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Form 424B2 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP INC

November 18, 2020 4:38 PM EST

Filed Pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2)

Registration Statement No. 333-239610

 

 

GS Finance Corp.

$3,000,000

Autocallable ETF-Linked Notes due 2025

guaranteed by

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

The notes do not bear interest. The notes will mature on the stated maturity date (November 24, 2025) unless they are automatically called on any call observation date commencing on November 16, 2021.  Your notes will be automatically called on a call observation date if the closing level of each of the iShares® Silver Trust and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund (each, an ETF) on such date is greater than or equal to its initial level ($23.02 with respect to the iShares® Silver Trust and $87.85 with respect to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund), resulting in a payment on the corresponding call payment date for each $1,000 face amount of your notes equal to such $1,000 face amount plus the product of $1,000 times the applicable call premium amount. The call observation dates, the call payment dates and the applicable call premium amount for each call payment date are specified on page PS-5 of this pricing supplement.

The return on your notes is linked, in part, to the performance of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, and not to that of the Industrials Select Sector Index on which the respective ETF is based. The performance of such ETF may significantly diverge from that of its index.  

The amount that you will be paid on your notes at maturity, if they have not been automatically called, is based on the performance of the lesser performing ETF (the ETF with the lowest ETF return). The ETF return for each ETF is the percentage increase or decrease in its final level (the closing level of such ETF on the determination date, November 17, 2025) from its initial level.                            

At maturity, for each $1,000 face amount of your notes, you will receive an amount in cash equal to:

if the final level of each ETF is greater than or equal to its initial level, $1,605;

if the final level of each ETF is greater than or equal to 80% of its initial level but the final level of any ETF is less than its initial level, $1,000; or

if the final level of any ETF is less than 80% of its initial level, the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) the lesser performing ETF return plus 20% times (b) $1,000. You will receive less than the face amount of your notes.

If the ETF return for any ETF is less than -20%, the return on your notes will be negative and will equal the ETF return of the lesser performing ETF plus 20%. You could lose a significant portion of the face amount of your notes.

You should read the disclosure herein to better understand the terms and risks of your investment, including the credit risk of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. See page PS-13.

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date is equal to approximately $909 per $1,000 face amount. For a discussion of the estimated value and the price at which Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC would initially buy or sell your notes, if it makes a market in the notes, see the following page.

Original issue date:

November 19, 2020

Original issue price:

100% of the face amount

Underwriting discount:

3.85% of the face amount

Net proceeds to the issuer:

96.15% of the face amount

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any other regulatory body has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense. The notes are not bank deposits and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency, nor are they obligations of, or guaranteed by, a bank.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

Pricing Supplement No. 783 dated November 16, 2020.

 


 

The issue price, underwriting discount and net proceeds listed above relate to the notes we sell initially. We may decide to sell additional notes after the date of this pricing supplement, at issue prices and with underwriting discounts and net proceeds that differ from the amounts set forth above. The return (whether positive or negative) on your investment in notes will depend in part on the issue price you pay for such notes.

GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in the initial sale of the notes. In addition, Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC or any other affiliate of GS Finance Corp. may use this prospectus in a market-making transaction in a note after its initial sale. Unless GS Finance Corp. or its agent informs the purchaser otherwise in the confirmation of sale, this prospectus is being used in a market-making transaction.

 

Estimated Value of Your Notes

The estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date (as determined by reference to pricing models used by Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (GS&Co.) and taking into account our credit spreads) is equal to approximately $909 per $1,000 face amount, which is less than the original issue price. The value of your notes at any time will reflect many factors and cannot be predicted; however, the price (not including GS&Co.s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would initially buy or sell notes (if it makes a market, which it is not obligated to do) and the value that GS&Co. will initially use for account statements and otherwise is equal to approximately the estimated value of your notes at the time of pricing, plus an additional amount (initially equal to $56 per $1,000 face amount).

Prior to November 23, 2021, the price (not including GS&Co.’s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would buy or sell your notes (if it makes a market, which it is not obligated to do) will equal approximately the sum of (a) the then-current estimated value of your notes (as determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models) plus (b) any remaining additional amount (the additional amount will decline to zero on a straight-line basis from the time of pricing through November 22, 2021). On and after November 23, 2021, the price (not including GS&Co.’s customary bid and ask spreads) at which GS&Co. would buy or sell your notes (if it makes a market) will equal approximately the then-current estimated value of your notes determined by reference to such pricing models.

 

About Your Prospectus

The notes are part of the Medium-Term Notes, Series F program of GS Finance Corp. and are fully and unconditionally guaranteed by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. This prospectus includes this pricing supplement and the accompanying documents listed below. This pricing supplement constitutes a supplement to the documents listed below, does not set forth all of the terms of your notes and therefore should be read in conjunction with such documents:

General terms supplement no. 8,671 dated July 1, 2020

Prospectus supplement dated July 1, 2020

Prospectus dated July 1, 2020

The information in this pricing supplement supersedes any conflicting information in the documents listed above. In addition, some of the terms or features described in the listed documents may not apply to your notes.

We refer to the notes we are offering by this pricing supplement as the “offered notes” or the “notes”. Each of the offered notes has the terms described below. Please note that in this pricing supplement, references to “GS Finance Corp.”, “we”, “our” and “us” mean only GS Finance Corp. and do not include its subsidiaries or affiliates, references to “The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.”, our parent company, mean only The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and do not include its subsidiaries or affiliates and references to “Goldman Sachs” mean The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. together with its consolidated subsidiaries and affiliates, including us. The notes will be issued under the senior debt indenture, dated as of October 10, 2008, as supplemented by the First Supplemental Indenture, dated as of February 20, 2015, each among us, as issuer, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor, and The Bank of New York Mellon, as trustee. This indenture, as so supplemented and as further supplemented thereafter, is referred to as the “GSFC 2008 indenture” in the accompanying prospectus supplement. The notes will be issued in book-entry form and represented by a master global note.

 


PS-2


 

Terms AND CONDITIONS

(Terms From Pricing Supplement No. 783 Incorporated Into Master Note No. 2)

These terms and conditions relate to pricing supplement no. 783 dated November 16, 2020 of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. with respect to the issuance by GS Finance Corp. of its Autocallable ETF-Linked Notes due 2025 and the guarantee thereof by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

The provisions below are hereby incorporated into master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. References herein to “this note” shall be deemed to refer to “this security” in such master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. Certain defined terms may not be capitalized in these terms and conditions even if they are capitalized in master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020. Defined terms that are not defined in these terms and conditions shall have the meanings indicated in such master note no. 2, dated July 1, 2020, unless the context otherwise requires.

CUSIP / ISIN: 40057ENF0 / US40057ENF06

Company (Issuer): GS Finance Corp.

Guarantor: The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

Underliers (each individually, an underlier): the iShares® Silver Trust (current Bloomberg symbol: “SLV UP Equity”), or any successor underlier, and the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund (current Bloomberg symbol: "XLI UP Equity"), or any successor underlier, as each may be modified, replaced or adjusted from time to time as provided herein

Underlying index:  with respect to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, the Industrials Select Sector Index

Face amount: $3,000,000 in the aggregate on the original issue date; the aggregate face amount may be increased if the company, at its sole option, decides to sell an additional amount on a date subsequent to the trade date

Authorized denominations: $1,000 or any integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof

Principal amount:  Subject to redemption by the company as provided under “— Company’s redemption right (automatic call feature)” below, on the stated maturity date the company will pay, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, an amount in cash equal to the cash settlement amount.

Cash settlement amount:

if the final underlier level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level, (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) $1,000 times (b) the maturity date premium amount;

if the final underlier level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its buffer level but the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its initial underlier level, $1,000; or

if the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its buffer level, the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of (a) the lesser performing underlier return plus the buffer amount times (b) $1,000

Company’s redemption right (automatic call feature): if a redemption event occurs, then the outstanding face amount will be automatically redeemed in whole and the company will pay an amount in cash on the following call payment date, for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount, equal to the sum of (i) $1,000 plus (ii) the product of $1,000 times the applicable call premium amount specified under “Call observation dates” below

Redemption event: a redemption event will occur if, as measured on any call observation date, the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level

Initial underlier level: $23.02 with respect to the iShares® Silver Trust and $87.85 with respect to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund

Final underlier level: with respect to an underlier, the closing level of such underlier on the determination date, subject to adjustment as provided in “— Consequences of a market disruption event or non-trading day” and “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier return: with respect to an underlier, the quotient of (i) its final underlier level minus its initial underlier level divided by (ii) its initial underlier level, expressed as a percentage

Lesser performing underlier return: the underlier return of the lesser performing underlier

Lesser performing underlier: the underlier with the lowest underlier return

Buffer level: for each underlier, 80% of its initial underlier level

Buffer amount: 20%

PS-3


 

Call premium amount: with respect to any call payment date, the applicable call premium amount specified in the table set forth under “Call observation dates” below; as shown in such table, the call premium amount increases the longer the notes are outstanding

Maturity date premium amount: 60.5%

Trade date: November 16, 2020

Original issue date: November 19, 2020

Determination date: November 17, 2025, unless the calculation agent determines that, with respect to any underlier, a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on that day or that day is not otherwise a trading day. In the event the originally scheduled determination date is a non-trading day with respect to any underlier, the determination date will be the first day thereafter that is a trading day for all underliers (the “first qualified trading day”) provided that no market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier on that day. If a market disruption event with respect to an underlier occurs or is continuing on the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, the determination date will be the first following trading day on which the calculation agent determines that each underlier has had at least one trading day (from and including the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day, as applicable) on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing and the closing level of each underlier will be determined on or prior to the postponed determination date as set forth under “— Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day” below. (In such case, the determination date may differ from the date on which the level of an underlier is determined for the purpose of the calculations to be performed on the determination date.) In no event, however, will the determination date be postponed to a date later than the originally scheduled stated maturity date or, if the originally scheduled stated maturity date is not a business day, later than the first business day after the originally scheduled stated maturity date, either due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days or due to the occurrence of one or more market disruption events. On such last possible determination date, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier that has not yet had such a trading day on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing or if such last possible day is not a trading day with respect to such underlier, that day will nevertheless be the determination date

Stated maturity date: November 24, 2025, unless that day is not a business day, in which case the stated maturity date will be postponed to the next following business day.  The stated maturity date will also be postponed if the determination date is postponed as described under “— Determination date” above. In such a case, the stated maturity date will be postponed by the same number of business day(s) from but excluding the originally scheduled determination date to and including the actual determination date.

Call observation dates: the dates specified as such in the table below, unless the calculation agent determines that, with respect to any underlier, a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on that day or that day is not otherwise a trading day.

In the event the originally scheduled call observation date is a non-trading day with respect to any underlier, the call observation date will be the first day thereafter that is a trading day for all underliers (the “first qualified call trading day”) provided that no market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier on that day. If a market disruption event with respect to an underlier occurs or is continuing on the originally scheduled call observation date or the first qualified call trading day, the call observation date will be the first following trading day on which the calculation agent determines that each underlier has had at least one trading day (from and including the originally scheduled call observation date or the first qualified call trading day, as applicable) on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing and the closing level of each underlier for that call observation date will be determined on or prior to the postponed call observation date as set forth under “— Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day” below. (In such case, the call observation date may differ from the date on which the level of an underlier is determined for the purpose of the calculations to be performed on the call observation date.) In no event, however, will the call observation date be postponed to a date later than the originally scheduled call payment date or, if the originally scheduled call payment date is not a business day, later than the first business day after the originally scheduled call payment date, either due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days or due to the occurrence of one or more market disruption events. On such last possible call observation date applicable to the relevant call payment date, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing with respect to an underlier that has not yet had such a trading day on which no market disruption event has occurred or is continuing or if such last possible day is not a trading day with respect to such underlier, that day will nevertheless be the call observation date.

PS-4


 

Call Observation Dates

Call Payment Dates

Call Premium Amount

November 16, 2021

November 23, 2021

12.1%

February 16, 2022

February 24, 2022

15.125%

May 16, 2022

May 23, 2022

18.15%

August 16, 2022

August 23, 2022

21.175%

November 16, 2022

November 23, 2022

24.2%

February 16, 2023

February 24, 2023

27.225%

May 16, 2023

May 23, 2023

30.25%

August 16, 2023

August 23, 2023

33.275%

November 16, 2023

November 24, 2023

36.3%

February 16, 2024

February 26, 2024

39.325%

May 16, 2024

May 23, 2024

42.35%

August 16, 2024

August 23, 2024

45.375%

November 18, 2024

November 25, 2024

48.4%

February 18, 2025

February 25, 2025

51.425%

May 16, 2025

May 23, 2025

54.45%

August 18, 2025

August 25, 2025

57.475%

Call payment dates: the dates specified as such in the table set forth under “Call observation dates” above, unless, for any such call payment date, that day is not a business day, in which case such call payment date will be postponed to the next following business day. If a call observation date is postponed as described under “Call observation dates” above, such call payment date will be postponed by the same number of business day(s) from but excluding the applicable originally scheduled call observation date to and including the actual call observation date

Closing level: on any trading day, with respect to an underlier, the closing sale price or last reported sale price, regular way, for such underlier, on a per-share or other unit basis:

on the principal national securities exchange on which such underlier is listed for trading on that day, or

if such underlier is not listed on any national securities exchange on that day, on any other U.S. national market system that is the primary market for the trading of such underlier.

If an underlier is not listed or traded as described above, then the closing level for such underlier on any day will be the average, as determined by the calculation agent, of the bid prices for such underlier obtained from as many dealers in such underlier selected by the calculation agent as will make those bid prices available to the calculation agent. The number of dealers need not exceed three and may include the calculation agent or any of its or the company’s affiliates.

The closing level of an underlier is subject to adjustment as described under “— Anti-dilution adjustments” below.

Trading day: with respect to an underlier, a day on which (a) the exchange on which such underlier has its primary listing is open for trading and (b) the price of one share of such underlier is quoted by the exchange on which such underlier has its primary listing.

Successor underlier: with respect to an underlier, any substitute underlier approved by the calculation agent as a successor as provided under “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” below

Underlier investment advisor: with respect to an underlier, at any time, the person or entity, including any successor investment advisor, that serves as an investment advisor to such underlier as then in effect

Underlier stocks: with respect to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, at any time, the stocks that comprise such underlier as then in effect, after giving effect to any additions, deletions or substitutions

Market disruption event: With respect to any given trading day, any of the following will be a market disruption event with respect to an underlier:

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in such underlier on its primary market for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

a suspension, absence or material limitation of trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier in the primary market for those contracts for more than two consecutive hours of trading or during the one-half hour before the close of trading in that market, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion, or

such underlier does not trade on what was the primary market for such underlier, as determined by the calculation agent in its sole discretion,

PS-5


 

and, in the case of any of these events, the calculation agent determines in its sole discretion that the event could materially interfere with the ability of the company or any of its affiliates or a similarly situated person to unwind all or a material portion of a hedge that could be effected with respect to this note.

The following events will not be market disruption events:

a limitation on the hours or numbers of days of trading, but only if the limitation results from an announced change in the regular business hours of the relevant market, and

a decision to permanently discontinue trading in option or futures contracts relating to such underlier.

