FORM OF POPULAR, INC.
1
Exhibit 10.1
FORM OF POPULAR, INC.
2025 LONG-TERM EQUITY INCENTIVE
AWARD
AND
AGREEMENT
Recipient:
The Talent and
Compensation Committee of the Board of
Directors of Popular, Inc. (the
“
Committee
”) awarded
you on February 25,
2025
(the
“Grant
Date”
)
a
Long-Term Incentive Award
consisting of
Restricted Stock
(“
Restricted
Stock
”) and
Performance Shares
(“
Restricted
Stock
”) and
Performance Shares
(“
Performance
Shares
” and, in conjunction with the Restricted Stock, the
“
Award”
).
This award agreement (the “Award Agreement”), dated as of the
Grant Date, sets forth the
terms and conditions of your Award. This Award is made
under the Popular, Inc. 2020 Omnibus Incentive
Plan, as amended (the “Plan”), and,
except as otherwise provided herein, is subject to the terms of the Plan.
Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined in this Award Agreement have the
meanings given in the
Plan.
1.
Award.
The number of shares of Restricted Stock and Performance Shares subject
to this Award is set forth in Annex 1
hereto. The Award will vest as set forth
below.
2.
Vesting;
Payout.
Subject to Section 6 of this Agreement, you will be entitled to the
following
:
(a)
Restricted
Stock Vesting. Except as otherwise
stated in this Section 2, your
Restricted Stock
shall
vest in four substantially equal annual
installments on each of the dates
specified in Annex
1 (each of the dates described therein, a
“Restricted
Stock
Vesting
Date
”).
(b)
Performance
Shares Vesting. Except as otherwise
stated in this Section 2, you
shall become
vested in
the Performance Shares on the day of the first
scheduled meeting of the Committee
taking place in the month of February 2026, subject to the achievement by
Popular, Inc. of the
Performance Goals
specified in Annex
1 during the
Performance Cycle, as
certified by the
Committee in such meeting (hereinafter
the
and, together
with the Restricted Stock Vesting Date,
the
. The Performance Goals will be
based on
two performance metrics
weighted equally: the
Relative Total Shareholder Return
(the
“
TSR
”)
and the Absolute Return on Average Tangible Common Equity (the
“
ROATCE
”)
goals. The Performance Cycle is a three (3) year period beginning
on January 1 of the calendar
year of the Grant Date
and ending on December 31 of the third year. Each Performance Goal
will have a defined minimum threshold (i.e., minimum result for which an
incentive would be
earned), target
(i.e., result at
which 100% of the
incentive would be
earned) and maximum
level of performance (i.e., result at which 1.5 times the incentive target would be
earned).
(c)
Approved
Retirement. Upon an Approved Retirement after attaining (x) age 55 with 10 years
of service with Popular, Inc. or its subsidiaries
(the
“
Corporation
”)
or (y) age 60 with 5 years
of service with the Corporation: (1) your
outstanding Restricted Stock shall fully vest; and (2)
your outstanding
Performance Shares shall
continue outstanding and
vest in full on
the
2
Performance Shares
Vesting Date in
accordance with the
actual results of
the Performance
Goals during the Performance
Cycle.
(d)
Vesting
upon Retirement on or after age 50
before attaining age 55 and 10
years of service.
The
Committee, at its discretion, may accord
the same treatment accorded in Section
2(c) above
if you retire
from your employment on or after age 50, and before attaining age
55 and 10 years
of service, provided the sum of your age and years of
service is at least 75.
(e)
Death. Provided
that on the date of your death you are
still employed by the Corporation and
your rights in respect of
your Award have not been previously
terminated, any then unvested
outstanding Award
shall immediately vest
and be paid to
the representative of
your estate
promptly after your
death. In the case of the Performance Shares, the number of shares will be
calculated as if the target number of Performance Shares had in fact been
earned.
(f)
Disability.
If you become subject to
Disability while you are still employed
by the Corporation,
any then unvested outstanding
Award shares shall vest and shall be paid to you promptly after
you become
subject to Disability. In the case of the Performance Shares, the number of shares
will be calculated as if the target number of Performance Shares had in fact been
earned.
