Company: FRME
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form Type: DEF 14A
Source: 0000712534-25-000077
Chunk: 49

Company: FIRST MERCHANTS CORP
Filing Date: 2025-04-01
Form: DEF 14A
Chunk 49
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 raise concerns regarding accounting, internal controls, or auditing matters. It includes the option to anonymously report conduct and matters covered by the Policy through a toll-free ethics hotline operated by an outside company.

• Management has established an Incentive Compensation Steering Committee to oversee the Corporate Compensation Policy.

• In 2023, the Company's Human Resources department conducted a risk assessment of the Company's 55 incentive compensation plans approved for 2024. The assessment included the SMICP, which is the non-equity incentive compensation plan covering the NEOs. As part of the incentive plan risk review process, the SMICP plan owner acknowledged the overall risk assessment rating and the risk review sections that had key observations noted.

• The Company's internal risk review methodology was developed based on Aon’s 2022 risk assessments of our compensation plans, which were in turn based on the principles of Sound Incentive Compensation Policies released under joint regulatory guidance in June 2010.

Based on these risk mitigation undertakings, the Compensation and Human Resources Committee does not believe that the risks arising from FMC’s compensation policies and practices for its executive employees are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company within the scope of Item 402(s) of SEC Regulation S-K.

37 First Merchants Corporation 2025 Proxy Statement

SHAREHOLDER ADVISORY VOTE ON NEO COMPENSATION AT 2024 ANNUAL MEETING

In accordance with Rule 14A-21(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Company held a separate shareholder advisory vote at the 2024 Annual Meeting on a resolution to approve the compensation of its NEOs, as disclosed in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and related material in the 2024 proxy statement. Of the shares that were voted, 42,689,312 (92.65%) were voted in favor of the resolution, 3,385,497 (7.34%) were voted against the resolution, and 174,583 (0.01%) abstained. The Compensation and Human Resources Committee considered these results at its first meeting following the vote and concluded that the vote showed that the shareholders supported the Company’s executive compensation policies and programs. The Committee did not make any significant changes in 2024 to the executive compensation policies and programs on the basis of this advisory vote.

#### COMPENSATION TABLES

### SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
The following table provides information concerning the NEOs’ 2022, 2023, and 202