SPNS Sapiens International Corporation NV

The following tables summarize certain selected consolidated financial data for the periods and as of the dates indicated. We derived the statement of operations financial data for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2016 and 2017 from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this annual report. The selected consolidated statement of income financial data for the years ended December 31, 2013 and 2014 and the balance sheet data as of December 31, 2013, 2014 and 2015 are derived from our audited financial statements not included in this annual report. Our historical consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP, and presented in U.S. dollars. You should read the information presented below in conjunction with those statements.

The summary consolidated balance sheet data as of December 31, 2014, as derived from our audited consolidated balance sheet as of that date that is not included in this annual report, reflects the carrying amounts combination between Sapiens and Sapiens Poland as of that date, consistent with the pooling of interest accounting method that we accorded to our acquisition of Sapiens Poland. Also, consistent with that accounting method, our consolidated statements of income data for the year ended December 31, 2015 includes the revenues and expenses of Insseco for the entire year (although the acquisition was actually consummated during the third quarter of 2015). See also Note 1(e) to our consolidated financial statements contained elsewhere in this annual report.

The information presented below is qualified by the more detailed historical consolidated financial statements, the notes thereto and the discussion under “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects” included elsewhere in this annual report.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

We operate globally in a dynamic and rapidly changing environment that involves numerous risks and uncertainties. The following section lists some, but not all, of those risks and uncertainties that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Risks Relating to Our Business, Our Industry and our Financing Activities

The implementation of our M&A growth strategy, which requires the integration of our multiple acquired companies, including, most recently, Adaptik, KnowledgePrice, StoneRiver, MaxPro, 4Sight, and their respective businesses, operations and employees with our own, involves significant risks, and the failure to integrate successfully may adversely affect our future results.

In the past eight years we have completed eleven acquisitions. Most recently, in the first quarter of 2018, we have acquired Adaptik, after having acquired KnowledgePrice.com and StoneRiver in 2017, Maximum Processing Inc, or MaxPro, and 4Sight Business Intelligence, or 4Sight, in 2016. These acquisitions are part of our integrated M&A growth strategy, which is centered on three key factors: growing our customer base, expanding geographically and adding complementary solutions to our portfolio— all while we seek to ensure our continued high quality of services and product delivery. Any failure to successfully integrate the business, operations and employees of our acquired companies, or to otherwise realize the anticipated benefits of these acquisitions, could harm our results of operations. Our ability to realize these benefits will depend on the timely integration and consolidation of organizations, operations, facilities, procedures, policies and technologies, and the harmonization of differences in the business cultures between these companies and their personnel. Integration of these businesses will be complex and time-consuming, will involve additional expense and could disrupt our business and divert management’s attention from ongoing business concerns. The challenges involved in integrating Adaptik, Knowledgeprice.com, StoneRiver MaxPro, 4Sight and other former acquisitions include:

The benefits we expect to realize from these acquisitions are, necessarily, based on projections and assumptions about the combined businesses of our company, Adaptik, KnowledgePrice.com, MaxPro, 4Sight and StoneRiver, and assume, among other things, the successful integration of these acquired entities into our business and operations. The acquisition of StoneRiver, in particular, has significantly expanded our presence and scale in the North American insurance industry, and is expected to help us further accelerate our growing market footprint in the U.S. P&C space. The StoneRiver acquisition is the largest acquisition that we have ever effected, and failure to successfully integrate the business, operation and employees of StonerRiver could, in and of itself, significantly harm our results of operations. Our projections and assumptions concerning our acquisitions may be inaccurate, however, and we may not successfully integrate the acquired companies and our operations in a timely manner, or at all. We may also be exposed to unexpected contingencies or liabilities of the acquired companies. If we do not realize the anticipated benefits of these transactions, our growth strategy and future profitability could be adversely affected.

Our development cycles are lengthy, we may not have the resources available to complete development of new, enhanced or modified solutions and we may incur significant expenses before we generate revenues, if any, from our solutions.

Because our solutions are complex and require rigorous testing, development cycles can be lengthy, taking us up to two years to develop and introduce new, enhanced or modified solutions. Moreover, development projects can be technically challenging and expensive. The nature of these development cycles may cause us to experience delays between the time we incur expenses associated with research and development and the time we generate revenues, if any, from such expenses. We may also not have sufficient funds or other resources to make the required investments in product development. Furthermore, we may invest substantial resources in the development of solutions that do not achieve market acceptance or commercial success. Even where we succeed in our sales efforts and obtain new orders from customers, the complexity involved in delivering our solutions to such customers makes it more difficult for us to consummate delivery in a timely manner and to recognize revenue and maximize profitability. Failure to deliver our solutions in a timely manner could result in order cancellations, damage our reputations and require us to indemnify our customers. Any of these risks relating to our lengthy and expensive development cycle could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial conditions and results of operations.

Our sales cycle is variable and often lengthy, depends upon many factors outside our control, and requires us to expend significant time and resources prior to generating associated revenues.

The typical sales cycle for our solutions and services is lengthy and unpredictable, requires pre-purchase evaluation by a significant number of persons in our customers’ organizations, and often involves a significant operational decision by our customers. Our sales efforts involve educating our customers and industry analysts and consultants about the use and benefits of our solutions, including the technical capabilities of our solutions and the efficiencies achievable by organizations deploying our solutions. Customers typically undertake a significant evaluation process, which frequently involves not only our solutions, but also those of our competitors and can result in a lengthy sales cycle. Our sales cycle for new customers is typically one year to two years and can extend even longer in some cases. We spend substantial time, effort and money in our sales efforts without any assurance that such efforts will produce any sales.

Investment in highly skilled research and development and customer support personnel is critical to our ability to develop and enhance our solutions and support our customers, but an increase in such investment may reduce our profitability.

As a provider of software solutions that rely upon technological advancements, we rely heavily on our research and development activities to remain competitive. We consequently depend in large part on the ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled information technology professionals for our research and development team, particularly individuals with knowledge and experience in the insurance industry. Because our software solutions are highly complex and are generally used by our customers to perform critical business functions, we also depend heavily on other skilled technology professionals to provide ongoing support to our customers. Skilled technology professionals are often in high demand and short supply. If we are unable to hire or retain qualified research and development personnel and other technology professionals to develop, implement and modify our solutions, we may be unable to meet the needs of our customers. Even if we succeed in retaining the necessary skilled personnel in our research and development and customer support efforts, our investments in our personnel and product development efforts increase our costs of operations and thereby reduce our profitability, unless accompanied by increased revenues. Given the highly competitive industry in which we operate, we may not succeed in increasing our revenues in line with our increasing investments in our personnel and research and development efforts.

