Given the nature of our business, our business and overall financial performance are affected to a significant extent by economic conditions, primarily in the U.S. Declining or adverse economic conditions and adverse changes in investor, consumer and business sentiment generally result in reduced business activity, which may decrease the demand for our products and services or reduce the number of creditworthy borrowers. The ability of borrowers to repay loans is often weakened as a result of economic downturns, higher inflation and unemployment. This may be further exacerbated by a deterioration in households’ finances, particularly if consumers also continue to face high inflation. In addition, adverse economic conditions, including periods of inflation, may limit the availability of, or increase the costs of, capital and labor, erode consumer and customer purchasing power, confidence and spending and may also reduce our tolerance for extending credit. Increases in costs or expenses impacting our customers’ operations and financial performance, such as the interest rates payable on their debt obligations, could increase our credit risk or decrease the demand for our products and services.
We operate in an uncertain economic environment due to structural and secular changes triggered by the pandemic for certain sectors of the economy combined with increased interest rates, inflation and geopolitical tensions. These conditions may not abate in the near term, and their continuation could materially adversely affect our operations and financial performance. Such economic conditions also have led and may continue to lead to turmoil and volatility in financial markets, often with at least some financial asset categories losing value. Any of these effects would likely have an adverse impact on our operations and financial performance, with the significance of the impact generally depending on the nature and severity of the adverse economic conditions.
Even when economic conditions are relatively good or stable, specific economic factors can negatively affect our business and performance. This can be especially true when the factors relate to particular segments of the economy. For example, as remote work continues to be a feasible alternative to pre-pandemic in-office work arrangements, notable portions of available commercial real estate space remain underutilized. This likely decreases demand for financial services in that sector and harms the creditworthiness of some of our office commercial real estate customers, as well as businesses whose customers have historically been office workers.
Given the geographic scope of our business and operations, we are most exposed to issues within the U.S. economy and financial markets. Our foreign business activities continue to be a relatively small part of our overall business. As a result, the direct impact on our business and financial performance from economic conditions outside the U.S. is not likely to be significant, although the impact would increase if we expanded our foreign business more than nominally. We are, however, susceptible to the risk that foreign economic conditions and geopolitical tensions could negatively affect our business and financial performance. Primarily, this risk results from the possibility that poor economic conditions or financial market disruptions affecting other major economies would also affect the U.S.
Throughout the remainder of this Risk Factors section, we address specific ways in which economic issues could create risk for us and result in adverse impacts on our business and financial performance.