Company: NSTS
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001437749-25-011792
Chunk: 13

Company: NSTS Bancorp, Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-11
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 13
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 be reported under “Transactions With Certain Related Persons,” below. The Board of Directors also considered current and prior relationships that each non-employee director may have with NSTS Bancorp, Inc. and North Shore Trust and Savings, including the lease of office space from North Shore Trust and Savings by Dieck, Arenas and Associates PC, for which Director Arenas serves as President, and all other facts and circumstances our Board of Directors deemed relevant in determining independence and found that, except as described above, none had a relationship that would preclude a finding of independence under applicable Nasdaq listing standards.

Board Vacancy; Compliance with Nasdaq Corporate Governance Listing Requirements

During the fourth quarter of 2024, and as we have previously disclosed, one of our directors, Mr. Thaddeus M. Bond, Jr., unexpectedly passed away. At the time of his death, Mr. Bond was a director of the Company and a member and chairman of both its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Compensation Committee. As a result of Mr. Bond’s passing, there is currently a vacancy on the Board of Directors in the class of directors whose term expires at the annual meeting in 2027. As a result, the Board of Directors currently consists of six members, only three of whom are “independent directors” under applicable Nasdaq listing standards.

On January 3, 2025, the Company notified Nasdaq of the passing of Mr. Bond. In the notice, the Company further notified Nasdaq that, accordingly, the Company does not meet the requirements of Rule 5605(b)(1) of the Nasdaq listing standards, which requires that a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company be comprised of “independent directors” as defined in Rule 5605(a)(2) of the Nasdaq listing standards.

On February 7, 2025, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq confirming that, due to Mr. Bond’s death, the Company has temporarily fallen out of compliance with the requirements of Rule 5605(b)(1) of the Nasdaq listing standards. In accordance with Rule 5605(b)(1)(A) of the Nasdaq listing standards, the Company has until the earlier of its 2025 annual stockholders’ meeting or December 21, 2025 to regain compliance, or if the Company’s 2025 annual stockholders’ meeting is held before June 19, 2025, then the Company must evidence compliance no later than June 19, 202