Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000712534-25-000077
Chunk: 43

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 43
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 guidelines are discussed on page 29.

The Company also has a written policy prohibiting its executive officers from engaging in short sales or in hedging against a possible decrease in the market value of FMC stock granted to the executive under the LTEIP or otherwise held, directly or indirectly, by the executive officer. A primary purpose of the hedging prohibition is to avoid reducing the executive’s incentive to seek to improve the Company’s performance. The Company also has a written policy prohibiting its executive officers from pledging their shares as collateral for a loan.

#### EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN (

#### “ESPP”
#### )

The ESPP is a form of equity-based compensation that is available to nearly all of the employees of FMC and its subsidiaries, including the NEOs. It is a Code §423 employee stock purchase plan that was approved by the shareholders at the 2024 Annual Meeting. It provides an attractive vehicle for participants to acquire the Company’s stock, thus further aligning their interests with those of other shareholders. Participants may elect under the Plan, prior to each three month offering period corresponding to the calendar quarters, to purchase shares of FMC stock at a price equal to 85% of the average of the closing prices for the stock on each trading day during the offering period, as reported by Nasdaq.

Mr. Stewart was the only NEO who participated in the ESPP during 2024. He participated during all four of the 2024 offering periods, purchasing 36, 41, 34, and 26 shares, respectively, at per share prices of $29.66, $28.42, $31.47, and $34.38, respectively.

#### RETIREMENT PENSION PLAN (

#### “PENSION PLAN”
#### )

The Pension Plan is a qualified Code §401(a) defined benefit pension plan that the Company “froze” in 2005. Only a few “grandfathered” participants - those who had attained age 55 and earned at least 10 years of credited service on March 1, 2005 - continued to accrue benefits under the Pension Plan after that date, and the benefits of the other participants were

34 First Merchants Corporation 2025 Proxy Statement

frozen. No new participants were added after March 1, 2005. The benefits payable upon retirement at age 65 to employees participating in the Pension Plan are computed as a straight-life annuity (although other forms of actuarially equivalent benefits are offered) based on the following formula