Kroger 2013 Annual Report Download - page 18

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16
•฀ Willingness฀to฀fulfill฀the฀obligations฀of฀directors฀and฀to฀make฀the฀contribution฀of฀which฀he฀or฀she฀is฀capable,฀
including฀regular฀attendance฀and฀participation฀at฀Board฀and฀committee฀meetings,฀and฀preparation฀for฀all฀
meetings,฀including฀review฀of฀all฀meeting฀materials฀provided฀in฀advance฀of฀the฀meeting;฀and
•฀ Ability฀to฀understand฀the฀perspectives฀of฀Kroger’s฀customers,฀taking฀into฀consideration฀the฀diversity฀of฀
our customers, including regional and geographic differences.
Racial,฀ ethnic,฀ and฀ gender฀ diversity฀ is฀ an฀ important฀ element฀ in฀ promoting฀ full,฀ open,฀ and฀ balanced฀
deliberations฀of฀issues฀presented฀to฀the฀Board,฀and฀is฀considered฀by฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee.฀
Some฀ consideration฀ also฀ is฀ given฀ to฀ the฀ geographic฀ location฀ of฀ director฀ candidates฀ in฀ order฀ to฀ provide฀ a฀
reasonable฀distribution฀of฀members฀from฀the฀operating฀areas฀of฀the฀Company.
The฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀typically฀recruits฀candidates฀for฀Board฀membership฀through฀its฀
own efforts and through suggestions from other directors and shareholders. The Committee on occasion has
retained฀an฀outside฀search฀firm฀to฀assist฀in฀identifying฀and฀recruiting฀Board฀candidates฀who฀meet฀the฀criteria฀
established฀by฀the฀Committee.
CO R P O R A T E G O V E R N A N C E
The฀Board฀of฀Directors฀has฀adopted฀Guidelines on Issues of Corporate Governance. These Guidelines,
which฀ include฀ copies฀ of฀ the฀ current฀ charters฀ for฀ the฀ Audit,฀ Compensation,฀ and฀ Corporate฀ Governance฀
Committees,฀and฀the฀other฀committees฀of฀the฀Board฀of฀Directors,฀are฀available฀on฀our฀corporate฀website฀at฀
ir.kroger.com.฀Shareholders฀may฀obtain฀a฀copy฀of฀the฀Guidelines฀by฀ making฀ a฀ written฀request฀to฀Kroger’s฀
Secretary฀at฀our฀executive฀offices.
IN D E P E N D E N C E
The฀Board฀of฀Directors฀has฀determined฀that฀all฀of฀the฀directors,฀with฀the฀exception฀of฀Messrs.฀Dillon฀
and฀McMullen,฀have฀no฀material฀relationships฀with฀Kroger฀and,฀therefore,฀are฀independent฀for฀purposes฀of฀
the฀ New฀ York฀ Stock฀ Exchange฀ listing฀ standards.฀ The฀ Board฀ made฀ its฀ determination฀ based฀ on฀ information฀
furnished฀by฀all฀members฀regarding฀their฀relationships฀with฀Kroger฀and฀its฀management,฀and฀other฀relevant฀
information.฀After฀reviewing฀the฀information,฀the฀Board฀determined฀that฀all฀of฀the฀non-employee฀directors฀
were฀independent฀because฀ (i)฀ they฀all฀satisfied฀ the฀independence฀ standards฀ set฀forth฀ in฀Rule฀10A-3฀ of฀ the฀
Securities฀Exchange฀Act฀of฀1934,฀(ii)฀they฀all฀satisfied฀the฀criteria฀for฀independence฀set฀forth฀in฀Rule฀303A.02฀
of฀the฀New฀York฀Stock฀Exchange฀Listed฀Company฀Manual,฀(iii)฀any฀business฀transactions฀between฀Kroger฀and฀
entities฀with฀which฀the฀directors฀are฀affiliated,฀the฀value฀of฀which฀falls฀below฀the฀thresholds฀identified฀by฀the฀
New฀York฀Stock฀Exchange฀listing฀standards,฀and฀(iv)฀none฀had฀any฀material฀relationships฀with฀us฀except฀for฀
those arising directly from their performance of services as a director for Kroger.
AU D I T C O M M I T T E E E X P E R T I S E
The฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ has฀ determined฀ that฀ Susan฀ M.฀ Phillips฀ and฀ Ronald฀ L.฀ Sargent,฀ independent฀
directors฀who฀are฀members฀of฀the฀Audit฀Committee,฀are฀“audit฀committee฀financial฀experts”฀as฀defined฀by฀
applicable฀SEC฀regulations฀and฀that฀all฀members฀of฀the฀Audit฀Committee฀are฀“financially฀literate”฀as฀that฀term฀
is฀used฀in฀the฀NYSE฀listing฀standards.
CO D E O F E T H I C S
The฀Board฀of฀Directors฀has฀adopted฀The Kroger Co. Policy on Business Ethics,฀applicable฀to฀all฀officers,฀
employees฀ and฀ members฀ of฀ the฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors,฀ including฀ Kroger’s฀ principal฀ executive,฀ financial,฀ and฀
accounting officers. The Policy฀ is฀ available฀ on฀ our฀ corporate฀ website฀ at฀ ir.kroger.com.฀ Shareholders฀ may฀
obtain฀a฀copy฀of฀the฀Policy฀by฀making฀a฀written฀request฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀at฀our฀executive฀offices.฀We฀
intend฀to฀satisfy฀the฀disclosure฀requirement฀regarding฀any฀amendment฀to,฀or฀a฀waiver฀from,฀a฀provision฀of฀
the Policy฀for฀our฀principal฀executive,฀financial฀and฀accounting฀officers฀by฀posting฀that฀information฀on฀our฀
website฀at฀ir.kroger.com.