Company: ACCO
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-046374
Chunk: 26

Company: ACCO BRANDS Corp
Filing Date: 2025-03-28
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 26
---
 Committee on executive officer compensation and related governance matters, including consultation regarding the design of our short-term and long-term incentive awards and non-employee director compensation. During 2024, representatives of Meridian attended all five Compensation and Human Capital Committee meetings, including portions of the executive sessions without management present.

Our executive management makes recommendations regarding executive compensation matters to the Compensation and Human Capital Committee. Management considers the compensation consultant's advice and uses publicly available compensation and benefits survey data and information when making its recommendations to the Compensation and Human Capital Committee. Management may retain other consultants to provide related competitive data and information to assist them in formulating such recommendations. Management's recommendations have historically focused on the Company’s broad-based compensation and benefit plans, the structure and performance measures for short-term and long-term incentives, and compensation and benefits matters related to the Company’s executive officers. Members of our management team, including our CEO, may be invited to attend all or portions of the Compensation and Human Capital Committee's meetings. At these meetings, our CEO provides his recommendations regarding compensation and benefits matters pertaining to our other executive officers.

Independence of Compensation Consultant

The Compensation and Human Capital Committee received a letter dated February 14, 2024 from Meridian addressing factors relevant to the SEC and NYSE rules regarding independence and potential conflicts of interest. After considering the information and statement provided by Meridian, as well as other factors and information, no conflicts of interest with respect to Meridian's advice were identified by the Compensation and Human Capital Committee, and the Compensation and Human Capital Committee concluded Meridian was an independent consultant.

Compensation Risk Assessment

Management and the Compensation and Human Capital Committee conducted a risk assessment of the Company's employee compensation programs and practices, including our executive compensation programs. The Compensation and Human Capital Committee, with assistance from Meridian, reviewed and discussed with management the results of management's evaluation of the Company's compensation programs and practices, and concluded that our employee compensation programs are not designed to incentivize or reward excessive risk-taking and have appropriate risk-mitigating provisions, including caps on incentives and a clawback policy that meets the requirements mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act and goes beyond such requirements by authorizing recoupment of incentive-based compensation from an executive officer who is engaged in willful or intentional

#### 38ACCO BRANDS| 2025 PROXY STATEMENT
misconduct in connection with the performance of his or her duties. As a result, we believe the risks associated with our compensation programs are within the Company's ability to effectively monitor