For this purpose, an “absence of trading” in the primary securities market on which shares of such underlier are traded, or on which option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier are traded, will not include any time when that market is itself closed for trading under ordinary circumstances.  In contrast, a suspension or limitation of trading in shares of such underlier or in option or futures contracts, if available, relating to such underlier in the primary market for such underlier or those contracts, by reason of:

a price change exceeding limits set by that market,

an imbalance of orders relating to the shares of such underlier or those contracts, or

a disparity in bid and ask quotes relating to the shares of such underlier or those contracts,

will constitute a suspension or material limitation of trading in shares of such underlier or those contracts in that market.

A market disruption event with respect to one underlier will not, by itself, constitute a market disruption event for any other unaffected underlier.

Consequences of a market disruption event or a non-trading day: With respect to any underlier, if a market disruption event occurs or is continuing on a day that would otherwise be a call observation date or the determination date, or such day is not a trading day, then such call observation date or the determination date will be postponed as described under “— Call observation dates” or “— Determination date” above. If any call observation date or the determination date is postponed to the last possible date due to the occurrence of serial non-trading days, the level of each underlier will be the calculation agent’s assessment of such level, in its sole discretion, on such last possible postponed call observation date or determination date, as applicable. If any call observation date or the determination date is postponed due to a market disruption event with respect to any underlier, the closing level of each underlier with respect to such call observation date or the final underlier level with respect to the determination date, as applicable, will be calculated based on (i) for any underlier that is not affected by a market disruption event on (a) the applicable originally scheduled call observation date or the first qualified call trading day thereafter (if applicable) or (b) the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on that date, (ii) for any underlier that is affected by a market disruption event on (a) the applicable originally scheduled call observation date or the first qualified call trading day thereafter (if applicable) or (b) the originally scheduled determination date or the first qualified trading day thereafter (if applicable), the closing level of the underlier on the first following trading day on which no market disruption event exists for such underlier and (iii) the calculation agent’s assessment, in its sole discretion, of the level of any underlier on the last possible postponed call observation date or determination date, as applicable, with respect to such underlier as to which a market disruption event continues through the last possible postponed call observation date or determination date. As a result, this could result in the closing level on any call observation date or final underlier level on the determination date of each underlier being determined on different calendar dates. For the avoidance of doubt, once the closing level for an underlier is determined for a call observation date or determination date, the occurrence of a later market disruption event or non-trading day will not alter such calculation.

Discontinuance or modification of an underlier: (i) if, with respect to the iShares® Silver Trust, such underlier is delisted from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and its underlier investment advisor or anyone else publishes a substitute underlier that the calculation agent determines is comparable to such underlier and approves as a successor underlier, or if the calculation agent designates a substitute underlier, then the calculation agent will determine the amount payable on the applicable call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, by reference to such successor underlier.

If the calculation agent determines on a call observation date or the determination date, as applicable, that an underlier is delisted or withdrawn from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and there is no successor underlier, the calculation agent will determine the amount payable on the applicable call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, by a computation methodology that the calculation agent determines will as closely as reasonably possible replicate such underlier.

PS-6


 

If the calculation agent determines that an underlier or the method of calculating such underlier is changed at any time in any respect — including any split or reverse split of the underlier, a material change in the investment objective of the underlier and any addition, deletion or substitution and any reweighting or rebalancing of such underlier and whether the change is made by the underlier investment advisor under its existing policies or following a modification of those policies, is due to the publication of a successor underlier or is due to any other reason— then the calculation agent will be permitted (but not required) to make such adjustments in such underlier or the method of its calculation as it believes are appropriate to ensure that the levels of such underlier used to determine the amount payable, if any on the call payment date or the amount in cash on the stated maturity date, as applicable, is equitable.

All determinations and adjustments to be made by the calculation agent with respect to an underlier may be made by the calculation agent in its sole discretion. The calculation agent is not obligated to make any such adjustments.

(ii) If, with respect to the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, such underlier is delisted from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and its underlier investment advisor or anyone else publishes a substitute underlier that the calculation agent determines is comparable to such underlier and approves as a successor underlier, or if the calculation agent designates a substitute underlier, then the calculation agent will determine the amount payable on the applicable call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, by reference to such successor underlier.

If the calculation agent determines on a call observation date or the determination date, as applicable, that an underlier is delisted or withdrawn from the exchange on which the underlier has its primary listing and there is no successor underlier, the calculation agent will determine the amount payable on the applicable call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, by a computation methodology that the calculation agent determines will as closely as reasonably possible replicate such underlier.

If the calculation agent determines that, an underlier, the underlier stocks comprising such underlier or the method of calculating such underlier is changed at any time in any respect — including any split or reverse split of the underlier, a material change in the investment objective of the underlier and any addition, deletion or substitution and any reweighting or rebalancing of such underlier and whether the change is made by the underlier investment advisor under its existing policies or following a modification of those policies, is due to the publication of a successor underlier, is due to events affecting one or more of the underlier stocks or their issuers or is due to any other reason — then the calculation agent will be permitted (but not required) to make such adjustments in such underlier or the method of its calculation as it believes are appropriate to ensure that the levels of such underlier used to determine the amount payable, if any on the call payment date or the amount in cash on the stated maturity date, as applicable, is equitable.

All determinations and adjustments to be made by the calculation agent with respect to an underlier may be made by the calculation agent in its sole discretion. The calculation agent is not obligated to make any such adjustments.

Anti-dilution adjustments:  the calculation agent will have discretion to adjust the closing level of an underlier if certain events occur (including those described above under “— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier”). In the event that any event other than a delisting or withdrawal from the relevant exchange occurs, the calculation agent shall determine whether and to what extent an adjustment should be made to the level of such underlier or any other term. The calculation agent shall have no obligation to make an adjustment for any such event.

Calculation agent: Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC (“GS&Co.”)

Tax characterization: The holder, on behalf of itself and any other person having a beneficial interest in this note, hereby agrees with the company (in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary) to characterize this note for all U.S. federal income tax purposes as a pre-paid derivative contract in respect of the underliers.

Overdue principal rate: the effective Federal Funds rate

 

 

PS-7


 

LIMITED EVENTS OF DEFAULT

The only events of default for the notes are (i) payment defaults that continue for a 30 day-grace period and (ii) certain insolvency events. No other breach or default under our senior debt indenture or the notes will result in an event of default for the notes or permit the trustee or holders to accelerate the maturity of the notes - that is, they will not be entitled to declare the face or principal amount of any notes to be immediately due and payable. See “Risks Relating to Regulatory Resolution Strategies and Long-Term Debt Requirements” and “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Default, Remedies and Waiver of Default — Securities Issued Under the 2008 GSFC Indenture” in the accompanying prospectus for further details.

 


PS-8


 

HYPOTHETICAL EXAMPLES

The following examples are provided for purposes of illustration only. They should not be taken as an indication or prediction of future investment results and are intended merely to illustrate the impact that the various hypothetical closing levels of the underliers on a call observation date and on the determination date could have on the amount of cash payable on a call payment date or on the stated maturity date, as the case may be, assuming all other variables remain constant.

The examples below are based on a range of underlier levels that are entirely hypothetical; no one can predict what the closing level of any underlier will be on any day throughout the life of your notes, what the closing level of any underlier will be on any call observation date or what the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier will be on the determination date. The underliers have been highly volatile in the past — meaning that the underlier levels have changed substantially in relatively short periods — and their performance cannot be predicted for any future period.

The information in the following examples reflects hypothetical rates of return on the offered notes assuming that they are purchased on the original issue date at the face amount and held to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as the case may be. If you sell your notes in a secondary market prior to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as the case may be, your return will depend upon the market value of your notes at the time of sale, which may be affected by a number of factors that are not reflected in the examples below such as interest rates, the volatility of the underliers, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, and the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor. In addition, the estimated value of your notes at the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date (as determined by reference to pricing models used by GS&Co.) is less than the original issue price of your notes. For more information on the estimated value of your notes, see “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes” on page PS-13 of this pricing supplement. The information in the examples also reflects the key terms and assumptions in the box below.

Key Terms and Assumptions

Face amount

$1,000

Buffer level

with respect to each underlier, 80% of its initial underlier level

Buffer amount

20%

The notes are not automatically called, unless otherwise indicated below

Neither a market disruption event nor a non-trading day occurs on any originally scheduled call observation date or the originally scheduled determination date

No change in or affecting any underlier, any underlier stock, any policy of the applicable underlier investment advisor or any method by which the underlying index sponsor calculates the underlying index

Notes purchased on original issue date at the face amount and held to a call payment date or the stated maturity date

For these reasons, the actual performance of the underliers over the life of your notes, particularly on each call observation date and the determination date, as well as the amount payable on a call payment date or at maturity may bear little relation to the hypothetical examples shown below or to the historical underlier levels shown elsewhere in this pricing supplement. For information about the underlier levels during recent periods, see “The Underliers — Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers” on page PS-38. Before investing in the notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the notes.

Also, the hypothetical examples shown below do not take into account the effects of applicable taxes.  Because of the U.S. tax treatment applicable to your notes, tax liabilities could affect the after-tax rate of return on your notes to a comparatively greater extent than the after-tax return on the underliers.

PS-9


 

Hypothetical Amount in Cash Payable on a Call Payment Date

The examples below show hypothetical amounts that we would pay on a call payment date with respect to each $1,000 face amount of the notes if the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level on the applicable call observation date. While there are sixteen potential call payment dates with respect to your notes, the examples below only illustrate the amount you will receive, if any, on the first and second call payment dates.

If your notes are automatically called on the first call observation date (i.e., on the first call observation date the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level), the amount in cash that we would deliver for each $1,000 face amount of your notes on the applicable call payment date would be the sum of $1,000 plus the product of the applicable call premium amount times $1,000. If, for example, the closing level of each underlier was determined to be 120% of its initial underlier level, your notes would be automatically called and the amount in cash that we would deliver on your notes on the corresponding call payment date would be 112.1% of the face amount of your notes or $1,121 for each $1,000 of the face amount of your notes.

If the notes are not automatically called on the first call observation date and are automatically called on the second call observation date (i.e., on the first call observation date the closing level of any underlier is less than its initial underlier level, and on the second call observation date the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level), the amount in cash that we would deliver for each $1,000 face amount of your notes on the applicable call payment date would be the sum of $1,000 plus the product of the applicable call premium amount times $1,000. If, for example, the closing level of each underlier was determined to be 130% of its initial underlier level, your notes would be automatically called and the amount in cash that we would deliver on your notes on the corresponding call payment date would be 115.125% of the face amount of your notes or $1,151.25 for each $1,000 of the face amount of your notes.

Hypothetical Payment at Maturity

If the notes are not automatically called on any call observation date (i.e., on each call observation date the closing level of any underlier is less than its initial underlier level), the cash settlement amount we would deliver for each $1,000 face amount of your notes on the stated maturity date will depend on the performance of the lesser performing underlier on the determination date, as shown in the table below.  The table below assumes that the notes have not been automatically called on a call observation date and reflects hypothetical cash settlement amounts that you could receive on the stated maturity date.

The levels in the left column of the table below represent hypothetical final underlier levels of the lesser performing underlier and are expressed as percentages of the initial underlier level of the lesser performing underlier.  The amounts in the right column represent the hypothetical cash settlement amounts, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier, and are expressed as percentages of the face amount of a note (rounded to the nearest one-thousandth of a percent).  Thus, a hypothetical cash settlement amount of 100.000% means that the value of the cash payment that we would deliver for each $1,000 of the outstanding face amount of the offered notes on the stated maturity date would equal 100.000% of the face amount of a note, based on the corresponding hypothetical final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier and the assumptions noted above.


PS-10


 

The Notes Have Not Been Automatically Called

 

Hypothetical Final Underlier Level of the Lesser Performing Underlier

(as Percentage of Initial Underlier Level)

Hypothetical Cash Settlement Amount

(as Percentage of Face Amount)

 

175.000%

160.500%

 

150.000%

160.500%

 

125.000%

160.500%

 

110.000%

160.500%

 

100.000%

160.500%

 

99.999%

100.000%

 

95.000%

100.000%

 

80.000%

100.000%

 

79.999%

99.999%

 

50.000%

70.000%

 

25.000%

45.000%

 

0.000%

20.000%

 

If, for example, the notes have not been automatically called on a call observation date and the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 25.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be 45.000% of the face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above.  As a result, if you purchased your notes on the original issue date at the face amount and held them to the stated maturity date, you would lose 55.000% of your investment (if you purchased your notes at a premium to face amount you would lose a correspondingly higher percentage of your investment).  If the notes have not been automatically called on a call observation date and the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 95.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be 100.000% of the face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above. In addition, if the final underlier level of the lesser performing underlier were determined to be 175.000% of its initial underlier level, the cash settlement amount that we would deliver on your notes at maturity would be limited to 160.500% of each $1,000 face amount of your notes, as shown in the table above.  As a result, if you held your notes to the stated maturity date, the cash settlement amount will be capped, and you would not benefit from any increase in the final underlier level over the initial underlier level.  

The amounts shown above are entirely hypothetical; they are based on market prices for the underliers that may not be achieved on the determination date and on assumptions that may prove to be erroneous.  The actual market value of your notes on the stated maturity date or at any other time, including any time you may wish to sell your notes, may bear little relation to the hypothetical amounts shown above, and these amounts should not be viewed as an indication of the financial return on an investment in the offered notes.  The hypothetical amounts on notes held to the stated maturity date in the examples above assume you purchased your notes at their face amount and have not been adjusted to reflect the actual issue price you pay for your notes. The return on your investment (whether positive or negative) in your notes will be affected by the amount you pay for your notes. If you purchase your notes for a price other than the face amount, the return on your investment will differ from, and may be significantly lower than, the hypothetical returns suggested by the above examples. Please read “Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes — The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” on page PS-15.

Payments on the notes are economically equivalent to the amounts that would be paid on a combination of other instruments. For example, payments on the notes are economically equivalent to a combination of an interest-bearing bond bought by the holder and one or more options entered into between the holder and us (with one or more implicit option premiums paid over time). The discussion in this paragraph does not modify or affect the terms of the notes or the U.S. federal income tax treatment of the notes, as described elsewhere in this pricing supplement.

 

PS-11


 

 

We cannot predict the actual closing levels of the underliers on any day, the final underlier levels or what the market value of your notes will be on any particular trading day, nor can we predict the relationship between the closing levels of the underliers and the market value of your notes at any time prior to the stated maturity date. The actual amount that you will receive on a call payment date or the stated maturity date and the rate of return on the offered notes will depend on whether or not the notes are automatically called and the actual closing levels of the underliers on the call observation dates and the actual final underlier levels determined by the calculation agent as described above. Moreover, the assumptions on which the hypothetical examples are based may turn out to be inaccurate. Consequently, the amount in cash to be paid in respect of your notes on a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, may be very different from the information reflected in the examples above.


PS-12


 

ADDITIONAL RISK FACTORS SPECIFIC TO YOUR NOTES

An investment in your notes is subject to the risks described below, as well as the risks and considerations described in the accompanying prospectus, in the accompanying prospectus supplement and under “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes” in the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671. You should carefully review these risks and considerations as well as the terms of the notes described herein and in the accompanying prospectus, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671. Your notes are a riskier investment than ordinary debt securities. You should carefully consider whether the offered notes are appropriate given your particular circumstances.

