Corporate Governance
As we are a foreign private issuer, as defined by the rules of the SEC, we are permitted to follow certain corporate governance practices of our home country, the British Virgin Islands, instead of those otherwise required for U.S. domestic issuers by both the SEC and the NYSE. While we voluntarily follow most NYSE corporate governance rules, we also take advantage of some limited exemptions, which we note in this “Corporate Governance” section.
Independence of Directors
In 2024, our Board undertook a review of director independence, which included a review of each director’s responses to questionnaires asking about any relationships with us. This review was designed to identify and evaluate any transactions or relationships between a director or any member of his or her immediate family and us, or members of our senior management or other members of our Board of Directors, and all relevant facts and circumstances regarding any such transactions or relationships.
Based on this review, our Board has affirmatively determined that each of Messrs. Ashken, Lillie, MacFarlane and Pilowsky and Mses. Parry and Stack meet the independence requirements of the NYSE’s corporate governance listing standards.
Because Mr. Gottesman and Sir Martin are affiliated with entities that receive advisory fees from us, they are not independent under NYSE corporate governance listing standards. In addition, Mr. Descheemaeker is an executive officer of the Company and, therefore, he is not independent.
Under BVI law, there is no requirement that our Board consist of a majority of independent directors and our independent directors are not required to hold executive sessions. Six of our current Board members are independent based on NYSE independence standards. While our Board’s non-management directors will meet regularly in executive session without management, our Board may not hold an executive session of only independent directors at least once a year as called for by the NYSE.
The Board has created the position of Lead Independent Director to facilitate and strengthen the Board’s independent oversight of our performance and strategy and to promote effective governance standards. Mr. Lillie currently serves as the Lead Independent Director.
Board Committees
Our Board has three standing Committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, each of which operates under a written charter adopted by the Board. Each Committee reviews its charter periodically to recommend charter changes to the Board as appropriate. A current copy of each of the Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee charters is available through the Investors—Corporate Governance link on our website, www.nomadfoods.com.