(g)
Change
of Control. If
your employment is
terminated by the
Corporation or any successor
entity thereto without
Cause, or if you terminate your employment
for Good Reason, in each
case upon or within two years after a Change of Control, prior to a Vesting
Date, and provided
your rights in respect of the shares
of your unvested Award have not previously terminated, the
shares of your
unvested Award shall immediately vest and be delivered to
you promptly after
such termination
of employment;
provided
that
, as
of the Change of
Control date, any
outstanding Performance
Shares shall be
deemed earned at the
greater
of the target level
or
actual performance level through the Change of Control date (or if no target
level is specified,
the maximum
level) with respect to all open performance periods and
such Performance Shares
shall
be subject to time-based vesting through
the end of the original Performance
Cycle for
each
such Award, subject to accelerated
vesting in accordance with the first
sentence of this
clause.
(h)
Termination
without Cause. If
the Corporation terminates
your employment without Cause
you will receive payment of the Award on a prorated basis based on the
number of full months
in
the vesting schedule in which you
were an active employee (with a
partial month worked
counted as a full month if you were an active employee
for 15 days or more in the month) and
such reduced Award will vest
immediately upon your termination of employment, calculated
in the case
of Performance Shares as if the
target number of Performance Shares had
in fact
been earned, as provided in the Plan.
(i)
Payout.
The transfer restrictions on the applicable number of whole shares of Restricted Stock
shall lapse on each Vesting Date or such other vesting date as determined in this Section 2 and
in the terms of the Plan. The
payout with respect to vested Performance Shares shall be made
on the
Performance Shares Vesting
Date, on which date
the Committee shall
determine the
total number
of shares earned
based upon the
actual performance results
during the
Performance Cycle.
The vested shares
will be delivered
to you as
soon as administratively
practicable, generally within 45 days following each
Vesting
Date.
3.
Termination
of Award .
3
(a)
Except
as provided herein,
your rights in
respect of your
outstanding unvested
Award shares shall
immediately terminate, and no shares shall
be paid in respect thereof, if
at any time
prior to the respective
Vesting Date you terminate your
employment.
(b)
If
the Corporation
terminates your employment
for
Cause, your
Award shares shall be cancelled and the provisions under the Plan will apply.
4.
Non-transferability.
This Award (or any rights and obligations hereunder) may not
be
sold, exchanged, transferred,
assigned, pledged, hypothecated
or otherwise disposed of
or hedged, in
any
manner (including through the use of any cash-settled instrument), whether voluntarily
or involuntarily
and whether by operation of law or otherwise, other than
by will or by the laws of descent and
distribution.
5.
Withholding,
Consents and Legends.
(a)
You
shall be solely
responsible for any
applicable taxes (including, without
limitation, income
and excise taxes)
and penalties, and
any interest that
accrues thereon, incurred in
connection with your Award. The Corporation will
withhold shares of Common Stock for the payment of
taxes in
connection with the
vesting of your
Award or upon the
occurrence of any
other event that, in
accordance with applicable law, will generate a
tax liability with regards to your Award. The Corporation
will withhold
shares of Common
Stock with a value
equal to the
amount of taxes
that the Corporation
determines it is required to
withhold under applicable laws (with such withholding obligation determined
based on any applicable minimum
statutory withholding rates). The Corporation will use the
Fair Market
Value of
the Common Stock on
the Vesting Date or such
other date, as applicable, in order
to determine
the number
of shares to be withheld. If you wish to
remit cash to the Corporation (through payroll deduction
or otherwise),
in each case in
an amount sufficient
in the opinion of
the Corporation to
satisfy such
withholding obligation,
you must notify
the Corporation in
advance and do so
in compliance with all
applicable laws and pursuant to
such rules as the Corporation may establish from time
to time, including,
but not limited to, the Corporation’s ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Policy.
(b)
Your
right to receive shares pursuant to the Award is conditioned on the receipt to
the reasonable satisfaction
of the Committee of any required
consent that the Committee may reasonably
determine to be necessary or advisable. By accepting delivery of the shares, you
acknowledge that you are
subject to the Corporation’s ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ Policy.
6.
Restrictive
Covenants.
(a)
In
consideration of the terms of the Award, you agree to the restrictive
covenants
and associated remedies as set forth below,
which exist independently of and in addition to any obligation
to which you are subject under the terms of any
other agreement you may have with the Corporation or any
of its subsidiaries
(“
Popular
”).