 

The Estimated Value of Your Notes At the Time the Terms of Your Notes Are Set On the Trade Date (as Determined By Reference to Pricing Models Used By GS&Co.) Is Less Than the Original Issue Price Of Your Notes

The original issue price for your notes exceeds the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models and taking into account our credit spreads. Such estimated value on the trade date is set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”; after the trade date, the estimated value as determined by reference to these models will be affected by changes in market conditions, the creditworthiness of GS Finance Corp., as issuer, the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor, and other relevant factors. The price at which GS&Co. would initially buy or sell your notes (if GS&Co. makes a market, which it is not obligated to do), and the value that GS&Co. will initially use for account statements and otherwise, also exceeds the estimated value of your notes as determined by reference to these models. As agreed by GS&Co. and the distribution participants, this excess (i.e., the additional amount described under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”) will decline to zero on a straight line basis over the period from the date hereof through the applicable date set forth above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”. Thereafter, if GS&Co. buys or sells your notes it will do so at prices that reflect the estimated value determined by reference to such pricing models at that time. The price at which GS&Co. will buy or sell your notes at any time also will reflect its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes.

In estimating the value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date, as disclosed above under “Estimated Value of Your Notes”, GS&Co.’s pricing models consider certain variables, including principally our credit spreads, interest rates (forecasted, current and historical rates), volatility, price-sensitivity analysis and the time to maturity of the notes. These pricing models are proprietary and rely in part on certain assumptions about future events, which may prove to be incorrect. As a result, the actual value you would receive if you sold your notes in the secondary market, if any, to others may differ, perhaps materially, from the estimated value of your notes determined by reference to our models due to, among other things, any differences in pricing models or assumptions used by others. See “—The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors” below.

The difference between the estimated value of your notes as of the time the terms of your notes are set on the trade date and the original issue price is a result of certain factors, including principally the underwriting discount and commissions, the expenses incurred in creating, documenting and marketing the notes, and an estimate of the difference between the amounts we pay to GS&Co. and the amounts GS&Co. pays to us in connection with your notes. We pay to GS&Co. amounts based on what we would pay to holders of a non-structured note with a similar maturity. In return for such payment, GS&Co. pays to us the amounts we owe under your notes.

In addition to the factors discussed above, the value and quoted price of your notes at any time will reflect many factors and cannot be predicted. If GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the price quoted by GS&Co. would reflect any changes in market conditions and other relevant factors, including any deterioration in our creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness or the creditworthiness or perceived creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. These changes may adversely affect the value of your notes, including the price you may receive for your notes in any market making transaction. To the extent that GS&Co. makes a market in the notes, the quoted price will reflect the estimated value determined by reference to GS&Co.’s pricing models at that time, plus or minus its then current bid and ask spread for similar sized trades of structured notes (and subject to the declining excess amount described above).

Furthermore, if you sell your notes, you will likely be charged a commission for secondary market transactions, or the price will likely reflect a dealer discount. This commission or discount will further reduce the proceeds you would receive for your notes in a secondary market sale.

There is no assurance that GS&Co. or any other party will be willing to purchase your notes at any price and, in this regard, GS&Co. is not obligated to make a market in the notes. See “Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes

PS-13


 

— Your Notes May Not Have an Active Trading Market” on page S-10 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671.

The Notes Are Subject to the Credit Risk of the Issuer and the Guarantor

Although the return on the notes will be based on the performance of each underlier, the payment of any amount due on the notes is subject to the credit risk of GS Finance Corp., as issuer of the notes, and the credit risk of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor of the notes. The notes are our unsecured obligations. Investors are dependent on our ability to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore investors are subject to our credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of our creditworthiness. Similarly, investors are dependent on the ability of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., as guarantor of the notes, to pay all amounts due on the notes, and therefore are also subject to its credit risk and to changes in the market’s view of its creditworthiness. See “Description of the Notes We May Offer — Information About Our Medium-Term Notes, Series F Program — How the Notes Rank Against Other Debt” on page S-5 of the accompanying prospectus supplement and “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Guarantee by The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.” on page 68 of the accompanying prospectus.

You May Lose a Substantial Portion of Your Investment in the Notes

You can lose a substantial portion of your investment in the notes. Assuming your notes are not automatically called, the cash settlement amount on your notes on the stated maturity date will be based on the performance of the lesser performing of the underliers as measured from their initial underlier levels to their closing levels on the determination date. If the final underlier level of any underlier is less than its buffer level, you will have a loss for each $1,000 of the face amount of your notes equal to the product of (i) the lesser performing underlier return plus the buffer amount times (ii) $1,000. Thus, you may lose a substantial portion of your investment in the notes, which would include any premium to face amount you paid when you purchased the notes.

Also, the market price of your notes prior to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as the case may be, may be significantly lower than the purchase price you pay for your notes. Consequently, if you sell your notes before the stated maturity date, you may receive far less than the amount of your investment in the notes.

The Amount You Will Receive on a Call Payment Date or on the Stated Maturity Date, as the Case May Be, Will Be Capped

Regardless of the closing levels of the underliers on each of the call observation dates, the amount in cash that you may receive on a call payment date is capped. Even if the closing level of each underlier on a call observation date exceeds its initial underlier level, causing the notes to be automatically called on such day, the amount in cash payable on the call payment date will be capped, and you will not benefit from the increases in the closing levels of the underliers above their initial underlier levels on the call observation date. If your notes are automatically called on a call observation date, the maximum payment you will receive for each $1,000 face amount of your notes will depend on the applicable call premium amount.  In addition, the cash settlement amount you may receive on the stated maturity date is capped due to the maturity date premium amount.

Your Notes Are Subject to Automatic Redemption

We will automatically call and redeem all, but not part, of your notes on a call payment date if, as measured on any call observation date, the closing level of each underlier is greater than or equal to its initial underlier level. Therefore, the term for your notes may be reduced. You may not be able to reinvest the proceeds from an investment in the notes at a comparable return for a similar level of risk in the event the notes are automatically called prior to maturity. For the avoidance of doubt, if your notes are automatically called, no discounts, commissions or fees described herein will be rebated or reduced.

The Amount In Cash That You Will Receive on a Call Payment Date or on the Stated Maturity Date is Not Linked to the Closing Levels of the Underliers at Any Time Other Than on the Applicable Call Observation Date or on the Determination Date, as the Case May Be

The amount in cash that you will receive on a call payment date, if any, will be paid only if the closing level of each underlier on the applicable call observation date is equal to or greater than its initial underlier level.  Therefore, the closing levels of the underliers on dates other than the call observation dates will have no effect on any amount paid in respect of your notes on the call payment date.  In addition, the cash settlement amount you will receive on the stated maturity date will be based on the closing levels of the underliers on the determination date (which is subject to postponement in case of market disruption events or non-trading days), and therefore not the simple performance of the underliers over the life of your notes.  Therefore, if the closing level of an underlier dropped precipitously on the determination date, the cash settlement amount for your notes may be significantly less than it

PS-14


 

would have been had the cash settlement amount been linked to the closing levels of the underliers prior to such drop.

The Cash Settlement Amount Will Be Based Solely on the Lesser Performing Underlier

If the notes are not automatically called, the cash settlement amount will be based on the lesser performing underlier without regard to the performance of the other underlier. As a result, you could lose all or some of your initial investment if the lesser performing underlier return is negative, even if there is an increase in the level of the other underlier. This could be the case even if the other underlier increased by an amount greater than the decrease in the lesser performing underlier.

The Market Value of Your Notes May Be Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors

When we refer to the market value of your notes, we mean the value that you could receive for your notes if you chose to sell them in the open market before the stated maturity date. A number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, will influence the market value of your notes, including:

the levels of the underliers;

the volatility – i.e., the frequency and magnitude of changes – in the closing levels of the underliers;

the dividend rates of the underlier stocks;

economic, financial, regulatory, political, military, public health and other events that affect stock markets generally and the underlier stocks, and which may affect the closing level of the underlier or underliers;

interest rates and yield rates in the market;

the time remaining until your notes mature; and

our creditworthiness and the creditworthiness of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., whether actual or perceived, and including actual or anticipated upgrades or downgrades in our credit ratings or the credit ratings of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. or changes in other credit measures.

These factors may influence the market value of your notes if you sell your notes before maturity, including the price you may receive for your notes in any market making transaction. If you sell your notes prior to maturity, you may receive less than the face amount of your notes. You cannot predict the future performance of the underliers based on their historical performance.

If You Purchase Your Notes at a Premium to Face Amount, the Return on Your Investment Will Be Lower Than the Return on Notes Purchased at Face Amount and the Impact of Certain Key Terms of the Notes Will Be Negatively Affected

The amount in cash that you will be paid for your notes on the stated maturity date or the amount you will be paid on a call payment date will not be adjusted based on the issue price you pay for the notes. If you purchase notes at a price that differs from the face amount of the notes, then the return on your investment in such notes held to a call payment date or the stated maturity date will differ from, and may be substantially less than, the return on notes purchased at face amount. If you purchase your notes at a premium to face amount and hold them to a call payment date or the stated maturity date, the return on your investment in the notes will be lower than it would have been had you purchased the notes at face amount or a discount to face amount.

The Policies of the Trustee of the iShares® Silver Trust, The Bank of New York Mellon, Could Affect the Amount Payable on Your Notes and Their Market Value

The trustee of the iShares® Silver Trust, The Bank of New York Mellon (the “trustee”), may be called upon to make certain policy decisions or judgments concerning the valuation of the assets held by the iShares® Silver Trust, the calculation of the net asset value and net asset value per share, and additions, deletions or substitutions of assets in the iShares® Silver Trust. Such determinations could affect the market price of the shares of that underlier, and therefore, the amount payable on your notes on the stated maturity date. The amount payable on your notes and their market value could also be affected if the trustee changes these policies, for example, by changing or discontinuing the manner in which it evaluates the assets held by the iShares® Silver Trust and the manner in which it calculates the net asset value of the iShares® Silver Trust, in which case it may become difficult or inappropriate to determine the market value of your notes.

If events such as these occur, the calculation agent — which initially will be GS&Co. — may determine the closing level of the iShares® Silver Trust on a call observation date or the determination date — and thus the amount payable on a call payment date or the stated maturity date, if any — in a manner, in its sole discretion, it considers appropriate. We describe the discretion that the calculation agent will have in determining the closing level of the

PS-15


 

iShares® Silver Trust on a call observation date or the determination date, as applicable, and the amount payable on your notes more fully under “Terms and Conditions— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” on page PS-7 of this pricing supplement.

The Policies of the Investment Advisor of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, SSGA Funds Management, Inc., and the Sponsor of its Underlying Index, S&P, Could Affect Your Notes’ Market Value

The investment advisor of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, SSGA Funds Management (“SSGA”), may from time to time be called upon to make certain policy decisions or judgments with respect to the implementation of policies of the investment advisor for the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund concerning the calculation of the net asset value of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund, additions, deletions or substitutions of securities in the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund and the manner in which changes affecting the underlying index for the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is reflected in that underlier that could affect the market price of the shares of that underlier, and therefore, the market value of your notes on the stated maturity date. The amount payable on your notes and their market value could also be affected if the investment advisor changes these policies, for example, by changing the manner in which it calculates the net asset value of an underlier, or if the investment advisor discontinues or suspends calculation or publication of the net asset value of an underlier, in which case it may become difficult or inappropriate to determine the market value of your notes.

If events such as these occur, the calculation agent — which initially will be GS&Co. — may determine the closing level of the underliers on a call observation date or the determination date — and thus the amount payable on a call payment date or the stated maturity date, if any — in a manner, in its sole discretion, it considers appropriate. We describe the discretion that the calculation agent will have in determining the closing level of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund on a call observation date or the determination date, as applicable, and the amount payable on your notes more fully under “Terms and Conditions— Discontinuance or modification of an underlier” on page PS-7 of this pricing supplement.

In addition, S&P, the underlier sponsor of the underlying index, owns the underlying index and is responsible for the design and maintenance of the underlying index. The policies of the underlying index sponsor concerning the calculation of the underlying index, including decisions regarding the addition, deletion or substitution of the equity securities included in the underlying index, could affect the level of the underlying index and, consequently, could affect the market prices of shares of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund and, therefore, the market value of your notes.

 

There is No Assurance That an Active Trading Market Will Continue for the iShares® Silver Trust or That There Will Be Liquidity in Any Such Trading Market; Further, the iShares® Silver Trust Is Subject to Custody Risks

Although the shares of the iShares® Silver Trust are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE Arca”) and a number of similar products have been traded on the NYSE Arca or other securities exchanges for varying periods of time, there is no assurance that an active trading market will continue for the shares of the iShares® Silver Trust or that there will be liquidity in the trading market.

The purpose of the iShares® Silver Trust is to own silver transferred to the iShares® Silver Trust in exchange for shares issued by the iShares® Silver Trust. The iShares® Silver Trust is not actively managed and may be affected by a decline in the price of silver.

In addition, the iShares® Silver Trust is subject to custody risk, which refers to the risks in safekeeping the iShares® Silver Trust’s silver bullion.

There is No Assurance That an Active Trading Market Will Continue for the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund or That There Will Be Liquidity in Any Such Trading Market; Further, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund Is Subject to Securities Lending Risks and Custody Risks

Although the shares of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund are listed for trading on NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “NYSE Arca”) and a number of similar products have been traded on the NYSE Arca or other securities exchanges for varying periods of time, there is no assurance that an active trading market will continue for the shares of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund  or that there will be liquidity in the trading market.

In addition, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is subject to management risk, which is the risk that the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund investment advisor’s investment strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. For example, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund investment advisor may select up to 10% of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund’s assets to be

PS-16


 

invested in shares of equity securities that are not included in its underlying index. In addition, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund‘s investment advisor may be permitted to engage in securities lending with respect to a portion of an Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund's total assets, which could subject the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund to the risk that the borrower of such loaned securities fails to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is also not actively managed and may be affected by a general decline in market segments relating to its underlying index. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund investment advisor invests in securities included in, or representative of, its underlying index regardless of their investment merits. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund investment advisor does not attempt to take defensive positions in declining markets.

In addition, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is subject to custody risk, which refers to the risks in the process of clearing and settling trades and to the holding of securities by local banks, agents and depositories. Low trading volumes and volatile prices in less developed markets make trades harder to complete and settle, and governments or trade groups may compel local agents to hold securities in designated depositories that are not subject to independent evaluation. The less developed a country’s securities market is, the greater the likelihood of custody problems.

Further, the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is subject to listing standards adopted by NYSE Arca. There can be no assurance that the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund will continue to meet the applicable listing requirements, or that the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund will not be delisted.

The iShares® Silver Trust is a Concentrated Investment in a Single Commodity and Does Not Provide Diversified Exposure

The price of shares of the iShares® Silver Trust is linked to the price of silver and not to a diverse basket of commodities or a broad-based commodity index. The price of silver may not correlate to the price of commodities generally and may diverge significantly from the prices of commodities generally. Because the notes are linked, in part, to the iShares® Silver Trust that is itself linked to the price of a single commodity, the notes may carry greater risk and may be more volatile than a security linked to the prices of multiple commodities or a broad-based commodity index.

The Price of the iShares® Silver Trust is Linked to the Price of Silver, Which May Change Unpredictably and Affect the Value of the Notes in Unforeseeable Ways

The iShares® Silver Trust attempts to mirror, as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the performance of the price of silver, and the value of the shares of the iShares® Silver Trust is most directly affected by the value of the silver bullion held by the iShares® Silver Trust. The silver markets are generally subject to temporary distortions or other disruptions due to various factors, including the lack of liquidity in the markets and government regulation and intervention.

