have business relationships with, a broad client base, which has included and may include us and the index constituent stock issuers and the market activities by us, SCUSA or our other affiliates for our or their own respective accounts or for our clients could negatively impact investors in the securities. We, SCUSA and our other affiliates regularly provide a wide range of financial services, including financial advisory, investment advisory and transactional services to a substantial and diversified client base. As such, we each may act as an investor, investment banker, research provider, investment manager, investment advisor, market maker, trader, prime broker or lender. In those and other capacities, we, SCUSA and/or our other affiliates purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments, actively trade securities (including the securities or other securities that we have issued), the index constituent stocks, derivatives, loans, credit default swaps, indices, baskets and other financial instruments and products for our or their own respective accounts or for the accounts of our customers, and we will have other direct or indirect interests, in those securities and in other markets that may not be consistent with your interests and may adversely affect the value of the underlying index and/or the value of the securities. You should assume that we or they will, at present or in the future, provide such services or otherwise engage in transactions with, among others, us and the index constituent stock issuers, or transact in securities or instruments or with parties that are directly or indirectly related to these entities. These services could include making loans to or equity investments in those companies, providing financial advisory or other investment banking services, or issuing research reports. Any of these financial market activities may, individually or in the aggregate, have an adverse effect on the value of the underlying index and the market for your securities, and you should expect that our interests and those of SCUSA and/or our other affiliates, clients or counterparties, will at times be adverse to those of investors in the securities.
You should expect that we, SCUSA, and our other affiliates, in providing these services, engaging in such transactions, or acting for our or their own respective accounts, may take actions that have direct or indirect effects on the securities or other securities that we may issue, the index constituent stocks other securities or instruments similar to or linked to the foregoing, and that such actions could be adverse to the interests of investors in the securities. In addition, in connection with these activities, certain personnel within us, SCUSA or our other affiliates may have access to confidential material non-public information about these parties that would not be disclosed to investors in the securities.
We, SCUSA and our other affiliates regularly offer a wide array of securities, financial instruments and other products into the marketplace, including existing or new products that are similar to the securities or other securities that we may issue, the index constituent stocks or other securities or instruments similar to or linked to the foregoing. Investors in the securities should expect that we, SCUSA and our other affiliates offer securities, financial instruments, and other products that may compete with the securities for liquidity or otherwise.
■Activities conducted by BNS and its affiliates may impact the value of the underlying index and the value of the securities. Trading or transactions by BNS, SCUSA or our other affiliates in the underlying index or any index constituent stocks, listed and/or over-the-counter options, futures, exchange-traded funds or other instruments with returns linked to the performance of the underlying index or any index constituent stocks may adversely affect the value of the underlying index or index constituent stocks and, therefore, the market value of, and return on, the securities. See “— Hedging activities by BNS and SCUSA may negatively impact investors in the securities and cause our respective interests and those of our clients and counterparties to be contrary to those of investors in the securities” for additional information regarding hedging-related transactions and trading.