(b)
For
a period of one year immediately following termination of
your employment
with
Popular for any reason, you will
not do any of the following, either
directly or indirectly or through
associates, agents, or
employees:
(i)
solicit,
recruit or assist
in the solicitation
or recruitment of
any employee or
consultant of
Popular (or who
was an employee or
consultant of Popular
within the prior six
months) for the purpose of encouraging that
employee or consultant to leave Popular’s employ or
sever an agreement for services; or
4
(ii)
solicit,
participate in or
assist in the
solicitation of any
of Popular’s customers
serviced by
you or with whom
you had Material
Contact and/or regarding
whom you received
Confidential Information (as defined
in Popular’s Code of Ethics) during the three-year
period prior
to your
employment termination who
were still customers
of Popular during
the immediately
preceding 12-month period,
for the purpose of providing products or services in competition with
Popular’s products or services.
"Material Contact" means interaction between you and the customer
within the three-year prior to your last day as a team member which takes
place to manage, service
or further the business
relationship.
The term “Solicit”, when
used in this section, will mean any direct or indirect communication of any
kind
regardless of who
initiates it, that in any way
invites, advises, encourages or requests any
person to take
any action;
provided that such
term will not be
deemed to include
solicitation by public advertisement
media of general distribution (i.e., not targeted to present
employees, consultants or customers of Popular)
without specific instruction or
direction by you.
If you breach any of
the terms of this restrictive covenant, all outstanding Restricted
Stock and Performance
▇▇▇▇▇▇ awarded
hereunder, whether vested or unvested, held by you shall be immediately and
irrevocably
forfeited for no
consideration. For any Restricted Stock and
Performance Shares awarded hereunder that
vested within one (1) year prior
to the termination of your employment with Popular or at
any time between
your
termination of employment and the date
of said breach, you shall be
required to repay or otherwise
reimburse Popular an amount having a value equal to the aggregate fair market
value (determined as of the
date of
vesting) of such vested shares. This paragraph does not
constitute Popular’s exclusive remedy for
violation of your restrictive
covenant obligations, and Popular may seek
any additional legal or equitable
remedy, including injunctive relief, for any such violation.
7.
Section
409A. Shares awarded under
this Award Agreement
are intended to be
exempt from Section
409A of the U.S. Code, to
the extent applicable, and this Award Agreement is intended
to, and shall
be interpreted, administered and construed consistent
therewith. The Committee shall have
full authority to give effect to the intent of this Section 7.
8.
No
Rights to Continued Employment. Nothing in this Award Agreement shall be
construed as giving
you any right to continued employment
by the Corporation or any of
its affiliates or
affect any right that
the Corporation or any of its
affiliates may have to terminate or
alter the terms and
conditions of your
employment.
9.
Successors
and Assigns of
the Corporation. The
terms and conditions
of this
Award Agreement shall be binding upon,
and shall inure to the benefit of, the Corporation and its successor
entities.
10.
Committee
Discretion. Subject to the terms of the Plan, the Committee shall have
full
discretion with respect to any actions to be taken or determinations to be made in connection with this
Award Agreement, and its determinations shall be final, binding and conclusive.
11.
Amendment.
The Committee reserves the right
at any time to amend the terms
and conditions set
forth in this Award Agreement;
provided
amendment shall
materially adversely affect
your rights and
obligations under this
Award Agreement
without your
consent (or the
consent of your
estate, if such
consent is obtained
after your death), and
provided
,
further
,
that the Committee may not postpone the payout of shares to occur at any time after the
applicable time provided for in this Award Agreement. Any amendment of this Award
Agreement shall be
in writing
signed by an
authorized member of
the Committee or a
person or persons
designated by the
Committee.
5
12.
Adjustment;
Other Plan Provisions. Subject
to Section 11, the
Committee shall
adjust equitably the
terms of this Award in accordance with Section 5.3 of the
Plan, if applicable. Subject
to the
terms of this
Award Agreement, the
Restricted Stock shall
be subject to the
terms of the Plan,
including, but
not limited to,
the provisions of
Section 8.4 related
to dividends and
voting rights. Cash
dividends paid on the Restricted Stock and on all of the Common Stock that may be
subsequently acquired
with such cash
dividends, will be invested in the
purchase of additional shares of Common
Stock of the
Corporation in
accordance with the
Popular, Inc. Dividend
Reinvestment and Stock
Purchase Plan (the
“
DRIP
”); such shares are not
subject to the restrictions and are immediately vested.