Silver prices are subject to volatile price movements over short periods of time and are generally affected by numerous factors. These include:

a change in economic conditions, such as a recession. Silver is used in a wide range of industrial applications, and an economic downturn could have a negative impact on its demand and, consequently, its price and the level of the iShares® Silver Trust;

a significant increase in silver hedging activity by silver producers. Traditionally, silver producers have not hedged to the same extent that other producers of precious metals (gold, for example) have. Should there be an increase in the level of hedging activity of silver producing companies, a decline in world silver prices could result, adversely affecting the level of the iShares® Silver Trust;

a significant change in the attitude of speculators and investors towards silver. Should the speculative community take a negative view towards silver, a decline in world silver prices could occur, negatively impacting the level of the shares of the iShares® Silver Trust;

global silver supply and demand, which is influenced by such factors as silver’s uses in jewelry, technology and industrial applications, purchases made by investors in the form of bars, coins and other silver products, forward selling by silver producers, purchases made by silver producers to unwind silver hedge positions, central bank purchases and sales, and production and cost levels in major silver-producing countries such as China, Mexico and Peru;

global or regional political, economic or financial events and situations, especially those unexpected in nature;

investors’ expectations with respect to the rate of inflation;

PS-17


 

interest rates;

investment and trading activities of hedge funds and commodity funds;

other economic variables such as income growth, economic output, and monetary policies; and

investor confidence.

It is not possible to predict the aggregate effect of all or any combination of these factors. Conversely, several factors may trigger a temporary increase in the price of silver prior to the trade date for the notes. If that is the case, the initial underlier level of the iShares® Silver Trust will be affected by the temporarily high prices of silver, which will negatively affect your payments on the notes when the causes for the temporary increase disappear.

Investing in Notes Linked to the iShares® Silver Trust is Not the Same as Investing Directly in Silver

The performance of the iShares® Silver Trust may not fully replicate the performance of the price of silver due to the fees and expenses charged by the iShares® Silver Trust or by restrictions on access to silver due to other circumstances. The iShares® Silver Trust does not generate any income and as the iShares® Silver Trust regularly sells silver to pay for its ongoing expenses, the amount of silver represented by each share of the iShares® Silver Trust has gradually declined over time. The iShares® Silver Trust sells silver to pay expenses on an ongoing basis irrespective of whether the trading price of the shares rises or falls in response to changes in the price of silver. The sale of the iShares® Silver Trust’s silver to pay expenses at a time of low silver prices could adversely affect the value of the iShares® Silver Trust and, therefore, the value of your notes. Additionally, there is a risk that part or all of the iShares® Silver Trust’s silver could be lost, damaged or stolen due to war, terrorism, theft, natural disaster or otherwise, which could adversely affect the value of your notes.

An Investment in the Notes is Subject to Risks Associated with the London Bullion Market

The price of one share of the iShares® Silver Trust is closely related to the price of silver.

The net asset value of the iShares® Silver Trust is obtained by subtracting all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the trust on any day from the total value of the silver and all other assets of the trust on that day.

In addition, the price at which silver is traded on over-the-counter markets around the world has an effect on the value of shares in the trust. Most of such over-the-counter market trading clears through the London bullion market, which is the market in London on which the members of the LBMA quote prices.

Investments in commodities that are traded on non-U.S. markets involve risks associated with the markets in those countries, including risks of volatility and governmental intervention in those markets. The LBMA is a self-regulatory association of bullion market participants. Although the LBMA sets out good practices for participants in the bullion market, the LBMA itself is not a regulated entity. If the LBMA should cease operations, if bullion trading should become subject to a value added tax or other tax or any other form of regulation currently not in place, or if the LBMA should change any rule or bylaw or take emergency action under its rules, the market for silver, and consequently the final underlier level of the iShares® Silver Trust, as well as the value of the notes, may be affected. The London bullion market is a principals’ market which operates in a manner more closely analogous to an over-the-counter physical commodity market than a regulated futures market, and certain features of U.S. futures contracts are not present in the context of London bullion market trading. For example, there are no daily price limits on the London bullion market which would otherwise restrict fluctuations in the prices of London bullion market contracts. In a declining market, it is possible that prices would continue to decline without limitation within a trading day or over a period of trading days.

Termination of the iShares® Silver Trust Could Adversely Affect the Value of the Notes

The iShares® Silver Trust may be required to terminate and liquidate at a time that is disadvantageous to you, such as when the price of silver is lower than the price of silver at the time when you purchased your notes.

The Correlation Between the Performance of the iShares® Silver Trust and the Price of Silver May Be Imperfect

A discrepancy may exist between the performance of the iShares® Silver Trust and the price of silver. Since the shares of the iShares® Silver Trust are traded on an exchange and are subject to market supply and investor demand, the market value of one share of the iShares® Trust may differ from the net asset value per share of the iShares® Silver Trust. As a result of the potential discrepancies identified above, the iShares® Silver Trust return may not correlate perfectly with the return on silver over the same period. For more information, see “The Underliers--iShares® Silver Trust” on page PS-22.

PS-18


 

If the LBMA Gold Price PM does not prove to be an accurate benchmark, and the LBMA Gold Price PM varies materially from the price of gold determined by other mechanisms, the net asset value of the SPDR® Gold Trust and, therefore, the value of an investment in the shares could be adversely impacted. Further, the calculation of the LBMA Gold Price PM is not an exact process, but is based upon a procedure of matching orders from participants in the auction process and their customers to sell gold with orders from participants in the auction process and their customers to buy gold at particular prices. The LBMA Gold Price PM does not therefore purport to reflect each buyer or seller of gold in the market, nor does it purport to set a definitive price for gold at which all orders for sale or purchase will take place on that particular day or time. All orders placed into the auction process by the participants will be executed on the basis of the price determined pursuant to the LBMA Gold Price PM auction process. Any future developments or changes in the determination of the LBMA Gold price PM, to the extent they have a material impact on the LBMA Gold Price PM, could adversely impact the net asset value of the SPDR® Gold Trust and the value of the shares.

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund and Its Underlying Index are Different and the Performance of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund May Not Correlate With the Performance of its Underlying Index

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund will generally invest in substantially all of the securities included in its underlying index. There may, however, be instances where the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund may choose to overweight one or more securities in its underlying index, purchase securities not included in its underlying index or utilize various combinations of other available investment techniques in seeking to track its underlying index. Although the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund seeks to track the performance of its underlying index as closely as possible, the return of such underlier may not match or achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of its underlying index due to, among other things, operating expenses, transaction costs, cash flows, regulatory requirements and operational inefficiencies. In addition, corporate actions with respect to the securities included in its underlying index, such as mergers and spin-offs, may impact the variance between the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund and its underlying index. For example, SSGA anticipates that it may take several business days for additions and deletions to the underlying index to be reflected in the portfolio composition of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund. Finally, as the shares of each of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund are traded on the NYSE Arca and are affected by market forces such as supply and demand, economic conditions and other factors, the trading prices of one share of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund  generally differ from (and may deviate significantly during periods of market volatility from) the daily net asset value per share of such underlier. For these reasons, the performance of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund may not correlate with the performance of its underlying index. Consequently, the amount payable on your notes will not be the same as investing directly in the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund or in the underlier stocks, and will not be the same as investing in a debt security with a payment at maturity linked to the performance of each underlying index.

You Will Have Limited Anti-dilution Protection

GS&Co., as calculation agent for your notes, may adjust the closing levels of the underliers for certain events that may affect the underliers, but only in the situations we describe in “Terms and Conditions — Anti-dilution Adjustments”. The calculation agent will not be required to make an adjustment for every event that may affect the underliers and will have broad discretion to determine whether and to what extent an adjustment is required.

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is Concentrated in the Industrial Sector and Does Not Provide Diversified Exposure

 

The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is not diversified. The Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund’s assets will be concentrated in the Industrial sector, which means the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund is more likely to be more adversely affected by any negative performance of the industrial sector than an ETF that has more diversified holdings across a number of sectors. Industrial companies are affected by supply and demand both for their specific product or service and for industrial sector products in general. Government regulation, world events, exchange rates and economic conditions, technological developments and liabilities for environmental damage and general civil liabilities will likewise affect the performance of these companies. Aerospace and defense companies, a component of the industrial sector, can be significantly affected by government spending policies because companies involved in this industry rely, to a significant extent, on U.S. and foreign government demand for their products and services. Thus, the financial condition of, and investor interest in, aerospace and defense companies are heavily influenced by governmental defense spending policies which are typically under pressure from efforts to control the U.S. (and other) government budgets. Transportation securities, also a component of the industrial sector, are cyclical and have occasional sharp price movements which may result from changes in the economy, fuel prices, labor agreements and insurance costs.


PS-19


 

 

The Return on Your Notes Will Not Reflect Any Dividends Paid on the Underliers or the Underlier Stocks

The return on your notes will not reflect the return you would realize if you actually owned the underliers and received the distributions paid on the underlier stocks. You will not receive any dividends that may be paid on any of the underlier stocks by the underlier stock issuers or the shares of the underliers. See “— You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of the Underliers or Any Underlier Stock” below for additional information.”

 

You Have No Shareholder Rights or Rights to Receive Any Shares of the Underliers or Any Underlier Stock

Investing in your notes will not make you a holder of any shares of the underliers or any underlier stocks. Neither you nor any other holder or owner of your notes will have any rights with respect to the underliers or the underlier stocks, including any voting rights, any right to receive dividends or other distributions, any rights to make a claim against the underliers or the underlier stocks or any other rights of a holder of any shares of the underliers or the underlier stocks. Your notes will be paid in cash and you will have no right to receive delivery of any shares of the underliers or any underlier stocks.

We May Sell an Additional Aggregate Face Amount of the Notes at a Different Issue Price

At our sole option, we may decide to sell an additional aggregate face amount of the notes subsequent to the date of this pricing supplement. The issue price of the notes in the subsequent sale may differ substantially (higher or lower) from the issue price you paid as provided on the cover of this pricing supplement.

Your Notes Will Not Bear Interest

You will not receive any interest payments on your notes. As a result, even if the amount payable for your notes on a call payment date or the stated maturity date, as applicable, exceeds the face amount of your notes, the overall return you earn on your notes may be less than you would have earned by investing in a non-indexed debt security of comparable maturity that bears interest at a prevailing market rate.

The Tax Consequences of an Investment in Your Notes Are Uncertain

The tax consequences of an investment in your notes are uncertain, both as to the timing and character of any inclusion in income in respect of your notes.

The Internal Revenue Service announced on December 7, 2007 that it is considering issuing guidance regarding the tax treatment of an instrument such as your notes, and any such guidance could adversely affect the value and the tax treatment of your notes. Among other things, the Internal Revenue Service may decide to require the holders to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and recognize ordinary income on payment at maturity, and could subject non-U.S. investors to withholding tax. Furthermore, in 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments even though there will be no interest payments over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes. We describe these developments in more detail under “Supplemental Discussion of U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences – United States Holders – Possible Change in Law” below. You should consult your tax advisor about this matter. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, GS Finance Corp. intends to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described under “Supplemental Discussion of U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences” on page PS-40 below unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate. Please also consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax and any other applicable tax consequences to you of owning your notes in your particular circumstances.

Your Notes May Be Subject to the Constructive Ownership Rules

There exists a risk that the constructive ownership rules of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code could apply to your notes. If your notes were subject to the constructive ownership rules, then any long-term capital gain that you realize upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes would be re-characterized as ordinary income (and you would be subject to an interest charge on deferred tax liability with respect to such re-characterized capital gain) to the extent that such capital gain exceeds the amount of “net underlying long-term capital gain” (as defined in Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code). Because the application of the constructive ownership rules is unclear you are strongly urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the possible application of the constructive ownership rules to your investment in the notes.

PS-20


 

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding May Apply to Payments on Your Notes, Including as a Result of the Failure of the Bank or Broker Through Which You Hold the Notes to Provide Information to Tax Authorities

Please see the discussion under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus for a description of the applicability of FATCA to payments made on your notes.


PS-21


 

THE UNDERLIERS

iShares® Silver Trust

The iShares® Silver Trust (the “trust”) issues shares (the “shares”) representing fractional undivided beneficial interests in its net assets.

The purpose of the trust is to own silver transferred to the trust in exchange for shares issued by the trust.

The shares trade under the ticker symbol “SLV” on the NYSE Arca.

The trust’s SEC CIK Number is 0001330568.

The trust’s inception date was April 21, 2006.

The trust’s shares are issued or redeemed only in baskets of 50,000 shares.

We have derived all information regarding the trust and the shares contained in this pricing supplement from publicly available information without independent verification. For additional information regarding the trust, please consult the reports (including the annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019) and other information the trust files with the Securities Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Information provided to or filed with the SEC can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC or reviewed through the SEC’s website at sec.gov. Additional information regarding the trust may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles, other publicly available documents, and the iShares® Silver Trust website at ishares.com. We are not incorporating by reference the website, the sources listed above or any material they include in this pricing supplement.

The Trust

The trust was formed on April 21, 2006 when an initial deposit of silver was made in exchange for the issuance of three baskets (a “basket” consists of 50,000 Shares). The trust is a grantor trust formed under the laws of the State of New York.

The trust’s activities are limited to: (i) issuing baskets of shares in exchange for the silver deposited with the custodian as consideration, (ii) selling silver as necessary to cover the sponsor’s fee, trust expenses not assumed by the sponsor and other liabilities and (iii) delivering silver in exchange for baskets of shares surrendered for redemption.

The sponsor of the trust is iShares Delaware Trust Sponsor LLC (the “sponsor”), a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. (“BlackRock”). The trustee of the trust is The Bank of New York Mellon (the “trustee”) and the custodian of the trust is JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A., London branch (the “custodian”).

The trust does not have any officers, directors or employees and is not actively managed. This means that the trustee does not sell silver during periods when its price is high, or acquire silver at low prices with the expectation of future price increases.

The sponsor does not exercise day-to-day oversight over the trustee or the custodian. The sponsor may remove the trustee and appoint a successor trustee if the trustee ceases to meet certain objective requirements (including the requirement that it have capital, surplus and undivided profits of at least $150 million) or if, having received written notice of a material breach of its obligations under the trust agreement, the trustee has not cured the breach within thirty days or fails to implement certain controls and procedures requested by the sponsor. The sponsor also has the right to replace the trustee during the ninety days following any merger, consolidation or conversion in which the trustee is not the surviving entity or, in its discretion, on the fifth anniversary of the creation of the trust or on any subsequent third anniversary thereafter. The sponsor also has the right to approve any new or additional custodian that the trustee may wish to appoint.

The trustee is responsible for the day-to-day administration of the trust. The responsibilities of the trustee include: (i) processing orders for the creation and redemption of baskets; (ii) coordinating with the custodian the receipt and delivery of silver transferred to, or by, the trust in connection with each issuance and redemption of baskets; (iii) calculating the net asset value of the trust on each business day; and (iv) selling the trust’s silver as needed to cover the trust’s expenses.

