Company: WTFCN
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-031671
Chunk: 8

Company: WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-03
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 8
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 regularly scheduled executive sessions of independent Directors. • Regular Board self-assessment process. The Board and each committee evaluate their respective performance on an annual basis. • Regular Board education and training. Each Director is required to complete annually a robust training program administered by the Company, including curriculum focused on financial institution compliance and regulatory frameworks. In addition to the completion of comprehensive Director onboarding sessions, each Director is encouraged to participate in training sessions provided by third parties to public company directors, focusing on corporate governance matters as well as subjects relevant to the committees on which a particular Director serves. • Service by many of our Directors on the boards of our subsidiary banks or other operating subsidiaries. We believe this dual service gives our Directors a robust view into our operations and performance. • Limitation on other outside board service. We limit our Directors to service on no more than four other public company boards. • Retirement Age. We have a policy that we will not nominate a candidate for Director if he or she has attained the age of 76 before the election. • Robust code of ethics. Our corporate code of ethics applies to all of our employees, including our Directors and executive officers. We also have an additional code of ethics applicable to our senior financial officers. • Robust role for the Board in risk oversight. Our Board and its committees play an active and ongoing role in the management of the risks of our business. • Stock ownership guidelines for Directors and named executive officers. Our Directors and named executive officers each must maintain a significant ownership of our Common Stock in order to increase alignment of their interests with those of our shareholders. • Prohibition on hedging, short selling and pledging. Our Directors and employees are prohibited from engaging in selling short our Common Stock, engaging in hedging or offsetting transactions regarding our Common Stock, including the use of puts, calls, swaps, collars or other derivative securities designed to or that may reasonably be expected to have the effect of hedging or offsetting a decrease in the market value of any securities of the Company. Similarly, our Directors and insiders are prohibited from pledging our Common Stock. • No shareholder rights plan (poison pill). Meetings The Board met six times in 2024. Each member of the Board attended more than 90% of the total number of meetings of the Board and the committees on which he or she served. We encourage, but do not require, our Board members to attend annual meetings of shareholders. All of the Board members then in office attended our 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders.