Exhibit 10.24
BRUNSWICK CORPORATION
AUTOMATIC DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN
(As Amended Through
October 2002)
SECTION 1
General
1.1.
Purpose . The Brunswick Corporation Automatic Deferred
Compensation Plan (the “Plan”) has been established by
Brunswick Corporation (the “Company”) to provide for
the deferral of compensation payable to Covered Executives by the
Company and Related Companies that would otherwise be
non-deductible by reason of section 162(m) of the Code, and thereby
avoid the loss of such deduction, and to compensate the Covered
Executives for such deferral.
1.2. Code .
For purposes of the Plan, the term “Code” means the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. References to sections
of the Code also refer to any successor provisions thereof.
References in the Plan to an amount being “deductible”
refer to its being deductible by the Company or a Related Company
for Federal income tax purposes; provided, however, that if
deductibility would not be precluded by reason of Code section
162(m), then it shall be deemed to be “deductible” for
purposes of the Plan, regardless of whether it is non-deductible
for any other reason. If, after the Effective Date, there is a
change in the provisions or interpretation of Code section 162(m)
which would have a material effect on the benefits of the Plan to a
Covered Executive or the Company, the Company shall revise the Plan
in good faith to preserve the benefits of the Plan for the Company,
the Related Companies, and the Covered Executives; provided,
however, that if any change to the Plan pursuant to this sentence
is adverse to a Covered Executive, the Covered Executive shall be
provided with reasonable compensation therefor.
1.3. Effective
Date . The “Effective Date” of the Plan is
July 29, 1997.
1.4. Related
Companies . The term “Related Company” means any
company during any period in which compensation paid to a Covered
Executive by such company would be required to be aggregated with
compensation paid to the Covered Executive by the Company, in
accordance with the affiliated group rules applicable to Code
section 162(m). The Company shall enter into such arrangements with
the Related Companies as it shall deem appropriate to implement the
terms of the Plan, and shall inform the Covered Executive of any
material failure to provide for such implementation.
1.5. Operation
and Administration . The authority to control and manage the
operation and administration of the Plan shall be vested in the
Human Resources and Compensation Committee (the
“Committee”) of the Board of Directors of the Company
(the “Board”). In controlling and managing the
operation and administration of the Plan, the Committee shall have
the rights, powers and duties set forth in Section 7.
Capitalized terms in the Plan shall be defined as set forth in the
Plan.
1.6. Applicable
Law . The Plan shall be construed and administered in
accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois to the extent
that such laws are not preempted by the laws of the United States
of America.
1.7. Gender and
Number . Where the context admits, words in any gender shall
include any other gender, words in the singular shall include the
plural and the plural shall include the singular.
1.8.
Notices . Any notice or document required to be filed with
the Committee under the Plan will be properly filed if delivered or
mailed to the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, in care
of the Company, at its principal executive offices. The Committee
may, by advance written notice to affected persons, revise such
notice procedure from time to time. Any notice required under the
Plan may be waived by the person entitled to notice.
1.9. Benefits
Under Qualified Plans . Compensation of any Covered Executive
that is deferred under the Plan, and benefits payable under the
Plan, shall be disregarded for purposes of determining the benefits
under any plan that is intended to be qualified under section
401(a) of the Code.
1.10. Other
Costs and Benefits . The Plan is intended to defer, but not to
eliminate, payment of compensation to a Covered Executive.
Accordingly, if any compensation or benefits that would otherwise
be provided to a Covered Executive in the absence of the Plan are
reduced or eliminated by reason of deferral under the Plan, the
Company shall equitably compensate the Covered Executive for such
reduction or elimination, and the Company shall reimburse the
Covered Executive for any increased or additional penalty taxes
which he may incur by reason of deferral under the Plan which would
not have been incurred in the absence of such deferral, except that
no reimbursement will be made for taxes resulting from an increase
or decrease in individual income tax rates, or resulting from an
increase in the amount of compensation payable to the Covered
Executive by reason of the accrual of earnings or any other
provision of the Plan.
1.11.
Evidence . Evidence required of anyone under the Plan may be
by certificate, affidavit, document or other information which the
person acting on it considers pertinent and reliable, and signed,
made or presented by the proper party or parties.
1.12. Action by
Company . Any action required or permitted to be taken by any
company shall be by resolution of its board of directors, or by a
duly authorized officer of the company.
1.13.
Withholding . Except as otherwise provided by the Committee,
(i) the deduction of withholding and any other taxes required by
law will be made from all amounts paid in cash and (ii) in the
case of payments in shares of common stock of the Company
(“Company Stock”), the Participant shall be required to
pay in cash the amount of any taxes required to be withheld prior
to receipt of such Company Stock, or alternatively, a number of
shares of Company Stock the Fair Market Value (defined below) of
which equals the amount required to be withheld may be deducted
from the payment; provided, however, that the number of shares of
Company Stock so deducted may not have an aggregate Fair Market
Value in excess of the amount determined by applying the minimum
statutory withholding rate. “Fair Market Value” means
the closing
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price on the New York Stock
Exchange — Composite Transactions Tape on the relevant date
or on the next preceding date on which a closing price was quoted;
provided, however, that the Committee may specify some other
definition of Fair Market Value.