Owners of shares do not generally have any voting rights. However, registered holders of at least 25% of the shares have the right to require the trustee to cure any material breach by it of the trust agreement, and registered holders of at least 75% of the shares have the right to require the trustee to terminate the trust agreement. Each share

PS-22


 

entitles the holder to vote on the limited matters upon which shareholders may vote under the trust agreement. The shares do not entitle their holders to any conversion or pre-emptive rights or any redemption rights.

The trust is not a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act and is not required to register under such act. The trust is not a commodity pool for purposes of the Commodity Exchange Act, and its sponsor is not subject to regulation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading advisor with respect to the trust.

Investment Objective

The purpose of the trust is to own silver transferred to the trust in exchange for shares issued by the trust. The investment objective of the trust is to reflect generally the performance of the price of silver, before expenses and liabilities. The shares are intended to constitute a simple and cost-effective means of making an investment similar to an investment in silver.

The trust will have a limited duration. If certain events occur, at any time, the trustee will have to terminate the trust. Otherwise, the trust will terminate automatically on April 21, 2046. Upon termination of the trust, the trustee will sell silver in the amount necessary to cover all expenses of liquidation, and to pay any outstanding liabilities of the trust. The remaining silver will be distributed among investors surrendering shares. Any silver remaining in the possession of the trustee after 90 days may be sold by the trustee and the proceeds of the sale will be held by the trustee until claimed by any remaining holders of shares. Sales of silver in connection with the liquidation of the trust at a time of low prices will likely result in losses, or adversely affect any gains, on an investment in shares.

Creation and Redemption of the Shares of the Trust

The trust creates and redeems shares on a continuous basis, but only in baskets of 50,000 shares. Only registered broker-dealers who have entered into written agreements with the sponsor and the trustee, can deposit silver and receive baskets of shares in exchange (each, an “authorized participant”). Silver deposited with the custodian must meet the specifications for weight, dimensions, fineness (or purity), identifying marks and appearance of silver bars and as of January 1, 2020, must be produced by refiners that meet certain throughput and tangible net worth requirements as set forth in “Good Delivery List Rules—Conditions for Listing for Good Delivery Refiners” published by the London Bullion Market Association (the “LBMA”).

Authorized participants, acting on authority of the registered holder of shares, may surrender baskets of shares in exchange for a corresponding amount of silver. Upon the surrender of shares and the payment of the trustee’s applicable fee and of any expenses, taxes or charges including stamp taxes, stock transfer taxes or fees, the trustee will deliver to the order of the redeeming authorized participant the amount of silver corresponding to the redeemed baskets. Redemptions may be suspended during any period while regular trading of the shares on NYSE Arca is suspended or restricted or the exchange is closed (other than scheduled holiday or weekend closings), or in which an emergency exists that makes it reasonably impracticable to dispose of, deliver, or evaluate silver. As a condition to redemption, an authorized participant must deliver a written request to the trustee, or submit a redemption order through the trustee’s electronic order entry system, specifying the number of baskets it intends to redeem and the location where it intends to take delivery of the silver represented by such baskets.

Termination Events

The trustee will terminate the trust agreement if:

the trustee is notified that the shares are delisted from NYSE Arca and are not approved for listing on another national securities exchange within five business days of their delisting;

holders of at least 75% of the outstanding shares notify the trustee that they elect to terminate the Trust;

60 days have elapsed since the trustee notified the sponsor of the trustee’s election to resign and a successor trustee has not been appointed and accepted its appointment;

the SEC determines that the trust is an investment company under the Investment Company Act, and the trustee has actual knowledge of that determination;

the aggregate market capitalization of the trust, based on the closing price for the shares, was less than $350 million on each of five consecutive trading days and the trustee receives, within six months from the last of those trading days, notice that the sponsor has decided to terminate the trust;

the CFTC determines that the trust is a commodity pool under the Commodity Exchange Act and the trustee has actual knowledge of that determination; or

PS-23


 

the trust fails to qualify for treatment, or ceases to be treated, as a grantor trust for United States federal income tax purposes and the trustee receives notice that the sponsor has determined that the termination of the trust is advisable.

If not terminated earlier by the trustee, the trust will terminate on April 21, 2046. The trustee will notify DTC at least 30 days before the date for termination of the trust agreement. After termination, the trustee and its agents will do the following under the trust agreement but nothing else: (i) collect distributions pertaining to trust property; (ii) pay the trust’s expenses and sell silver as necessary to meet those expenses; and (iii) deliver trust property upon surrender and cancellation of shares. Ninety days or more after termination, the trustee may sell any remaining trust property by public or private sale. After that, the trustee will hold the money it received on the sale, as well as any other cash it is holding under the trust agreement, for the pro rata benefit of the registered holders that have not surrendered their shares. It will not invest the money and has no liability for interest. The trustee’s only obligations will be to account for the money and other cash, after deduction of applicable fees, trust expenses and taxes and governmental charges.

Valuation of Silver and NAV

The valuation of silver held by the trust is conducted by the trustee. On each business day, as soon as practicable after 4:00 p.m. (New York time), the trustee evaluates silver held by the trust and determines the net asset value of the trust and the net asset value per share (the “NAV”). The net asset value of the trust is obtained by subtracting all accrued fees, expenses and other liabilities of the trust on any day from the total value of the silver and all other assets of the trust on that day; the NAV is obtained by dividing the net asset value of the trust by the number of shares outstanding on the date the computation is made. For purposes of making these calculations, a business day means any day other than a day when NYSE Arca is closed for regular trading. The trustee values the silver held by the trust using that day’s LBMA Silver Price.

Expenses and Fees

The trust’s only ordinary recurring expense is expected to be the sponsor’s fee. In exchange for the sponsor’s fee, the sponsor assumes certain marketing and administrative expenses incurred by the trust including legal fees and expenses not exceeding $100,000 per annum. The sponsor’s fee is accrued daily at an annualized rate equal to 0.50% of the net asset value of the trust and is payable monthly in arrears. Along with the sponsor’s fee, the following expenses are also paid out of the assets of the trust: (i) expenses or liabilities of the trust that are not assumed by the sponsor, (ii) any taxes and other governmental charges that may be imposed on the trust or its property, (iii) expenses and costs related to any action taken by the trustee or the sponsor in connection with protecting the rights and interests of the trust and its shareholders, and (iv) any indemnification that might be paid to the sponsor pursuant to the trust’s organizational documents.

Understanding the LBMA Silver Price

Although the market for physical silver is global, most over the counter (“OTC”) market trades are cleared through London. In addition to coordinating market activities, the LBMA acts as the coordinator for activities conducted on behalf of its members and other market participants. A primary function of the LBMA is setting OTC silver trading industry standards.

The LBMA Silver Price is the price of an ounce, in U.S. dollars, of unallocated silver delivered in London determined by the ICE Benchmark Administration (the “IBA”) following an electronic auction consisting of one or more 30-second rounds starting at 12:00 p.m. (London time) on each day that the London silver market is open for business and published shortly thereafter. IBA, on behalf of the LBMA, has assumed responsibility for establishing the LBMA Silver Price as of October 2, 2017. At the start of each round of auction, IBA publishes a price for that round. Participants then have 30 seconds to enter, change or cancel their orders (i.e., how much silver they want to buy or sell at that price). At the end of each round, order entry is frozen, and the system checks to see if the imbalance (i.e., the difference between buying and selling) is within the threshold (normally 500,000 ounces for silver).

If the imbalance is outside of the threshold at the end of a round, then the auction is not balanced, the price is adjusted and a new round starts. If the imbalance is within the threshold then the auction is finished, and the price is set as the LBMA Silver Price for that day. Any imbalance is shared equally between all direct participants (even if they did not place orders or did not log in), and the net volume for each participant trades at the final price.

The prices during the auction are determined by an algorithm that takes into account current market conditions and activity in the auction. Each auction is actively supervised by IBA staff. The final price is then published as the LBMA Silver Price in US Dollars. If there is no LBMA Silver Price on any day, the trustee is authorized to use the most recently announced LBMA Silver Price unless the trustee, in consultation with the sponsor, determines that such price is inappropriate as a basis for evaluation.

 

PS-24


 

Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund

 

The shares of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund (the “ETF”) are issued by a series of the Select Sector SPDR® Trust, a registered investment company.  The ETF seeks investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before expenses, of the Industrials Select Sector Index (“the index”).  The ETF trades on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “XLI”.  SSGA Funds Management, Inc. (“SSGA”) currently serves as the investment advisor to the ETF. SSGA employs a replication strategy in seeking to track the index as described under “Replication Strategy” below.

 

We obtained the following fee information from the SPDR® website, without independent verification.  The investment advisor is entitled to receive a management fee from the ETF based on a percentage of the ETF’s average daily net assets, at an annual rate of 0.03%.  In addition, the ETF has adopted a Distribution and Service Plan pursuant to which payments of up to 0.04% of average daily net assets may be made. The ETF also incurs other operating expenses up to an annual rate of 0.06%. As of September 30, 2020, the expense ratio of the ETF was 0.13% per annum.

 

For additional information regarding the Select Sector SPDR® Trust or SSGA, please consult the reports (including the Semi-Annual Report to Shareholders on Form N−CSRS for the period ended March 31, 2020) and other information SPDR® Series Trust files with the SEC.  Information provided to or filed with the SEC can be inspected and copied at the public reference facilities maintained by the SEC or through the SEC’s website at sec.gov.  In addition, information regarding the ETF, including its top portfolio holdings, may be obtained from other sources including, but not limited to, press releases, newspaper articles, other publicly available documents, and the SPDR® website at spdrs.com. We are not incorporating by reference the website, the sources listed above or any material they include in this pricing supplement. We have obtained all information about the ETF from the SPDR® website without independent verification.  

 

Investment Objective and Strategy

The ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded equity securities of companies in the Industrials Select Sector Index. SSGA uses a replication strategy to try to achieve the ETF’s investment objective, which means that the ETF generally invests in substantially all of the securities represented in the index it tracks in approximately the same proportions as the index.  In certain situations or market conditions, the ETF may temporarily depart from its normal investment policies and strategies provided that the alternative is consistent with the ETF’s investment objective and is in the best interest of the ETF.  For example, if the ETF is unable to invest directly in a component security or if a derivative investment may provide higher liquidity than other types of investments, it may make larger than normal investments in derivatives to maintain exposure to the index that it tracks. Consequently, under such circumstances, such ETF may invest in a different mix of investments than it would under normal circumstances. The ETF is managed with an indexing investment strategy, attempting to track the performance of an unmanaged index of securities, regardless of the current or projected performance of the index or of the actual securities comprising the index.  This differs from an actively managed ETF, which typically seeks to outperform a benchmark index. The ETF’s performance may be less favorable than that of a portfolio managed using an active investment strategy. The structure and composition of the index will affect the performance, volatility and risk of the index and consequently, the performance, volatility and risk of the ETF.

The ETF’s investment strategy and other policies may be changed without shareholder approval.

Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the index.

The following table displays the top holdings of the ETF.  We obtained the information in the tables below from the SPDR® website without independent verification.

PS-25


 

Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund Top Holdings as of November 16, 2020:

Name:

Percentage (%)

Honeywell International Inc.

5.57%

Union Pacific Corporation

5.34%

United Parcel Services Inc. Class B

4.53%

Boeing Company

4.08%

Raytheon Technologies Corporation

3.99%

3M Company

3.81%

Caterpillar Inc.

3.57%

Lockheed Martin Corporation

3.53%

General Electric Company

3.19%

Deere & Company

3.09%

 

Holdings with Weights Equal to or in Excess of 5% of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund as of November 16, 2020

Union Pacific Corporation and Honeywell International Inc. are registered under the Exchanged Act. Companies with securities registered under the Exchange Act are required to file financial and other information specified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) periodically. Information filed by these underlier stock issuers with the SEC electronically can be reviewed through a web site maintained by the SEC. The address of the SEC’s web site is sec.gov. Information filed with the SEC by each of the above-referenced underlier stock issuers under the Exchange Act can be located by referencing its SEC file number specified below.

The graphs below, except where otherwise indicated, show the daily historical closing prices of Honeywell International Inc. and Union Pacific Corporation from January 1, 2015 through November 16, 2020.   We obtained the prices in the graphs below using data from Bloomberg Financial Services, without independent verification.  We have taken the descriptions of the underlier stock issuers set forth below from publicly available information without independent verification.       


PS-26


 

According to publicly available information, Honeywell International Inc. is a technology and manufacturing company. Information filed with the SEC by the underlier stock issuer under the Exchange Act can be located by referencing its SEC file number 001-08974.

Historical Performance of Honeywell International Inc.


PS-27


 

According to publicly available information, Union Pacific Corporation is a railroad company. Information filed with the SEC by the underlier stock issuer under the Exchange Act can be located by referencing its SEC file number 001-06075.

Historical Performance of Union Pacific Corporation


PS-28


 

Replication Strategy

The ETF uses a replication strategy to attempt to track the performance of the index.  This strategy involves investing in substantially all of the securities represented in the index in approximately the same proportions as the index.  Under normal market conditions, the ETF generally invests substantially all, but at least 95%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the index.  The ETF will provide shareholders with at least 60 days notice prior to any material change in this 95% investment policy.

Correlation

Although SSGA seeks to track the performance of the index (i.e., achieve a high degree of correlation with the return of the index), the ETF’s return may not match the return of the index. The ETF incurs a number of operating expenses not applicable to the index and incurs costs in buying and selling securities. In addition, the ETF may not be fully invested at times, generally as a result of cash flows into or out of the ETF or reserves of cash held by the ETF to meet redemptions.

The following table displays information about the relative performance of the ETF’s shares before taxes and the index (from which the tracking error can be derived), in each case as of October 31, 2020.  We obtained the information in the tables below from the SPDR® website, without independent verification.

Period

ETF

Index

Year to Date

-5.44%

-5.36%

1 Year

-1.34%

-1.20%

3 Years

4.06%

4.21%

5 Years

9.15%

9.31%

10 Years

11.22%

11.41%

Since Inception

7.64%

7.88%

 

Industry Concentration Policy

The ETF’s assets will generally be concentrated in an industry or group of industries to the extent that the index concentrates in a particular industry or group of industries.  By concentrating its assets in a single industry or group of industries, the ETF is subject to the risk that financial, economic, business or other conditions that have a negative effect on that industry or group of industries will negatively impact the ETF to a greater extent than if the ETF’s assets were invested in a wider variety of industries.  

The ETF is non-diversified and may invest a larger percentage of its assets in securities of a few issuers or a single issuer than a diversified ETF.  As a result, the ETF’s performance may be disproportionately impacted by the performance of relatively few securities.

Creation Units

Prior to trading in the secondary market, shares of the ETF are issued at net asset value to certain institutional investors (typically market makers or other broker-dealers) only in block-size units, known as creation units, of 50,000 shares or multiples thereof.  As a practical matter, only institutions, market makers or large investors purchase or redeem creation units.  The principal consideration for a specified number of creation units (which may be revised at any time without notice) is a basket of securities and/or cash that constitutes a substantial replication, or a representation, of the securities included in the index.  Except when aggregated in creation units (or upon the liquidation of the ETF), shares of the ETF are not redeemable securities.  There can be no assurance that there will be sufficient liquidity in the public trading market at any time to permit assembly of a creation unit.

