Cognyte Software (CGNT) 20-F/A2023 FY Annual report (foreign) (amended)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 

FORM 20-F/A

(Amendment No. 1)

(Mark One)

Commission File No. 001-39829

Cognyte Software Ltd.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

33 Maskit

Herzliya Pituach

4673333, Israel

(Address of principal executive office)

Copy to:

David Abadi

33 Maskit

Herzliya Pituach

4673333, Israel

+972-9-962-2300

(Name, Telephone, Email and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

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

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

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report:

70,996,535 Ordinary Shares, no par value, on January 31, 2024.

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ¨ No x

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes ¨ No x

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 x 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 x No ¨

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

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨

† The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.

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 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. x

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been checked in response to the previous question, indicate by check mark which financial statement item the registrant has elected to follow.

Item 17 ¨ Item 18 ¨

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ¨ No x

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Cognyte Software Ltd. (the “Company”) is filing this Amendment No. 1 on Form 20-F/A (the “Amendment”) to its Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended January 31, 2024, which was initially filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on April 9, 2024 (the “Original Form 20-F”). This Amendment is being filed (i) to correct an inadvertent error made in the paragraph titled “2021 Share Incentive Plan” under item 6.B. of the Original Form 20-F where the figures “4,910,926” and “2,669,074,” describing as of March 31, 2023 the number of shares that are subject to outstanding granted awards and the number of shares available for future grants, respectively, were inadvertently transposed, and (ii) to add the amendment to the 2021 Share Incentive Plan referenced in Item 6.B. as an exhibit to the Form 20-F. This Amendment clarifies that, as of March 31, 2024, following the recent amendment to the Company’s 2021 Share Incentive Plan, the number of shares that were available for future grants was 2,669,074 in addition to 4,910,926 shares that were subject to outstanding awards as of such date.

As required by Rule 12b-15 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, the Company is also filing or furnishing the certifications required under Section 302 and Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 as exhibits to this Amendment.

This Amendment is not intended to update other information disclosed in the Original Form 20-F. This Amendment does not reflect events occurring after the filing of the Original Form 20-F and does not modify or update the disclosure therein in any way other than as required to reflect the amendment discussed above.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

6.B. COMPENSATION

The aggregate compensation expensed, including share-based compensation and other compensation expensed by us and our subsidiaries, with respect to the year ended January 31, 2024, to our directors and senior management that served at any time during the year ended January 31, 2024 was $12.5 million. This amount includes approximately $0.9 million set aside or accrued to provide pension, severance, retirement, or similar benefits.

The table below sets forth the compensation earned by our five most highly compensated office holders (as defined below under “—6.C. Board Practices—Compensation Committee—Compensation Policy under the Companies Law”) during or with respect to the year ended January 31, 2024. We refer to the five individuals for whom disclosure is provided herein as our “Covered Executives”. For purposes of the table and the summary below, “compensation” includes base salary, bonuses, equity-based compensation, retirement or termination payments, and any benefits or perquisites such as car, phone and social benefits, as well as any undertaking to provide such compensation in the future.

Summary Compensation Table

(1) All amounts reported in the table are in terms of cost to us accrued with respect to the year ended January 31, 2024, as recorded in our financial statements.

(2) All Covered Executives listed in the table were our full-time employees during the year. Cash compensation amounts denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar were converted into U.S. dollars at the average conversion rate for the year ended January 31, 2024.

(3) Amounts reported in this column include car allowance and social benefits accrued by us on behalf of the Covered Executives, convalescence pay, contributions made by the company to an insurance policy or a pension fund, work disability insurance, severance, retirement, educational fund, and payments for social security.

(4) Amounts reported in this column refer to incentive and variable compensation payments which were paid or accrued in cash or shares with respect to the year ended January 31, 2024. In accordance with the Company’s compensation policy, we accrued for bonuses to our Covered Executives upon compliance with predetermined performance and other parameters as set by the compensation committee and the board of directors. These amounts were provided for in our financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2024. We also award PSUs to executive officers that vest upon the achievement of specified performance goals. We recognize compensation expenses for the value of the awards, which vest based on service conditions, using the straight-line method, over the requisite service period of each of the awards, net of estimated forfeitures.

(5) Amounts reported in this column represent the expense recorded in our financial statements for the year ended January 31, 2024 with respect to equity-based compensation grants. The relevant amounts underlying the equity awards granted to our officers will continue to be expensed in our financial statements over a period of time during the years on account of the grants made during the year ended January 31, 2024 in similar annualized amounts. All equity-based compensation grants to our Covered Executives were made in accordance with the parameters of our Company’s compensation policy and were approved by our compensation committee and board of directors.

