Risks Relating to Hedging Activities and Conflicts of Interest
♦Hedging activities by BNS and UBS may negatively impact investors in the Notes and cause our respective interests and those of our clients and counterparties to be contrary to those of investors in the Notes — We, or one of our affiliates, and UBS, or one of its affiliates, have hedged or will hedge our obligations under the Notes. Such hedging transactions may include entering into swap or similar agreements, purchasing shares of the underlying assets and/or the underlying constituents and/or purchasing futures, options and/or other instruments linked to one or more underlying assets and/or the underlying constituents. We, UBS or one or more of our or their respective affiliates also expects to adjust the hedge by, among other things, purchasing or selling any of the foregoing, and perhaps other instruments linked to one or more underlying assets and/or one or more of the underlying constituents, at any time and from time to time, and to unwind the hedge by selling any of the foregoing on or before the final valuation date. We, UBS or one or more of our or their respective affiliates may also enter into, adjust and unwind hedging transactions relating to other basket- or index-linked Notes whose returns are linked to changes in the levels of one or more underlying assets and/or underlying constituents. Any of these hedging activities may adversely affect the levels of such underlying assets—directly or indirectly by affecting the price of their underlying constituents — and therefore the market value of the Notes and the amount you will receive, if any, on the Notes.
Because UBS, or one of its affiliates, is to conduct hedging activities for us in connection with the Notes, UBS, or its affiliate may profit in connection with such hedging activities. Such profit, if any, will be in addition to the compensation that UBS, or its affiliate, receives for the sale of the Notes to you. You should be aware that the potential to earn fees in connection with hedging activities may create a further incentive for UBS to sell the Notes to you in addition to the compensation they would receive for the sale of the Notes.
You should expect that these transactions will cause BNS and UBS or our or their respective affiliates, or our or their respective 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 Notes. None of BNS, UBS or any of our or their respective 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 Notes, and any of the foregoing may receive substantial returns with respect to these hedging activities while the market value of, and return on, the Notes declines.
♦Following certain events, the calculation agent can make adjustments to an underlying asset and the terms of the Notes that may adversely affect the market value of, and return on, the Notes — Following certain events affecting an underlying asset, the calculation agent may make adjustments to its initial level, coupon barrier, downside threshold and/or final level, as applicable, and any other term of the Notes and, in some instances, may replace such underlying asset. However, the calculation agent will not make an adjustment in response to every event that could affect an underlying asset. If an event occurs that does not require the calculation agent to make an adjustment, the market value of, and return on, the Notes may be materially and adversely affected. In addition, all determinations and calculations concerning any such adjustments will be made by the calculation agent. You should be aware that the calculation agent may make any such adjustment, determination or calculation in a manner that differs from that discussed herein as necessary to achieve an equitable result. Following certain events relating to an underlying asset, such as its discontinuance, a delisting or suspension of trading, or a material modification, the return on the Notes may be based on a share of another ETF, on a basket of securities, futures contracts, commodities and/or other assets that the calculation agent determines is comparable to the affected ETF’s underlying constituents or on an alternative calculation of such ETF. The occurrence of any such event and the consequent adjustments may materially and adversely affect the value of, and return on, the Notes. For more information, see “Additional Terms of the Notes” herein.
♦We, the Agents and our or their respective affiliates regularly provide services to, or otherwise have business relationships with, a broad client base, which has included and may include us and the underlying constituent issuers and the market activities by us, the Agents or our or their respective affiliates for our or their own respective accounts or for our or their respective clients could negatively impact investors in the Notes — We, the Agents and our or their respective 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, the Agents and/or our or their respective affiliates purchase, sell or hold a broad array of investments, actively trade securities (including the Notes or other securities that we have issued), the underlying constituents, 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 or their respective 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 level of the underlying assets and/or the value of the Notes. 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 underlying constituent 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 level of the underlying assets and the market for your Notes, and you should expect that our interests and those of the Agents and/or our or their respective affiliates, clients or counterparties, will at times be adverse to those of investors in the Notes.
You should expect that we, the Agents, and our or their respective 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 Notes or other securities that we may issue, the underlying constituents or 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 Notes. In addition, in connection with these activities, certain personnel within us, the Agents or our or their respective affiliates may have access to confidential material non-public information about these parties that would not be disclosed to investors in the Notes.
We, the Agents and our or their respective 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 Notes or other securities that we may issue, the underlying constituents or other securities or instruments similar to or linked to the foregoing. Investors in the Notes should expect that we, the Agents and our or their respective affiliates offer securities, financial instruments, and other products that may compete with the Notes for liquidity or otherwise.
♦Potential impact on price by BNS or the Agents — Trading or transactions by BNS, the Agents or our or their respective affiliates in the underlying assets or any underlying constituents, listed and/or over-the-counter options, futures, exchange-traded funds or other instruments with returns linked to the performance of the underlying assets or any underlying constituents may adversely affect the levels of the underlying assets or underlying constituents and, therefore, the market value of the Notes, the likelihood of a contingent coupon being paid on any coupon payment date and of the Notes being called on a call settlement date. See “— Hedging activities by BNS and UBS may negatively impact investors in the Notes and cause our respective interests and those of our clients and counterparties to be contrary to those of investors in the Notes” for additional information regarding hedging-related transactions and trading.