Furthermore, as we seek to expand the marketing and offering of our products into new territories, it requires the retention of new, additional skilled personnel with knowledge of the particular market and applicable regulatory regime. Such skilled personnel may not be available at a reasonable cost relative to the additional revenues that we expect to generate in those territories, or may not be available at all. In particular, wage costs in lower-cost markets where we have recently added personnel, such as India, are increasing and we may need to increase the levels of our employee compensation more rapidly than in the past to remain competitive. The transition of projects to new locations may also lead to business disruptions due to differing levels of employee knowledge and organizational and leadership skills. Although we have never experienced an organized labor dispute, strike or work stoppage, any such occurrence, including in connection with unionization efforts, could disrupt our business and operations and harm our financial condition.

Failure to manage our rapid growth— both organic and non-organic—could effectively harm our business.

We have recently experienced, and expect to continue to experience, rapid growth in our number of employees and in our international operations that has placed, and will continue to place, a significant strain on our operational and financial resources and our personnel. To manage our anticipated future growth effectively, we must continue to maintain and may need to enhance our information technology infrastructure, financial and accounting systems and controls and manage expanded operations and employees in geographically distributed locations. We also must attract, train and retain a significant number of additional qualified sales and marketing personnel, professional services personnel, software engineers, technical personnel and management personnel. Our failure to manage our rapid growth effectively could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our growth could require significant capital expenditures and may divert financial resources from other projects, such as the development of new services or product enhancements. For example, since it may take as long as six months to hire and train a new member of our professional services staff, we make decisions regarding the size of our professional services staff based upon our expectations with respect to customer demand for our products and services. If these expectations are incorrect, and we increase the size of our professional services organization without experiencing an increase in sales of our products and services, we will experience reductions in our gross and operating margins and net income. If we are unable to effectively manage our growth, our expenses may increase more than expected, our revenues could decline or grow more slowly than expected and we may be unable to implement our business strategy. Our rapid growth may also be accompanied by greater exposure to litigation, including suits by clients, vendors, employees or former employees, as the sizes of our workforce and our overall international operations increase. Restructuring strategies that we have been implementing as part of our management of the effectiveness of our growth require the termination of employees, which also increases our potential exposure to suits by former employees. All such litigation carries with it related costs and could divert our management’s attention from ongoing business concerns. We also intend to continue to expand into additional international markets which, if not technologically or commercially successful, could harm our financial condition and prospects.

The skilled and highly qualified workforce that we need to develop, implement and modify our solutions may be difficult to hire, train and retain, and we could face increased costs to attract and retain our skilled workforce.

Our business operations depend in large part on our ability to attract, train, motivate and retain highly skilled information technology professionals, software programmers and communications engineers on a worldwide basis. In addition, our competitive success will depend on our ability to attract and retain other outstanding, highly qualified employees, consultants and other professionals. Because our software products are highly complex and are generally used by our customers to perform critical business functions, we depend heavily on skilled technology professionals. Skilled technology professionals are often in high demand and short supply. If we are unable to hire or retain qualified technology professionals to develop, implement and modify our solutions, we may be unable to meet the needs of our customers. In addition, serving several new customers or implementing several new large-scale projects in a short period of time may require us to attract and train additional IT professionals at a rapid rate.

If existing customers are not satisfied with our solutions and services and either do not make subsequent purchases from us or do not continue using such solutions and services, or if our relationships with our largest customers are impaired, our revenue could be negatively affected.

We depend heavily on repeat product and service revenues from our base of existing customers. Five of our customers accounted for, in the aggregate, 34% and 22% of our revenues in the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2017, respectively. If our existing customers are not satisfied with our solutions and services, they may not enter into new project contracts with us or continue using our technologies. A significant decline in our revenue stream from existing customers would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our business often involves long-term, large, complex projects across the globe, some of which are fixed-price projects that involve uncertainties, such as estimated project costs and profit margins. Changes in the scope of a project or in the implementation schedule mid-stream can adversely impact our expected future revenues, profitability and/or, in some cases, our relationship with the relevant client.

Our business is characterized by relatively large, complex projects or engagements that can have a significant impact on our total revenue and cost of revenue from quarter to quarter. A high percentage of our expenses, particularly employee compensation, are relatively fixed. Therefore, variations in the timing of the initiation, estimate of scope of work, progress or completion of projects or engagements can cause significant variations in operating results from quarter to quarter.

This is particularly the case for fixed-price contracts, where our delivery requirements sometimes span more than one year. For a highly complex, fixed-price project that requires customization, we may not be able to accurately estimate our actual costs of completing the project. We are often dependent on the assistance of third-parties (such as our customers’ vendors or IT employees, or our system integrator partners) in implementing such a project, which may not be provided in a timely manner. If our actual cost-to-completion of such a project significantly exceeds the estimated costs, we could experience a loss on the related contract, which (when multiplied by multiple projects) could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position and cash flow.

Similarly, delays in executing client contracts (whether fixed price or not) may affect our revenue and cause our operating results to vary widely. Our solutions are delivered over periods of time ranging from several months to a few years. Payment terms are generally based on periodic payments or on the achievement of milestones. Any delays in payment or in the achievement of milestones may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial position or cash flows.

For non-fixed price contracts, we generally provide our customers with upfront estimates regarding the duration, budget and costs associated with the implementation of our products. Due to the complexities described above, however, we may not meet those upfront estimates and/or the expectations of our customers, which could lead to a dispute with a client.

As an example, in 2017 we were involved in a dispute with a significant customer under a software development project agreement, which agreement provided for the customizing, enhancement and implementation of a new product. The customer alleged that we had materially breached our agreement with the customer. After carefully examining the customer’s allegations, we informed the customer that we had not materially breached any of our obligations under the agreement and that the customer had itself materially breached the agreement. Work on the project was canceled due to the dispute. While we eventually entered into a settlement agreement with the customer, that settlement resulted in the termination of the software development project agreement, which resulted in a reduction in our revenues and operating profit relative to our prior estimates for 2017. Similar such disputes with other significant customers in the future, whether due to failure on our part to meet upfront estimates or customer expectations, or even absent such failures on our part, could harm our reputation, thereby adversely affecting our ability to attract new customers and to sell additional solutions and services to existing customers.

We may be liable to our clients for damages caused by a violation of intellectual property rights, the disclosure of other confidential information, including personally identifiable information, system failures, errors or unsatisfactory performance of services, and our insurance policies may not be sufficient to cover these damages.

