U.S. Bancorp's business is managed under the direction of the Board of Directors. We currently have 14 directors serving on our Board and all but
one of them are independent.
The Board delegates the conduct of business to U.S. Bancorp's senior management team. U.S. Bancorp's Corporate Governance Guidelines have been adopted by the Board of Directors to provide
a framework within which directors and management can effectively pursue U.S.
Bancorp's objectives for the benefit of shareholders.
If the position of chairman of the U.S. Bancorp Board of Directors is not held by an independent director, an independent lead director is elected by the Board. The Board of Directors has established guidelines with respect to the role of the lead director. The identity of the lead director is indicated on this chart.
The Board of Directors is organized
so that a significant portion of its business is conducted by its committees,
each of which operates under a written charter accessed by checking on the committee's
name in the description below. In general, committees of the Board focus on
issues that may require in-depth scrutiny. All committees report to the Board,
and all significant findings of a committee are presented to the Board for discussion
and review. Audit Committee: The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:
- assisting the Board of Directors in overseeing the quality and integrity of our financial statements, including matters related to risks associated with financial reporting and audit and accounting issues, as well as internal controls, our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements, the qualifications and independence of our independent auditor, the integrity of the financial reporting processes, both internal and external, and the performance of our internal audit function and independent auditor;
- retaining and terminating the independent auditor; and
- compensating and overseeing the work of the independent auditor.
All of the Audit Committee members meet the independence and experience requirements of the NYSE and the SEC. The Audit Committee charter generally prohibits Audit Committee members from serving on more than two other public company audit committees. Our Board of Directors has identified Olivia F. Kirtley, our Audit Committee chair, as an audit committee financial expert under the rules of the SEC. The Audit Committee held nine meetings in 2011. During four of the meetings, the Audit Committee met in private session with our independent auditor and during four of the meetings met alone in executive session without members of management present.
Governance Committee: The Governance Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things: - discharging the Board’s responsibilities relating to corporate governance matters, including developing and recommending to the Board a set of corporate governance principles;
- overseeing succession planning for our CEO;
- identifying and recommending to the Board individuals qualified to become directors;
- managing the performance review process for our current directors;
- overseeing the evaluation of management; and
- making recommendations to the Board regarding any shareholder proposals.
All of the Governance Committee members meet the independence requirements of the NYSE. The Governance Committee held six meetings in 2011. During each of the five regularly scheduled meetings, the Governance Committee held an executive session without members of management present. Compensation and Human Resources Committee: The Compensation and Human Resources Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:
- discharging the Board’s responsibilities relating to the compensation of our executive officers and non-employee directors;
- approving our compensation plans, practices and programs; and
- evaluating the CEO’s performance and the succession plans for executive officers other than our CEO.
All of the Compensation and Human Resources Committee members meet the independence requirements of the NYSE. The Compensation and Human Resources Committee held six meetings in 2011. During each of the meetings, the Compensation and Human Resources Committee held an executive session without members of management present.Risk Management Committee: The Risk Management Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things:
- overseeing our overall enterprise risk management function including our policies, procedures and practices relating to the management of credit risk; financial, liquidity and market risk; and operational risk;
- approving and making recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the issuance or repurchase of debt and equity securities;
- reviewing and evaluating potential mergers and acquisitions; and
- reviewing other actions regarding our capital stock, including our dividend policy.
The Risk Management Committee held six meetings in 2011. During each of the meetings, the Risk Management Committee held an executive session without members of management present.
Community Reinvestment and Public Policy Committee: The Community Reinvestment and Public Policy Committee’s responsibilities include, among other things: - reviewing and considering our position and practices on matters of public interest and public responsibility and similar issues involving our relationship with the community at large;
- reviewing our activities, performance and compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act and fair lending regulations; and
- reviewing our policies and procedures with respect to sustainability and corporate political contributions and related activity.
The Community Reinvestment and Public Policy Committee held four meetings in 2011. During one of the meetings, the Community Reinvestment and Public Policy Committee held an executive session without members of management present.Executive Committee: The Executive Committee has authority to exercise all powers of the Board of Directors between regularly scheduled Board meetings. The Executive Committee did not meet during 2011.
Last updated April 2012
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