The Restricted Stock
shall be held in custody by the Fiduciary Services Division of
Banco Popular de Puerto Rico.
Performance Shares
will accrue Dividend
Equivalents prior to
the Performance Shares
Vesting Date.
Accrued Dividend Equivalents with respect to
the Performance Shares will be invested in additional shares
of Common Stock of the
Corporation in accordance with the formula set forth in
the DRIP. All shares of
Common Stock
acquired pursuant to
the reinvestment of
dividends will be
subject to the
terms and
conditions of
Section 2 and will be paid out on
the Performance Shares Vesting Date based on the actual
number of Performance Shares earned on that date.
13.
Governing
Law. This award
shall be governed by
and construed in accordance
with the laws of Puerto Rico, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws.
14.
Incentive Recoupment Guideline in effect as of the
Grant Date and as such guideline may be required to be
modified in accordance with applicable law or
regulation.
15.
Headings.
The headings in
this Award Agreement
are for the
purpose of
convenience only and are not intended to define or limit the
construction of the provisions hereof.
be duly executed and delivered as of the Grant Date.
POPULAR,
INC. ACCEPTED:
By: [Insert Name of
Representative] By: [Insert Name of Recipient]
Title: [Insert Name of
Representative] Title: [Insert Name of Recipient]
_________________________ ___________________________
Signature Signature
6
ANNEX 1
2025 LONG-TERM EQUITY INCENTIVE AWARD
Recipient:
Employee
Number:
Grant Date: February 25, 2025
Total Dollar Value of
Award: $
Common Stock Market Price as of closing on Grant
Date: $
Restricted
Stock
Dollar Value of Restricted Stock
Award: $
Common Stock Market Price as of closing on Grant
Date: $
Total Shares of Restricted
Stock Awarded:
Restricted Stock
Vesting Dates:
Shares
Shares
Shares
Shares
February 23,
2026
February 23, 2027
February 23, 2028
February 23, 2029
7
Performance
Shares
Dollar Value of
Performance Shares Award: $
Common Stock Market Price as of closing on Grant
Date: $
Total
Target Number of
Shares:
(50% Total Shareholder Return / 50%
ROATCE)
Relative Total Shareholder Return
(TSR)
1
Opening Price
=
Percentile Rank among
Comparator Group
Shares Earned
(% of Target)
75
th
(maximum)
(1.5x target shares)
50th Percentile
(target)
(1x target
shares)
25
th
(threshold)
(0.5x target
shares)
Below
25
th
0
Absolute
Return on Average
Tangible Common Equity
(ROATCE)
2
ROATCE
Shares Earned
(% of Target)
3-year simple average ROATCE 2025-2027
13.4% or above
(maximum)
(1.5x
target shares)
12.00%
(target)
(1x
target shares)
8.75%
(threshold)
(0.5x
target shares)
Lower than 8.75%
0
Results between threshold, target and maximum
performance
will be interpolated to
determine vesting award
1
beginning of period] – 1
●
Closing
Price and Opening Price are based on the preceding 60 trading days average daily close price to mitigate against share price volatility of
point-in-time metrics.
o
Opening
price = average price 10/07/2024 – 12/31/2024
o
Closing
price = average price based on the 60-day trading period ending December 31, 2027
●
TSR
calculations shall assume that dividends are reinvested on the ex-dividend date (i.e., the date a dividend asset is guaranteed).
Comparator Group -- U.S. Banks (GICS Code 401010) with Assets between $25B - $500B – Performance will be based on the
composition of the group at
the beginning of the 3-year Performance Cycle. If a company has been acquired as of the end of
the performance period, the company will be removed
from the index. If a company goes bankrupt during the performance
period, the company will be included in the ranking at -100%.
If Popular’s absolute TSR is negative, payout will be
limited to a maximum of 100% of target.
2
3-year
simple average ROATCE for 3 years (2025-2027). The Committee may adjust the goal or results to reflect a core profitability that
would not be
unduly inflated or deflated by certain transactions that do not reflect the underlying performance of
Popular’s ongoing operations, including, but not limited
to: the impact of significant tax reform; sales of
non-earning assets, branches or other businesses; capital actions (such as share buybacks) that result in
material
variations from goal-setting assumptions, including those related to outstanding share count; certain business acquisition costs and revenues;
extraordinary events; charitable contributions; severance costs; and certain litigation and settlement
costs.
