Blink Charging (BLNK) 10-K/A2022 FY Annual report (amended)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K/A

(Amendment No. 1)

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____________ to _____________

Commission File No. 001-38392

BLINK CHARGING CO.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (305) 521-0200

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by the check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to § 240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

State the aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates (42,228,389 shares) computed by reference to the price at which the common equity was last sold ($16.53) as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (June 30, 2022): $714,565,270.

As of April 28, 2023, there were 61,170,166 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.

Documents Incorporated by Reference: None.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Blink Charging Co. (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 to Annual Report on Form 10-K/A (this “Amendment”) to amend the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 (Commission File No. 001-38392) (the “2022 Annual Report”), as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on March 14, 2023 (the “Original 10-K”). This Amendment is being filed for the sole purpose of including the stock performance graph in Part II and the information required by Part III of Form 10-K. The information required by Part III was previously omitted from the Original 10-K in reliance on General Instruction G(3) to Form 10-K, which permits the information in Part III to be incorporated in the Form 10-K by reference from our definitive proxy statement if such statement is filed no later than 120 days after our fiscal year end. We are filing this Amendment to include Part III information in our Form 10-K because we will not file a definitive proxy statement containing this information within 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by the Original 10-K. This Amendment amends and restates in their entirety Items 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 of Part III and Item 15 of Part IV of the Original 10-K. This Amendment also amends Item 5 of Part II to include the stock performance graph.

Pursuant to Rule 12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), this Amendment contains certifications pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which are attached hereto.

This Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original 10-K (i.e., those events occurring after March 14, 2023) or modify or update those disclosures that may be affected by subsequent events. Accordingly, this Amendment should be read in conjunction with the 2022 Annual Report and our other filings with the SEC.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

Stock Performance Graph

The following shall not be deemed “filed” for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, or incorporated by reference into any of the Company’s other public filings under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates it by reference into such filing.

The following stock performance graph compares the cumulative total stockholder return of the Company’s common stock with the cumulative total return of the S&P 500 index and the Russell 2000 index for the last five fiscal years. The graph assumes the investment of $100 in our common stock and each of such indices on December 31, 2017 and the reinvestment of dividends, as applicable.

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Directors

The following information describes the biographical information, offices held, other business directorships, additional director experience, qualifications, attributes and skills and the class and term of each of our directors, as of April 28, 2023. There are no arrangements or understandings between a director and any other person pursuant to which such director was or is to be selected as a director or nominee.

Michael D. Farkas

Michael D. Farkas has served as our Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to July 2015 and from October 2018 to date. Mr. Farkas has served as a member of the Company’s board of directors (the “Board”) since 2010 and has been the Executive Chairman of the Board since January 2015. Mr. Farkas is the founder and manager of FGI, a privately-held investment firm. Mr. Farkas is the founder, a director and the Chief Executive Officer of Balance Labs, Inc., a consulting firm that provides business development and consulting services to startup development stage businesses. Mr. Farkas also currently holds the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Atlas Group, in which its subsidiary, Atlas Capital Services, was a broker-dealer that had raised capital for a number of public and private clients until it withdrew its FINRA registration in 2007. Over the last 25 years, Mr. Farkas has established a successful track record as a principal investor across a variety of industries, including telecommunications, technology, aerospace and defense, agriculture, and automotive retail. Mr. Farkas attended Brooklyn College where he studied Finance.

As the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and one of our largest stockholders, Mr. Farkas leads the Board and guides our company. Mr. Farkas brings extensive industry knowledge of the Company and a deep background in emerging growth companies and capital market activities. His service as Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer creates a critical link between management and the Board.

Brendan S. Jones

Brendan S. Jones joined our company as Chief Operating Officer in April 2020 and became our President and was elected a member of our Board in February 2021. Mr. Jones has more than 30 years of day-to-day operational experience in the electric vehicle (“EV”) charging, automotive and alternative energy industries and in-depth knowledge in the areas of EV charging sales, technology and infrastructure development. Prior to joining our company, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of Electrify America, LLC, the United States-based EV subsidiary of Volkswagen Group AG, from September 2016 to March 2020. Mr. Jones was Electrify America’s first employee and is credited with building Electrify America from its original startup concept into one of the largest ultrafast EV charging companies in the world, establishing strategy, design implementation and management teams at Electrify America, negotiating numerous contracts for charging services with leading carmakers, retail property owners and EV infrastructure companies, and managing the installation and servicing of thousands of charging stations.

Mr. Jones previously served as Vice President - OEM Strategy and Business Development of EVgo, a subsidiary of NRG Energy which operates EV fast charging stations, from March 2014 to September 2016. Prior to these positions, Mr. Jones served in various leadership positions with Nissan North America, Inc., from April 1994 to March 2015. At Nissan, he assumed increasingly senior positions including Director - Electric Vehicle Sales Operations and Infrastructure Development from 2013 to 2015, Director - Chief Marketing Manager EV Model Line from 2011 to 2013, and Senior Manager of the Nissan LEAF Launch Team from 2009 to 2011. Mr. Jones has been a board member of several EV industry groups including the Electric Drive Transportation Association, a trade association that promotes electric drive technologies and infrastructure (2015 and 2016), and the ROEV Association, a collaboration between EV charging network operators and electric vehicle manufacturers to allow drivers to charge at multiple stations using one card (from 2015 to 2017). Mr. Jones received B.A. and M.A. degrees from George Mason University and a professional certificate from Vanderbilt University for completing the accelerated executive leadership development program.

