over a seven year period of record profitability. Prior to this
role, he held the positions of Chairman, Shell UK, Executive Vice
President, Alternative Energies and CO2 and Vice President, Base
Chemicals. Mr. van’t Hoff holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master
of Arts in Chemistry from Oxford University, UK and a Master of
Business Management with distinction from Alliance Manchester
Business School, UK.
Our directors bring a range of skills and experience in relevant
areas, including finance, exploration and production, environment,
international business and leadership, as well as specialty
chemicals. We believe this cross-section of capabilities enables
our Board of Directors to help guide our strategic objectives and
leading corporate governance practices.
Corporate
Governance
Our Board believes sound corporate-governance processes and
practices, as well as high ethical standards, are critical to
handling challenges and to achieving business success. We embrace
leading governance practices and conduct ongoing reviews of our
governance structure and processes to reflect changing
circumstances. Below are highlights of our corporate-governance
practices and principles.
Director Independence
Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market (the
“Nasdaq”). Under the rules of the Nasdaq, independent directors
must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors
within one year of listing on the Nasdaq. In addition, subject to
specified exceptions, each member of a listed company’s audit,
compensation, and nominating and corporate governance committees
must be independent. Under the rules of the Nasdaq, a director will
only qualify as an “independent director” if the director has no
relationship which, in the opinion of the Company’s board of
directors, would interfere with the exercise of independent
judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director.
Audit Committee members must also satisfy the independence criteria
set forth in Rule 10A-3
under the Exchange Act. In order to be considered independent for
purposes of Rule 10A-3, a
member of an audit committee of a listed company may not, other
than in his or her capacity as a member of the audit committee, the
board of directors, or any other board committee, (1) accept,
directly or indirectly, any consulting, advisory, or other
compensatory fee from the listed company or any of its subsidiaries
or (2) be an affiliated person of the listed company or any of
its subsidiaries.
At least annually, our Board evaluates all relationships between us
and each director in light of relevant facts and circumstances for
the purposes of determining whether a relationship exists that
might interfere with such director’s ability to satisfy his or her
responsibilities as an independent director. Based on this
evaluation, our Board will make an annual determination of whether
each director is independent within the meaning of the independence
standards of Nasdaq and the SEC.
Our Board has determined that each of Messrs. Salisbury, Hunt,
Jennings, and van’t Hoff and Ms. Mishic O’Brien qualifies as
an “independent director” as defined under the rules of the Nasdaq.
Mr. Lim is not independent. Our Board also has determined that
Messrs. Jennings, Hunt, and Salisbury, who comprise our Audit
Committee, Messrs. van’t Hoff, Jennings, and Ms. Mishic
O’Brien, who comprise our Compensation Committee, and
Ms. Mishic O’Brien, and Messrs. Salisbury, and van’t Hoff ,
who comprise our Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee,
satisfy the independence standards for such committees established
by the SEC and the rules of the Nasdaq, as applicable. In making
such determinations, our Board considered the relationships that
each such non-employee
director has with our Company and all other facts and circumstances
our Board deemed relevant in determining independence, including
the beneficial ownership of our capital stock by each non-employee director and any
institutional stockholder with which he or she is affiliated.
Board Leadership Structure
Our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide the Board will
determine the Board leadership structure in a manner that it
determines to be in the best interests of the Company and its
stockholders. The Chairman of the Board and CEO positions may, but
need not be, filled by the same individual. At this time, the
offices of the Chairman of the Board and the CEO are not combined.
If the offices were combined, the Board would appoint a lead
independent director to coordinate the activities of the other
independent directors and to perform such other duties and
responsibilities as the Board may determine.
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