Share Prices and the Secondary Market

The trading prices of the ETF’s shares will fluctuate continuously throughout trading hours based on market supply and demand rather than the ETF’s net asset value, which is calculated at the end of each business day. The trading price of the ETF’s shares may deviate significantly from its net asset value during periods of market volatility. The New York Stock Exchange disseminates an indicative optimized portfolio value of the ETF every fifteen seconds

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throughout the trading day. The indicative optimized portfolio value calculations are estimates of the values of the ETF’s net asset value per share using market data.

Industrials Select Sector Index

The Industrials Select Sector Index (Bloomberg symbol, “IXI Index”), which we refer to as the index, is comprised of the constituents of the S&P 500® Index that are assigned to the Global Industry Classification Standard (“GICS®”) Industrial sector.  The S&P 500® Index includes a representative sample of 500 companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy.  The index and the S&P 500® Index are calculated, maintained and published by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC (“S&P”). Additional information about the Industrials Select Sector Index and the S&P 500® Index is available on the following websites:us.spindices.com/indices/equity/industrials-select-sector-index and us.spindices.com/indices/equity/sp-500. We are not incorporating by reference the websites or any material they include in this pricing supplement. We have obtained all information about the index from the S&P website without independent verification.

S&P and MSCI Inc. (“MSCI”) jointly developed the GICS® in 1999 to establish a global standard for categorizing companies into sectors and industries. The GICS® classifies companies into four levels of detail: 11 sectors, 24 industry groups, 69 industries and 158 sub-industries. The eleven GICS® sectors are: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate and Utilities. GICS® was designed to classify a company according to its principal business activity. To make this determination, S&P and MSCI use revenues as a key measure of a company’s business activity. Earnings and market perception, however, are also recognized as important and relevant information for classification purposes and are taken into account during the review process. A company’s classification is reviewed annually at a minimum, and companies are under constant surveillance for corporate actions. The GICS® methodology itself is reviewed annually for changes or additions to the four classification levels.

As of November 16, 2020, the top ten constituents of the index and their relative weight in the index were as follows: Honeywell International Inc. (5.57%), Union Pacific Corporation (5.34%), United Parcel Services Inc. Class B (4.53%), Boeing Company (4.09%), Raytheon Technologies Corporation (3.99%), 3M Company (3.81%), Caterpillar Inc. (3.57%), Lockheed Martin Corporation (3.53%), General Electric Company (3.19%) and Deere & Company (3.09%).

S&P rebalances the index quarterly after the close of business on the third Friday of March, June, September and December (each, a “rebalancing effective date”). With prices reflected on the second Friday of March, June, September and December, and membership, shares outstanding and investable weight factors as of the rebalancing effective date, each company is weighted by float-adjusted market capitalization. Modifications to the float-adjusted market capitalization of constituent stocks are made as follows.

If any company has a weight greater than 24%, S&P caps that company’s float-adjusted market capitalization weight at 23%. S&P sets the cap to 23% to allow for a 2% buffer to ensure that no stock exceeds 25% as of the rebalancing effective date. S&P redistributes all excess weight equally to all uncapped stocks within the index. After this redistribution, if the float-adjusted market capitalization weight of any other stock(s) then breaches 23%, S&P repeats the process iteratively until no stock breaches the 23% weight cap. The sum of the stocks with weight greater than 4.8% cannot exceed 50% of the total index weight. If the rule in the preceding sentence is breached, then S&P ranks all the stocks in descending order of their float-adjusted market capitalization weights and the first stock that causes the 50% limit to be breached is identified. S&P then reduces the weight of that stock to 4.5%. S&P then redistributes the excess weight proportionally to all stocks with weights below 4.5% and the process is repeated iteratively until the 50% test above is satisfied. As part of the rebalancing process, S&P assigns index share amounts to each constituent stock to arrive at the weights calculated above. Since index shares are assigned based on prices one week prior to rebalancing, the actual weight of each stock at the rebalancing differs somewhat from these weights due to market movements. If, on the second to last business day of March, June, September or December, a company has a weight greater than 24% or the sum of the companies with weights greater than 4.8% exceeds 50%, a secondary rebalancing will be triggered with the rebalancing effective date being after the close of the last business day of the month. This secondary rebalancing will use the closing prices as of the second to last business day of March, June, September or December, and membership, shares outstanding and IWFs as of the rebalancing effective date.

Except for the rebalancing process described above and the total return process described below, the index is calculated and maintained on the same basis as the S&P 500® Index, which is described below.

The ETF tracks the performance of the total return version of the index. A total return index represents the total return earned in a portfolio that tracks the price index and reinvests dividend income in the overall index, not in the

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specific stock paying the dividend. The difference between the price return calculation and the total return calculation is that, with respect to the price return calculation, changes in the index level reflect changes in stock prices, whereas with respect to the total return calculation of the index, changes in the index level reflect both movements in stock prices and the reinvestment of dividend income. Notwithstanding the ETF’s investment objective, the return on your notes will not reflect any dividends paid on the ETF shares, on the securities purchased by the ETF or on the securities that comprise the index.

Once the price return index has been calculated, the total return index is calculated. First, the total daily dividend for each stock in the index is calculated by multiplying the per share dividend by the number of shares included in the index. Then the index dividend is calculated by aggregating the total daily dividends for each of the index stocks (which may be zero for some stocks) and dividing by the divisor for that day. Next the daily total return of the index is calculated as a fraction minus 1, the numerator of which is the sum of the index level plus the index dividend and the denominator of which is the index level on the previous day. Finally, the total return index for that day is calculated as the product of the value of the total return index on the previous day times the sum of 1 plus the index daily total return for that day.

S&P 500® Index

The S&P 500® Index includes a representative sample of 500 companies in leading industries of the U.S. economy. The 500 companies are not the 500 largest companies listed on the NYSE and not all 500 companies are listed on the NYSE. S&P chooses companies for inclusion in the S&P 500® Index with an aim of achieving a distribution by broad industry groupings that approximates the distribution of these groupings in the common stock population of the U.S. equity market.  Although the S&P 500® Index contains 500 constituent companies, at any one time it may contain greater than 500 constituent trading lines since some companies included in the S&P 500® Index prior to July 31, 2017 may be represented by multiple share class lines in the S&P 500® Index.  The S&P 500® Index is calculated, maintained and published by S&P.

S&P intends for the S&P 500® Index to provide a performance benchmark for the large-cap U.S. equity markets. Constituent changes are made on an as-needed basis and there is no schedule for constituent reviews. Index additions and deletions are announced with at least three business days advance notice. Less than three business days’ notice may be given at the discretion of the S&P Index Committee. Relevant criteria for additions to the S&P 500® Index that are employed by S&P include: the company proposed for addition should have an unadjusted company market capitalization of $8.2 billion or more and a security level float-adjusted market capitalization that is at least $4.1 billion (for spin-offs, eligibility is determined using when-issued prices, if available); using composite pricing and volume, the ratio of annual dollar value traded (defined as average closing price over the period multiplied by historical volume) in the proposed constituent to float-adjusted market capitalization of that company should be at least 1.00 and the stock should trade a minimum of 250,000 shares in each of the six months leading up to the evaluation date; the company must be a U.S. company (characterized as a Form 10-K filer with its U.S. portion of fixed assets and revenues constituting a plurality of the total and with a primary listing of the common stock on the NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American (formerly NYSE MKT), NASDAQ Global Select Market, NASDAQ Select Market, NASDAQ Capital Market, Cboe BZX (formerly Bats BZX), Cboe BYX (formerly Bats BYX), Cboe EDGA (formerly Bats EDGA) or Cboe EDGX (formerly Bats EDGX) (each, an “eligible exchange”)); the proposed constituent has an investable weight factor (“IWF”) of 10% or more; the inclusion of the company will contribute to sector balance in the S&P 500® Index relative to sector balance in the market in the relevant market capitalization range; financial viability (the sum of the most recent four consecutive quarters’ Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) earnings (net income excluding discontinued operations) should be positive as should the most recent quarter); and, for IPOs, the company must be traded on an eligible exchange for at least twelve months (spin-offs or in-specie distributions from existing constituents do not need to be traded on an eligible exchange for twelve months prior to their inclusion in the S&P 500® Index). In addition, constituents of the S&P MidCap 400® Index and the S&P SmallCap 600® Index can be added to the S&P 500® Index without meeting the financial viability, IWF and/or liquidity eligibility criteria if the S&P Index Committee decides that such an addition will enhance the representativeness of the S&P 500® Index as a market benchmark.  Further, constituents of the S&P Total Market Index Ex S&P Composite 1500 (which includes all eligible U.S. common equities except for those included in the S&P 500® Index, the S&P MidCap 400® Index and the S&P SmallCap 600® Index) that acquire a constituent of the S&P 500® Index, the S&P MidCap 400® Index or the S&P SmallCap 600® Index that do not fully meet the financial viability or IWF criteria may still be added to the S&P 500® Index at the discretion of the Index Committee if the Index Committee determines that the addition could minimize turnover and enhance the representativeness of the S&P 500® Index as a market benchmark. Certain types of organizational structures and securities are always excluded, including business development companies (BDCs), limited partnerships, master limited partnerships, limited liability companies (LLCs), OTC bulletin board issues, closed-end funds, ETFs, ETNs, royalty trusts, tracking stocks, special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), preferred stock and convertible preferred stock, unit trusts, equity warrants, convertible bonds, investment trusts, rights and American depositary

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receipts (ADRs). Stocks are deleted from the S&P 500® Index when they are involved in mergers, acquisitions or significant restructurings such that they no longer meet the inclusion criteria, and when they substantially violate one or more of the addition criteria. Stocks that are delisted or moved to the pink sheets or the bulletin board are removed, and those that experience a trading halt may be retained or removed in S&P’s discretion. S&P evaluates additions and deletions with a view to maintaining S&P 500® Index continuity.

For constituents included in the S&P 500® Index prior to July 31, 2017, all publicly listed multiple share class lines are included separately in the S&P 500® Index, subject to, in the case of any such share class line, that share class line satisfying the liquidity and float criteria discussed above and subject to certain exceptions.  It is possible that one listed share class line of a company may be included in the S&P 500® Index while a second listed share class line of the same company is excluded.  For companies that issue a second publicly traded share class to index share class holders, the newly issued share class line is considered for inclusion if the event is mandatory and the market capitalization of the distributed class is not considered to be de minimis.

As of July 31, 2017, companies with multiple share class lines are no longer eligible for inclusion in the S&P 500® Index. Only common shares are considered when determining whether a company has a multiple share class structure. Constituents of the S&P 500® Index prior to July 31, 2017 with multiple share class lines will be grandfathered in and continue to be included in the S&P 500® Index. If an S&P 500® Index constituent reorganizes into a multiple share class line structure, that company will be reviewed for continued inclusion in the S&P 500® Index at the discretion of the S&P Index Committee.

Calculation of the S&P 500® Index

The S&P 500® Index is calculated using a base-weighted aggregative methodology. This discussion describes the “price return” calculation of the S&P 500® Index. The value of the S&P 500® Index on any day for which an index value is published is determined by a fraction, the numerator of which is the aggregate of the market price of each stock in the S&P 500® Index times the number of shares of such stock included in the S&P 500® Index, and the denominator of which is the divisor, which is described more fully below. The “market value” of any index stock is the product of the market price per share of that stock times the number of the then-outstanding shares of such index stock that are then included in the S&P 500® Index.

The S&P 500® Index is also sometimes called a “base-weighted aggregative index” because of its use of a divisor. The “divisor” is a value calculated by S&P that is intended to maintain conformity in index values over time and is adjusted for all changes in the index stocks’ share capital after the “base date” as described below. The level of the S&P 500® Index reflects the total market value of all index stocks relative to the index’s base date of 1941-43.

In addition, the S&P 500® Index is float-adjusted, meaning that the share counts used in calculating the S&P 500® Index reflect only those shares available to investors rather than all of a company’s outstanding shares. S&P seeks to exclude shares held by long-term, strategic shareholders concerned with the control of a company, a group that generally includes the following: officers and directors and related individuals whose holdings are publicly disclosed, private equity, venture capital, special equity firms, asset managers and insurance companies with board of director representation, publicly traded companies that hold shares in another company, holders of restricted shares (except for shares held as part of a lock-up agreement), company-sponsored employee share plans/trusts, defined contribution plans/savings, investment plans, foundations or family trusts associated with the company, government entities at all levels (except government retirement or pension funds), sovereign wealth funds and any individual person listed as a 5% or greater stakeholder in a company as reported in regulatory filings (collectively, “strategic holders”). To this end, S&P excludes all share-holdings (other than depositary banks, pension funds (including government pension and retirement funds), mutual funds, exchange traded fund providers, investment funds, asset managers (including hedge funds with no board of director representation), investment funds of insurance companies and independent foundations not associated with the company) with a position greater than 5% of the outstanding shares of a company from the float-adjusted share count to be used in S&P 500® Index calculations.

The exclusion is accomplished by calculating an IWF for each stock that is part of the numerator of the float-adjusted index fraction described above:

IWF = (available float shares)/(total shares outstanding)

where available float shares is defined as total shares outstanding less shares held by strategic holders. In most cases, an IWF is reported to the nearest one percentage point. For companies with multiple share class lines, a separate IWF is calculated for each share class line.

Maintenance of the S&P 500® Index

In order to keep the S&P 500® Index comparable over time S&P engages in an index maintenance process. The S&P 500® Index maintenance process involves changing the constituents as discussed above, and also involves maintaining quality assurance processes and procedures, adjusting the number of shares used to calculate the S&P 500® Index, monitoring and completing the adjustments for company additions and deletions, adjusting for stock

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splits and stock dividends and adjusting for other corporate actions. In addition to its daily governance of indices and maintenance of the S&P 500® Index methodology, at least once within any 12 month period, the S&P Index Committee reviews the S&P 500® Index methodology to ensure the S&P 500® Index continues to achieve the stated objective, and that the data and methodology remain effective. The S&P Index Committee may at times consult with investors, market participants, security issuers included in or potentially included in the S&P 500® Index, or investment and financial experts.

Divisor Adjustments

The two types of adjustments primarily used by S&P are divisor adjustments and adjustments to the number of shares (including float adjustments) used to calculate the S&P 500® Index. Set forth below is a table of certain corporate events and their resulting effect on the divisor and the share count. If a corporate event requires an adjustment to the divisor, that event has the effect of altering the market value of the affected index stock and consequently of altering the aggregate market value of the index stocks following the event. In order that the level of the S&P 500® Index not be affected by the altered market value (which could be an increase or decrease) of the affected index stock, S&P generally derives a new divisor by dividing the post-event market value of the index stocks by the pre-event index value, which has the effect of reducing the S&P 500® Index’s post-event value to the pre-event level.

Changes to the Number of Shares of a Constituent

The index maintenance process also involves tracking the changes in the number of shares included for each of the index companies. Changes as a result of mandatory events, such as mergers or acquisition driven share/IWF changes, stock splits and mandatory distributions are not subject to a minimum threshold for implementation and are implemented when the transaction occurs. At S&P’s discretion, however, de minimis merger and acquisition changes may be accumulated and implemented with the updates made with the quarterly share updates as described below. Material share/IWF changes resulting from certain non-mandatory corporate actions follow the accelerated implementation rule. Non-material share/IWF changes are implemented quarterly.

