Company: WAL-PA
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-057334
Chunk: 12

Company: WESTERN ALLIANCE BANCORPORATION
Filing Date: 2025-04-23
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 12
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 Member of the Phoenix Symphony.                                                                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                |   |                                                                   |

| 2025 PROXY STATEMENT | 17 |

| CORPORATE GOVERNANCE |

BoardComposition and Meetings

DirectorIndependence

The Company’s common stock is traded on the NYSE, and the NYSE’s rules require that a majority of directors of the Company be “independent.” For a director to be “independent” under the NYSE’s rules, the Board must affirmatively determine that each director has no material relationship with the Company, including its subsidiaries, either directly or as a partner, stockholder, or officer of an organization that has a relationship with the Company, and a director must satisfy all categorical standards relating to independence, as set forth in Section 303A of the NYSE Listed Company Manual.

In early 2025, the Board of Directors, in consultation with the Governance Committee, evaluated the nature and extent of each director’s (and their immediate family members and affiliates) business relationships and transactions with the Company and its subsidiaries, including those relationships and transactions described in each of the “Certain Transactions with Related Parties” section herein, located on page70, and determined that all of the nominees were independent, except for Mr. Vecchione because he serves as an executive officer of the Company. The Board also determined that Dr. Sung Won Sohn and Messrs. Kevin Blakely and Paul Galant were independent under NYSE standards during the time each served as a director during 2024. In reaching this determination, the Governance Committee relied on a detailed review of the Company’s internal records and the responses of the directors to questions regarding employment and compensation history, affiliations and family and other relationships, and on discussions with such directors.

board chair

The Company’s governing documents enable the Board to determine the appropriate Board leadership structure for the Company and allow for the roles of Chair of the Board and CEO to be filled by the same or different individuals. This approach provides the Board with flexibility to determine whether the two roles should be separate or combined based upon the Company’s needs in light of the dynamic environment in which it operates, changes in governance needs and practices, growth and other developments with respect to its operations, and the Board’s assessment of the Company’s leadership from time to time.

While the Board of Directors does not have a definitive policy on whether the role of the Chair and the CEO should be separate and may modify the structure from time to time as it deems appropriate, at this time, the Board has determined that a