We often have access to, and are required to collect and store, sensitive or confidential client information, including personally identifiable information. Some of our client agreements do not limit our potential liability for breaches of confidentiality, infringement indemnity and certain other matters. Furthermore, breaches of confidentiality may entitle the aggrieved party to equitable remedies, including injunctive relief. If any person, including any of our employees and subcontractors, penetrates our network security or misappropriates sensitive or confidential client information, including personally identifiable information, we could be subject to significant liability from our clients or from our clients’ customers for breaching contractual confidentiality provisions or privacy laws. Despite measures we take to protect the intellectual property and other confidential information or personally identifiable information of our clients, unauthorized parties, including our employees and subcontractors, may attempt to misappropriate certain intellectual property rights that are proprietary to our clients or otherwise breach our clients’ confidences. Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential client information, including personally identifiable information, or a violation of intellectual property rights, whether through employee misconduct, breach of our computer systems, systems failure or otherwise, may subject us to liabilities, damage our reputation and cause us to lose clients.

Many of our contracts involve projects that are critical to the operations of our clients’ businesses and provide benefits to our clients that may be difficult to quantify. Any failure in a client’s system or any breach of security could result in a claim for substantial damages against us, regardless of our responsibility for such failure. Furthermore, any errors by our employees in the performance of services for a client, or poor execution of such services, could result in a client terminating our engagement and seeking damages from us.

In addition, while we have taken steps to protect the confidential information that we have access to, including confidential information we may obtain through usage of our cloud-based services, our security measures may be breached. If a cyber-attack or other security incident were to result in unauthorized access to or modification of our customers’ data or our own data or our IT systems or in disruption of the services we provide to our customers, or if our products or services are perceived as having security vulnerabilities, we could suffer significant damage to our business and reputation.

Although we attempt to limit our contractual liability for consequential damages in rendering our services, these limitations on liability may not apply in all circumstances, may be unenforceable in some cases, or may be insufficient to protect us from liability for damages. There may be instances when liabilities for damages are greater than the insurance coverage we hold and we will have to internalize those losses, damages and liabilities not covered by our insurance.

Changes in privacy regulations may impose additional costs and liabilities on us, limit our use of information, and adversely affect our business.

Personal privacy has become a significant issue in the United States, Europe, and many other countries where we operate. Many government agencies and industry regulators continue to impose new restrictions and modify existing requirements about the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. Changes to laws or regulations affecting privacy and security may impose additional liability and costs on us and may limit our use of such information in providing our services to customers. If we were required to change our business activities, revise or eliminate services or products, or implement burdensome compliance measures, our business and results of operations may be harmed. Additionally, we may be subject to regulatory enforcement actions resulting in fines, penalties, and potential litigation if we fail to comply with applicable privacy laws and regulations.

In particular, our European activities will be subject to the new European Union General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which will create additional compliance requirements for us. GDPR broadens the scope of personal privacy laws to protect the rights of European Union citizens and requires organizations to report on data breaches within 72 hours and be bound by more stringent rules for obtaining the consent of individuals on how their data can be used. GDPR will become enforceable on May 25, 2018 and non-compliance may expose entities such as our company to significant fines or other regulatory claims. While we have invested in, and intend to continue to invest in, reasonably necessary resources to comply with these new standards, to the extent that we fail to adequately comply, that failure could have an adverse effect on our business, financial conditions, results of operations and cash flows.

Errors or defects in our software solutions could inevitably arise and would harm our profitability and our reputation with customers, and could even give rise to liability claims against us.

The quality of our solutions, including new, modified or enhanced versions thereof, is critical to our success. Since our software solutions are complex, they may contain errors that cannot be detected at any point in their testing phase. While we continually test our solutions for errors or defects and work with customers to identify and correct them, errors in our technology may be found in the future. Testing for errors or defects is complicated because it is difficult to simulate the breadth of operating systems, user applications and computing environments that our customers use and our solutions themselves are increasingly complex. Errors or defects in our technology have resulted in terminated work orders and could result in delayed or lost revenue, diversion of development resources and increased services, termination of work orders, damage to our brand and warranty and insurance costs in the future. In addition, time-consuming implementations may also increase the number of services personnel we must allocate to each customer, thereby increasing our costs and adversely affecting our business, results of operations and financial condition.

In addition, since our customers rely on our solutions to operate, monitor and improve the performance of their business processes, they are sensitive to potential disruptions that may be caused by the use of, or any defects in, our software. As a result, we may be subject to claims for damages related to software errors in the future. Liability claims could require us to spend significant time and money in litigation or to pay significant damages. Regardless of whether we prevail, diversion of key employees’ time and attention from our business, the incurrence of substantial expenses and potential damage to our reputation might result. While the terms of our sales contracts typically limit our exposure to potential liability claims and we carry errors and omissions insurance against such claims, there can be no assurance that such insurance will continue to be available on acceptable terms, if at all, or that such insurance will provide us with adequate protection against any such claims. A significant liability claim against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial position.

The market for software solutions and related services is highly competitive.

The market for software solutions and related services and for business solutions for the insurance and financial services industry in particular, is highly competitive. Many of our smaller competitors have been acquired by larger competitors, which provides such smaller competitors with greater resources and potentially a larger client base for which they can develop solutions. Our customers or potential customers may prefer suppliers that are larger than us, are better known in the market or that have a greater global reach. In addition, we and some of our competitors have developed systems to allow customers to outsource their core systems to external providers (known as BPO). We are seeking to partner with BPO providers, but there can be no assurance that such BPO providers will adopt our solutions rather than those of our competitors. Determinations by current and potential customers to use BPO providers that do not use our solutions may result in the loss of such customers and limit our ability to gain new customers.

Consolidation in the insurance industry in which some of our clients operate also increases competitiveness for us by reducing the number of potential clients for whose business we and our competitors compete. The high level of continuity with which insurance and other financial services clients remain with their providers of software-related services also increases general competitiveness by tying clients to their service providers and thereby shrinking the market of potential clients.

Incorrect or improper use of our products or our failure to properly train customers on how to implement or utilize our products could result in customer dissatisfaction and negatively affect our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects.

Our products are complex and are deployed in a wide variety of network environments. The proper use of our solutions requires training of the customer. If our solutions are not used correctly or as intended, inadequate performance may result. Additionally, our customers or third-party partners may incorrectly implement or use our solutions. Our solutions may also be intentionally misused or abused by customers or their employees or third parties who are able to access or use our solutions. Similarly, our solutions are sometimes installed or maintained by customers or third parties with smaller or less qualified IT departments, potentially resulting in sub-optimal installation and, consequently, performance that is less than the level anticipated by the customer. Because our customers rely on our software, services and maintenance support to manage a wide range of operations, the incorrect or improper use of our solutions, our failure to properly train customers on how to efficiently and effectively use our solutions, or our failure to properly provide implementation or maintenance services to our customers has resulted in terminated work orders and may result in termination of work orders, negative publicity or legal claims against us in the future. Also, as we continue to expand our customer base, any failure by us to properly provide these services will likely result in lost opportunities for follow-on sales of our software and services.

