Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
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Item 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
The Company maintains (a) disclosure controls and procedures (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act), and (b) internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act).
The Company’s management, with the participation of its Chief Executive Officer and its Chief Financial Officer, conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2024 (the end of the period covered by this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q). Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that, as of March 31, 2024, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective in ensuring that material information for the Company, including its consolidated subsidiaries, required to be disclosed by the Company in reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to management, including our principal executive and financial officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
There have not been any changes in our internal control over financial reporting (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended March 31, 2024, that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, internal control over financial reporting.
PART II. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
With the exception of the below, the Company is not a party to any material, pending legal proceedings or claims at March 31, 2024. From time-to-time, the Company may be a party to, or otherwise involved in, legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. The nature of the Company’s business ordinarily results in a certain amount of pending as well as threatened claims, litigation, investigations, regulatory and legal and administrative cases, matters and proceedings, all of which are considered incidental to the normal conduct of business. When the Company determines that it has meritorious defenses to the claims asserted, the Company vigorously defends itself. The Company considers settlement of cases when, in management’s judgment, it is in the best interests of both the Company and its shareholders to do so.
On May 3, 2022, a putative securities class action, In re Vertiv Holdings Co Securities Litigation, 22-cv-3572, was filed against Vertiv, certain of the Company’s officers and directors, and other defendants in the Southern District of New York. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on September 16, 2022. The amended complaint alleges that certain of the Company’s public statements were materially false and/or misleading with respect to inflationary and supply chain pressures and pricing issues, and asserts claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. These claims are asserted on behalf of a putative class of all persons and entities that (i) purchased Vertiv securities between February 24, 2021 and February 22, 2022; and/or (ii) purchased Vertiv securities in or traceable to the November 4, 2021 secondary public offering by a selling stockholder pursuant to a resale registration statement. On January 31, 2024, the Court issued an order dismissing the claims under Sections 11, 12(a)(2), and 15 of the Securities Act. The motion to dismiss the claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act remains pending.
On June 9, 2023, two Vertiv shareholders, Matthew Sullivan and Jose Karlo Ocampo Avenido, brought a derivative lawsuit, Sullivan v. Johnson, et al., C.A. No. 2023-0608, against Vertiv (as nominal defendant only) and certain of the Company’s directors and officers in Delaware Court of Chancery for breach of fiduciary duty. The complaint alleges that certain of the named directors and officers caused the Company to issue materially false and/or misleading public statements with respect to inflationary and supply chain pressures and pricing issues, and that the Company suffered damages as a result.
Defendants believe they have meritorious defenses against the plaintiffs' claims in these lawsuits, which are at the preliminary stages, but the Company is unable at this time to predict the outcome of these disputes or the amount of any cost associated with their resolution.
In November 2023, following the filing of the actions described above, the Company received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and a parallel request for documents from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which relate to the allegations made in the class action complaint and derivative action. The Company is actively responding to these matters.
In January 2024, the Mexican tax administration service, the Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (the "SAT"), initiated a process to suspend the importer registration of one of the Company's wholly owned Mexico subsidiaries, Tecnología del Pacífico S.A. de C.V. (“TDP”), in connection with a contested customs tax audit for the period April 2016 to February 2018. SAT claimed its basis for the suspension was a failure by TDP to provide sufficient evidence of the export of goods temporarily imported at required levels under Mexico's Manufacturing, Maquila and Export Services Industries Program ("IMMEX Program"). The Company and TDP has disputed SAT’s position throughout the customs tax audit, through the filing of various petitions and appeals with appropriate documentation evidencing the complete and timely export of the goods temporarily imported during the audit period. TDP has accepted a proposal from SAT to close the audit by making payments and fees totaling approximately $10.1 which has been recorded in “Accrued expenses and other liabilities” on the Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023. The Company intends to seek reimbursement of this amount as an undue payment in the near future from SAT, for which the outcome is currently unknown and no receivable has been established. Furthermore, the Company remains subject to other customs tax audits concerning other facilities located within Mexico. While we cannot predict with certainty the outcome of other assessments, based on currently known information, we believe a risk of loss, if any, is not currently estimable. Accordingly, no further reserve for loss contingency has been recorded in the Company's financial statements as of March 31, 2024 related to these other matters. The accepted proposal was paid to SAT in the first quarter of 2024.
The Company is unable at this time to predict the outcome of these matters, including whether any proceedings may be instituted in connection with the government inquiries, or the amount of any cost associated with their resolution except as otherwise noted above.
At March 31, 2024, other than as described above, there were no known contingent liabilities (including guarantees, taxes and other claims) that management believes were or will be material in relation to the Company’s Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, nor were there any material commitments outside the normal course of business.
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
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