Accelerated Implementation Rule

1. Public offerings. Public offerings of new company-issued shares and/or existing shares offered by selling shareholders, including block sales and spot secondaries, will be eligible for accelerated implementation treatment if the size of the event meets the materiality threshold criteria:

(a)

at least US $150 million, and

(b)

at least 5% of the pre-event total shares.

In addition to the materiality threshold, public offerings must satisfy the following conditions:

be underwritten.

have a publicly available prospectus, offering document, or prospectus summary filed with the relevant authorities.

have a publicly available confirmation from an official source that the offering has been completed.

For public offerings that involve a concurrent combination of new company shares and existing shares offered by selling shareholders, both events are implemented if either of the public offerings represent at least 5% of total shares and $150 million. Any concurrent share repurchase by the affected company will also be included in the implementation.

2. Dutch Auctions, self-tender offer buybacks, and split-off exchange offers. These nonmandatory corporate action types will be eligible for accelerated implementation treatment regardless of size once their results are publicly announced by S&P.

Exception to the Accelerated Implementation Rule

For non-mandatory corporate actions subject to the accelerated implementation rule with a size of at least US $1 billion, S&P will apply the share change, and any resulting IWF change, using the latest share and ownership information publicly available at the time of the announcement, even if the offering size is below the 5% threshold. This exception ensures that very large events are recognized in a timely manner using the latest available information.

All non-mandatory events not covered by the accelerated implementation rule (including but not limited to private placements, acquisition of private companies, and conversion of non-index share lines) will be implemented quarterly coinciding with the third Friday of the third month in each calendar quarter. In addition, events that were not implemented under the accelerated implementation rule but were found to have been eligible, (e.g. due to lack of publicly available information at the time of the event) are implemented as part of a quarterly rebalancing.

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Announcement Policy

For accelerated implementation, S&P will provide two (2) business days’ notice for all non-US domiciled stocks, and one (1) business days’ notice for all US domiciled stocks.

IWF Updates

Accelerated implementation for events less than $1 billion will include an adjustment to the company’s IWF only to the extent that such an IWF change helps the new float share total mimic the shares available in the offering. To minimize unnecessary turnover, these IWF changes do not need to meet any minimum threshold requirement for implementation. Any IWF change resulting in an IWF of 0.96 or greater is rounded up to 1.00 at the next annual IWF review.

IWF changes will only be made at the quarterly review if the change represents at least 5% of total current shares outstanding and is related to a single corporate action that did not qualify for the accelerated implementation rule.

Quarterly share change events resulting from the conversion of derivative securities, acquisitions of private companies, or acquisitions of non-index companies that do not trade on a major exchange are considered to be available to investors unless there is explicit information stating that the new owner is a strategic holder.

Other than the situations described above, please note that IWF changes are only made at the annual IWF review.

Share Updates

When total shares outstanding increase by at least 5%, but the new share issuance is to a strategic or major shareholder, it implies that there is no change in float- adjusted shares. However, in such instances, S&P will apply the share change and resulting IWF change regardless of whether the float change is greater than or equal to 5%.

For companies with multiple share class lines, the 5% share change threshold is based on each individual multiple share class line rather than total company shares.

Changes to share counts that total less than 5% of total shares are accumulated and made quarterly on the third Friday of March, June, September, and December.

Exceptions:

Any non- fully paid or non-fully settled offering such as forward sales agreements are not eligible for accelerated implementation. Share updates resulting from completion of subscription receipts terms or the settlement of forward sale agreements are updated at a future quarterly share rebalance.

Rebalancing Guidelines – Share/IWF Freeze

A share/IWF freeze period is implemented during each quarterly rebalancing. The freeze period begins after the market close on the Tuesday prior to the second Friday of each rebalancing month (i.e. March, June, September, and December) and ends after the market close on the third Friday of the rebalancing month. Pro-forma files are normally released after the market close on the second Friday, one week prior to the rebalancing effective date. In September, preliminary share and float data is released on the first Friday of the month. However, the share freeze period for September follows the same schedule as the other three quarterly share freeze periods. For illustration purposes, if rebalancing pro-forma files are scheduled to be released on Friday, March 13, the share/IWF freeze period will begin after the close of trading on Tuesday, March 10 and will end after the close of trading the following Friday, March 20 (i.e. the third Friday of the rebalancing month).

During the share/IWF freeze period, shares and IWFs are not changed except for mandatory corporate action events (such as merger activity, stock splits, and rights offerings), and the accelerated implementation rule is suspended. All changes that qualify for accelerated implementation scheduled to be effective during the share/IWF freeze period will instead be announced on the third Friday of the rebalancing month, and implemented five business days after the quarterly rebalancing effective date.

Adjustments for Corporate Actions

There is a large range of corporate actions that may affect companies included in the S&P 500® Index. Certain corporate actions require S&P to recalculate the share count or the float adjustment or to make an adjustment to the divisor to prevent the value of the S&P 500® Index from changing as a result of the corporate action. This helps ensure that the movement of the S&P 500® Index does not reflect the corporate actions of individual companies in the S&P 500® Index.

Spin-Offs

As a general policy, a spin-off security is added to the S&P 500® Index on the ex-date at a price of zero (with no divisor adjustment) and will remain in the S&P 500® Index for at least one trading day. The spin-off security will remain in the S&P 500® Index if it meets all eligibility criteria. If the spin-off security is determined ineligible to remain in the S&P 500® Index, it will generally be removed after at least one day of regular way trading (with a

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divisor adjustment). The weight of the spin-off being deleted is reinvested across all the index components proportionately such that the relative weights of all index components are unchanged. The net change in index market capitalization will cause a divisor change.

Companies that are spun off from a constituent of the S&P 500® Index do not need to meet the eligibility criteria for new constituents, but they should be considered U.S. domiciled for index purposes. At the discretion of the Index Committee, a spin-off company may be retained in the S&P 500® Index if the Index Committee determines it has a total market capitalization representative of the S&P 500® Index. If the spin-off company’s estimated market capitalization is below the minimum of $8.2 billion for addition criteria but there are other constituent companies in the S&P 500® Index that have a significantly lower total market capitalization than the spin-off company, the Index Committee may decide to retain the spin-off company in the S&P 500® Index.

Several additional types of corporate actions, and their related treatment, are listed in the table below.

Corporate Action

Treatment

Company addition/deletion

Addition

Companies are added at the float market capitalization weight. The net change to the index market capitalization causes a divisor adjustment.

Deletion

The weights of all stocks in the index will proportionally change. Relative weights will stay the same. The index divisor will change due to the net change in the index market capitalization

Change in shares outstanding

Increasing (decreasing) the shares outstanding increases (decreases) the market capitalization of the index. The change to the index market capitalization causes a divisor adjustment.

Split/reverse split

Shares outstanding are adjusted by split ratio. Stock price is adjusted by split ratio. There is no change to the index market capitalization and no divisor adjustment.

Change in IWF

Increasing (decreasing) the IWF increases (decreases) the market capitalization of the index. A net change to the index market capitalization causes a divisor adjustment.

Ordinary dividend

When a company pays an ordinary cash dividend, the index does not make any adjustments to the price or shares of the stock. As a result there are no divisor adjustments to the index.

Special dividend

The stock price is adjusted by the amount of the dividend. The net change to the index market capitalization causes a divisor adjustment

Rights offering

All rights offerings that are in the money on the ex-date are applied under the assumption the rights are fully subscribed. The stock price is adjusted by the value of the rights and the shares outstanding are increased by the rights ratio. The net change in market capitalization causes a divisor adjustment.

Any company that is removed from the S&P 500® Index, the S&P MidCap 400® Index or the S&P SmallCap 600® Index must wait a minimum of one year from its removal date before being reconsidered as a replacement candidate for the S&P 500® Index.

Recalculation Policy

S&P reserves the right to recalculate and republish the S&P 500® Index at its discretion in the event one of the following issues has occurred: (1) incorrect or revised closing price of one or more constituent securities; (2) missed or misapplied corporate action; (3) incorrect application of an index methodology; (4) late announcement of a corporate action; or (5) incorrect calculation or data entry error. The decision to recalculate the S&P 500® Index is made at the discretion of the index manager and/or index committee, as further discussed below.  The potential market impact or disruption resulting from a recalculation is considered when making any such decision.  In the event of an incorrect closing price, a missed or misapplied corporate action, a late announcement of a corporate action, or an incorrect calculation or data entry error that is discovered within two trading days of its occurrence, generally the S&P 500® Index is recalculated.  In the event any such event is discovered beyond the two trading day period, the index committee shall decide whether the S&P 500® Index should be recalculated. In the event of an

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incorrect application of the methodology that results in the incorrect composition and/or weighting of index constituents, the index committee shall determine whether or not to recalculate the S&P 500® Index following specified guidelines. In the event that the S&P 500® Index is recalculated, it shall be done within a reasonable timeframe following the detection and review of the issue.

Calculations and Pricing Disruptions

Closing levels for the S&P 500® Index are calculated by S&P based on the closing price of the individual constituents of the S&P 500® Index as set by their primary exchange. Closing prices are received by S&P from one of its third party vendors and verified by comparing them with prices from an alternative vendor. The vendors receive the closing price from the primary exchanges. Real-time intraday prices are calculated similarly without a second verification. Official end-of-day calculations are based on each stock’s primary market closing price. Prices used for the calculation of real time index values are based on the “Consolidated Tape”. The Consolidated Tape is an aggregation of trades for each constituent over all regional exchanges and trading venues and includes the primary exchange. If there is a failure or interruption on one or more exchanges, real-time calculations will continue as long as the “Consolidated Tape” is operational.

If an interruption is not resolved prior to the market close, official closing prices will be determined by following the hierarchy set out in NYSE Rule 123C. A notice is published on the S&P website at spglobal.com indicating any changes to the prices used in S&P 500® Index calculations. In extreme circumstances, S&P may decide to delay index adjustments or not publish the S&P 500® Index. Real-time indices are not restated.

Unexpected Exchange Closures

An unexpected market/exchange closure occurs when a market/exchange fully or partially fails to open or trading is temporarily halted. This can apply to a single exchange or to a market as a whole, when all of the primary exchanges are closed and/or not trading. Unexpected market/exchange closures are usually due to unforeseen circumstances, such as natural disasters, inclement weather, outages, or other events.

To a large degree, S&P is dependent on the exchanges to provide guidance in the event of an unexpected exchange closure. S&P’s decision making is dependent on exchange guidance regarding pricing and mandatory corporate actions.

NYSE Rule 123C provides closing contingency procedures for determining an official closing price for listed securities if the exchange is unable to conduct a closing transaction in one or more securities due to a system or technical issue.

3:00 PM ET is the deadline for an exchange to determine its plan of action regarding an outage scenario. As such, S&P also uses 3:00 PM ET as the cutoff.

If all major exchanges fail to open or unexpectedly halt trading intraday due to unforeseen circumstances, S&P will take the following actions:

Market Disruption Prior to Open of Trading:

(i)

If all exchanges indicate that trading will not open for a given day, S&P will treat the day as an unscheduled market holiday. The decision will be communicated to clients as soon as possible through the normal channels. Indices containing multiple markets will be calculated as normal, provided that at least one market is open that day. Indices which only contain closed markets will not be calculated.

(ii)

If exchanges indicate that trading, although delayed, will open for a given day, S&P will begin index calculation when the exchanges open.

Market Disruption Intraday:

(i)

If exchanges indicate that trading will not resume for a given day, the S&P 500® Index level will be calculated using prices determined by the exchanges based on NYSE Rule 123C. Intraday S&P 500® Index values will continue to use the last traded composite price until the primary exchange publishes official closing prices.

 

License Agreement between S&P and GS Finance Corp.

 

The Industrials Select Sector Index and the S&P 500® Index are products of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, and have been licensed for use by GS Finance Corp. (“Goldman”). Standard & Poor’s® and S&P® are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC (“Dow Jones”) and these trademarks have been licensed for use by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and sublicensed for certain purposes by Goldman. Goldman’s notes are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or any of their respective affiliates (collectively, “S&P Dow Jones Indices”). S&P Dow Jones Indices makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, to the owners of the notes or any member of the public regarding the advisability of investing in

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securities generally or in the notes particularly or the ability of the Industrials Select Sector Index or the S&P 500® Index to track general market performance. S&P Dow Jones Indices’ only relationship to Goldman with respect to the Industrials Select Sector Index and the S&P 500® Index is the licensing of these indices and certain trademarks, service marks and/or trade names of S&P Dow Jones Indices and/or its licensors. The Industrials Select Sector Index and the S&P 500® Index are determined, composed and calculated by S&P Dow Jones Indices without regard to Goldman or the notes. S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation to take the needs of Goldman or the owners of the notes into consideration in determining, composing or calculating the Industrials Select Sector Index or the S&P 500® Index. S&P Dow Jones Indices are not responsible for and have not participated in the determination of the prices, and amount of the notes or the timing of the issuance or sale of the notes or in the determination or calculation of the equation by which the notes are to be converted into cash. S&P Dow Jones Indices have no obligation or liability in connection with the administration, marketing or trading of the notes. There is no assurance that investment products based on the Industrials Select Sector Index or the S&P 500® Index will accurately track index performance or provide positive investment returns. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC is not an investment advisor. Inclusion of a security within an index is not a recommendation by S&P Dow Jones Indices to buy, sell, or hold such security, nor is it considered to be investment advice.

PS-37


 

 

Historical Closing Levels of the Underliers

The closing levels of the underliers have fluctuated in the past and may, in the future, experience significant fluctuations. In particular, the underliers have recently experienced extreme and unusual volatility. Any historical upward or downward trend in the closing level of any underlier during the period shown below is not an indication that such underlier is more or less likely to increase or decrease at any time during the life of your notes.

You should not take the historical closing levels of an underlier as an indication of the future performance of an underlier, including because of the recent volatility described above. We cannot give you any assurance that the future performance of any underlier will result in you receiving the outstanding face amount of your notes on the stated maturity date.

Neither we nor any of our affiliates make any representation to you as to the performance of the underliers. Before investing in the offered notes, you should consult publicly available information to determine the relevant underlier levels between the date of this pricing supplement and the date of your purchase of the offered notes and, given the recent volatility described above, you should pay particular attention to recent levels of the underliers. The actual performance of an underlier over the life of the offered notes, as well as the cash settlement amount at maturity may bear little relation to the historical levels shown below.

The graphs below show the daily historical closing levels of each underlier from January 1, 2015 through November 16, 2020. As a result, the following graphs do not reflect the global financial crisis which began in 2008, which had a materially negative impact on the price of most commodities and, as a result, the level of most commodity ETFs. We obtained the levels in the graphs below from Bloomberg Financial Services, without independent verification.

 

Historical Performance of the iShares® Silver Trust

 


PS-38


 

Historical Performance of the Industrial Select Sector SPDR® Fund

 

 


PS-39


 

SUPPLEMENTAL DISCUSSION OF U.S. FEDERAL INCOME TAX CONSEQUENCES

The following section supplements the discussion of U.S. federal income taxation in the accompanying prospectus.

The following section is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP, counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. In addition, it is the opinion of Sidley Austin LLP that the characterization of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes that will be required under the terms of the notes, as discussed below, is a reasonable interpretation of current law.