In addition, if there is substantial turnover of customer personnel responsible for implementation and use of our products, or if customer personnel are not well trained in the use of our products, customers may defer the deployment of our products, may deploy them in a more limited manner than originally anticipated or may not deploy them at all. Further, if there is substantial turnover of the customer personnel responsible for implementation and use of our products, our ability to make additional sales may be substantially limited.

Assertions by third parties of infringement or other violation by us of their intellectual property rights could result in significant costs and substantially harm our business and results of operations.

The software industry is characterized by the existence of a large number of patents and frequent claims and related litigation regarding patents and other intellectual property rights. In particular, leading companies in the software industry own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, which they may use to assert claims against us. From time to time, third parties, including certain of these leading companies, may assert patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property claims against us, our customers and partners, and those from whom we license technology and intellectual property.

Although we believe that our products and services do not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties, we cannot assure you that third parties will not assert infringement or misappropriation claims against us with respect to current or future products or services, or that any such assertions will not require us to enter into royalty arrangements or result in costly litigation, or result in us being unable to use certain intellectual property. We cannot assure you that we are not infringing or otherwise violating any third party intellectual property rights. Infringement assertions from third parties may involve patent holding companies or other patent owners who have no relevant product revenues, and therefore our own issued and pending patents may provide little or no deterrence to these patent owners in bringing intellectual property rights claims against us.

Any intellectual property infringement or misappropriation claim or assertion against us, our customers or partners, and those from whom we license technology and intellectual property could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, reputation and competitive position regardless of the validity or outcome. If we are forced to defend against any infringement or misappropriation claims, whether they are with or without merit, are settled out of court, or are determined in our favor, we may be required to expend significant time and financial resources on the defense of such claims. Furthermore, an adverse outcome of a dispute may require us to pay damages, potentially including treble damages and attorneys’ fees, if we are found to have willfully infringed on a party’s intellectual property; cease making, licensing or using our products or services that are alleged to infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property of others; expend additional development resources to redesign our products or services; enter into potentially unfavorable royalty or license agreements in order to obtain the right to use necessary technologies or works; and to indemnify our partners, customers, and other third parties. Royalty or licensing agreements, if required or desirable, may be unavailable on terms acceptable to us, or at all, and may require significant royalty payments and other expenditures. Any of these events could seriously harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, any lawsuits regarding intellectual property rights, regardless of their success, could be expensive to resolve and divert the time and attention of our management and technical personnel.

Although we apply measures to protect our intellectual property rights and our source code, there can be no assurance that the measures that we employ to do so will be successful.

In accordance with industry practice, since we have no registered patents on our software solution technologies, we rely on a combination of contractual provisions and intellectual property law to protect our proprietary technology. We believe that due to the dynamic nature of the computer and software industries, copyright protection is less significant than factors such as the knowledge and experience of our management and personnel, the frequency of product enhancements and the timeliness and quality of our support services. We seek to protect the source code of our products as trade secret information and as unpublished copyright works. We also rely on security and copy protection features in our proprietary software. We distribute our products under software license agreements that grant customers a personal, non-transferable license to use our products and contain terms and conditions prohibiting the unauthorized reproduction or transfer of our products. In addition, while we attempt to protect trade secrets and other proprietary information through non-disclosure agreements with employees, consultants and distributors, not all of our employees have signed invention assignment agreements. Although we intend to protect our rights vigorously, there can be no assurance that these measures will be successful. Our failure to protect our rights, or the improper use of our products by others without licensing them from us could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We and our customers rely on technology and intellectual property of third parties, the loss of which could limit the functionality of our products and disrupt our business.

We use technology and intellectual property licensed from unaffiliated third parties in certain of our products, and we may license additional third-party technology and intellectual property in the future. Any errors or defects in this third-party technology and intellectual property could result in errors that could harm our brand and business. In addition, licensed technology and intellectual property may not continue to be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. The loss of the right to license and distribute this third party technology could limit the functionality of our products and might require us to redesign our products.

Further, although we believe that there are currently adequate replacements for the third-party technology and intellectual property we presently use and distribute, the loss of our right to use any of this technology and intellectual property could result in delays in producing or delivering affected products until equivalent technology or intellectual property is identified, licensed or otherwise procured, and integrated. Our business would be disrupted if any technology and intellectual property we license from others or functional equivalents of this software were either no longer available to us or no longer offered to us on commercially reasonable terms. In either case, we would be required either to attempt to redesign our products to function with technology and intellectual property available from other parties or to develop these components ourselves, which would result in increased costs and could result in delays in product sales and the release of new product offerings. Alternatively, we might be forced to limit the features available in affected products. Any of these results could harm our business and impact our results of operations.

We could be required to provide the source code of our products to our customers.

Some of our customers have the right to require the source code of our products to be deposited into a source code escrow. Under certain circumstances, our source code could be released to our customers. The conditions triggering the release of our source code vary by customer. A release of our source code would give our customers access to our trade secrets and other proprietary and confidential information which could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition. A few of our customers have the right to use the source code of some of our products based on the license agreements signed with such clients (mostly with respect to older versions of our solutions), although such use is limited for specific matters and cases, these clients are exposed to some of our trade secrets and other proprietary and confidential information which could harm us.

Significant disruptions of our information technology systems or breaches of our data security could adversely affect our business.

A significant invasion, interruption, destruction or breakdown of our information technology, or IT, systems and/or infrastructure by persons with authorized or unauthorized access could negatively impact our business and operations. We could also experience business interruption, information theft and/or reputational damage from cyber attacks, which may compromise our systems and lead to data leakage internally. Both data that has been inputted into our main IT platform, which covers records of transactions, financial data and other data reflected in our results of operations, as well as data related to our proprietary rights (such as research and development, and other intellectual property- related data), are subject to material cyber security risks. Our IT systems have been, and are expected to continue to be, the target of malware and other cyber attacks. To date, we are not aware that we have experienced any loss of, or disruption to, material information as a result of any such malware or cyber attack.

We have invested in advanced detection, prevention and proactive systems to reduce these risks. Based on independent audits, we believe that our level of protection is in keeping with the industry standards of peer technology companies. We also maintain a disaster recovery solution, as a means of assuring that a breach or cyber attack does not necessarily cause the loss of our information. We furthermore review our protections and remedial measures periodically in order to ensure that they are adequate.