Mahidhar (Mahi) Reddy

Mahidhar (Mahi) Reddy has served as the Chief Executive Officer of SemaConnect, LLC, a Blink subsidiary, since July 2022 and became a member of our Board in July 2022. Mr. Reddy founded SemaConnect, Inc. in October 2007 and served as a director and its Chief Executive Officer until the closing of our acquisition of SemaConnect, Inc. in June 2022. Mr. Reddy co-founded CBay Systems Ltd., a healthcare business process outsourcing company, and served as its Chief Operating Officer and President from August 1998 to September 2008. Mr. Reddy received a B.A. degree from St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore, India.

Mr. Reddy’s expertise in information technology gained through his long tenure as a founder and senior executive in the EV industry and his extensive experience with embedded systems and server side IT make him well qualified to be a member of our Board.

Louis R. Buffalino

Louis R. Buffalino became a member of our Board in December 2019. He has been a senior real estate executive for more than 35 years. He is currently an independent real estate consultant and broker operating as Veritas Realty Advisors, since June 2022. Prior to that, he served as a Senior Vice President of Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm, from 2012 through May 2022. At Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Buffalino was responsible for institutional property investment sales, site selection, lease negotiations and corporate consulting. Additionally, he served as the Chief Operating Officer and a director of CleanTech Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company, from June 2020 until it was acquired in September 2022. Mr. Buffalino has previously worked at other commercial real estate services and investment firms including serving as a Senior Vice President at Jones Lang LaSalle from 2009 to 2012, a First Vice President at CB Richard Ellis from 2002 to 2009, and a First Vice President at Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette/Credit Suisse in its corporate real estate group from 2000 to 2002. Mr. Buffalino received a B.A. degree from Providence College.

Mr. Buffalino has extensive experience and contacts working with large property owners, managers and developers, making his input invaluable to the Board’s discussions of EV charging station deployment decisions, and our ongoing sales, marketing and growth strategies.

Jack Levine

Jack Levine became a member of our Board in December 2019 where he serves as the Chair of the Audit Committee. He has been the President of Jack Levine, PA, a certified public accounting firm, since 1984. For more than 35 years, he has been advising corporations on financial and accounting matters and serving as an independent director on numerous boards, frequently as head of their audit committees. Since June 2021, Mr. Levine has served as a director, chairman of the audit committee and as a qualified SEC financial expert of Strawberry Fields REIT, Inc., a public company specializing in the acquisition, ownership and triple net leasing of skilled nursing facilities and other post-acute healthcare properties, and EZFill Holdings Inc., a publicly traded app-based mobile-fueling company. In addition, Mr. Levine is currently a director and chairman of the audit committee of SignPath Pharma, Inc., a development-stage biotechnology company, since 2010.

Mr. Levine’s previous board memberships included Provista Diagnostics, Inc., a cancer detection and diagnostics company focused on women’s cancer, from 2011 to 2018 (also serving as chairman of its audit committee); Biscayne Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company discovering and developing novel therapies based on growth hormone-releasing hormone analogs; Grant Life Sciences, a research and development company focused on early detection of cervical cancer, from 2004 to 2008 (also serving as chairman of its audit committee); and Pharmanet, Inc., a global drug development services company providing a comprehensive range of services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, generic drug and medical device companies, from 1999 to 2007 (also serving as chairman of its audit and other committees). Mr. Levine also served as a director and audit committee chair of Beach Bank, a community bank, from 2000 to 2006, Prairie Fund, a mutual fund, from 2000 to 2006, and Bankers Savings Bank, a community bank, from 1996 to 1998, and was a member of the audit committee of Miami Dade County School Board, the nation’s third largest school system, from 2004 to 2006. Mr. Levine is a certified public accountant licensed by the States of Florida and New York. He also is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, Association of Audit Committee Members and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Levine received a B.A. degree from Hunter College of the City University of New York and an M.A. from New York University.

Mr. Levine demonstrates extensive knowledge of complex financial, accounting, tax and operational issues highly relevant to our growing business. Through his decades of service as a board member, he also brings significant working experience in corporate controls and governance.

Kenneth R. Marks

Kenneth R. Marks became a member of our Board in March 2020. He is currently the President of KRM Energy Advisors LLC. Mr. Marks was previously Managing Director and Head of Power, Utilities and Renewables for the Americas for HSBC from 2011 to 2016, in which he was responsible for leading the bank’s investment banking and commercial banking services for clients in the sector in North and South America, including the provision of strategic advice, financing and other bank products. Prior to HSBC, he worked for Morgan Stanley as an investment banker for 33 years in increasingly senior roles, including as Managing Director in the Global Power and Utility Group. In this role, Mr. Marks provided the full range of Morgan Stanley’s banking products to clients in the sector, including strategic advice, debt and equity financing, and derivatives/hedging. Mr. Marks’ experience at Morgan Stanley also included participation in specialized groups at the investment bank focusing on mergers and acquisitions, financial restructuring, project financing, valuations and corporate finance. Throughout his tenure at Morgan Stanley, Mr. Marks was based in the United States, except for three years when he was based in Hong Kong as Head of M&A and Project Finance for the region.

