PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTOR NOMINEES
Background
Pursuant to the bylaws of the Company, the number of directors on the Board may not be fewer than one, as required by the Maryland General Corporation Law, or greater than twelve. The Board currently has seven Directors, each of whom will hold office for the term to which he or she was elected and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. Pursuant to the Charter, the seven Directors are currently divided into three classes (each a “Class”): Class I, Class II and Class III. Each class of Directors holds office for a three-year term. The current Class I Directors hold office for a term expiring at the Annual Meeting. The current Class II Directors hold office for a term expiring at the 2024 annual meeting. The current Class III Directors hold office for a term expiring at the 2025 annual meeting.
At the Annual Meeting, stockholders of the Company are being asked to consider the election of Barbara J. Fouss and Walter W. Buckley, III as Class I Directors. Each of Ms. Fouss and Mr. Buckley have been nominated for re-election for a three-year term expiring at the 2026 annual meeting of the stockholders. Each Director nominee has agreed to serve as a Director if re-elected and has consented to being named as a nominee. No person being nominated as a Director is being proposed for election pursuant to any agreement or understanding between such person and the Company.
Walter W. Buckley, III is to be elected by the holders of the Common Shares and the Preferred Shares, voting together as a single class.
Barbara J. Fouss is to be elected by the holders of the Preferred Shares.
A stockholder can vote for, or withhold his or her vote from, any or all of the director nominees. In the absence of instructions to the contrary, it is the intention of the persons named as proxies to vote such proxy FOR the election of each of the director nominees named above. If any of the director nominees should decline or be unable to serve as a director, the persons named as proxies will vote for such other nominee as may be proposed by the Board’s Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. The Board has no reason to believe that any of the persons named as director nominees will be unable or unwilling to serve.
Information about the Board and Director Nominees
The role of the Board is to provide general oversight of the Company’s business affairs and to exercise all of the Company’s powers except those reserved for the stockholders. The responsibilities of the Board also include, among other things, the oversight of the Company’s investment activities, the quarterly valuation of the Company’s assets, oversight of the Company’s financing arrangements and corporate governance activities.
A majority of the members of the Board are not “interested persons,” as defined in Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act, of the Company or the Adviser, and are “independent” as defined by Rule 303A.00 in the NYSE Listed Company Manual. These individuals are referred to as the Company’s “independent directors”. Section 2(a)(19) of the 1940 Act defines an “interested person” to include, among other things, any person who has, or within the last two years had, a material business or professional relationship with the Company. The members of the Board who are not independent directors are referred to as “interested directors”. The Board is currently comprised of seven directors, four of whom are independent directors. The Board has determined that the following directors are independent directors: Keith Bethel, Walter W. Buckley, III, Della Clark, Barbara J. Fouss, Philip E. Hughes, Jr. and Robert N.C. Nix, III. Based upon information requested from each director and director nominee concerning his or her background, employment and affiliations, the Board has affirmatively determined that none of the independent directors has, or within the last two years had, a material business or professional relationship with the Company, other than in his or her capacity as a member of the Board or any Board committee or as a stockholder.
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