Exhibit 10(a)

      2018

      

      

      Performance Share Award Agreement

      under the

      TrustCo Bank Corp NY Amended and Restated 2010 Equity Incentive Plan

      

      

      This Performance Share Award Agreement (this “Agreement”) under the TrustCo Bank Corp NY Amended and Restated 2010 Equity Incentive
          Plan, as amended (the “Plan”), dated as of the grant date set forth below, is made between TrustCo Bank Corp NY (the “Company”) and the Participant set forth below. Capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in
          the Plan.

       

        

      The award granted in this Agreement is contingent on the Participant agreeing to be bound by all of the terms and
          conditions of the Plan and this Agreement by signing and returning this Agreement to the Company on or before the close of business on the second business day after November 20, 2018 (that is, November 23, 2018).1 If the Participant
          fails to return a signed copy of this Agreement to the Company on or before such date, this award will be deemed to be voided and withdrawn and, as such, of no force or effect.

       

        

      1.           Grant of Performance Shares. Subject to the provisions of this Agreement and the provisions of the Plan, the Company hereby grants to the Participant an award of the number of performance shares set forth in Paragraph
          2 effective as of the Grant Date set forth therein (the performance shares granted hereunder are hereafter referred to as the “Performance Shares”). Each Performance Share shall represent the right to receive upon settlement an amount of cash
          equal to the Fair Market Value of one share of Common Stock.

       

        

      2.             Award Summary:

       

        

      	

            	
              Participant

               

                

            	

            	

            	
              [Officer]

            
	

            	
              Grant Date

               

                

            	

            	

            	
              November 20, 2018

            
	

            	
              Number of Performance Shares:

               

                

            	

            	

            	

            
	

            	
              Threshold:

               

                

            	

            	

            	

            
	

            	
              Target:

               

                

            	

            	

            	

            
	

            	
              Maximum:

               

                

            	

            	

            	

            
	

            	
              Performance Period

               

                

            	

            	

            	
              January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021

            


      

      

      

      

      

      1 November 23 is the second business day after November 20, 2018.

       

        

      
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        3.             Satisfaction of Vesting Conditions.

         

          

        (a)          General. Except as provided in this Agreement, the Performance Shares are subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture until vested and as set forth in this Paragraph 3 are transferable
            only to the extent provided in Paragraph 13 hereof. Except as otherwise provided herein, the Participant shall be entitled to receive payment in respect of the Performance Shares described in this Agreement (“vesting”) only upon the
            satisfaction of two conditions: a time-based condition and a performance goals condition. The conditions are described in more detail in Paragraphs 3(b) and 3(c) below. The Participant shall not be entitled to payment in respect of the
            Performance Shares unless both conditions are satisfied.

         

          

        (b)          Time-Based Condition. Except as otherwise provided herein, the time-based condition will be satisfied only if the Participant has remained an employee of the Company from the Grant Date through the last day of the
            Performance Period.

         

          

        (c)         Performance Goals Condition. Except as otherwise provided herein, achievement of the performance goals condition will be measured by the Company's Return on Average Equity (“ROAE”) measured as the average of
            TrustCo’s ROAE for each of the three years within the performance period described below compared with the ROAE of members of a comparative group of peer institutions during the same period (calculated by determining the performance of the peer
            group in each year and then calculating the three-year average of the peer performance as described), subject to possible adjustment as described below based upon TrustCo’s Earnings Per Share, with vesting occurring at the end of the
            performance period and payout prior to March 15, 2022.  The following table outlines the peer ranking and the corresponding adjustment factor:

        

        

        	

              	
                Return on Average Equity

                for the Performance Period

              	

              
	
                Level

              	
                Percentile Ranking

              	
                Factor

              
	
                Maximum

              	
                60th percentile or above of the Peer Group

              	
                150%

              
	
                Target

              	
                50th - 59th percentile of the Peer Group

              	
                100%

              
	
                Threshold

              	
                40th – 49th percentile of the Peer Group

              	
                75%

              
	

              	
                Below 40th percentile of the Peer Group

              	
                0%

              


        

        

        Additionally, if the annualized Earnings Per Share of the Company grows less than 5% during the performance period, the total award shall be reduced by
            one third.

      

      

      

      
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      Performance Period: January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021

      

      

      Peer Group: Consists of publicly held bank and savings and loan
          holding companies headquartered in New York, New Jersey and/or Florida with assets of between $2 and $10 billion (as of December 31 of each year), utilizing data which is filed with the appropriate securities regulatory agency.  To be included in
          calculations hereunder, a company must satisfy the definition of a member of the Peer Group for all years in the performance period.

      

      

      (d)         Death, Disability or Retirement. In the event of a Participant’s Separation from
            Service because of death, Disability, or Retirement during the Performance Period, the holder of a Performance Share shall receive a pro rata payment based upon the number of months’ service during the Performance Period, but taking into
            account the achievement of performance goals during the entire Performance period.  Payment shall be made as specified in the applicable Award Agreement after completion of the applicable Performance Period at the time payments are made to
            Participants who did not have a Separation from Service during the Performance Period.

       

          

      The pro rata payment shall be calculated by multiplying the number of Performance Shares to which the Participant would have received pursuant to this
          Agreement and the Plan had he or she not experienced a Separation from Service by a fraction the denominator of which is 36 and numerator of which is the number of full months during the Performance Period prior to the Separation from Service.

       

        

      (e)          Other Separation from Service. In the event of a Participant’s Separation from Service for any reason other than death, Disability or Retirement during
            the Performance Period, all Performance Shares shall be forfeited.

