Company: PFIS
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-030614
Chunk: 50

Company: PEOPLES FINANCIAL SERVICES CORP.
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 50
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 committee’s
charter provides that the compensation committee shall be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation and oversight of the
work of any compensation consultant, legal counsel and other adviser retained by the compensation committee. The Company must provide
for appropriate funding, as determined by the compensation committee, for payment of reasonable compensation to a compensation consultant,
legal counsel or any other adviser retained by the compensation committee. Prior to engaging any compensation consultant, legal counsel
or other adviser (other than in-house legal counsel), the compensation committee must conduct an independence assessment with respect
to such adviser. During 2024, the compensation committee engaged Pearl Meyer to review our executive and director compensation and provide
consultation, among other things, on our executive pay philosophy and market definition, our annual cash compensation, long-term incentives,
and compensation benchmarking. The compensation committee’s work with the consultant did not impact the 2024 compensation of our
named executive officers or directors.

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Accounting and Tax Treatments

All elements of compensation
generate charges to earnings under generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). Generally, no adjustment is made to
compensation based on accounting factors, but the tax effects of various types of compensation are considered. In administering our executive
compensation program, the Company takes into account the tax deductibility of the compensation, including as applicable, Section 162(m) of
the Internal Revenue Code. Although our intent is to maximize the deductibility of compensation, under certain circumstances that are
in the best interest of the Company and our shareholders, the compensation committee may authorize compensation that is not deductible
if it is determined to be appropriate.

Company Stock Ownership

We believe that it is important
that our named executive officers and directors own shares of our common stock. We maintain a share ownership policy, which is applicable
to our executive officers and directors. Under the terms of the policy, executive officers who receive equity incentive awards are expected
to beneficially own shares of our common stock having a fair market value equal to or greater than twice their respective annual base
salaries and have five years to achieve compliance.

Severance and Change in Control Benefits

We recognize that an important
consideration in our ability to attract, retain and motivate key personnel is our ability to minimize the impact on our management team
of the possible disruption associated with our exploration of strategic corporate and personnel opportunities. Accordingly, we believe
that it is in our best interest and the best interest of our shareholders to provide certain key personnel