Grupo Aval Acciones y Valores SA Pfd (0J1B) Risk Analysis

In the future we may engage, as we have done in the past, in business and financial transactions with our controlling shareholder and other shareholders that may present potential conflicts of interest between our company and these shareholders. For example, we may incur indebtedness, or acquire shares in Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Banco Popular, Banco AV Villas and Corficolombiana from entities that are beneficially owned by Mr. Sarmiento Angulo. While we believe that these transactions will be carried out on an arm's-length basis, commercial and financial transactions between us and our controlling shareholder could create the potential for, or could result in, conflicts of interests between us and our other shareholders. To the extent that the price we pay for any assets acquired from our controlling shareholder exceeds the market value of such assets or is not as productive a use of our cash as other uses, our results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

Our preferred shares are listed on the Colombian Stock Exchange, which is relatively small and illiquid compared to securities exchanges in major financial centers. In addition, a small number of issuers represent a disproportionately large percentage of the market capitalization and trading volume on the Colombian Stock Exchange. A liquid trading market for the preferred shares or ADSs may not develop on the Colombian Stock Exchange or New York Stock Exchange, respectively. A limited trading market could impair the ability of a holder of preferred shares or ADSs to sell preferred shares (in the case of an ADS holder, obtained upon withdrawal of such shares from the ADR facility) on the Colombian Stock Exchange in the amount and at the price and time desired by such holder, and could increase the volatility of the market price of the preferred shares and the ADSs.

The market price of our ADSs and preferred shares may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including actual or anticipated fluctuations in our operating results, economic downturns, political events in Colombia, Central America or other jurisdictions where we operate, developments affecting the banking industry, exchange rates, changes in financial estimates by securities analysts or our failure to perform in line with such estimates, departures of key personnel, and sales of our preferred shares in the future, including by our banking subsidiaries who may have to sell our preferred shares obtained from investors who entered into loans with them to acquire our preferred shares in our offering of preferred shares in 2011, or the "Preferred Shares Local Offering". Furthermore, common shares may be converted into preferred shares on a 1-1 basis provided that our preferred shares do not exceed 50% of our total subscribed share capital. Preferred shares are available for deposit into the ADS Program. Our banking subsidiaries extended credit through loans to finance the acquisition of preferred shares in the Preferred Shares Local Offering of which, nine loans, representing Ps 84.7 billion (U.S.$26.1 million), remained outstanding on December 31, 2018. The final loan will mature in 2021. Depending on the characteristics of the borrower, our banking subsidiaries may have required collateral, which may have included a pledge of the preferred shares that were subject to the financing. Such a pledge would permit our banking subsidiaries through a court procedure to seek the sale of the preferred shares if the borrower defaults. Our banking subsidiaries had, on an aggregate basis, pledges over 65,122,771 preferred shares (0.9% of our total preferred shares) related to loans made to third parties at December 31, 2018. All the loans are full-recourse loans. Under the terms of the pledges, each borrower is limited from selling the pledged shares until the loan is repaid. Under Colombian law, our banking subsidiaries must seek to sell any repossessed shares as banks are not permitted to hold shares issued by their parent. If changes in general economic conditions or other factors cause these borrowers to default on their loans, our subsidiaries will have to sell our preferred shares into the market, or alternatively, upon repayment of the loans, these borrowers will not be restricted from selling such shares in the market. As a result, the market price of our preferred shares and ADSs may decline.

Holders of ADSs are not direct shareholders of our company and are unable to enforce the rights of shareholders under our by-laws and Colombian law. Under Colombian law, holders of our preferred shares may have fewer rights than shareholders of a corporation incorporated in the United States. Even if a holder of ADSs surrenders its ADSs and becomes a direct shareholder, a holder of our preferred shares under Colombian law may have fewer alternatives to protect its interests relative to actions by our board of directors or executive officers, and these alternatives may be less well-defined than under the laws of those other jurisdictions. The Colombian securities markets are not as highly regulated or supervised as the U.S. securities markets or the markets in some other jurisdictions. In addition, rules and policies against self-dealing or for preserving shareholder interests may be less well-defined and enforced in Colombia than in the United States and certain other countries, which may put holders of our preferred shares and the ADSs at a potential disadvantage. Corporate disclosures also may be less complete or informative than for a public company in the United States or in certain other countries. Our by-laws contain an arbitration clause that provides for the exclusive jurisdiction of an arbitral tribunal to be seated at the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce. The arbitration provision provides that any conflict arising among shareholders, or between shareholders and Grupo Aval, in connection with the by-laws must be resolved by an arbitral tribunal. In addition, holders of the ADSs and our preferred shares are not entitled to vote for the election of directors or to influence our management policies. Under our by-laws and Colombian law, holders of preferred shares (and, consequently, holders of ADSs) have no voting rights in respect of preferred shares, other than in limited circumstances.