       

          

      (f)           Change in Control. In the event of a Change in Control during the Performance Period, there shall be no automatic vesting of such Awards solely upon a change-in-Control.  The payment of the shares shall otherwise be
          governed by the terms of the Plan.

       

        

      4.             Settlement of Performance Shares.

       

        

      (a)          Normal Settlement. Upon completion of the Performance Period, the Committee shall evaluate and determine the extent to which the time-based vesting conditions described in Paragraph 3(b) and the performance-based
          vesting conditions described in Paragraph 3(c) have been satisfied and shall certify in writing the level of the performance goals attained and the amount payable as a result
            thereof. Payment in respect of the Performance Shares shall be made in a lump sum in cash to the Participant no later than March 15, 2021 (the “Settlement Date”), such date being the fifteenth day of the third month after the end of the first
            calendar year in which the Performance Shares are no longer subject to a “substantial risk of forfeiture” within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 409A.

       

          

      
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      (b)         Settlement upon a Qualified Change-in-Control. Subject to the other provisions of the Plan, including without limitation Section 16 thereof, in the event of a Qualified Change-in-Control, the Performance Share Awards
          shall be settled in accordance with the provisions of the Plan.

       

        

      5.             Tax Withholding. The Company shall deduct or withhold from any payment under this Agreement an amount sufficient to satisfy Federal, state, and
            local taxes, domestic or foreign, required by law or regulation to be withheld with respect to any taxable event arising as a result of this Agreement and the Plan.

       

          

      6.             Rights as a Shareholder. The Participant shall have no voting rights and no rights to ordinary dividends or other distributions, with respect to the Performance Shares.

       

        

      7.            No Right to Continued Employment. Neither this award of Performance Shares nor any terms contained in this Agreement shall confer upon the Participant any express or implied right to be retained in the
          employment or service of the Company or any affiliate for any period, nor restrict in any way the right of the Company, which right is hereby expressly reserved, to terminate the Participant’s employment or service at any time with or without
          Cause. The Participant acknowledges and agrees that, except as otherwise provided herein, the satisfaction of the time-based vesting condition is subject to the Participant’s continuation of employment with the Company through the end of the
          Performance Period and not through the act of being hired or being granted this award.

       

        

      8.             The Plan. This Agreement is subject to all the terms, provisions and conditions of the Plan, which are incorporated herein by reference, and to such rules and regulations as may from time to time be adopted by
          the Committee. In the event of any conflict between the provisions of the Plan and this Agreement, the provisions of the Plan shall control and this Agreement shall be deemed to be modified accordingly. A copy of the Plan and the prospectus shall
          be provided to the Participant upon the Participant’s request to the Company at TrustCo Bank Corp NY, 5 Sarnowski Drive, Glenville, New York 12302, Attention: Secretary.

       

        

      9.            Compliance with Laws and Regulations. This award of Performance Shares shall be subject in all respects to all applicable federal and state laws, rules and regulations and any registration, qualification, approvals or
          other requirements imposed by any government or regulatory agency or body which the Committee shall, in its discretion, determine to be necessary or applicable.

       

        

      10.           Notices. Every notice or other communication relating to this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be mailed to or delivered by hand or electronically by e-mail to the party for whom it is intended, (i) if to the
          Participant, to the current home address or e-mail address on file with the Company or delivered by hand personally to Participant and (ii) if to the Company, to the address of the Company’s corporate headquarters, currently located at 5
          Sarnowski Drive, Glenville, New York 12302, or such other address to which the Company has moved its corporate headquarters, to such other address that the Company may specify from time to time in a notice sent to the Participant, in each case
          Attention: Human Resource Department.

       

        

      11.           Other Plans. The Participant acknowledges that any income derived from the Performance Shares shall not affect the Participant’s participation in, or benefits under, any other benefit plan or other contract or
          arrangement maintained or sponsored by the Company or any affiliate of the Company.

       

        

      
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      12.           Recovery of Incentive Compensation. This award of Performance Shares and any cash compensation received by the Participant pursuant to this award that constitute incentive-based compensation may be subject to recovery
          by the Company under any compensation recovery, recoupment or clawback policy or program that the Company may adopt from time to time, including, without limitation, any policy that the Company may be required to adopt under Section 954 of the
          Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission thereunder or the requirements of any national securities exchange on which the Stock may be listed. The
          Participant shall promptly return any such incentive-based compensation that the Committee determines the Company is required to recover from the Participant under any such policy.

       

        

      13.          Beneficiary Designation. No Performance Shares may be sold, transferred, pledged, assigned or otherwise alienated or hypothecated, and any such purported sale, transfer, pledge, assignment or other alienation or
          hypothecation shall be void and unenforceable. The Participant may, pursuant to the Plan, name one or more beneficiaries to whom vested benefits under this Agreement shall be paid in case of Participant’s death before Participant receives all of
          such benefits. In the absence of any such designation, benefits remaining unpaid at the Participant’s death shall be paid to his or her estate.

       

          

      14.          Governing Law. This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of New York, without giving effect to the choice of law principles thereof, except to the extent superseded by
          applicable United States federal law. The Participant hereby agrees to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the federal and state courts of New York to resolve any and all issues that may arise out of or relate to this Agreement or the Plan.

       

        

      	 	
              TrustCo Bank Corp NY

            
	 	 
	 	
              By:

            	 	 
	 	 	
              Robert J. McCormick

            	 
	 	 	
              President and CEO

            


      

      

      Accepted and agreed to:

      

      

      	 	 


      	
              Name:

            	
              [Officer]

            	 


      	
              Date:

            	 	 


      

      

      

      

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