Despite these protective systems and remedial measures, techniques used to obtain unauthorized access are constantly changing, are becoming increasingly more sophisticated and often are not recognized until after an exploitation of information has occurred. We may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement sufficient preventative measures, and we therefore cannot assure you that our preventative measures will be successful in preventing compromise and/or disruption of our information technology systems and related data. We furthermore cannot be certain that our remedial measures will fully mitigate the adverse financial consequences of any cyber attack or incident.

Catastrophes may adversely impact the P&C insurance industry, preventing us from expanding or maintaining our existing customer base and increasing our revenues.

Our customers include P&C insurance carriers that have experienced, and will likely experience in the future, catastrophe losses that adversely impact their businesses. Catastrophes can be caused by various events, including, amongst others, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, windstorms, earthquakes, hail, tornados, explosions, severe weather and fires. Moreover, acts of terrorism or war could cause disruptions in our or our customers’ businesses or the economy as a whole. The risks associated with natural disasters and catastrophes are inherently unpredictable, and it is difficult to predict the timing of such events or estimate the amount of loss they will generate. In the event a future catastrophe adversely impacts our current or potential customers, we may be prevented from maintaining and expanding our customer base and from increasing our revenues because such events may cause customers to postpone purchases of new products and professional service engagements or discontinue projects.

There may be consolidation in the P&C insurance industry, which could reduce the use of our products and services and adversely affect our revenues.

Mergers or consolidations among our customers could reduce the number of our customers and potential customers. This could adversely affect our revenues even if these events do not reduce the aggregate number of customers or the activities of the consolidated entities. If our customers merge with or are acquired by other entities that are not our customers, or that use fewer of our products and services, they may discontinue or reduce their use of our products and services. Any of these developments could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows.

Some of our services and technologies may use “open source” software, which may restrict how we use or distribute our services or require that we release the source code of certain products subject to those licenses.

Some of our services and technologies may incorporate software licensed under so-called “open source” licenses, including, but not limited to, the GNU General Public License and the GNU Lesser General Public License. In addition to risks related to license requirements, usage of open source software can lead to greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide warranties or controls on origin of the software. Additionally, open source licenses typically require that source code subject to the license be made available to the public and that any modifications or derivative works to open source software continue to be licensed under open source licenses. These open source licenses typically mandate that proprietary software, when combined in specific ways with open source software, become subject to the open source license. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software, we could be required to release the source code of our proprietary software.

We take steps to ensure that our proprietary software is not combined with, and does not incorporate, open source software in ways that would require our proprietary software to be subject to an open source license. However, few courts have interpreted open source licenses, and the manner in which these licenses may be interpreted and enforced is therefore subject to some uncertainty. Additionally, we rely on multiple software programmers to design our proprietary technologies, and although we take steps to prevent our programmers from including open source software in the technologies and software code that they design, write and modify, we do not exercise complete control over the development efforts of our programmers and we cannot be certain that our programmers have not incorporated open source software into our proprietary products and technologies or that they will not do so in the future. In the event that portions of our proprietary technology are determined to be subject to an open source license, we could be required to publicly release the affected portions of our source code, re-engineer all or a portion of our technologies, or otherwise be limited in the licensing of our technologies, each of which could reduce or eliminate the value of our services and technologies and materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and prospects.

Our deed of trust related to our Series B Debentures contains certain affirmative covenants and restrictive provisions that, if breached, could result in an increase in the interest rate and, potentially, an acceleration of our obligation to repay those debentures, which we may be unable to effect.

In the deed of trust that we have entered into with the trustee for the holders of our Series B Debentures, or the debentures, which we offered and sold in an Israeli public offering and Israeli private placement in September 2017, we have undertaken to maintain a number of conditions and limitations on the manner in which we can operate our business, including limitations on our ability to undergo a change of control, distribute dividends, incur a floating charge on our assets, or undergo an asset sale or other change that results in a fundamental change in our operations. The deed of trust also requires us to comply with certain financial covenants, including maintenance of a minimum shareholders’ equity level and a maximum ratio of financial indebtedness to shareholders’ equity, at levels that are customary for companies of comparable size. These limitations and covenants may force us to pursue less than optimal business strategies or forego business arrangements that could otherwise be financially advantageous to us and, by extension, our debenture holders. The deed of trust furthermore provides for an upwards adjustment in the interest rate payable under the debentures in the event that our debentures’ rating is downgraded below a certain level. A breach of the financial covenants for more than two successive quarters or a substantial downgrade in the rating of the debentures (below BBB-) would constitute an event of default that could result in the acceleration of our obligation to repay the debentures, of which there is NIS 280 million (approximately US $79.2 million) principal amount outstanding, which accelerated repayment may be difficult for us to effect.

Risks Relating to Our International Operations

Our international sales and operations subject us to additional risks that can adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We are continuing to expand our international operations as part of our growth strategy. In fiscal years 2016 and 2017, 66% and 59%, respectively, of our revenues were derived from outside of North America. Our current international operations and our plans to further expand our international operations subject us to a variety of risks, including:

As we continue to expand our business globally, our success will depend, in large part, on our ability to anticipate and effectively manage these and other risks associated with our international operations. Any of these risks could harm our international operations and reduce our international sales, adversely affecting our business, results of operations, financial condition and growth prospects.

International operations in the insurance industry, in which a significant portion of our business is concentrated, is accompanied by additional costs related to adaptation to regulations in specific territories.

As we seek to expand the marketing and offering of our products into new territories, because insurance regulations vary by legal jurisdiction, the investment required to adapt our solutions to the legal and language requirements of such territories may prevent or delay us from effectively expanding into such territories. Such adaptation process requires the retention of new, additional skilled personnel with knowledge of the particular market and applicable regulatory regime. Such skilled personnel may not be available at a reasonable cost relative to the additional revenues that we expect to recognize in those territories, or may not be available at all.

Our international operations expose us to risks associated with fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that could adversely affect our business.

Most of our revenues are derived from international operations that are conducted in local currencies, including US dollars, GBP, EURO, New Israeli Shekels, or NIS, Indian rupee, or INR and Polish zloty, or PLN. In 2016 and 2017, our revenues were approximately 37% and 53%, respectively, in US dollars, with the remainder in the other currencies.

Because exchange rates between the NIS, GBP, Euro, JPY, INR and the PLN against the US dollar fluctuate continuously, exchange rate fluctuations and especially larger periodic devaluations could negatively affect our revenue and profitability.

