Company: HCWB
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-058961
Chunk: 14

Company: HCW Biologics Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-28
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 14
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 managing our operations and day-to-day performance, consistent with strategic direction provided by the Board, and our Chairman of the board to focus on leading the board of directors in its fundamental role of providing guidance to, and independent oversight of, our management. Currently, Dr. Hing C. Wong serves as our Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Scott T. Garrett serves as Chairman of the board.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

#### Our Board of Directors’ Role in Risk Oversight
One of the key functions of our board of directors is informed oversight of our risk management process. Although our board of directors does not have a standing risk management committee, it administers this oversight function directly through the board of directors as a whole, as well as through its standing committees that address risks inherent in their respective areas of oversight. Areas of focus include economic, operational, financial (accounting, credit, investment, liquidity and tax), competitive, legal, regulatory, cybersecurity, privacy, compliance and reputational risks, and more recently, risk exposures related to potential delays in our clinical trials. The risk oversight responsibility of our board of directors and its committees is supported by our management reporting processes, which are designed to provide visibility to our board of directors and to our personnel who are responsible for risk assessment and information about the identification, assessment and management of critical risks, and our management’s risk mitigation strategies.

Our audit committee is responsible for reviewing and discussing our major financial risk exposures and the steps our management has taken to monitor and control these exposures, including guidelines and policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management. The audit committee also monitors compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and assists our board of directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities with respect to risk management. Our compensation committee assesses and monitors whether any of our compensation policies and programs has the potential to encourage excessive risk-taking. Our full board in place of a nominating and corporate governance committee assesses risks related to our corporate governance practices, the independence of our board of directors and monitors the effectiveness of our governance guidelines.

We believe this division of responsibilities is an effective approach for addressing the risks we face and that our board leadership structure supports this approach.

#### Independence of Directors
The applicable listing rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market (“Nasdaq”), on which our common stock is listed, generally require that a majority of the members of a listed company’s board of directors be independent. In addition, the listing rules generally require that, subject to specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit