Audit Committee
The Company has a separately-designated standing Audit Committee established in accordance with Section 3(a)(58)(A) of the Exchange Act. The primary purposes of the Audit Committee are to assist the Board with the oversight of: (i) the integrity of Aon’s financial statements, financial reporting process and internal controls; (ii) Aon’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and compliance and ethics programs, policies and procedures; (iii) the engagement of Aon’s independent auditor and its qualifications, independence and performance; (iv) subject to the provisions of Irish law, the appointment and performance of Aon’s statutory auditor as required under Irish law; and (v) the performance of Aon’s internal audit function. The Audit Committee is authorized to retain outside counsel or other experts as it deems appropriate to carry out its duties and responsibilities.
The Board has also delegated to the Audit Committee the primary responsibility for the oversight of the Company’s risk management. The Audit Committee reviews and discusses with management Aon’s guidelines and policies with respect to risk assessment and enterprise risk management, including the major financial risk exposures facing the Company and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures. The Audit Committee also has primary responsibility for oversight of cybersecurity risk and engages in regular discussion with management regarding cybersecurity risk mitigation and incident management. The Audit Committee also has general oversight responsibility for the Company’s legal, regulatory, and ethics policies and programs and annually reviews the adequacy of those policies and programs, including Aon’s Code of Business Conduct. In addition, the Audit Committee periodically reviews with management any material correspondence with, or other action by, regulators or governmental agencies.
The current members of the Audit Committee are Jeffrey C. Campbell, Jose Antonio Álvarez, Fulvio Conti, Adriana Karaboutis, Gloria Santona, Byron O. Spruell and Carolyn Y. Woo. In 2023, the Audit Committee met nine times. The Board has determined that each of the members of the Audit Committee is independent as defined by the rules of the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) and under the Company’s categorical independence standards, as well as Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act. In addition, as required by the rules of the NYSE, the Board has determined that all of the Audit Committee members are financially literate, and that Mr. Álvarez, Mr. Campbell, and Mr. Conti are “audit committee financial experts” within the meaning of rules promulgated by the SEC.
Shareholder Recommendations
The Governance/Nominating Committee will consider shareholder recommendations for director nominees. Recommendations, together with the name and address of the shareholder making the recommendation, relevant biographical information regarding the proposed nominee and a description of any arrangement or understanding between the shareholder and the proposed nominee, should be sent to the Company Secretary. Shareholder recommendations for director candidates to stand for election at the 2025 annual general meeting must be submitted in writing to the Company Secretary, Aon plc, Metropolitan Building, James Joyce Street, Dublin 1, Ireland. Recommendations will be forwarded to the Chair of the Governance/Nominating Committee for review and consideration.
Hedging and Pledging Shares
The Board has adopted an insider trading policy which is available on the Company’s website and described in the Company’s code of ethics, which is also available on the website as disclosed in Part 1 of the Original Filing. The Company’s insider trading policy specifically prohibits all directors and employees from engaging in short sales, publicly traded options, puts and calls, forward sale contracts, and other swap, hedging and derivative transactions relating to our securities. The policy also specifically prohibits our executive officers and directors from holding our securities in margin accounts or pledging our securities as collateral for a loan.
Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires that each of our directors and executive officers, and any other person who owns more than ten percent (10%) of our Class A Ordinary Shares, file with the SEC initial reports of ownership and reports of changes in ownership of our Class A Ordinary Shares. To our knowledge, based solely on information furnished to us and written representations by such persons that no such other reports were required to be filed, Aon believes that all such SEC filing requirements were met in a timely manner during 2023 other than with respect to a Form 3 filed on behalf of Ms. Smith, which was timely filed but subsequently amended to correct the number of shares beneficially owned.
Corporate Governance Materials Available on Website
We have adopted a code of ethics that applies to the Company’s directors, officers, and employees, including the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and Chief Accounting Officer and other persons performing similar functions. The text of our code of ethics, which we call our Code of Business Conduct, is available on our website as disclosed in Part 1 of the Original Filing. We will provide a copy of the code of ethics without charge upon request to the Company Secretary, Metropolitan Building, James Joyce Street, Dublin 1, Ireland. We will disclose on our website any amendment to or waiver from our code of ethics on behalf of any of our executive officers or directors.
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