Share Incentive Plan

The following sets forth certain information with respect to our share incentive plan. The following description is only a summary of the plan and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the plan, which serves as an exhibit to this Form 20-F.

Upon the expiration of our share incentive plan, no further grants may be made thereunder, although any existing awards will continue in full force in accordance with the terms under which they were granted.

2021 Share Incentive Plan

In connection with the spin-off we adopted a new 2021 share incentive plan (the “2021 Plan”), under which we are able to grant equity-based incentive awards to attract, motivate and retain the talent for which we compete.

During March 2024, we amended the 2021 Plan to allow for the grant of up to an additional 2,669,074 shares under the 2021 Plan, subject to any further increases or decreases, in addition to 4,910,926 shares that were subject to outstanding awards under the 2021 Plan as of March 31, 2024.

The 2021 Plan provides for granting awards under various tax regimes, including, without limitation, in compliance with Section 102 of the Israeli Tax Ordinance, and Section 3(i) of the Israeli Tax Ordinance and for awards granted to our United States employees or service providers, including those who are deemed to be residents of the United States for tax purposes, Section 422 of the Code and Section 409A of the Code.

Section 102 of the Israeli Tax Ordinance allows employees, directors and officers who are not controlling shareholders and are considered Israeli residents to receive favorable tax treatment for compensation in the form of shares or options, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Israeli Tax Ordinance. Our non-employee service providers and controlling shareholders may only be granted options under Section 3(i) of the Israeli Tax Ordinance, which does not provide for similar tax benefits.

The 2021 Plan provides for the grant of stock options (including incentive stock options and nonqualified stock options), ordinary shares, restricted shares, restricted share units and other share-based awards. Grants may be evidenced by award agreements, other contractual arrangements and/or resolutions of the Compensation Committee of our board of directors. Options granted under the 2021 Plan to our employees who are U.S. residents may qualify as “incentive stock options” within the meaning of Section 422 of the Code or may be non-qualified stock options.

In the event of termination of a grantee’s employment or service with the company or any of its affiliates (other than by reason of death or permanent disability), all vested and exercisable awards held by such grantee as of the date of termination may be exercised within three months after such date of termination, unless otherwise determined by the administrator. After such three-month period, all unexercised awards will terminate.

In the event of termination of a grantee’s employment or service with the company or any of its affiliates due to such grantee’s death or permanent disability, all vested and exercisable awards held by such grantee as of the date of termination may be exercised by the grantee or the grantee’s legal guardian, estate, or by a person who acquired the right to exercise the award by bequest or inheritance, as applicable, within twelve months after such date of termination, unless otherwise provided by the administrator. Any awards which are unvested as of the date of such termination or which are vested but not then exercised within the twelve-month period following such date will terminate.

Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, if a grantee commits an act during the course of the grantee’s employment or services with the company or any of its affiliates that constitutes or would have constituted “cause,” as defined in the 2021 Plan, the Compensation Committee of our board of directors may provide for cancellation or forfeiture of all outstanding awards (whether vested or unvested).

Policy For Recovery of Erroneously Awarded Compensation

In September 2023, the Board adopted the policy for the recovery of erroneously awarded compensation (the “Policy”) in compliance with the SEC rules. The Policy provides for the recovery of erroneously awarded incentive-based compensation from current and former officers when there is an accounting restatement due the Company’s material noncompliance with any financial reporting requirement under securities laws, including restatements that correct an error in previously issued financial statements (a) that is material to the previously issued financial statements or (b) that would result in a material misstatement if the error were corrected in the current period or left uncorrected in the current period.

PART II

ITEM 19. EXHIBITS

We have filed the following documents as exhibits to this Form 20-F/A:

*             Previously filed with the Original Form 20-F.

**          Filed or furnished, as applicable, herewith.

***        Management contract or compensatory plan, arrangement or contract.

†             Certain confidential information contained in this document, has been redacted in accordance with Instructions as to Exhibits to Form 20-F, because (i) the company customarily and actually treats that information as private or confidential and (ii) the omitted information is not material. “[***]” indicates where the information has been omitted from this exhibit.

SIGNATURES

The registrant hereby certifies that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form 20-F/A and that it has duly caused and authorized the undersigned to sign this Annual Report on its behalf.