We are a "foreign private issuer" within the meaning of the NYSE corporate governance standards. Under the NYSE rules, a foreign private issuer may elect to comply with the practices of its home country and not to comply with certain corporate governance requirements applicable to U.S. companies with securities listed on the NYSE. We currently follow Colombian practices concerning corporate governance and intend to continue to do so. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all NYSE corporate governance requirements. For example, Colombian law requires that at least 25% of our board of directors consist of "independent" directors within the meaning of Colombian law, whereas NYSE rules generally require that a majority of a domestic U.S. company's board consist of "independent" directors within the meaning of NYSE rules. In addition, NYSE rules require non-executive directors of domestic U.S. listed companies to meet on a regular basis without management being present. There is no similar requirement under Colombian law, and our non-executive directors do not meet formally without management present. See "Item 6. Directors, senior management and employees-C. Board practices-Principal differences between Colombian and U.S. corporate governance practices".

Colombian law and our by-laws require that, whenever we issue new common shares, we must offer the holders of common shares the right to subscribe a number of shares of such class sufficient to maintain their existing percentage ownership of our aggregate share capital. On the other hand, holders of preferred shares, including holders of ADSs, are entitled to preemptive rights only when so declared at a meeting of holders of our common shares. Our common shareholders may decide not to provide for such preemptive rights. Also, U.S. holders of ADSs may not be able to exercise their preemptive rights through JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., which acts as ADR depositary for our ADR facility, unless a registration statement under the Securities Act is effective with respect to such rights or an exemption from the registration requirement thereunder is available. Although we are not obligated to do so, we or our shareholders, as applicable, could consider at the time of any preemptive rights offering the costs and potential liabilities associated with any such registration statement, the benefits to us from enabling the holders of the ADSs to exercise those rights and any other factors deemed appropriate at the time, and will then make a decision as to whether to file a registration statement. Accordingly, we might decide not to file a registration statement in some cases. If holders of ADSs are unable to exercise these rights because a registration statement has not been filed and no exemption from the registration requirement under the Securities Act is available, the ADR depositary may attempt to sell the holders' preemptive rights and distribute the net proceeds from that sale, if any, to such holders, provided that, the meeting of holders of our common shares decides that holders of preferred shares are entitled to preemptive rights. The ADR depositary, after consultation with us, will have discretion as to the procedure for making preemptive rights available to the holders of ADSs, disposing of such rights and making any proceeds available to such holders. If by the terms of any preemptive rights offering or for any other reason the ADR depositary is unable or chooses not to make those rights available to any holder of ADSs, and if it is unable or for any reason chooses not to sell those rights, the depositary may allow the rights to lapse. Whenever the rights are sold by the ADR depositary or such rights lapse, or if the common shareholders' meeting does not grant preemptive rights to the holders of preferred shares, the equity interests of the holders of ADSs will be proportionately diluted.

Trading in our ADSs on the NYSE or preferred shares on the Colombian Stock Exchange take place in different currencies (U.S. dollars on the NYSE and pesos on the Colombian Stock Exchange), and at different times (resulting from different time zones, different trading days and different public holidays in the United States and Colombia). The trading prices of our shares on these two markets may differ due to these and other factors. Any decrease in the price of our preferred shares on the Colombian Stock Exchange could cause a decrease in the trading price of our ADSs on the NYSE. Investors could seek to sell or buy our shares to take advantage of any price differences between the markets through a practice referred to as arbitrage. Any arbitrage activity could create unexpected volatility in both our share prices on one exchange, and the shares available for trading on the other exchange. In addition, holders of ADSs will not be immediately able to surrender their ADSs and withdraw the underlying preferred shares for trading on the other market without effecting necessary procedures with the depositary. This could result in time delays and additional cost for holders of ADSs.

Although Colombian tax law does not specifically refer to the tax consequences applicable to an ADS holder withdrawing the underlying preferred shares, we believe, based on the advice of our Colombian counsel, that such a transaction should not result in a taxable event under Colombian law in the case of non-resident entities and non-resident individuals given the nature of the transaction. Nevertheless, this issue is not free from doubt, and the Colombian tax authorities may have a different interpretation of the law, or the law may change, and the Colombian tax authorities may assess taxes on the conversion of ADSs into preferred shares based upon the difference between the market value of the preferred shares and the adjusted tax basis of the ADSs. Furthermore, an investor who surrenders ADSs and withdraws preferred shares will be subject to income taxes on any gain associated with the sale of such preferred shares if such sale exceeds 10% of the issued and outstanding shares of the listed company during a taxable year.

If proceedings are brought in Colombian courts seeking to enforce the rights of holders of our preferred shares, we will not be required to discharge our obligations in a currency other than Colombian pesos. Under Colombian law, an obligation in Colombia to pay amounts denominated in a currency other than Colombian pesos may only be satisfied in Colombian currency at the exchange rate, as determined by the Colombian Central Bank and published by the Superintendency of Finance, also known as Tasa Representativa del Mercado, in effect on the date the judgment is obtained, and such amounts are then adjusted to reflect exchange rate variations through the effective payment date. The then-prevailing exchange rate may not afford non-Colombian investors with full compensation for any claim arising out of or related to our obligations under the preferred shares, or indirectly, the ADSs.