Bank QRS is considering extending loans to corporations based in a frontier market country. A credit risk analyst at the bank has conducted research on the country to determine factors that may affect its country risk and has compiled the following findings:

• Item 1: The country's economy is dominated by oil production, and it holds significant oil reserves.
• Item 2: The country has recently enacted laws making it easier for investors to file lawsuits against firms and their management teams than before.
• Item 3: The country has recently reformed its legal system to make it more independent of other branches of government.
• Item 4: The country's sovereign credit spreads have declined over the past year.

Which of these items is most likely to have a negative impact on the country's risk score?