Mr. Marks is a member of the Board of Directors of the Coalition for Green Capital, a non-profit entity whose mission is to halt climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies through the creation and implementation of Green Bank finance institutions, and he had served as Chairman of its Audit Committee. Mr. Marks received a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Bucknell University, an M.B.A. in industrial management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a Ph.D. in finance from New York University. For a number of years, Mr. Marks served on the faculty at NYU teaching courses in its M.B.A. program and has published articles in numerous journals including Public Utilities Fortnightly, Energy Biz and Harvard Business Review.

Mr. Marks’ experience in the power, utility and renewable area and his leadership positions at a leading global investment bank, one of the largest global commercial banks and at a non-profit entity applicable to the sector makes his input invaluable to our Board’s discussions of the EV charging and alternative energy markets. He also brings transactional expertise in mergers and acquisitions and capital markets.

Ritsaart J.M. van Montfrans

Ritsaart J.M. van Montfrans became a member of our Board in December 2019. He is an experienced entrepreneur in Europe. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Incision Group, a medtech scale-up in team performance and education, since January 2017, and co-founded and led ScaleUpNation, a growth accelerator for ventures with large scale-up potential, from February 2016 to January 2017, each in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

In February 2009, Mr. van Montfrans founded NewMotion, which grew to become the leading service provider for electric vehicles in Europe, with the largest network of charging stations. Mr. van Montfrans served as Chief Executive Officer and International Business Development Director of NewMotion until February 2016, shortly before the company was purchased by Royal Dutch Shell. Prior to NewMotion, Mr. van Montfrans was a partner of H2 Equity Partners, an investment firm in Amsterdam, from September 2002 to February 2009, an engagement manager at McKinsey & Co. in Amsterdam from May 1999 to September 2002, and an associate in the mergers and acquisitions group of J.P. Morgan in London. Mr. van Montfrans received a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Mr. van Montfrans’ day-to-day operational leadership of NewMotion and in-depth knowledge of the EV charging market and broad range of companies in the industry (with a focus on Western Europe) make him well qualified to be a member of the Board.

Cedric L. Richmond

Cedric L. Richmond became a member of our Board in August 2022. He is currently the President of Richmond & Company, LLC, a governmental affairs consulting firm founded in May 2022. Prior to founding Richmond & Company, Mr. Richmond served as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Office of the President of the United States and Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement in the Biden Administration, serving in such positions from January 2021 to May 2022.

Prior to joining the Biden Administration in January 2021, Mr. Richmond served as a Member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Louisiana’s Second District, from January 2011 to January 2021. While serving in the United States House of Representatives, Mr. Richmond served on the Committee on Small Business, the Committee on the Judiciary, the Committee on Homeland Security and the Committee on Ways and Means. Mr. Richmond was also elected as the youngest person to ever serve as the Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, serving in such position from January 2017 to January 2019. From 2000 to 2010, Mr. Richmond served as a Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives where he represented the 101st District.

Mr. Richmond received a B.A. degree in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting from Morehouse College, a J.D. degree from Tulane University School of Law and is a graduate of Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Executive Program for Senior Executives in Government. Mr. Richmond has also received honorary doctorate degrees from Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Mr. Richmond’s extensive experience in government service, insight into regulatory affairs, and his expertise in governance, oversight and ethics gained through service in the public sector, bring unique and valuable perspective to our Board and make him well qualified to be a member of our Board.

There are no family relationships among any of our directors and executive officers.

New Director

Our Board has elected Kristina A. Peterson as a new member of the Board, she is expected to begin on May 1, 2023.

Kristina A. Peterson

Ms. Peterson, age 59, has been the Chief Executive Officer of Mayflower Partners, a cleantech financial advisory firm, since 2000. Ms. Peterson has led various solar energy investment companies, serving in senior investment, development, operations and asset management roles at Brookfield Renewable Partners (NYSE: BEP) and Terraform Power (Nasdaq: TERP) from 2015 to 2018, and serving in CEO, CFO and other senior management positions at EDF Renewable Energy, Suntech and Greenwood Energy from 2007 to 2015. Prior to that, she was a project and structured finance investment banker for ABN AMRO Bank and Citibank for ten years in the energy, infrastructure and telecom industries. Ms. Peterson has served as a Non-Executive Director, Chair of the Remuneration Committee and a member of the Audit Committee of Invinity Energy Systems PLC (LSE: IES), a utility-scale battery energy storage company, since November 2021. She has been the Co-Chair of Women Corporate Directors Foundation, San Diego Chapter, a global group of women corporate board directors since 2016 and has served on the board of Coalition for Green Capital, a non-profit with a mission to halt climate change by accelerating investment in clean energy technologies through creation of a national green bank since 2019. She was a director of Iteros, Inc., an energy management software firm, from 2015 to 2020, Greenwood Energy in 2014, Solar Electric Industry Association from 2011 to 2012, and Gemini Solar Development Company from 2007 to 2010. Ms. Peterson was awarded her MBA in Finance and Marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and received her B.S. Business Administration from Boston University. She completed additional graduate coursework at MIT Sloan School of Management. Ms. Peterson’s executive leadership experience in energy, technology, investment finance and banking organizations, and board governance experience makes her well qualified to be a member of the Board.

