Company: LIN
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000950170-25-060925
Chunk: 10

Company: LINDE PLC
Filing Date: 2025-04-30
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 10
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The risk factors disclosed in Item 1A of the Company’s Form 10-K and Annual Report illustrate the range of the risks faced by a global industrial company and help explain the need for strong Board Committee oversight of the management of risks in specific subject areas. Each Committee’s calendar of recurring meeting agenda topics addresses risk areas pertinent to the Committee’s subject-matter responsibilities. These areas include: financing and currency exchange risks (Audit Committee); compensation risks, and executive development and retention (Human Capital Committee);

regular review of the Board’s governance practices (Nomination and Governance Committee); internal controls, investigations, and integrity standards compliance (Audit Committee); and risks related to climate change (Sustainability Committee). Other risk areas are regularly reviewed by the full Board. These include: safety (covered at each Board meeting), economic, market and competitive risk (part of business operating reports at Board meetings, and the annual operating and strategic reviews), geopolitical risks, cyber security, and global compliance risks (supplementing reporting within the Audit Committee). In addition, risk identification and assessment is integrated into Board decision-making with respect to capital projects and acquisitions, entry into new markets, financings, and cash flow analysis, among other matters. In Committee meetings and full Board deliberations, each director brings his or her particular operating, financial, management development, and other experiences and expertise to bear in assessing management’s response to specific risks and in providing advice and counsel with respect to risk mitigation and management.

Board Oversight of Business Strategy

Each year, the Board conducts a comprehensive long-term strategic review of the Company’s outlook and business plans and provides advice and counsel to management regarding the Company’s strategic issues. This process involves engagement by all Board members and senior management. The Board performs a detailed review of management’s proposed strategy for

each of the key business units, which is designed to drive profitable growth over the near-and long-term independent of the macro environment and drive long-term shareholder value creation. Additionally, the board conducts reviews of key strategic issues or initiatives throughout the year.

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Corporate Governance and Board Matters

Linde’s Corporate Governance Framework

Board Effectiveness Assessment

The Board assesses its effectiveness annually under a process determined by the Nomination and Governance Committee. Typically, this assessment includes each non-management director completing written questionnaires that are used to evaluate the Board’s effectiveness in the areas of Performance of Core Responsibilities, Decision-Making Support, the Quality of Deliberations, Director Performance, and Committee Functions, as well as consideration of additional Board practices