Company: TMCWW
Filing Date: 2025-07-18
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0001104659-25-068870
Chunk: 40

Company: TMC the metals Co Inc.
Filing Date: 2025-07-18
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 40
---
1 Incentive Equity Plan set forth in this Proposal No. 1. The 2021 Incentive Equity Plan was approved by our board of directors and shareholders in 2021 and amended by our board of directors in 2024 and again on July 8, 2025 to increase the aggregate number of common shares available for awards under the 2021 Incentive Equity Plan by an additional 40,000,000 common shares. The July 2025 amendment to increase the number of common shares available for grant under the 2021 Incentive Equity Plan is being submitted for approval at the Special Meeting in order to ensure that we have an adequate number of common shares available for issuance in order to grant equity incentive compensation awards to our employees, consultants and directors pursuant to our compensation programs and to fulfill commitments we have made with respect to options and restricted stock awards that are subject to shareholder approval of this amendment. Approval by our shareholders of this amendment to the 2021 Incentive Equity Plan is required by the listing rules of Nasdaq and, therefore, the terms of the 2021 Incentive Equity Plan. In addition, shareholder approval is required in order to ensure favorable U.S. federal income tax treatment for grants of incentive stock options to U.S. taxpayers under Section 422 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. We believe that the effective use of equity compensation provides our employees, consultants and directors with meaningful incentives and rewards, while effectively balancing the long-term interests of our shareholders with our ability to attract and retain talented individuals to drive our company forward. Our use of equity in our LTIP for employees and executive officers is primarily designed to reinforce and drive shareholder value, incentivize and retain our executives over a multi-year period and to reward the achievement of our long-term financial and strategic objectives. We also believe that the use of equity in attracting qualified and experienced consultants and directors who can bring additional experience and knowledge to our company and board of directors is essential as we are focusing on obtaining a commercial recovery permit under the U.S. regulatory regime and preparing for potential commercialization. Over the last few years, (a) we have used performance-based equity awards as a significant part of the compensation package for our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in part to 25 TABLE OF CONTENTS ensure we retain Mr. Barron’s leadership over the long term, which compensation was approved by our shareholders on an advisory basis at our 2024 annual meeting of shareholders held on May 30, 2024