1.14.
Adjustments . In the event of any increase or decrease in
the number of issued shares of Company Stock resulting from a
subdivision or consolidation of shares or other capital adjustment,
or the payment of a stock dividend or other increase or decrease in
shares, effected without receipt of consideration by the Company,
or other change in corporate or capital structure, the number and
class of securities distributable under this Plan and the number of
share units in Participants’Automatic Stock Deferral Accounts
shall be appropriately adjusted by the Committee; provided,
however, that any fractional shares resulting from any such
adjustment shall be eliminated. The decision of the Committee
regarding any such adjustment shall be final, binding and
conclusive.
SECTION 2
Participation
2.1. Covered
Executives . Subject to the terms of the Plan, an individual
shall be a “Covered Executive” subject to the deferral
requirements of the Plan for any year, if, for that year, the
individual is a “covered employee” with respect to the
Company, as that term is used in Code section 162(m)(3) and Treas.
Reg. section 1.162-27(c)(2). The provisions of the Plan shall not
apply to any employee to the extent that the employee is subject to
an individual agreement with the Company providing for automatic
deferral of compensation to avoid non-deductibility of compensation
by reason of Code section 162(m).
2.2. Plan Not
Contract of Employment . The Plan does not constitute a
contract of employment, and participation in the Plan will not give
any employee the right to be retained in the employ of the Company
nor any right or claim to any benefit under the Plan, unless such
right or claim has specifically accrued under the terms of the
Plan.
SECTION 3
Automatic Deferral
3.1. Deferred
Amount . If any compensation otherwise payable to a Covered
Executive by the Company or any Related Company would be
non-deductible by reason of Code section 162(m), such amount shall,
unless otherwise provided by the Committee, not be paid to the
Covered Executive when otherwise due, but an amount equal to the
foregone payment shall instead be credited to the Covered
Executive’s Automatic Cash Deferral Account or Automatic
Stock Deferral Account in accordance with this Section 3. In
determining the amounts subject to deferral under this subsection
3.1, the following shall apply:
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(a)
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To
the extent that the compensation is otherwise payable in cash to a
Covered Executive, payment of such cash shall be deferred under the
Automatic Cash Deferral Account, in accordance with this
Section 3.
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(b)
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To
the extent that the compensation is otherwise payable in Company
Stock, delivery of those shares shall be deferred under the
Automatic Stock Deferral Account, in accordance with this
Section 3.
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(c)
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To
the extent necessary in determining whether amounts payable to a
Covered Executive would be non-deductible for any year, the
Committee shall make the determinations required under this
Section 3 based on an estimate of the total compensation to be
paid to the Covered Executive for the year (including both cash and
non-cash compensation and benefits that would be taken into account
in determining whether the limitations of Code section 162(m) are
exceeded).
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(d)
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In
estimating a Covered Executive’s total compensation for any
year, the Committee may request that the Covered Executive forecast
whether, for the year, he will be receiving any compensation the
timing of which is in the Covered Executive’s discretion;
provided, however, that such forecast shall not preclude the
Covered Executive from taking action that would change the time of
receipt of such compensation.
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(e)
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Nothing in the Plan shall be
construed to require a deferral of the salary of a Covered
Executive.
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3.2. Automatic
Cash Deferral Account . The Automatic Cash Deferral Account
balance shall be credited with the amount determined in accordance
with subsection 3.1(a), as of the date on which such amount would
otherwise have been paid to the Covered Executive were it not for
deferral under the Plan. The Automatic Cash Deferral Account shall
be adjusted from time to time in accordance with the
following:
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(a)
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Unless a Covered Executive makes an
election at such time and in such form as may be determined by the
Committee from time to time to have paragraph (b) next below
apply, the Automatic Cash Deferral Account shall be credited as of
the last day of each calendar month with interest for that month at
a rate equal to the greater of: (a) the prime rate in effect
at Chase Manhattan Bank on the first day of the month plus four
percentage points, or (b) the Company’s short-term
borrowing rate.
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(b)
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If
a Covered Executive elects application of this paragraph (b), the
Company, after consultation with the Covered Executive, may invest
amounts credited to his Automatic Cash Deferral Account in
securities and other assets as the Company may determine. The
Company and its agents shall not incur any liability by reason of
purchasing, or failing to purchase, any security or other asset in
good faith. A Covered Executive’s Automatic Cash Deferral
Account shall be charged or credited as of the last day of each
fiscal year of the Company, and at such other times as the balance
in the Automatic Cash Deferral Account shall be determined, to
reflect (i) dividends, interest or other earnings on any such
investments, reduced by the cost of funds (for the period of
deferral) for the amount of
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any
taxes incurred by the Company with
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