This section does not apply to you if you are a member of a class of holders subject to special rules, such as:

a dealer in securities or currencies;

a trader in securities that elects to use a mark-to-market method of accounting for your securities holdings;

a bank;

a life insurance company;

a regulated investment company;

an accrual method taxpayer subject to special tax accounting rules as a result of its use of financial statements;

a tax exempt organization;

a partnership;

a person that owns a note as a hedge or that is hedged against interest rate risks;

a person that owns a note as part of a straddle or conversion transaction for tax purposes; or

a United States holder (as defined below) whose functional currency for tax purposes is not the U.S. dollar.

Although this section is based on the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, its legislative history, existing and proposed regulations under the Internal Revenue Code, published rulings and court decisions, all as currently in effect, no statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly discusses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and as a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your investment in your notes are uncertain. Moreover, these laws are subject to change, possibly on a retroactive basis.

You should consult your tax advisor concerning the U.S. federal income tax and other tax consequences of your investment in the notes, including the application of state, local or other tax laws and the possible effects of changes in federal or other tax laws.

United States Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a United States holder that holds your notes as a capital asset for tax purposes. You are a United States holder if you are a beneficial owner of a note and you are:

a citizen or resident of the United States;

a domestic corporation;

an estate whose income is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of its source; or

a trust if a United States court can exercise primary supervision over the trust’s administration and one or more United States persons are authorized to control all substantial decisions of the trust.

Tax Treatment. You will be obligated pursuant to the terms of the notes — in the absence of a change in law, an administrative determination or a judicial ruling to the contrary — to characterize your notes for all tax purposes as pre-paid derivative contracts in respect of the underliers. Except as otherwise stated below, the discussion below assumes that the notes will be so treated.

Upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes, you should recognize capital gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized on the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity and your tax basis in your notes. Your tax basis in your notes will generally be equal to the amount that you paid for the notes. Such capital gain or loss should generally be short-term capital gain or loss if you hold the notes for one year or less, and should be long-term capital gain or loss if you hold the notes for more than one year. Short-term capital gains are generally subject to tax at the marginal tax rates applicable to ordinary income.

In addition, the constructive ownership rules of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code could possibly apply to your notes. If your notes were subject to the constructive ownership rules, then any long-term capital gain that you realize upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes would be re-characterized as ordinary income (and you would be subject to an interest charge on deferred tax liability with respect to such re-characterized capital gain) to the extent that such capital gain exceeds the amount of “net underlying long-term capital gain” (as defined in Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code). Because the application of the constructive ownership rules is

PS-40


 

unclear you are strongly urged to consult your tax advisor with respect to the possible application of the constructive ownership rules to your investment in the notes.

No statutory, judicial or administrative authority directly discusses how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, the U.S. federal income tax consequences of your investment in the notes are uncertain and alternative characterizations are possible. Accordingly, we urge you to consult your tax advisor in determining the tax consequences of an investment in your notes in your particular circumstances, including the application of state, local or other tax laws and the possible effects of changes in federal or other tax laws.

Alternative Treatments. There is no judicial or administrative authority discussing how your notes should be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, the Internal Revenue Service might assert that a treatment other than that described above is more appropriate. For example, the Internal Revenue Service could treat your notes as a single debt instrument subject to special rules governing contingent payment debt instruments.

Under those rules, the amount of interest you are required to take into account for each accrual period would be determined by constructing a projected payment schedule for the notes and applying rules similar to those for accruing original issue discount on a hypothetical noncontingent debt instrument with that projected payment schedule. This method is applied by first determining the comparable yield — i.e., the yield at which we would issue a noncontingent fixed rate debt instrument with terms and conditions similar to your notes — and then determining a payment schedule as of the applicable original issue date that would produce the comparable yield. These rules may have the effect of requiring you to include interest in income in respect of your notes prior to your receipt of cash attributable to that income.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, any gain you recognize upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes would be treated as ordinary interest income. Any loss you recognize at that time would be treated as ordinary loss to the extent of interest you included as income in the current or previous taxable years in respect of your notes, and, thereafter, as capital loss.

If the rules governing contingent payment debt instruments apply, special rules would apply to persons who purchase a note at other than the adjusted issue price as determined for tax purposes.

It is also possible that your notes could be treated in the manner described above, except that any gain or loss that you recognize at maturity or redemption would be treated as ordinary gain or loss. You should consult your tax advisor as to the tax consequences of such characterization and any possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

It is also possible that the Internal Revenue Service could assert that your notes should be treated as giving rise to “collectibles” gain or loss if you have held your notes for more than one year, although we do not think such a treatment would be appropriate in this case because a sale or exchange of the notes is not a sale or exchange of a collectible but is rather a sale or exchange of a derivative contract that reflects, in part (through the iShares® Silver Trust), the value of a collectible. “Collectibles” gain is currently subject to tax at marginal rates of up to 28%.

It is possible that the Internal Revenue Service could seek to characterize your notes in a manner that results in tax consequences to you that are different from those described above. You should consult your tax advisor as to possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

Possible Change in Law

In 2007, legislation was introduced in Congress that, if enacted, would have required holders that acquired instruments such as your notes after the bill was enacted to accrue interest income over the term of such instruments even though there will be no interest payments over the term of such instruments. It is not possible to predict whether a similar or identical bill will be enacted in the future, or whether any such bill would affect the tax treatment of your notes.

In addition, on December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released a notice stating that the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are actively considering issuing guidance regarding the proper U.S. federal income tax treatment of an instrument such as the offered notes including whether the holders should be required to accrue ordinary income on a current basis and whether gain or loss should be ordinary or capital. It is not possible to determine what guidance they will ultimately issue, if any. It is possible, however, that under such guidance, holders of the notes will ultimately be required to accrue income currently and this could be applied on a retroactive basis. The Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department are also considering other relevant issues, including whether foreign holders of such instruments should be subject to withholding tax on any deemed income accruals, and whether the special “constructive ownership rules” of Section 1260 of the Internal Revenue Code might be applied to such instruments. Except to the extent otherwise provided by law, GS Finance Corp. intends to continue treating the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes in accordance with the treatment described above

PS-41


 

unless and until such time as Congress, the Treasury Department or the Internal Revenue Service determine that some other treatment is more appropriate.

It is impossible to predict what any such legislation or administrative or regulatory guidance might provide, and whether the effective date of any legislation or guidance will affect notes that were issued before the date that such legislation or guidance is issued. You are urged to consult your tax advisor as to the possibility that any legislative or administrative action may adversely affect the tax treatment of your notes.

United States Alien Holders

This section applies to you only if you are a United States alien holder. You are a United States alien holder if you are the beneficial owner of the notes and are, for U.S. federal income tax purposes:

a nonresident alien individual;

a foreign corporation; or

an estate or trust that in either case is not subject to U.S. federal income tax on a net income basis on income or gain from the notes.

You will be subject to generally applicable information reporting and backup withholding requirements as discussed in the accompanying prospectus under "United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — Backup Withholding and Information Reporting — United States Alien Holders" with respect to payments on your notes and, notwithstanding that we do not intend to treat the notes as debt for tax purposes, we intend to backup withhold on such payments with respect to your notes unless you comply with the requirements necessary to avoid backup withholding on debt instruments (in which case you will not be subject to such backup withholding) as set forth under “United States Taxation — Taxation of Debt Securities — United States Alien Holders” in the accompanying prospectus.

Furthermore, on December 7, 2007, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2008-2 soliciting comments from the public on various issues, including whether instruments such as your notes should be subject to withholding. It is therefore possible that rules will be issued in the future, possibly with retroactive effect, that would cause payments on your notes at maturity or redemption to be subject to withholding, even if you comply with certification requirements as to your foreign status.

As discussed above, alternative characterizations of the notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes are possible. Should an alternative characterization of the notes, by reason of a change or clarification of the law, by regulation or otherwise, cause payments at maturity or redemption with respect to the notes to become subject to withholding tax, we will withhold tax at the applicable statutory rate and we will not make payments of any additional amounts. Prospective United States alien holders of the notes should consult their tax advisors in this regard.

In addition, the Treasury Department has issued regulations under which amounts paid or deemed paid on certain financial instruments (“871(m) financial instruments”) that are treated as attributable to U.S.-source dividends could be treated, in whole or in part depending on the circumstances, as a “dividend equivalent” payment that is subject to tax at a rate of 30% (or a lower rate under an applicable treaty), which in the case of any amounts you receive upon the sale, exchange, redemption or maturity of your notes, could be collected via withholding. If these regulations were to apply to the notes, we may be required to withhold such taxes if any U.S.-source dividends are paid on the underliers during the term of the notes. We could also require you to make certifications (e.g., an applicable Internal Revenue Service Form W-8) prior to the maturity of the notes in order to avoid or minimize withholding obligations, and we could withhold accordingly (subject to your potential right to claim a refund from the Internal Revenue Service) if such certifications were not received or were not satisfactory. If withholding was required, we would not be required to pay any additional amounts with respect to amounts so withheld. These regulations generally will apply to 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each other) issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2023, but will also apply to certain 871(m) financial instruments (or a combination of financial instruments treated as having been entered into in connection with each other) that have a delta (as defined in the applicable Treasury regulations) of one and are issued (or significantly modified and treated as retired and reissued) on or after January 1, 2017. In addition, these regulations will not apply to financial instruments that reference a “qualified index” (as defined in the regulations). We have determined that, as of the issue date of your notes, your notes will not be subject to withholding under these rules. In certain limited circumstances, however, you should be aware that it is possible for United States alien holders to be liable for tax under these rules with respect to a combination of transactions treated as having been entered into in connection with each other even when no withholding is required. You should consult your tax advisor concerning these regulations, subsequent official guidance and regarding any other possible alternative characterizations of your notes for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

PS-42


 

 

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding

Pursuant to Treasury regulations, Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) withholding (as described in “United States Taxation—Taxation of Debt Securities—Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Withholding” in the accompanying prospectus) will generally apply to obligations that are issued on or after July 1, 2014; therefore, the notes will generally be subject to the FATCA withholding rules.

PS-43


 

Supplemental plan of distribution; conflicts of interest

See “Supplemental Plan of Distribution” on page S-35 of the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671 and “Plan of Distribution — Conflicts of Interest” on page 125 of the accompanying prospectus. GS Finance Corp. estimates that its share of the total offering expenses, excluding underwriting discounts and commissions, will be approximately $20,000.

GS Finance Corp. will sell to GS&Co., and GS&Co. will purchase from GS Finance Corp., the aggregate face amount of the offered notes specified on the front cover of this pricing supplement. GS&Co. proposes initially to offer the notes to the public at the original issue price set forth on the cover page of this pricing supplement, and to certain securities dealers at such price less a concession not in excess of 3.5% of the face amount. GS&Co. is an affiliate of GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. and, as such, will have a “conflict of interest” in this offering of notes within the meaning of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) Rule 5121. Consequently, this offering of notes will be conducted in compliance with the provisions of FINRA Rule 5121. GS&Co. will not be permitted to sell notes in this offering to an account over which it exercises discretionary authority without the prior specific written approval of the account holder.

We have been advised that GS&Co. will also pay a fee in connection with the distribution of the notes to SIMON Markets LLC, a broker-dealer affiliated with GS Finance Corp.

We will deliver the notes against payment therefor in New York, New York on November 19, 2020. Under Rule 15c6-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, trades in the secondary market generally are required to settle in two business days, unless the parties to any such trade expressly agree otherwise. Accordingly, purchasers who wish to trade notes on any date prior to two business days before delivery will be required to specify alternative settlement arrangements to prevent a failed settlement.

We have been advised by GS&Co. that it intends to make a market in the notes. However, neither GS&Co. nor any of our other affiliates that makes a market is obligated to do so and any of them may stop doing so at any time without notice. No assurance can be given as to the liquidity or trading market for the notes.

The notes will not be listed on any securities exchange or interdealer quotation system.


PS-44


 

VALIDITY OF THE NOTES AND GUARANTEE

In the opinion of Sidley Austin llp, as counsel to GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., when the notes offered by this pricing supplement have been executed and issued by GS Finance Corp., such notes have been authenticated by the trustee pursuant to the indenture, and such notes have been delivered against payment as contemplated herein, (a) such notes will be valid and binding obligations of GS Finance Corp., enforceable in accordance with their terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors’ rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above and (b) the guarantee with respect to such notes will be a valid and binding obligation of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws affecting creditors' rights generally, concepts of reasonableness and equitable principles of general applicability (including, without limitation, concepts of good faith, fair dealing and the lack of bad faith), provided that such counsel expresses no opinion as to the effect of fraudulent conveyance, fraudulent transfer or similar provision of applicable law on the conclusions expressed above. This opinion is given as of the date hereof and is limited to the laws of the State of New York and the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware as in effect on the date hereof. In addition, this opinion is subject to customary assumptions about the trustee’s authorization, execution and delivery of the indenture and the genuineness of signatures and certain factual matters, all as stated in the letter of such counsel dated July 1, 2020, which has been filed as Exhibit 5.6 to the registration statement on Form S-3 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by GS Finance Corp. and The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. on July 1, 2020.

 

 

 

 

PS-45


 

We have not authorized anyone to provide any information or to make any representations other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671, the accompanying prospectus supplement or the accompanying prospectus.  We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give you.  This pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is an offer to sell only the notes offered hereby, but only under circumstances and in jurisdictions where it is lawful to do so.  The information contained in this pricing supplement, the accompanying general terms supplement no. 8,671, the accompanying prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus is current only as of the respective dates of such documents.  

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Pricing Supplement

 

Page

Terms and Conditions

PS-3

Limited Events of Default

PS-8

Hypothetical Examples

PS-9

Additional Risk Factors Specific to Your Notes

PS-13

The Underliers

PS-22

Supplemental Discussion of U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences

PS-40

Supplemental Plan of Distribution; Conflicts of Interest

PS-44

Validity of the Notes and Guarantee

PS-45

General Terms Supplement No. 8,671 dated July 1, 2020

Additional Risk Factors Specific to the Notes

S-4

Supplemental Terms of the Notes

S-13

Use of Proceeds

S-33

Hedging

S-33

Employee Retirement Income Security Act

S-34

Supplemental Plan of Distribution

S-35

     Conflicts of Interest

S-37

 

 

 

Prospectus Supplement dated July 1, 2020

Use of Proceeds

S-2

Description of Notes We May Offer

S-3

Considerations Relating to Indexed Notes

S-10

United States Taxation

S-13

Employee Retirement Income Security Act

S-14

Supplemental Plan of Distribution

S-15

Validity of the Notes and Guarantees

S-17

 

 

Prospectus dated July 1, 2020

Available Information    

2

Prospectus Summary   

4

Risks Relating to Regulatory Resolution Strategies and Long-Term Debt Requirements

9

Use of Proceeds          

14

Description of Debt Securities We May Offer       

15

Description of Warrants We May Offer                

71

Description of Units We May Offer   

87

GS Finance Corp.         

92

Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance         

94

Considerations Relating to Indexed Securities     

103

Considerations Relating to Securities Denominated or Payable in or Linked to a Non-U.S. Dollar Currency         

104

United States Taxation  

107

Plan of Distribution       

122

     Conflicts of Interest  

125

Employee Retirement Income Security Act          

126

Validity of the Securities and Guarantees            

127

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

127

Cautionary Statement Pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995  

128



 

 

 

 

 

$3,000,000

 

 

GS Finance Corp.

 

 

Autocallable ETF-Linked Notes due 2025

 

guaranteed by

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc.

 

 


Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC

 

 



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