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Exhibit 19.1
G-III APPAREL GROUP, LTD.
INSIDER TRADING, HEDGING AND PLEDGING POLICY
This Insider Trading, Hedging and Pledging Policy (this “Policy”) was adopted by the Board of Directors (the “Board”) of G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. (the “Company”) on March 13, 2013, and amended on March 28, 2018 and June 8, 2023.
This Policy codifies the Company’s standards on trading and causing the trading of the Company’s securities or securities of other publicly-traded companies while in possession of confidential information and its policies concerning hedging and pledging of the Company’s securities. This Policy is divided into three parts:
● | Part I prohibits trading in certain circumstances and applies to all directors and officers of the Company and employees of the Company and its subsidiaries; |
● | Part II prohibits hedging transactions related to Company securities and restricts pledges of Company securities as collateral for a loan or holding Company securities in a margin account, and applies to all directors and executive officers of the Company and employees of the Company and its subsidiaries; and |
● | Part III imposes special additional trading restrictions and applies to each director of the Company, each “executive officer” of the Company as described in Rule 3b- 7 under the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), each person designated as an “officer” of the Company for purposes of Section 16 under the Exchange Act (“Section 16 Officer”) (the foregoing collectively, “Covered Persons”). |
PART I
One of the principal purposes of the federal securities laws is to prohibit so-called “insider trading.” Simply stated, insider trading occurs when a person uses material non-public information obtained through involvement with the Company to make decisions to purchase, sell, give away or otherwise trade the Company’s securities or to provide that information to others outside the Company. The prohibitions against insider trading apply to trades, tips and recommendations by virtually any person, including all persons employed by the Company or its subsidiaries, if the information involved is “material” and “non-public.” These terms are defined in this Policy under Part I, Section 3 below. The prohibitions would apply to any director or officer of the Company or employee of the Company or its subsidiaries who buys or sells Company stock on the basis of material non-public information that he or she obtained about the Company, its customers, suppliers, or other companies with which the Company has contractual relationships or may be negotiating transactions.
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1. | Applicability |
This Policy applies to all transactions in the Company’s securities, including common stock, restricted stock, restricted stock units, options and any other securities that the Company may issue, such as preferred stock, notes, bonds and convertible securities, as well as to derivative securities relating to any of the Company’s securities, whether or not issued by the Company.
This Policy applies to all directors and officers of the Company and employees of the Company and its subsidiaries.
3. | Definitions |
Information dealing with the following subjects is reasonably likely to be found material in particular situations:
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investigations;
(i) | significant changes in the Company’s prospects; |
(ii) | significant write-downs in assets or increases in reserves; |
(iii) | developments regarding significant litigation or government agency |
(iv) | liquidity problems; |
(v) | changes in earnings estimates or unusual gains or losses in major operations; |
(vi) | major changes in management; |
(vii) | a determination to declare a dividend; |
(viii) | extraordinary borrowings; |
(ix) | proposals, plans or agreements, even if preliminary in nature, involving |
mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, strategic alliances, material licenses or other material agreements, or purchases or sales of substantial assets;
(x) | public offerings; and |
(xi) | cybersecurity risks and incidents. |
Material information is not limited to historical facts but may also include projections and forecasts. With respect to a future event, such as a merger, acquisition or new material license or other material agreement, the point at which negotiations or plans are determined to be material is determined by balancing the probability that the event will occur against the magnitude of the effect the event would have on a company’s operations or stock price should it occur. Thus, information concerning an event that would have a large effect on stock price, such as a merger, may be material even if the possibility that the event will occur is relatively small. Similarly, material information may include facts concerning matters as to which potential consequences may not be immediately or readily apparent. For example, with respect to cybersecurity risks or incidents, materiality depends upon their nature, extent and potential magnitude, particularly as they relate to any compromised information or the business and scope of the Company’s operations. In addition, the materiality of cybersecurity risks and incidents depends on the range of harm that such incidents could cause; for example, to the Company’s reputation, financial performance, and customer and vendor relationships, as well as the possibility of litigation or regulatory investigations or actions. When in doubt about whether particular non-public information is material, presume it is material. If you are unsure whether information is material, you should consult with Neal S. Nackman, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, before making any decision to disclose such information (other than to persons who need to know it) or to trade in or recommend securities to which that information relates.
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the information must have been disseminated in a manner designed to reach investors generally, and the investors must be given the opportunity to absorb the information. Even after public disclosure of information about the Company, you must wait until the close of business on the second trading day after the information was publicly disclosed before you can treat the information as public.
Non-public information may include:
(i) | information available to a select group of analysts or brokers or institutional |
investors;
(ii) | undisclosed facts that are the subject of rumors, even if the rumors are |
widely circulated; and
As with questions of materiality, if you are not sure whether information is considered public, you should either consult with Neal S. Nackman, the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, or assume that the information is “non-public” and treat it as confidential.
(i) | assisting with implementation of this Policy; |
(iv) | providing approval of any transactions under Part III, Section 4 below. |
4. | Violations of Insider Trading Laws |
Penalties for trading on or communicating material non-public information can be severe, both for individuals involved in such unlawful conduct and their employers and supervisors, and may include jail terms, criminal fines, civil penalties and civil enforcement injunctions. Given the severity of the potential penalties, compliance with this Policy is absolutely mandatory.