Executive Officers

The following information sets forth certain information regarding our executive officers as of April 28, 2023:

Michael D. Farkas

Mr. Farkas’ biography is set forth under the heading “Directors” above.

Brendan S. Jones

Mr. Jones’ biography is set forth under the heading “Directors” above.

Michael P. Rama

Mr. Rama has served as our Chief Financial Officer since February 10, 2020. Prior to joining us, Mr. Rama was an independent financial consultant (not associated with Blink) from July 2019 until he joined us on February 10, 2020. Mr. Rama served as the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of NV5 Global, Inc., a Nasdaq Capital Markets-traded company that provides professional and technical engineering and consulting solutions for public and private sector clients in the infrastructure, energy, construction, real estate and environmental markets, from September 2011 to June 2019. At NV5 Global, Mr. Rama was responsible for all accounting, finance and treasury functions and the company’s SEC reporting. From October 1997 until August 2011, Mr. Rama held various accounting and finance roles with AV Homes, Inc. (formerly known as Avatar Holdings, Inc.), including as principal financial officer, chief accounting officer and controller. Mr. Rama has more than 20 years of experience with SEC compliance, establishment and maintenance of internal controls, and capital markets and acquisition transactions. Mr. Rama earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the University of Florida and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Aviv Hillo

Mr. Hillo has served as our General Counsel since June 2018 and Executive Vice President of Mergers & Acquisitions since May 2022. Prior to joining us, Mr. Hillo practiced law in New York and Israel as a partner in the law firm Schechter Hillo, which he founded in October 2004. Mr. Hillo has also been involved in starting and operating new businesses. He served as Chief Executive Officer of K-Lawyers.com, an internet legal platform, from February 2016 to June 2018, co-founder and general counsel of Ariel Photonics Assembly Ltd., a developer of lasers for defense applications, from September 2007 to September 2015, and in-house counsel at LSL Biotechnologies, Inc., a developer of seeds with long shelf-life qualities, from March 1998 to April 2006. Currently, Mr. Hillo serves on the board of Balance Labs, Inc., a consulting firm that provides business development and consulting services to startup development stage businesses, since February 2017. Mr. Hillo received his law degree from Tel Aviv University in Israel and a Master of Laws degree (Cum Laude) from Fordham University in New York, where he specialized in banking, corporate and finance law. Mr. Hillo is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the Israeli Bar Association and is certified to practice as in-house counsel in Florida. Mr. Hillo is a veteran of the Israeli Defense Forces where he retired as a ranked Major.

Mark Pastrone

In June 2022, Mr. Pastrone joined our company in June 2022 as part of our acquisition of SemaConnect Inc., where Mr. Pastrone had been SemaConnect’s Chief Operating Officer and held other executive level positions since October 2010. In November 2022, Mr. Pastrone was appointed by our Board of Directors to assume the position and duties of the Chief Operating Officer of our company. Mr. Pastrone has more than 25 years of experience building high-tech companies. He led the market launch of SemaConnect’s EV charging solution in the first years of the industry in 2011. As a member of the executive team, Mr. Pastrone played a key role in building the company’s sales, service, technology and production capabilities. In doing so, he helped establish SemaConnect as a stand-out leader in the EV charging space across the multifamily, workplace, public and retail EV charging markets. Prior to SemaConnect Inc., he led the development of several commercial start-ups in the aerospace industry. Mr. Pastrone earned a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. He also holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Mahidhar (Mahi) Reddy

Mr. Reddy’s biography is set forth under the heading “Directors” above.

Harjinder Bhade

Mr. Bhade has served as our Chief Technology Officer since May 2021, where he is responsible for the maintenance of the Blink network and the development of our EV products. He was previously the Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Engineering at ENGIE North America Inc. (which acquired Green Charge Networks), a sustainable energy storage as a service company, from October 2014 to May 2021. Prior to that, Mr. Bhade was a founder and served as Vice President of Software Engineering at ChargePoint, a global EV charging infrastructure company, from November 2007 to September 2014, where he played a key role in that company’s product development. Mr. Bhade served on ChargePoint’s Advisory Board from September 2014 to May 2021. Mr. Bhade served as the Senior Director of Software Engineering of Carrier Ethernet Solutions at Lucent Technologies from May 2006 to April 2007, the Director of Software Engineering at Riverstone Networks (which was acquired by Lucent Technologies) from January 2003 to May 2006, and the Founder and Director of Software Engineering at Pipal Systems from November 2001 to January 2003. Mr. Bhade received a B.S. degree in computer science from California State University, Chico and an M.B.A. degree from the University of Phoenix.

Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports

Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our executive officers, directors and holders of more than 10% of our common stock to file with the SEC initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our common stock. Such persons are required by SEC regulations to furnish us with copies of all Section 16(a) forms they file.

