Purpose
This charter (“Charter”) governs the operations of the Compensation Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of Acxiom Corporation (the “Company”). The Committee shall provide assistance to the Board of Directors in fulfilling its oversight responsibility related to the compensation of senior executives of the Company and its oversight of stock-based plans.
Organization
The Committee shall be comprised of at least three directors. All members of the Committee shall meet the independence requirements of and satisfy any other criteria imposed on members of the Committee pursuant to the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the NASDAQ Stock Market (“NASDAQ”).
The Committee shall be subject to the provisions of the Company’s Bylaws relating to committees of the Board, including those provisions relating to removing committee members and filling vacancies. The Committee may form and delegate authority to subcommittees when appropriate.
Responsibilities
The members of the Committee shall exercise their business judgment to act in what they reasonably believe to be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. In discharging its appointment from the Board, the Committee will:
- Annually review and make a recommendation to the full Board regarding the CEO’s goals and objectives.
- With respect to any compensation not intended to comply with Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended from time to time (“Section 162(m)”), annually make a recommendation to the full Board regarding the CEO’s compensation.
- With respect to any compensation intended to comply with Section 162(m), in consultation with the Board (excluding the CEO if a member of the Board), annually establish this portion of the CEO’s compensation, it being understood that any compensation intended to comply with Section 162(m) shall be determined exclusively by the Compensation Committee.
- In determining the recommended long-term incentive component of the CEO’s compensation, consider objective criteria, including but not limited to the Company’s performance and relative shareholder return, the value of incentive awards made to CEOs at comparable companies, and the awards given to the CEO in past years.
- Annually review and approve the compensation of the Company’s executive officers (i.e., those officers required to file reports pursuant to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act) of the Company, including their incentive compensation plans and equity-based compensation plans.
- Periodically review the Company’s compensation policies and programs for all employees, and consider whether the policies and programs are philosophically aligned with the executive officers’ compensation policies and programs.
- Oversee management’s periodic review and assessment of any risks arising from the Company’s compensation policies and programs (i.e., whether compensation of the Company’s employees encourages unnecessary or excessive risk-taking, and whether such risks, if any, are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect upon the Company).
- Periodically review and evaluate the competitiveness and appropriateness of the Company’s change of control, severance, retirement, deferred compensation programs, senior leadership benefits and perquisites.
- Annually review and discuss with senior management the Compensation Discussion & Analysis to be included in the Company’s proxy statement or annual report on Form 10-K as required by the SEC, and based on such review and discussion, determine whether or not to recommend that the Compensation Discussion & Analysis be included in the report.
- Oversee the Company’s compliance with SEC rules and regulations regarding shareholder approval of certain executive compensation matters, including advisory votes on executive compensation and the frequency of such votes, and the shareholder approval of equity compensation plans to the extent required under applicable NASDAQ rules.
- Annually produce the Compensation Committee Report in the Company’s proxy statement or annual report on Form 10-K as required by the SEC.
- Undertake all further actions and discharge all further responsibilities imposed upon the Committee from time to time by the Board, the federal securities laws, and the rules and regulations of the SEC and NASDAQ.
The CEO may not be present during voting or deliberations on his or her compensation.
The Committee will annually review and assess the adequacy of this Charter and will recommend any proposed changes to the Board for approval.
The Committee will annually review its own performance.
Consultants, Legal Counsel and Other Advisors
The Committee may, in its sole discretion, retain or obtain the advice of a compensation consultant, legal counsel or other advisor (each, an “Advisor”) and shall be directly responsible for the appointment, compensation, and oversight of the work of any such Advisor retained by the Committee. The Company will provide appropriate funding, as determined by the Committee, for payment of reasonable compensation to any Advisor(s) retained by the Committee.
The Committee may select or receive advice from any Advisor that it prefers, including Advisors that are not independent; provided, however, that prior to selecting or receiving advice from any Advisor (other than in-house legal counsel), and at least annually thereafter, the Committee shall take into consideration the following factors (as well as any other factors that may be required from time to time under the rules of NASDAQ or the SEC):
- the provision of other services to the Company by the person that employs the Advisor;
- the amount of fees received from the Company by the person that employs the Advisor, as a percentage of the total revenue of the person that employs the Advisor;
- the policies and procedures of the person that employs the Advisor that are designed to prevent conflicts of interest;
- any business or personal relationship of the Advisor with a member of the Committee;
- any stock of the Company owned by the Advisor; and
- any business or personal relationship of the Advisor or the person employing the Advisor with an executive officer of the Company.
The Committee need not conduct the foregoing assessment for an Advisor acting in a role limited to those activities for which such an assessment is not required under the rules of NASDAQ.
Meetings
The Committee will meet at least once a year or on a more frequent basis as necessary to carry out its responsibilities. The chairperson (or acting chair) may direct appropriate members of management and staff to prepare agendas and related background information for each Committee meeting. Any background materials, together with the agenda, will be distributed to the Committee members in advance of the meeting. Following each Committee meeting, a report of the Committee’s activities and its recommendations shall be presented at the next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board.