In certain locations, we engage in currency-hedging transactions intended to reduce the effect of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our financial position and results of operations. However, there can be no assurance that any such hedging transactions will materially reduce the effect of fluctuation in foreign currency exchange rates on such results. In addition, if for any reason exchange or price controls or other restrictions on the conversion of foreign currencies were imposed, our financial position and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our business may be materially affected by changes to fiscal and tax policies. Potentially negative or unexpected tax consequences of these policies, or the uncertainty surrounding their potential effects, could adversely affect our results of operations and share price.

As a multinational corporation, we are subject to income taxes, withholding taxes and indirect taxes in numerous jurisdictions worldwide. Significant judgment and management attention and resources are required in evaluating our tax positions and our worldwide provision for taxes. In the ordinary course of business, there are many activities and transactions for which the ultimate tax determination is uncertain. In addition, our tax obligations and effective tax rates could be adversely affected by changes in the relevant tax, accounting, and other laws, regulations, principles and interpretations. This may include recognizing tax losses or lower than anticipated earnings in jurisdictions where we have lower statutory rates and higher than anticipated earnings in jurisdictions where we have higher statutory rates, changes in foreign currency exchange rates, or changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities.

We may be audited in various jurisdictions, and such jurisdictions may assess additional taxes against us. If we experience unfavourable results from one or more such tax audits, there could be an adverse effect on our tax rate and therefore on our net income. Although we believe our tax estimates are reasonable, the final determination of any tax audits or litigation could be materially different from our historical tax provisions and accruals, which could have a material adverse effect on our operating results or cash flows in the period or periods for which a determination is made. Additionally, we are subject to transfer pricing rules and regulations, including those relating to the flow of funds between us and our affiliates, which are designed to ensure that appropriate levels of income are reported in each jurisdiction in which we operate.

The U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, or the Act, enacted in December 2017, introduced significant changes to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.

At December 31, 2017, we have not completed our accounting for the tax effects of enactment of the Act; however, we have made reasonable estimates of the effects on the existing deferred tax balances for which provisional amounts have been recorded.

The Act requires complex computations to be performed that were not previously required in U.S. tax law, significant judgments to be made in interpretation of the provisions of the 2017 Tax Act and significant estimates in calculations, and the preparation and analysis of information not previously relevant or regularly produced. The U.S. Treasury Department, the IRS, and other standard-setting bodies could interpret or issue guidance on how provisions of the 2017 Tax Act will be applied or otherwise administered that is different from our interpretation. As we complete our analysis of the 2017 Tax Act, collect and prepare necessary data, and interpret any additional guidance, we may make adjustments to provisional amounts that we have recorded that may impact our provision for income taxes in the period in which the adjustments are made.

The base erosion and profit shifting (“BEPS”) project undertaken by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (“OECD”) may have adverse consequences to our tax liabilities. The BEPS project contemplates changes to numerous international tax principles, as well as national tax incentives, and these changes, when adopted by individual countries, could adversely affect our provision for income taxes. Countries have only recently begun to translate the BEPS recommendations into specific national tax laws, and it remains difficult to predict the magnitude of the effect of such new rules on our financial results.

Risks Related to an Investment in our Common Shares

There is limited trading volume for our common shares, which reduces liquidity for our shareholders, and may furthermore cause the share price to be volatile, all of which may lead to losses by investors.

There has historically been limited trading volume in our common shares, both on the NASDAQ Capital Market and the TASE. While recently there has been improvement, the trading volume is still limited, which results in reduced liquidity for our shareholders. As a further result of the limited volume, our common shares have experienced significant market price volatility in the past and may experience significant market price and volume fluctuations in the future, in response to factors such as announcements of developments related to our business, announcements by competitors, quarterly fluctuations in our financial results and general conditions in the industry in which we compete.

We are a foreign private issuer under the rules and regulations of the SEC and are therefore exempt from a number of rules under the Exchange Act and are permitted to file less information with the SEC than a domestic U.S. reporting company, which reduces the level and amount of disclosure that you receive.

As a foreign private issuer under the Exchange Act, we are exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act, including the proxy rules, which impose certain disclosure and procedural requirements for proxy solicitations. Moreover, we are not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as domestic U.S. companies with securities registered under the Exchange Act; and are not required to comply with Regulation FD, which imposes certain restrictions on the selective disclosure of material information. In addition, our officers, directors and principal shareholders are exempt from the reporting and “short-swing” profit recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act and the rules under the Exchange Act with respect to their purchases and sales of our common shares. Accordingly, you receive less information about our company than you would receive about a domestic U.S. company, and are afforded less protection under the U.S. federal securities laws than you would be afforded in holding securities of a domestic U.S. company.

As a foreign private issuer, we are also permitted, and have begun, to follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of those otherwise required under the Listing Rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market for domestic U.S. issuers. We have informed NASDAQ that we follow home country practice—presently in Curaçao and prospectively, following the completion of our planned migration, in the Cayman Islands— with regard to, among other things, composition of our Board of Directors (whereby a majority of the members of our Board of Directors need not be “independent directors,” as is generally required for domestic U.S. issuers), director nomination procedure and approval of compensation of officers. In addition, we have opted to follow home country law instead of the Listing Rules of the NASDAQ Stock Market that require that a listed company obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events, such as the establishment or amendment of certain equity-based compensation plans, an issuance that will result in a change of control of the Company, certain transactions other than a public offering involving issuances of a 20% or greater interest in the Company, and certain acquisitions of the stock or assets of another company. Following our home country governance practices as opposed to the requirements that would otherwise apply to a United States company listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market may provide our shareholders with less protection than they would have as stockholders of a domestic U.S. company.

Our controlling shareholder, Formula Systems (1985) Ltd., beneficially owns approximately 48.9% of our outstanding Common Shares and therefore asserts a controlling influence over matters requiring shareholder approval, which could delay or prevent a change of control that may benefit our public shareholders.

Formula Systems (1985) Ltd. beneficially owns approximately 48.9% of our outstanding Common Shares. As a result, it exercises a controlling influence over our operations and business strategy and has sufficient voting power to control the outcome of various matters requiring shareholder approval. These matters may include:

This concentration of ownership of our Common Shares could delay or prevent proxy contests, mergers, tender offers, open-market purchase programs or other purchases of our Common Shares that might otherwise give you the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our Common Shares. This concentration of ownership may also adversely affect our share price.

Our U.S. shareholders may suffer adverse tax consequences if we are classified as a passive foreign investment company or as a “controlled foreign corporation”.