Based solely upon our review of the copies of such forms received by us, or representations from certain reporting persons that no year-end Forms 5 were required for those persons, we believe that, during the year ended December 31, 2022, all filing requirements applicable to our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners were complied with, except for one late Form 4 filing by Mr. Hillo and one late Form 4 filing by Mr. Farkas, each due to administrative delays.

Corporate Governance

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics in December 2013. Our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics applies to all our employees, officers and directors, including our principal executive and senior financial officers. A copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is posted on our website at www.blinkcharging.com. We intend to disclose future amendments to certain provisions of our Code of Conduct and Business Ethics, or waivers of these provisions with respect to executive officers on our website or in our public filings with the SEC. There were no waivers of the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics in 2022. A copy of our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics will be provided without charge to any person submitting a written request to the attention of the Chief Executive Officer at our principal executive office.

Board Committees and Charters

The Board has had four standing committees - Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) Committee. The Board maintains charters for each of these standing committees. To view the charters of our standing Board committees, please visit our website at https://ir.blinkcharging.com/governance-docs.

Audit Committee

Our Audit Committee is currently comprised of Jack Levine (chair), Kenneth R. Marks and Ritsaart J.M. van Montfrans. Our Board has determined that each of the directors serving on the Audit Committee meets the requirements for financial literacy under applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq. In addition, our Board has determined that Mr. Levine meets the requirements of a financial expert as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and has the requisite financial sophistication as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of Nasdaq. Our Board has considered the independence and other characteristics of each existing member and each proposed member of our Audit Committee, and our Board believes that each member meets the independence and other requirements of Nasdaq and the SEC. Our Audit Committee operates under a written charter that satisfies the applicable standards of the SEC and Nasdaq.

Our Audit Committee, among other things, is responsible for:

During 2022, the Audit Committee met six times.

Compensation Committee

Our Compensation Committee is, among other things, responsible for:

Our Compensation Committee is currently comprised of Ritsaart J.M. van Montfrans (chair), Louis R. Buffalino and Jack Levine. Our Board has considered the independence and other characteristics of each current and anticipated member of our Compensation Committee. Our Board believes that each member of our Compensation Committee meets the requirements for independence under the current requirements of Nasdaq, is a nonemployee director as defined by Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Exchange Act, and is an outside director as defined pursuant to Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

Our Compensation Committee operates under a written charter that satisfies the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and the listing standards of Nasdaq.

During 2022, the Compensation Committee met 31 times.

Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee is currently comprised of Louis R. Buffalino (chair) and Jack Levine. Our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee operates under a written charter. Under our policy, the independent directors of our Board nominate our directors. We also consider any nominations of director candidates validly made by our stockholders. When evaluating director nominees, our directors consider the following factors:

Our goal is to assemble a Board that brings together a variety of skills derived from high quality business and professional experience.

During 2022, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee met three times separately and in conjunction with several meetings of the Board of Directors due to the small size of the Board and the committee’s limited activities.

While we do not have a formal diversity policy for Board membership, the Board does seek to ensure that its membership consists of sufficiently diverse backgrounds, meaning a mix of backgrounds and experiences that will enhance the quality of the Board’s deliberations and decisions. In considering candidates for the Board, the independent directors consider, among other factors, diversity with respect to viewpoints, skills, experience and other demographics.

Each of our directors is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors, an independent non-profit membership organization of corporate board members that provides governance guidelines to assist directors in discharging their responsibilities and ensuring their commitment to the highest standards of corporate conduct, and the Association of Audit Committee Members Inc., a non-profit association of audit committee members dedicated to strengthening the audit committee by developing national best practices for corporate governance, corporate compliance and internal whistleblower policies.

Environmental, Social and Governance Committee

In April 2021, our Board established an Environmental, Social and Governance Committee, which began as a separate standing committee of the Board in July 2021. The principal responsibilities and duties of this committee will be to (i) review and discuss with management the Company’s strategy and policies concerning ESG matters including: environmental, health and safety, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, philanthropy, diversity, equity and inclusion, community issues and other public policy matters relevant to the Company, (ii) oversee the Company’s policies, practices, performance and reporting standards with respect to ESG matters, and (iii) report to the Board current and emerging topics relating to ESG matters that may affect the business, operations, performance or public image of the Company or are pertinent to us and our stakeholders. Additional information regarding the functions to be performed by the ESG Committee is set forth in the ESG Committee Charter.

The ESG Committee is currently comprised of Kenneth R. Marks (chair), Louis R. Buffalino and Cedric L. Richmond. The committee may include one management director.

During 2022, the ESG Committee met three times.

Board Leadership Structure

Michael D. Farkas has been a director since 2010, our Executive Chairman of the Board since January 2015 and Chief Executive Officer from 2010 to July 2015 and again since October 2018. We believe that having one person, particularly Mr. Farkas with his wealth of industry and executive management experience, his extensive knowledge of the operations of the Company and his own history of strategic thinking, serve as both Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is the best leadership structure for us because it demonstrates to our employees, customers and stockholders that the Company is under strong leadership, with a single person setting the tone and having primary responsibility for managing our operations. This unity of leadership promotes strategy development and execution, timely decision-making and effective management of our resources. We believe that we have been well-served by this structure.

