Company: HLX
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001140361-25-011655
Chunk: 52

Company: HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS GROUP INC
Filing Date: 2025-04-02
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 52
---
 compliance with insider trading laws, rules and regulations and the Listing Standards. For the full text of the program see Exhibit 19.1 to our 2024 Annual Report. Hedging and Pledging Policy Helix considers it inappropriate for any director, officer or employee to enter speculative transactions in our stock. Therefore, we have a policy that prohibits the purchase or sale of puts, calls or options based on our securities, or the short sale of our securities. Directors, officers and other employees may not purchase Helix securities on margin. The policy prohibits the hedging of our stock and imposes discrete and stringent limitations on the ability to pledge Helix stock. Because much of the compensation of our executives – and potentially their net worth – consists of or is based on Helix stock, our executives may prefer to pledge stock as collateral for a loan or indebtedness rather than selling Helix stock to meet cash needs. However, any significant sale of that collateral into the market may have adverse consequences on our stock price. Accordingly, Helix policy provides that directors and officers may pledge our stock only if the pledged stock does not exceed:

| • | 25% of the director’s or officer’s total holdings; |

| • | 2% of Helix’s outstanding securities; and |

| • | 200% of Helix’s average daily trading volume over the three months prior to the transaction. |

| 50 |     | 2025 Proxy Statement |     | Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. |

TABLE OF CONTENTS Compensation Discussion and Analysis

In addition, every pledge transaction must be specifically approved by the Board. In assessing a potential pledging transaction, the Board may consider any factors it deems appropriate and relevant, including whether the indebtedness secured by the pledged stock is non-recourse, whether the director or officer has other assets to satisfy the loan or indebtedness, whether the stock pledged was purchased (as opposed to granted as compensation by Helix), and any mechanisms in the pledge transaction that are in place to avoid undesirable transactions in Helix’s securities.

| At this time, there are no outstanding pledges of our stock by any of our directors or officers. |

Perquisites and Benefits Our NEOs only receive benefits that are either available to all our employees or otherwise are integrally and directly related to the performance of their duties at Helix. We do not provide pension arrangements, free or subsidized post-retirement health coverage, or similar benefits to our NEOs. We offer a variety of health and welfare and retirement programs to