Company: LAZ
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0001628280-25-007441
Chunk: 115

Company: Lazard, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-02-24
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 115
---
, the global community and our business, financial condition and results of operations, by affecting the economies and markets in which we operate. For example, disruptions to, and volatility in, the global financial markets as a result of a pandemic may result in a decrease in the volume and value of M&A transactions, thereby reducing the demand for our Financial Advisory services and increasing price competition among financial services companies seeking such engagements. Those same market disruptions may result in a decrease in our AUM resulting in lower asset management fees for our Asset Management business, may affect our ability to effect transactions for our Asset Management clients and may negatively impact the liquidity of the assets held in our client portfolios. Furthermore, any such disruptions may affect our ability to incur debt or issue equity on acceptable terms, or at all, to fund our working capital requirements, refinance existing indebtedness or make acquisitions and other investments. Our efforts to mitigate the impact of pandemics may require significant investments of time and resources across our businesses. Furthermore, as many employees continue to perform all or a portion of their job functions remotely on a regular basis, there can be no assurance that our measures implemented to protect the confidentiality of our and our clients’ confidential information will be adequate. Any unauthorized disclosure of such information could result in legal action, regulatory sanctions and reputational or financial harm. 

17

Our failure to deal appropriately with actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest could damage our reputation and materially adversely affect our business.  

As we have expanded the scope of our businesses and client base, we increasingly confront actual, potential and perceived conflicts of interest relating to our Financial Advisory and Asset Management businesses. It is possible that actual, potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to client dissatisfaction, litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. Appropriately identifying and managing actual or perceived conflicts of interest is complex and difficult, and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest would have a material adverse effect on our reputation which would materially adversely affect our business in a number of ways, including an inability to recruit additional professionals and a reluctance of potential clients and counterparties to do business with us. Additionally, client-imposed conflicts requirements could place additional limitations on us, for example, by limiting our ability to accept advisory engagements. 

Policies, controls and procedures that we may be required to implement to address additional regulatory requirements, including as a result of additional foreign jurisdictions in which we operate,