As described above, five of our Board members are independent. In addition, all of the directors on each of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and ESG Committee are independent directors and each of these committees is led by a committee chair. The committee chairs set the agendas for their committees and report to the full Board on their work. As required by Nasdaq, our independent directors meet in executive sessions without management present as frequently as they deem appropriate, typically at the time of each regular in-person Board meeting. All of our independent directors are highly accomplished and experienced business people in their respective fields, who have demonstrated leadership in significant enterprises and are familiar with Board processes. Our independent directors bring experience, oversight and expertise from outside our company and industry, while our Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and our President bring company-specific experience and expertise.

Clawback Policy

The Board has the discretion to clawback any annual incentive or other performance-based compensation awards from executive officers and employees. This clawback applies when certain specified events occur. If the Board determines that compensation related to our financial performance would have been lower if it had been based on the restated financial performance results, the Board will, to the extent permitted by applicable law, seek recoupment from that executive officer or employee of any portion of such compensation as it deems appropriate after a review of all relevant facts and circumstances.

Director and Officer Derivative Trading Policy

Under our insider trading policy, our executive officers, directors and employees may not engage in derivative trading involving the Company’s securities.

Board Meetings

The Board held 17 meetings in 2022 and all of the directors, except Carmen Perez-Carlton, attended at least 75% of the total number of meetings of the Board and committees on which they served during the period for which such director was serving as a director. In addition, the Board of Directors took action three times during 2022 by unanimous written consent in lieu of a meeting, as permitted by applicable law. We, and the Board, expect all current directors to attend our annual meeting of stockholders barring unforeseen circumstances or irresolvable conflicts. All of the Board members attended last year’s annual meeting. We do not have a written policy on Board attendance at annual meetings of stockholders; however, we do schedule a Board meeting immediately after the annual meeting for which members attending receive compensation.

Board Role in Risk Oversight

Risk assessment and oversight are integral parts of our governance and management processes. Our Board does not have a standing risk management committee, but rather administers this oversight function directly through our Board as a whole, as well as through various standing committees of our Board that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight.

Our Board oversees an enterprise-wide approach to risk management, which is designed to support the achievement of the Company’s objectives, including the strategic objective to improve long-term financial and operational performance and enhance stockholder value. Our Board believes that a fundamental part of risk management is understanding the risks that we face, monitoring these risks and adopting appropriate control and mitigation of these risks.

The Board discusses risks with our senior management on a regular basis, including as a part of its strategic planning process, annual budget review and approval, and thorough reviews of compliance issues in the appropriate committees of our Board. While the Board has the ultimate oversight responsibility for the risk management process, various committees of the Board are structured to oversee specific risks, as follows:

The Board also considers our internal control structure which, among other things, limits the number of persons authorized to execute material agreements, requires approval of our Board for matters outside of the ordinary course and includes our whistleblower policy. This policy establishes procedures for the submission by our employees and consultants, on a confidential and anonymous basis, of complaints and concerns regarding our financial statement disclosures, accounting practices, internal controls or auditing matters, or possible violations of the federal securities laws or the rules or regulations promulgated thereunder. Complaints submitted through this policy are promptly routed to the chair of our Audit Committee.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Compensation Committee Report

The following Report of the Compensation Committee entitled “Compensation Discussion and Analysis” (the “Report”) does not constitute soliciting material and the Report should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other previous or future filings by the Company under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the Exchange Act, except to the extent the Company specifically incorporates the Report by reference therein.

The Compensation Committee of the Board approves and oversees the administration of the Company’s executive compensation program and senior leadership development and continuity programs. The Compensation Committee’s primary objective is to establish a competitive executive compensation program that clearly links executive compensation to business performance and stockholder return. The Compensation Committee considers appropriate risk factors in structuring compensation to discourage unnecessary or excessive risk-taking behaviors and encourage long-term value creation.

Recommendation Regarding Compensation Discussion and Analysis

In performing its oversight function during 2022 with regard to the Compensation Discussion and Analysis prepared by management, the Compensation Committee relied on statements and information prepared by the Company’s management. The Compensation Committee reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis included in this Form 10-K/A with management. Based on this review and discussion, the Compensation Committee recommended to the Company’s Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for 2022, as amended.

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

Compensation Philosophy

The primary goals of our Board with respect to executive compensation are to attract and retain talented and dedicated executives, to tie annual and long-term cash and stock incentives to the achievement of specified performance objectives, and to create incentives resulting in increased stockholder value. To achieve these goals, our Compensation Committee recommends to our Board executive compensation packages, generally comprising a mix of salary, discretionary bonus and equity awards. Although we have not adopted any formal guidelines for allocating total compensation between equity compensation and cash compensation, we have implemented and maintain compensation plans that tie a substantial portion of our executives’ overall compensation to the achievement of corporate goals.

Role of Compensation Consultant

The Compensation Committee has the power to engage independent advisors to assist it in carrying out its responsibilities.