Generally, if for any taxable year 75% or more of our gross income is passive income, or at least 50% of the average quarterly value of our assets (which may be measured in part by the market value of our Common Shares, which is subject to change) are held for the production of, or produce, passive income, we would be characterized as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, for U.S. federal income tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. Based on our gross income and gross assets, and the nature of our business, we believe that we were not classified as a PFIC for the taxable year ended December 31, 2017. Because PFIC status is determined annually based on our income, assets and activities for the entire taxable year, it is not possible to determine whether we will be characterized as a PFIC for the taxable year ending December 31, 2018, or for any subsequent year, until we finalize our financial statements for that year. Furthermore, because the value of our gross assets is likely to be determined in large part by reference to our market capitalization, a decline in the value of our Common Shares may result in our becoming a PFIC. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that we will not be considered a PFIC for any taxable year. Our characterization as a PFIC could result in material adverse tax consequences for you if you are a U.S. investor, including having gains realized on the sale of our Common Shares treated as ordinary income, rather than a capital gain, the loss of the preferential rate applicable to dividends received on our Common Shares by individuals who are U.S. holders, and having interest charges apply to distributions by us and the proceeds of share sales. Certain elections exist that may alleviate some of the adverse consequences of PFIC status and would result in an alternative treatment (such as mark-to-market treatment) of our Common Shares. Prospective U.S. investors should consult their own tax advisers regarding the potential application of the PFIC rules to them. Prospective U.S. investors should refer to “Item 10.E. Taxation—U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations” for discussion of additional U.S. income tax considerations applicable to them based on our treatment as a PFIC.

Certain U.S. holders of our Common Shares may suffer adverse tax consequences if we or any of our non-U.S. subsidiaries are characterized as a “controlled foreign corporation”, or a CFC, under Section 957(a) of the Code. Certain changes to the CFC constructive ownership rules under Section 958(b) of the Code introduced by the TCJA may cause one or more of our non-U.S. subsidiaries to be treated as CFCs, may also impact our CFC status, and may affect holders of our Common Shares that are United States shareholders. Generally, for U.S. shareholders that own 10% or more of the combined vote or combined value of our Common Shares, this may result in negative U.S. federal income tax consequences and these shareholders may be subject to certain reporting requirements with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Any such 10% U.S. shareholder should consult its own tax advisors regarding the U.S. tax consequences of acquiring, owning, or disposing our Common Shares and the impact of the TCJA, especially the changes to the rules relating to CFCs.

Risks Related to Our Israeli Operations and Our Status as a Curacao Company

The tax benefits that are available to us require us to continue to meet various conditions and may be terminated or reduced in the future, which could increase our costs and taxes. 

Certain of our Israeli subsidiaries were granted Approved Enterprise, or AE, status under the Israeli Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investments, 5719-1959, or the Investment Law. These subsidiaries elected the alternative benefits program, pursuant to which income derived from the AE program is tax-exempt for two years and enjoys a reduced tax rate of 10.0% to 25.0% for up to a total of eight years, subject to an adjustment based on the percentage of foreign investors’ ownership. We were also eligible for certain tax benefits provided to Benefited Enterprises, or BEs, under the Investment Law. In May 2015, we notified the Israel Tax Authority that we apply the new tax Preferred Enterprise, or PFE, regime under the Investment Law instead of our AE and BE. Accordingly, we are eligible for certain tax benefits provided to PFEs under the Investment Law. Beginning in 2017, part of the Company taxable income in Israel is eligible for benefits under Amendment 73 of the Investment Law. If we do not meet the conditions stipulated in the Investment Law and the regulations promulgated thereunder, as amended, for the PTE, any of the associated tax benefits may be cancelled and we would be required to repay the amount of such benefits, in whole or in part, including interest and CPI linkage (or other monetary penalties). Further, in the future these tax benefits may be reduced or discontinued. If these tax benefits are reduced, cancelled or discontinued, our Israeli taxable income would be subject to regular Israeli corporate tax rates (25% in 2016, 24% in 2017 and 23% in 2018 and thereafter), which would harm our financial condition and results of operation. Additionally, if we increase our activities outside of Israel through acquisitions, for example, our expanded activities might not be eligible for inclusion in future Israeli tax benefit programs. See “Item 5. Operating and Financial Review and Prospects—Operating Results—Impact of Tax Policies and Programs on our Operating Results —Israeli Tax Considerations and Government Programs.”  

In the event of distribution of dividends from said tax-exempt income, the amount distributed will be subject to corporate tax at the rate that would have otherwise been applicable on the AE/BE’s income.

The Israeli government grants that our Israeli subsidiary has received require us to meet several conditions and restrict our ability to manufacture products and transfer know-how developed using such grants outside of Israel and require us to satisfy specified conditions.

One of our Israeli subsidiaries received grants in the past from the government of Israel through the National Technological Innovation Authority, or the Innovation Authority (formerly operating as Office of the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Economy of the State of Israel, or the OCS), for the financing of a portion of its research and development expenditures in Israel with respect to our legacy technology. In consideration for receiving grants from the OCS, we are obligated to pay the Innovation Authority royalties from the revenues generated from the sale of products (and related services) developed (in whole or in part) using the OCS funds, in an amount that is up to 100% to 150% of the aggregate amount of the total grants that we received from the OCS, plus annual interest for grants received after January 1, 1999. We must fully and originally own any intellectual property developed using the OCS grants and any right derived therefrom unless transfer thereof is approved in accordance with the provisions of the Israeli Encouragement of Research, Development and Technological Innovation Law, 5744-1984, or the Innovation Law (formerly known as the Encouragement of Industrial Research and Development Law, 5744-1984, or the Research Law), and related regulations.

When a company develops know-how, technology or products using grants provided by the Innovation Authority, the terms of these grants and the Innovation Law restrict the transfer of such know-how, and the transfer of manufacturing or manufacturing rights of such products, technologies or know-how outside of Israel. Even after the repayment of such grants in full, we will remain subject to the restrictions set forth under the Innovation Law, including:

Therefore, if aspects of our technologies are deemed to have been developed with OCS funding, the discretionary approval of an OCS committee would be required for any transfer to third parties outside of Israel of know-how or manufacturing or manufacturing rights related to those aspects of such technologies. We may not receive those approvals. Furthermore, the OCS may impose certain conditions on any arrangement under which it permits us to transfer technology or development out of Israel.

The transfer of OCS-supported technology or know-how outside of Israel may involve the payment of significant amounts, depending upon the value of the transferred technology or know-how, the amount of OCS support, the time of completion of the OCS-supported research project and other factors. Furthermore, the consideration available to our shareholders in a transaction involving the transfer outside of Israel of technology or know-how developed with OCS funding (such as a merger or similar transaction) may be reduced by any amounts that we are required to pay to the OCS.

We received grants from the OCS prior to an extensive amendment to the Research Law that came into effect as of January 1, 2016, or the Amendment, which may also affect the terms of existing grants. The Amendment provides for an interim transition period (which has not yet expired), after which time our grants will be subject to terms of the Amendment. Under the Research Law, as amended by the Amendment, the Authority is provided with a power to modify the terms of existing grants. Such changes, if introduced by the Authority in the future, may impact the terms governing our grants.

We are not subject to the supervision of the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten, so our shareholders are not protected by any regulatory inspections in Curaçao.

We are not subject to any regulatory supervision in Curaçao by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. As a result, shareholders are not protected by any regulatory supervision or inspections by any regulatory agency in Curaçao, and we are not required to observe any restrictions in respect of its conduct, except to the extent disclosed in our annual report or our Articles.

We have been granted an exemption under the Foreign Exchange Regulations Curaçao and Sint Maarten enacted by the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten (referred to as the FX Regulations). As a result of this exemption, we are exempted from certain conditions, regulations and provisions stemming from the FX Regulations relating to, among other things, capital transactions with non-residents of Curaçao (including dividend payments) and license fees on payments to non-residents of Curaçao. The exemption has been granted subject to our compliance with certain conditions, and the Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten can revoke the exemption should we no longer comply with one or more of those conditions. Those conditions include that none of our activities may take place in Curaçao or Sint Maarten, that we may not offer goods and services to residents of Curaçao or Sint Maarten, that we may not participate in Curaçao and Sint Maarten resident companies and that we may not extend loans to residents of Curaçao or Sint Maarten. Furthermore, residents of Curaçao or Sint Maarten may not be holders of our Common Shares.

The rights of shareholders under Curaçao law differ from those under U.S. law, and you may have fewer protections as a shareholder.

Our corporate affairs are governed by our Articles, the Civil Code of Curaçao and the civil law of Curaçao. The rights of shareholders to take legal action against our directors, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Curaçao law are to a large extent governed by the Civil Code of Curaçao, the civil law of Curaçao and applicable case law. The rights of shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Curaçao law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in some jurisdictions in the U.S. In particular, Curaçao has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the U.S., and some states (such as Delaware) have more fully developed and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law. In addition, Curaçao law does not generally distinguish between public and private companies, and some of the protections and safeguards (such as statutory pre-emption rights, except to the extent that they are expressly provided for in the Articles) that investors may expect to find in relation to a public company are not provided for under Curaçao law, subject to the duty of directors and shareholders to generally act towards one another in accordance with the principles of reasonableness and fairness. As a result of all of the above, holders of our Common Shares may have more difficulty in protecting their interests in the face of actions taken by our management, directors or major shareholders than they would as shareholders of a U.S. company.

Shareholders in Curaçao companies may not be able to initiate shareholder derivative actions, thereby depriving a shareholder of the ability to protect its interests.

Derivative actions are not permitted in Curaçao. Under Curaçao law, only the Company may bring a civil action against a person who is liable to a Curaçao public limited liability company. Shareholders in Curaçao companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action in a federal court of the U.S. The circumstances in which any such action may be brought, and the procedures and defenses that may be available in respect to any such action, may result in the rights of shareholders of a Curaçao company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company organized in the U.S. Accordingly, shareholders may have fewer alternatives available to them if they believe that corporate wrongdoing has occurred. The Curaçao courts are also unlikely to: (i) recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts in the U.S. based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities law; or (ii) to impose liabilities against us, in original actions brought in Curaçao, based on certain civil liability provisions of U.S. securities laws that are penal in nature. There is no statutory recognition in Curaçao of judgments obtained in the U.S., although the courts of Curaçao will in certain circumstances recognize and enforce the non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits.

The laws of Curaçao provide little protection for minority shareholders, so minority shareholders will have little or no recourse if the shareholders are dissatisfied with the conduct of our affairs.

Under the laws of Curaçao, there is little statutory protection for minority shareholders other than the provisions of the Civil Code of Curaçao, which provides for shareholder remedies. Minority shareholders of a Curaçao company may commence legal proceedings against the company in which they hold shares on the following grounds:

Under Curaçao law, shareholders who satisfy certain threshold requirements can initiate inquiry proceedings with the joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba. Such inquiry proceedings can relate to the policy of the company and its business as well as to the (deficient) functioning of the company as such. The Court of Justice will only order an inquiry if it finds that well-founded reasons exist to doubt the soundness of the policies of the company or the conduct of its business. This is not restricted to the policies of the governing bodies of the company (for example, the board) but can also pertain to acts or omissions of the general meeting of shareholders. During the proceedings, the Court of Justice may impose immediate provisional measures, such as a temporary amendment to the articles of association of the company and the appointment of interim board members.

In addition to the above, there are alternative claims under Curaçao law available for minority shareholders who seek relief for alleged wrongful acts by a company, its directors or the majority shareholders, such as contesting the corporate resolutions of a company and requesting the majority shareholders to purchase the stake of the minority shareholders ( uittreding ). However, these alternative possibilities are very cumbersome and time-consuming and may not be instituted in respect of shares which are traded at a stock exchange.

Curacao law makes it more difficult for us to enter into a change of control transaction in which we are acquired and you are paid a premium on the shares that you hold in our company.

Our status as a Curacao company makes it more challenging (compared to Israel and various US states) to consummate a change of control transaction in which our company is acquired and our shareholders benefit economically via the payment of a premium on their shares relative to the then-current market price. Under Curacao law, there is no legal basis for a reverse triangular merger, a commonly-utilized transaction structure for the acquisition of publicly traded companies such as ours, in which shareholders receive cash. Curacao law allows for the acquisition of a publicly traded company such as ours for cash through a tender offer, provided that the offeror acquires at least 95% of the company's issued and outstanding share capital (which 95% threshold may be reduced under certain circumstances to 90% or 80% in case of a pre-wired asset sale), following which the offeror can purchase the remaining shares subject to court approval and possibly the exercise of certain dissenters' rights. Since Curacao law does not permit a cash merger and due to the challenges in obtaining such level of acceptance of the tender offer, a potential buyer might need to use different structures to acquire our company, e.g. migrating the company to another jurisdiction that allows for a cash merger as a means to acquire publicly traded companies; however, such process may be very time-consuming and could therefore prevent such a transaction from occurring. An additional option under Curacao law is a sale of assets, which is likely to be generally less efficient to our shareholders from a tax perspective.  Each of the foregoing limitations or disadvantages of effecting an acquisition of our company or its assets in which shareholders realize a premium could furthermore adversely impact the market price of our shares in an ongoing manner.