Company: ACCS
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000843006-25-000014
Chunk: 32

Company: ACCESS Newswire Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 32
---
 independent directors under the NYSE and SEC Audit Committee structure and membership requirements. The Audit Committee has certain duties and powers as described in its written charter, a copy of which can be found on the company’s website at https://irp.cdn-website.com/de58a079/files/uploaded/Audit-Committee-Charter-Final-Exhibit-A_%281%29.pdf.

The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed the Company’s audited financial statements and related footnotes for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, and the independent auditor’s report on those financial statements, with management and with our independent auditor, Cherry Bekaert LLP (“Cherry Bekaert”). The Audit Committee has also discussed with Cherry Bekaert the matters required to be discussed by the statement on Auditing Standard No. 16, “Communications with Audit Committees” issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. The Audit Committee has also received the written disclosures and the letter from Cherry Bekaert required by applicable requirements of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board regarding Cherry Bekaert’s communications with the Audit Committee concerning independence, and has discussed with Cherry Bekaert that firm’s independence.

Based on the review and the discussions referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board that the Company’s audited financial statements be included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 that were filed with the SEC.

The Audit Committee

Graeme P. Rein (Chairperson)

Wesley T. Pollard

| PROXY STATEMENT | 26 |

| Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions and Director Independence |

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

None.

DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

As of April 30, 2025, we had three independent directors on our Board: Wesley T. Pollard, Graeme P. Rein and Joseph A. Staples. We evaluate independence by the standards for director independence established by applicable laws, rules, and listing standards including, without limitation, the standards for independent directors established by NYSE American and the SEC.

Subject to some exceptions, these standards generally provide that a director will not be independent if (a) the director is, or in the past three years has been, an employee of ours; (b) a member of the director’s immediate family is, or in the past three years has been, an executive officer of ours; (c) the director or a member of the director’s immediate family