In October 2021, as we have grown and added depth to our senior management team, the Compensation Committee engaged Korn Ferry, an internationally-recognized compensation consulting firm, as its compensation consultant to review and advise us on our compensation practices. The Compensation Committee assessed the independence of Korn Ferry pursuant to SEC rules and concluded that the work of Korn Ferry has not raised any conflict of interest.

From 2020 to 2022, the Compensation Committee reviewed widely-used survey data to benchmark our compensation arrangements. The Compensation Committee used broad survey data, in part, because there was a lack of direct data on publicly traded electric vehicle charging station companies as a peer group. Additionally, the Compensation Committee chose this approach as the large size of the survey reduced the dependence of the results on any one industry that could otherwise skew the survey results in any particular year.

Using this approach, Korn Ferry compared positions of similar scope and complexity with the data contained in the surveys. Korn Ferry then provided a salary range for each executive level. The Compensation Committee typically sets target compensation levels for executives in the 50th to 75th percentile range (except Mr. Farkas whose compensation was at a higher percentile level for reasons mentioned below) as it believes the use of this range (i) helps ensure our compensation program provides sufficient compensation to attract and retain talented executives and (ii) maintains internal pay equity, without overcompensating our employees. Each executive’s target compensation level for this purpose is based on the sum of his base salary, annual cash bonus and annual equity award but excludes one-time equity/option awards.

In 2021, Korn Ferry augmented our survey-based compensation approach by suppling the Compensation Committee with actual peer group data in order to evaluate the compensation arrangements for our named executive officers (other than the Chief Executive Officer) and directors. With respect to Korn Ferry’s assessment, the comparable group of companies consisted of the following companies, determined to: (i) focus on the same industry or adjacent industry as us, (ii) generally have similar revenues as us, (iii) generally have similar market capitalization as us, (iv) generally have similar operating income as us, and (v) generally have the same number of employees as us:

Allego N.V., Beam Global, ChargePoint Holdings, EVgo, Inc., Nuvve Holding Corp., Tritium DCFC Limited, Volta Inc. and Wallbox N.V.

It is expected that Korn Ferry’s assessment using both survey data and peer group analyses will continue to be considered in setting compensation and in renewing the terms of employment agreements with several of our executive officers.

Elements of Compensation

We evaluate individual executive performance with a goal of setting compensation at levels our Board or any applicable committee believes are comparable with executives in other companies of similar size and stage of development while taking into account our relative performance and our own strategic goals. The compensation received by our named executive officers consists of the following elements:

Base Salary

Base salaries for our executives are established based on the scope of their responsibilities and individual experience, taking into account competitive market compensation paid by other companies for similar positions within our industry.

The Compensation Committee considers compensation data from the peer companies to the extent the executive positions at these companies are considered comparable to our positions and informative of the competitive environment. Compensation data for our peer group were collected from available proxy-disclosed data. This information was gathered and analyzed for the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles (or alternatively using low, medium and high categories) for annual base salary, short-term incentive pay elements and long-term incentive pay elements.

Variable Pay

We design our variable pay programs to be both affordable and competitive in relation to the market. We monitor the market and adjust our variable pay programs as needed. Our variable pay programs, such as our bonus program, are designed to motivate employees to achieve overall goals. Our programs are designed to avoid entitlements, to align actual payouts with the actual results achieved, and to be easy to understand and administer.

Equity-Based Incentives

Salaries and bonuses are intended to compensate our executive officers for short-term performance. We also have adopted an equity incentive program intended to reward longer-term performance and to help align the interests of our named executive officers with those of our stockholders. We believe that long-term performance is achieved through an ownership culture that rewards performance by our named executive officers through the use of equity incentives. Our equity incentive plan has been established to provide our employees, including our named executive officers, with incentives to help align those employees’ interests with the interests of our stockholders.

When making equity-award decisions, the Compensation Committee considers market data, the grant size, the forms of long-term equity compensation available to it under our existing plans and the status of previously granted awards. The amount of equity incentive compensation granted reflects the executives’ expected contributions to our future success. Existing ownership levels are not a factor in award determination, as the Compensation Committee does not want to discourage executives from holding significant amounts of our stock.

Future equity awards that we make to our named executive officers will be driven by our sustained performance over time, our named executive officers’ ability to impact our results that drive stockholder value, their level of responsibility, their potential to fill roles of increasing responsibility, and competitive equity award levels for similar positions in comparable companies. Equity forms a key part of the overall compensation for each executive officer and is evaluated each year as part of the annual performance review process and incentive payout calculation.

The amounts awarded to the named executive officers are based on the Compensation Committee’s subjective determination of what is appropriate to incentivize the executives. Generally, the grants to named executive officers vest over a three-year period with 33-1/3% vesting on each anniversary of the grant date. All equity awards to our employees, including named executive officers, and to directors have been granted and reflected in our financial statements, based upon the applicable accounting guidance, with the exercise price equal to the fair market value of one share of common stock on the grant date.

In order to encourage a long-term perspective and to encourage key employees to remain with us, our stock options typically have annual vesting over a three-year period and a term of five years. Generally, vesting ends upon termination of services and exercise rights of vested options cease three months after termination of services. Prior to the exercise of an option, the holder has no rights as a stockholder with respect to the shares subject to such option, including voting rights and the right to receive dividends or dividend equivalents.

