Betterware de Mexico (BM0) Risk Analysis
Risk Overview Q4, 2023
Source: the company's latest filing for the period ended Dec 31, 2023, filed Apr 30, 2024
Risk Change Over Time
- Share Price & Shareholder Rights - Risk 1If securities or industry analysts do not publish or cease publishing research or reports about Betterware, our business, or markets, or if they change their recommendations regarding the Company shares adversely, the price and trading volume of the Company's shares could decline.
The trading market for the Company's shares is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about the Company, our business, market, or competitors. Securities and industry analysts do not currently, and may never, publish research on the Company. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of the Company, the price and trading volume of the Company shares would likely be negatively impacted. If any of the analysts who may cover the Company change their recommendation regarding the Company's shares adversely or provide more favorable relative recommendations about the Company's competitors, the price of the Company's shares would likely decline. If any analyst who may cover the Company were to cease coverage of the Company or fail to regularly publish reports on it, the Company could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our share price or trading volume to decline.
- Accounting & Financial Operations - Risk 2Material weaknesses have been identified in Betterware's internal control over financial reporting, and if we fail to establish and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, our results of operations and our ability to operate our business may be materially adversely affected.
As of December 31, 2023, our management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting based on the criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in 2013. Our management concluded that we did not design and maintain effective controls over the (i) the effectiveness of the controls over the business combination process, specifically, we did not design and maintain controls to determine the ongoing impairment assessment; (ii) the effectiveness of the controls in the period-end financial reporting and consolidation process, as we did not design and maintain formal accounting policies, procedures and controls to ensure complete, accurate and timely reporting in the consolidated financial statements; and; and (iii) the effectiveness of certain information technology ("IT") general controls for information systems that are relevant to the preparation of our consolidated financial statements. We are in the process of implementing several measures to strengthen our internal control over financial reporting such as the deployment of IT applications to enable and automate the consolidation and ITGC process. For details of the controls and remediation plan, see "Item 15-Controls and Procedures-Disclosure Controls and Procedures." At the end of 2021, the Company changed its status from an emerging growth company to a large, accelerated filer. At the end of 2022, the Company changed its status to an accelerated filer and maintained that status during 2023 and at the end of 2023. The Company continues working on the implementation of a formal internal control over financial reporting program based on a top-down risk assessment ensure the existence of controls over significant accounts, processes, applications and IT environments. See "Item 15-Controls and Procedures-Disclosure Controls and Procedures." If we fail to establish and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting or fail to adequately resolve our existing material weaknesses, our results of operations and our ability to operate our business may be materially adversely affected.
Risk Highlights Q4, 2023
Risk Word Cloud
Risk Factors Full Breakdown - Total Risks 45
- Regulation - Risk 1Our distributors, leaders and consultants are independent contractors and not employees. If regulatory authorities were to determine, however, that our distributors, leaders and consultants are legally our employees, we could have significant liability under social benefit laws.
Distributors, leaders and consultants are self-employed and are not our employees. Periodically, the question of the legal status of our distributors, leaders and consultants has arisen, usually with regard to possible coverage under social benefit laws that would require us to make regular contributions to social benefit funds. We cannot guarantee there will not be a future judicial or administrative determination adverse to the current criteria, which would substantial and materially adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.
- Regulation - Risk 2Our business and results of operations may be adversely affected by the increased strain on our resources from complying with the reporting, disclosure and other requirements applicable to public companies in the United States promulgated by the U.S. Government, Nasdaq or other relevant regulatory authorities.
Compliance with existing, new and changing corporate governance and public disclosure requirements adds uncertainty to our compliance policies and increases our costs of compliance. Changing laws, regulations and standards include those relating to accounting, corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, new SEC regulations and the Nasdaq listing guidelines. Application of these laws, regulations and guidelines may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. In particular, compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("Section 404") and related regulations regarding required assessment of internal controls over financial reporting and our external auditor's audit of that assessment, requires the commitment of significant financial and managerial resources. We also expect the regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and to make it more difficult to attract and retain qualified officers and members of our board of directors, particularly to serve on our audit committee, and make some activities more difficult, time-consuming and costly. Existing, new and changing corporate governance and public disclosure requirements could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs of compliance as a result of ongoing revisions to such governance standards. Our efforts to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses. In addition, new laws, regulations and standards regarding corporate governance may make it more difficult for our company to obtain director and officer liability insurance. Further, our board members and senior management could face an increased risk of personal liability in connection with their performance of their duties. As a result, we may face difficulties attracting and retaining qualified board members and senior management, which could harm our business. If we fail to comply with new or changed laws or regulations and standards differ, our business and reputation may be materially adversely affected.
- Regulation - Risk 3Our products are subject to federal, state and international regulations that could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.
Our business is subject to numerous laws, regulations and trade policies. We are subject to regulation by the FTC and the FDA in the U.S., as well as various other federal, state, local and foreign regulatory authorities, including those in the countries in which the Company operates. Our facility located in Queretaro, Mexico is registered with the FDA as a drug manufacturing establishment, permitting the manufacture of cosmetics and other beauty-care products that contain over-the-counter drug ingredients, such as sunscreens, anti-perspirant deodorants and anti-dandruff hair-care products. Regulations in the U.S., the EU, Canada and other countries in which we operate are designed to protect consumers or the environment, such as regulations enacted to address the impacts of climate change, have an increasing influence on our product claims, ingredients and packaging. To the extent federal, state, local and/or foreign regulatory changes occur in the future, whether due to changes in applicable laws or regulations or evolving interpretations and enforcement policies by regulatory authorities, they could require us to reformulate or discontinue certain of our products or revise its product packaging or labeling, any of which could result in, among other things, increased our costs, delays in product launches, product returns or recalls and lower net sales, and therefore could have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows.