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In addition, a person who tips others may also be liable for transactions by the tippees to whom he or she has disclosed material non-public information. Tippers can be subject to the same penalties and sanctions as the tippees, and the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has imposed large penalties even when the tipper did not profit from the transaction.
The SEC can also seek substantial penalties from any person who, at the time of an insider trading violation, “directly or indirectly controlled the person who committed such violation,” which would apply to the Company and/or management and supervisory personnel. These control persons may be held liable for up to the greater of $2,301,065 (the amount to be adjusted for inflation annually after 2023) or three times the amount of the profits gained or losses avoided, and a criminal penalty of up to $25 million. Even for violations that result in a small or no profit, the SEC can seek a minimum of $1 million from a company and/or management and supervisory personnel as control persons.
PART II
The following prohibition on hedging transactions and restrictions on pledges of Company securities as collateral for a loan or holding Company securities in a margin account have been adopted to help align the interests of directors and executive officers of the Company and employees of the Company and its subsidiaries with the interests of the stockholders.
1. | Hedging Transactions. |
No director or executive officer of the Company or employee of the Company or its subsidiaries may engage in any transaction if he or she is no longer exposed to the full risks of stock ownership. The Company believes that if directors or executive officers of the Company or employees of the Company or its subsidiaries are permitted to purchase hedging instruments that protect against downward changes in Company’s stock price, they may no longer have the same objectives as the Company’s other stockholders because they are no longer subject to the full risks of stock ownership. Prohibited hedging transactions include, but are not limited to, collars, forward sale contracts, trading in publicly-traded options, puts, calls or other derivative instruments related to Company stock or debt.
2. | Pledging Transactions and Margin Accounts. |
No director or executive officer of the Company or employee of the Company or its
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subsidiaries may hold Company securities in a margin account or pledge Company securities as collateral for any other loan.
An exception to this prohibition may be granted, in the sole discretion of the Board and in limited circumstances, after giving consideration to the number of shares to be pledged as a percentage of the director’s or executive officer’s total shares held and the Company’s total shares outstanding.
Section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) calls for public companies to disclose in the proxy materials for their annual stockholders’ meetings whether any of their employees and directors are permitted to hedge against losses on their company stock (including stock received as part of compensation). The SEC had not proposed its implementation rules and regulations for Section 955 of the Dodd-Frank Act as of the adoption date of this Policy. Once these implementation rules and regulations have been finalized, this Policy will be reviewed and amended as necessary to ensure that it is fully compliant with the final rules and regulations issued by the SEC.
PART III
Covered Persons are subject to the following special additional trading restrictions because of their access to material non-public information concerning the Company.
1. | Blackout Periods |
All Covered Persons are prohibited from trading in the Company’s securities during blackout periods. In addition, the Company may notify other employees of the Company that they are prohibited from trading in the Company’s securities during blackout periods in which event such persons shall also be considered “Covered Persons.”
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10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and is approved by the Compliance Officer (an “Approved 10b5-1 Plan”) that:
No Approved 10b5-1 Plan may be adopted during a blackout period.
If a Covered Person is considering entering into, modifying or terminating an Approved 10b5-1 Plan or has any questions regarding an Approved Rule 10b5-1 Plan, please contact the Compliance Officer.
The Company and the Company’s officers and directors must make certain disclosures in SEC filings concerning Approved 10b5-1 Plans. Covered Persons must undertake to provide any information requested by the Company regarding any Approved 10b5-1 Plan for the purpose of providing the required securities law disclosures or any other disclosures that the Company deems to be appropriate under the circumstances.
(d) | Stock Option Exercises. This Policy does not apply to a Covered Person’s exercise |
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of a stock option for cash. The prohibitions of this Policy do apply, however, to any sale of shares of Company stock received upon exercise of an option in the open market, regardless of whether such sale is to pay the exercise price or for tax withholding. For example, the prohibitions of this Policy apply to a market sale of stock as part of a broker-assisted cashless exercise of stock options.
2. | Trading Window |
Covered Persons are permitted to trade in the Company’s securities when no blackout period is in effect. Generally, this means that Covered Persons can trade during the period beginning two business days after our press release is issued to the public relating to our financial information for a fiscal quarter and ending on the tenth business day prior to the end of each fiscal quarter. However, even during this trading window, a Covered Person who is in possession of any material non-public information should not trade in the Company’s securities until the information has been made publicly available or is no longer material. In addition, the Company may close this trading window if a special blackout period under Part III, Section 1(b) above is imposed and will re-open the trading window once the special blackout period has ended.
3. | Pre-clearance of Securities Transactions |
(c) | The Compliance Officer shall record the date each request is received and the date |
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and time each request is approved or disapproved. Unless revoked, a grant of permission will normally remain valid until the close of trading two business days following the day on which it was granted. If the transaction does not occur during the two-day period, pre-clearance of the transaction must be re-requested.
4. | Prohibited Transactions |
5. | Acknowledgment and Certification |
All Covered Persons are required to sign the attached acknowledgment and certification.
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