Benefits Programs

We design our benefits programs to be both affordable and competitive in relation to the market while conforming to local laws and practices. We monitor the market and local laws and practices and adjust our benefits programs as needed. We design our benefits programs to provide an element of core benefits and, to the extent possible, offer options for additional benefits, be tax-effective for employees in any foreign country and balance costs and cost-sharing between our employees and us.

Timing of Equity Awards

Only the Compensation Committee may approve restricted stock or stock option grants to our executive officers. Shares of restricted stock and stock options are generally granted at meetings of the Compensation Committee or pursuant to a unanimous written consent of the Compensation Committee. The exercise price of a newly granted option is the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant.

Executive Equity Ownership

We encourage our executives to hold a significant equity interest in our company. However, we do not have specific share retention and ownership guidelines for our executives.

Consideration of Advisory Votes to Approve the Compensation of our Named Executive Officers

We value the opinions of our stockholders, including as expressed through advisory votes to approve the compensation of our named executive officers (“Say-on-Pay Votes”). In our most recent Say-On-Pay Vote, conducted at our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders, held on July 11, 2022, our stockholders approved the compensation of our named executive officers on an advisory basis, with approximately 70% of the votes cast in favor of the fiscal 2021 compensation of our named executive officers. In setting fiscal 2023 compensation, we will consider the outcome of the Say-on-Pay Vote during our 2022 annual meeting of stockholders and will continue to consider the outcome of future Say-on-Pay Votes, as well as stockholder feedback received throughout the year, when making compensation decisions for our executive officers.

Effect of Accounting and Tax Treatment on Compensation Decisions

In the review and establishment of our compensation programs, we consider the anticipated accounting and tax implications for our executives and us.

Generally, Section 162(m) of the Code disallows public companies a tax deduction for federal income tax purposes of compensation in excess of $1 million paid to their chief executive officer and certain other specified officers in any taxable year. For tax years ending prior to December 31, 2017, compensation in excess of $1 million could only be deducted if it was “performance-based compensation” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code or qualified for one of the other exemptions from the deduction limit. The exemption from Section 162(m) of the Code’s deduction limit for performance-based compensation has been repealed, effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017, such that compensation paid to our covered officers (which now also includes our Chief Financial Officer) in excess of $1 million will generally not be deductible unless it qualifies for transition relief applicable to certain arrangements in place as of November 2, 2017. We seek to maintain flexibility in compensating our executives in a manner designed to promote our corporate goals and, therefore, while we are mindful of the benefit of the full deductibility of compensation, our Compensation Committee has not adopted a policy requiring that any or all compensation to be deductible. Our Compensation Committee may authorize compensation payments that are not fully tax deductible if we believe that such payments are appropriate to attract and retain executive talent or meet other business objectives.

Role of Executives in Executive Compensation Decisions

The Board and our Compensation Committee generally seek input from our Chief Executive Officer, Michael D. Farkas, and President, Brendan S. Jones, when discussing the performance of, and compensation levels for, executives other than themselves. The Compensation Committee also works with Michael P. Rama, our Chief Financial Officer, to evaluate the financial, accounting, tax and retention implications of our various compensation programs. Neither Mr. Farkas nor Mr. Jones, who are directors, participate in deliberations relating to their own compensation.

Compensation Risk Management

We have considered the risk associated with our compensation policies and practices for all employees, and we believe we have designed our compensation policies and practices in a manner that does not create incentives that could lead to excessive risk taking that would have a material adverse effect on us.

We structure our compensation to consist of base salary, variable pay, equity-based pay and benefits. The base portion of compensation is designed to provide a steady income regardless of our stock price performance so that executives do not feel pressured to focus exclusively on stock price performance to the detriment of other important business measures. Our variable pay and equity-based pay programs are designed to reward both short- and long-term corporate performance. For short-term performance, our variable pay programs are designed to motivate employees to achieve overall goals. For long-term performance, our stock option awards generally vest over four years and are only valuable if our stock price increases over time. We believe that these various elements of compensation are a sufficient percentage of overall compensation to motivate executives to produce superior short- and long-term corporate results, while the fixed element is also sufficiently high that the executives are not encouraged to take unnecessary or excessive risks in doing so.

Our bonus program has been structured around the attainment of overall corporate goals for the past several years and we have seen no evidence that it encourages unnecessary or excessive risk taking.

Summary Compensation Table

The following summary compensation table sets forth all compensation awarded to, earned by, or paid to our principal executive officer who served as such during all of 2022 (Michael D. Farkas), our principal financial officer who served as such during all of 2022 (Michael P. Rama) and our three most highly compensated executive officers other than our principal executive officer and principal financial officer who were serving as executive officers at the end of 2022 (Brendan S. Jones, Aviv Hillo and Harjinder Bhade). We refer to these executive officers as our “named executive officers” or “NEOs.”

Summary Compensation Table

Grant of Plan-Based Awards

The following table sets forth information concerning grants of plan-based awards made by us during the year ended December 31, 2022, to each of the NEOs.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

The following table provides information on outstanding equity awards as of December 31, 2022 to the NEOs: