EXHIBIT 10.7
AMERICAN EXPRESS
COMPANY
1998 INCENTIVE COMPENSATION
PLAN
PERFORMANCE GRANT
(ALSO KNOWN AS THE 20
INCENTIVE AWARD)
TO
Name of Employee
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Award Date
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Expiration Date of Performance
Period
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(See Paragraphs 2,4,5,6, et. al.
for
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payment and vesting date)
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We are pleased to inform you that,
pursuant to the Company’s 1998 Incentive Compensation Plan,
as amended (the “Plan”), the Compensation and Benefits
Committee (the “Committee”) of the Board of Directors
(the “Board”) of American Express Company (the
“Company”), made an award of a performance grant (also
known as the 20 Incentive Award) to
you as hereinafter set forth (the “Award”) under the
Plan as of the award date specified above (the “Award
Date”).
1. General . You have been
granted the Award subject to the provisions of the Plan and the
terms, conditions and restrictions set forth in this agreement
(this “Agreement”). The period beginning on the first
day of the fiscal year of the Company in which the Award Date
occurs and ending on the Expiration Date specified above being the
“Award Period.” The Schedule A Value (as that term is
defined below in Subparagraph 3(b)), if any, will be determined as
specified in Paragraph 3.
2. Requirement of Employment
. Your rights to the Cash Value and the Number of Restricted Shares
or Letters of Intent, if any (as those terms are defined below)
under Subparagraph 4(b) hereof, shall be provisional and shall be
canceled if your continuous employment with the Company and its
Affiliates or your Related Employment (as defined in the Plan) (as
that term is defined in the Plan) (hereinafter collectively
referred to as “employment with the American Express
companies”), terminates for any reason on or before the
payment date as set forth in Subparagraph 4(b). Whether and as of
what date your employment with the American Express companies shall
terminate if you are granted a leave of absence or commence any
other break in employment intended by the Company to be temporary,
shall be determined by the Committee.
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3. Determination of the Schedule A Value,
Cash Value and the Number of Restricted Shares or Letters of
Intent.
(a) Except as otherwise provided
below in this Paragraph 3 and in Paragraphs 2 and 5 hereof, there
shall be paid to you in accordance with Paragraph 4 hereof, the
Schedule A Value (the “Schedule A Value”) as of the
last day of the Award Period, if any, as provided in Subparagraph
3(b).
(b) Schedule A Value
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(i) Except as otherwise provided in
this Paragraph 3, the Schedule A Value as of the last day of the
Award Period will be equal to the amount, if any, determined by the
Committee based on the performance (i.e., 20
Return on Equity, and 20
Earnings Per Share) of the Company,
pursuant to Schedule A to this Agreement. However, in no event will
the Schedule A Value be greater than the maximum value as set forth
in Schedule A to this Agreement.
(ii) In the application of Schedule
A to this Agreement after the end of the Award Period for purposes
of determining the Schedule A Value pursuant to this Subparagraph
3(b), (A) if the 20 Return on
Equity or the 20 Earnings Per Share
is less than the level needed to have some Schedule A Value, there
shall be no Schedule A Value, and (B) if the 20
Return on Equity and the 2006
Earnings Per Share are equal to or greater than those levels needed
to have some Schedule A Value and less than or equal to the maximum
specified levels and are not represented on the table, the Schedule
A Value shall be determined by straight-line interpolation from the
amounts specified in such table immediately less than and greater
than the amounts actually attained.
(iii) The Committee shall determine
in its own discretion what portion of the Schedule A Value, if any
(as adjusted in accordance with Subparagraph 3(c) below), shall be
payable in cash (the “Cash Value”), and what portion
shall be denominated in restricted shares or letters of intent of
the Company (“the RSA” or “the LOI”), in
accordance with Paragraph 4 below. The RSA or the LOI shall have
the terms substantially as set forth in the form of restricted
stock or letter of intent award granted generally under the Plan,
or its successor, except that the RSA or the LOI shall vest
pursuant to a period determined in the Committee’s
discretion, except that such vesting period shall not be less than
one year from date of grant, and (B) be forfeitable only if
your employment with the American Express companies terminates by
reason of voluntary resignation or terminates for cause (that is,
violation of the Code of Conduct as in effect from time to time)
prior to the applicable vesting dates. The number of restricted
shares or letters of intent of the Company comprising the RSA or
the LOI (the “Number of Restricted Shares” or the
“Number of Letters of Intent”) shall be determined by
dividing such portion of the Schedule A value so designated by the
Committee, if any, by the average of the high and low market value
of the shares on
, 20
or such other date that the
Committee approves payout of the Awards, and shall be payable in
the form of an RSA or an LOI in accordance with Paragraph 4
below.
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(iv) For purposes of this Award, all
accounting terms are defined in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles as set forth in the Company’s annual
audited financial statements, except as otherwise provided below
(which will take into account, in each case, the expenses and other
financial effect for the applicable year(s) of performance grants
under the Plan):
(A) “Net Income” means,
for any given year, the after-tax net income (or loss) of the
Company or of a segment or other part of the Company, as the case
may be, for such year as adjusted below, as determined by the
Company in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles
applied on a basis comparable to that used for the purpose of
reporting industry segment data in the Company’s annual
audited financial statements. The calculation of Net Income, for
any given year, will be adjusted to exclude:
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reported
cumulative effect of accounting changes,
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reported income
and losses from discontinued operations, and
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reported
extraordinary gains and losses as determined under generally
accepted accounting principles.
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(B) “Average Annual
Shareholders’ Equity” means, for any given year, the
sum of the total shareholders’ equity of the Company or of a
segment or other part of the Company, as the case may be, as of the
first day of such year and as of the end of each month during such
period (each as determined by the Company in accordance with
generally accepted accounting principles but excluding the effect
of Statement of Financial Accounting Standards Nos. 115 and 133
(relating to mark-to-market treatment of certain investments and
accounting for derivatives, respectively) and adjustments made to
Net Income pursuant to Subparagraph 3(b)(iv)(A)), divided by
13.
(C) “Return on Equity”
means, for any given year, the Net Income for such year divided by
the Average Annual Shareholders’ Equity for such
year.
(D) “Earnings Per Share”
means, for any given year, the diluted earnings (or loss) per share
of the Company for such year, as determined by the Company in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for
inclusion in the Company’s annual audited financial
statements. The calculation of Earnings Per Share, for any given
year, will be adjusted in the same fashion as Net Income for such
year.
(v) To the extent permissible for
purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986, as amended (the “Code”), in the event of any
change in
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the corporate capitalization of the
Company, such as by reason of any stock split, or a material
corporate transaction, such as any merger of the Company into
another corporation, any consolidation of the Company and one or
more corporations into another corporation, any separation of the
Company (including a spin-off or other distribution of stock or
property by the Company), any reorganization of the Company
(whether or not such reorganization comes within the definition of
such term in Section 368 of the Code), or any partial or
complete liquidation by the Company, other than a normal cash
dividend, if the Committee shall determine that such a change
equitably requires an adjustment in the calculation or terms of
Return on Equity and/or Earnings Per Share, on the grounds that any
such change would produce an unreasonable value, such equitable
adjustment will be made by the Committee. Any such determination by
the Committee to reflect such change under this subparagraph
3(b)(v) shall be final, binding and conclusive.
(c) As soon as practicable after the
last day of the Award Period, the Committee may determine, in its
sole discretion, that the Schedule A Value, if any (as determined
above in Subparagraph 3(b)), may be adjusted downward, but in no
event upward, by a percentage from 0-100% (that is, to a value of
zero). In no event may the Committee amend any provision hereof so
as to increase or otherwise adjust upward the Schedule A Value. In
exercising its discretion to make a downward adjustment, the
Committee may take into account factors such as the increase in
shareholder value (as indicated, for example, by shareholder
return, earnings growth and return on equity), customer
satisfaction (as indicated, for example, by customer satisfaction
measures, client retention and growth in products and services),
employee satisfaction (as indicated, for example, by the employee
values survey results), implementation of AEQL initiatives (as
indicated, for example, by process changes that achieve significant
results), achievement of reengineering initiatives (as indicated,
for example, by cost savings), and such other factors deemed
relevant by the Committee; provided that any such determination by
the Committee need not be made in a uniform manner and may be made
selectively among holders of awards of performance grants, whether
or not such award holders are similarly situated.
(d) The Committee’s
determinations as to the Schedule A Value, the Cash Value and the
Number of Restricted Shares or the Number of Letters of Intent
pursuant to this Agreement shall be final, binding and conclusive
upon you and all persons claiming under or through you.
4. Payment of Award
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(a) As soon as practicable after the
last day of the Award Period, the Committee shall determine whether
the conditions of Paragraphs 2 and 3 hereof have been met and, if
so, shall ascertain the Schedule A Value (and any negative
adjustment thereto), Cash Value and the Number of Restricted Shares
or the Number of Letters of Intent, if any, in accordance with
Paragraph 3 hereof.
(b) If the Committee determines that
there is no Schedule A Value, this Award will be canceled. If the
Committee determines that there is some Schedule A Value, however,
the Cash Value as determined pursuant to Paragraph 3 hereof shall
become payable to you in cash, and the
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Number of Restricted Shares or the Number of
Letters of Intent shall be issued to you in the form of a
restricted stock or letter of intent award under the Plan, within
fifteen business days following the regularly scheduled payroll
payment date of the applicable pay period beginning after
January 31 of the year following the Award Period (or at such
other time or times as the Committee shall determine as provided in
Paragraph 6 below).
5. Termination of Employment
after the Award Period but on or before the Payment Date . If,
after the last day of the Award Period and on or before the date
specified above in Subparagraph 4(b), but during a period when you
have been in continuous employment with the American Express
companies since the Award Date, you terminate your employment with
the American Express companies for any reason, then you and all
others claiming under or through you shall not be entitled to
receive any amounts or awards under this Award, except as otherwise
determined by the Committee in its sole discretion.
6. Deferral or Acceleration of
Payment of Award . Any payments to be made under this Award may
be deferred or accelerated in such manner as the Committee shall
determine; provided, however, that any such deferral or
acceleration must comply with the applicable requirements of
Section 409A of the Code. As to such a deferral of payment,
any such payment in excess of the amount that was originally
payable to you under this Agreement will be based on a reasonable
interest rate or on one or more predetermined actual investments
(whether or not assets associated