- Regulation - Risk 4ChangedThe regulatory environment in which we operate is evolving, and our operations may be modified or otherwise adversely affected by regulatory changes, subjective interpretations of laws or an inability to work effectively with national and local government agencies.
Although we review applicable local laws in developing our plans, our efforts to comply with them may be harmed by an evolving regulatory climate and subjective interpretation of laws by the authorities. Any determination that our operations or activities are not in compliance with applicable regulations could negatively impact our business and our reputation with regulators in the markets in which we operate.
- Regulation - Risk 5ChangedLaws and regulations may restrict our direct sales efforts and adversely affect our revenue and profitability.
Various government agencies throughout the world regulate direct sales practices. These laws and regulations are generally intended to prevent fraudulent or deceptive schemes, often referred to as "pyramid" schemes, that compensate participants for recruiting additional participants irrespective of product sales and/or which do not involve legitimate products. The laws and regulations in our current markets often: - impose on us order cancellations, product returns, inventory buy-backs and cooling-off rights for consumers, distributors, leaders and consultants;- require us or our distributors, leaders and consultants to register with governmental agencies;- impose on us reporting requirements to regulatory agencies; and/or - require us to ensure that distributors, leaders and consultants are not being compensated solely based upon the recruitment of new of them. Complying with these rules and regulations can be difficult and requires the devotion of significant resources on the Group's part. In addition, Mexico could change its laws or regulations to negatively affect or prohibit completely network or direct sales efforts. Government agencies and courts in Mexico may also use their powers and discretion in interpreting and applying laws in a manner that limits our ability to operate or otherwise harms our business. If any governmental authority were to bring a regulatory enforcement action against the Group that interrupts our business, our revenue and earnings would likely suffer.
- Regulation - Risk 6ChangedAs a "foreign private issuer" under the rules and regulations of the SEC, Betterware is permitted to, and is expected to, file less or different information with the SEC than a company incorporated in the United States or otherwise subject to these rules and is permitted to follow certain home country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain Nasdaq requirements applicable to U.S. issuers.
Betterware is considered a "foreign private issuer" under the Securities Exchange Act (the "Exchange Act") and therefore exempt from certain rules under the Exchange Act, including the proxy rules, which impose certain disclosure and procedural requirements for proxy solicitations for U.S. and other issuers. Moreover, the Group is not required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or within the same time frames as U.S. companies with securities registered under the Exchange Act. We currently prepare our financial statements in accordance with IFRS. The Group is not required to file financial statements prepared in accordance with or reconciled to U.S. GAAP so long as our financial statements are prepared in accordance with IFRS. The Group is not required to comply with Regulation FD, which imposes restrictions on the selective disclosure of material information to shareholders. In addition, BWM's 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 Company securities. In addition, as a "foreign private issuer" whose shares are listed on Nasdaq, the Company is permitted to, and is expected to, follow certain home country corporate governance practices in lieu of certain Nasdaq requirements. A foreign private issuer must disclose in its annual reports filed with the SEC each Nasdaq requirement with which it does not comply followed by a description of its applicable home country practice. As a Mexican corporation listed on Nasdaq, the Company is permitted to follow our home country practice with respect to the composition of the board of directors and nominations committee and executive sessions. Unlike the requirements of Nasdaq, the corporate governance practices and requirements in Mexico do not require the Company to (i) have a majority of its board of directors to be independent, (ii) establish a nominations committee, and (iii) hold regular executive sessions where only independent directors shall be present. Such home country practices of Mexico may afford less protection to holders of Company shares than under U.S. standards. The Company could lose its status as a "foreign private issuer" under current SEC rules and regulations if more than 50% of the Company's outstanding voting securities become directly or indirectly held of record by U.S. holders and one of the following is true: (i) the majority of the Company's directors or executive officers are U.S. citizens or residents; (ii) more than 50% of the Company's assets are located in the United States; or (iii) the Company's business is administered principally in the United States. If the Company loses its status as a foreign private issuer in the future, it will no longer be exempt from the rules described above and, among other things, will be required to file periodic reports and annual and quarterly financial statements as if it were a company incorporated in the United States. If this were to happen, the Company would likely incur substantial costs in fulfilling these additional regulatory requirements and members of the Company's management would likely have to divert time and resources from other responsibilities to ensuring these additional regulatory requirements are fulfilled.
- Regulation - Risk 7AddedWe are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, and antitrust laws and regulations in Mexico.
We are subject to anti-corruption, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, antitrust and other international laws and regulations and are required to comply with the applicable laws and regulations of Mexico. In addition, we are subject to regulations on economic sanctions that restrict our dealings with certain sanctioned countries, individuals, and entities. There can be no assurance that our internal policies and procedures will be sufficient to prevent or detect all inappropriate practices, fraud, or violations of law by our affiliates, employees, directors, officers, partners, agents, and service providers or that any such persons will not take actions in violation of our policies and procedures. Any violations by us of anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws or sanctions regulations could have a material adverse effect on our business, reputation, results of operations and financial condition.
- Regulation - Risk 8AddedIf the Mexican government imposes exchange controls and/or other similar restrictions, the Mexican economy and our operations may be negatively affected.
In the past, the Mexican economy has experienced a balance of payment deficits and shortages in foreign exchange reserves. There can be no assurance that the Mexican government will not institute a restrictive exchange control policy or other restrictions. If the Mexican government imposes exchange controls and/or other similar restrictions, the Mexican economy and our operations may be negatively affected.
See a full breakdown of risk according to category and subcategory. The list starts with the category with the most risk. Click on subcategories to read relevant extracts from the most recent report.
