Kroger 2014 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.
The฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀considers฀racial,฀ethnic,฀and฀gender฀diversity฀to฀be฀important฀
elements฀in฀promoting฀full,฀open,฀and฀balanced฀deliberations฀of฀issues฀presented฀to฀the฀Board.฀The฀Committee฀
considers฀director฀candidates฀that฀help฀the฀Board฀reflect฀the฀diversity฀of฀our฀shareholders,฀associates,฀customers฀
and฀the฀communities฀in฀which฀we฀operate.฀Some฀consideration฀also฀is฀given฀to฀the฀geographic฀location฀of฀
director฀candidates฀in฀order฀to฀provide฀a฀reasonable฀distribution฀of฀members฀from฀Kroger’s฀operating฀areas.
The฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀recruits฀candidates฀for฀Board฀membership฀through฀its฀own฀efforts฀
and฀through฀suggestions฀from฀other฀directors฀and฀shareholders.฀In฀addition,฀the฀Committee฀has฀retained฀an฀
independent search firm to assist in identifying and recruiting director 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฀ 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,฀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฀has฀determined฀that฀all฀of฀the฀non-employee฀directors฀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฀(a)฀they฀all฀satisfied฀the฀criteria฀
for฀independence฀set฀forth฀in฀Rule฀303A.02฀of฀the฀NYSE฀Listed฀Company฀Manual,฀(b)฀any฀business฀transactions฀
between฀ Kroger฀ and฀ entities฀ with฀ which฀ the฀ directors฀ are฀ affiliated,฀ the฀ value฀ of฀ which฀ falls฀ below฀ the฀
thresholds฀identified฀by฀the฀NYSE฀listing฀standards,฀and฀(c)฀none฀had฀any฀material฀relationships฀with฀Kroger฀
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฀ 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฀and฀are฀independent฀in฀accordance฀with฀Rule฀10A-3฀of฀the฀Securities฀Exchange฀
Act฀of฀1934.
CO D E O F E T H I C S
The฀Board฀has฀adopted฀The Kroger Co. Policy on Business Ethics,฀applicable฀to฀all฀officers,฀employees฀
and฀directors,฀including฀Kroger’s฀principal฀executive,฀financial,฀and฀accounting฀officers.฀The฀Policy฀is฀available฀
on฀our฀corporate฀website฀at฀ir.kroger.com.฀Shareholders฀may฀also฀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.