Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the SouthState Bank Corporation annual shareholder meeting. I will now turn the call over to Doug Hertz. Please go ahead.
Thank you and good morning. I'm Doug Hertz, and I'm the Chair of the Board of Directors of SouthState Bank Corporation. I want to welcome all of you to our annual shareholder meeting. We are joined by the Directors of SouthState, all of whom are in attendance by telephone. We are also joined on the phone by Grant Haines, Katie Murnane, and Nick Budhu from Ernst & Young, our outside auditors. The purpose of this meeting is to elect directors who will serve on the SouthState Board, vote on a non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation of our Named Executive Officers, and ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young, our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2026 fiscal year. The rules of conduct for the meeting are linked to the screen, and we ask that you comply with them.
I'm appointing Beth DeSimone as Secretary of this meeting. Ms. DeSimone, do you have a list of shareholders who are entitled to notice of and to vote at this meeting? Do you have evidence of the mailing of the meeting notice?
Yes, Doug. I have a list of shareholders of record as of the close of business on February 14, 2026, which is the record date fixed by the Board of Directors. I also have the affidavit as to the mailing of the notice of the meeting on or about March 3rd, 2026, to every shareholder of record as of February 14, 2026.
Thank you, Ms. DeSimone. The affidavit of notice is approved and ordered affixed to the minutes. I appoint Jill Osborne to act as the Inspector of election. If you're a shareholder, you may vote during this meeting only by joining the channel that required you to enter the 16-digit control number provided on the meeting notice. Whether you hold your shares of SouthState stock in your own name and have not previously submitted your proxy via proxyvote.com or by U.S. Mail, or you hold your stock in street name with a broker, financial institution, or other holder of record, you cannot vote those shares at today's meeting unless you have joined the meeting by entering the 16-digit control number assigned for those shares. If you have logged in as a guest, then you will not be able to vote.
You also will be able to place questions in the question queue only if you joined as a shareholder using the 16-digit control number. Ms. DeSimone, please report whether or not there is a quorum present in person and/or by proxy at this meeting.
As of the record date, 98,267,342 shares of SouthState common stock were outstanding and entitled to vote at this meeting. The presence in person and/or by proxy of a majority of the shares of common stock entitled to vote at this meeting constitutes a quorum. There are 89,112,621 shares of common stock present in person and/or by proxy at this meeting. The required quorum is present.
Thank you. A quorum is present in person and/or by proxy. The meeting is now declared lawfully and properly open for business. We're now going to describe the matters to be considered and voted on at today's meeting. Ms. DeSimone, please read the proposals we are here to consider.
The first proposal before this meeting is to elect directors to serve as directors until the 2027 Annual Shareholders Meeting, or in each case, until their successors are duly elected and qualified. The director nominees are David Brooks, Ronald Cofield, Shantella Cooper, John Corbett, Martin Davis, Janet Froetscher, Merriann Metz, Ruffner Page, Bill Pou, James Roquemore, David Salyers, Ben Sasse, Stacy Smith, and Joshua Snively. The second proposal is to vote on the non-binding advisory resolution to approve the compensation paid to the Company's Named Executive Officers as described in the Proxy Statement, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and the related narrative discussion. The final proposal before this meeting is to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young as SouthState's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ending December 31, 2026.
You have heard the proposals. I'll now entertain a motion to approve all of the proposals presented at this meeting.
Mr. Hertz, I move that these three proposals be approved.
Thank you. Do I hear a second?
Mr. Hertz, I second the motion that these three proposals be approved.
Thank you. All of the proposals have been moved and seconded. Are there any questions?
Mr. Chair, we do not see any questions or requests from shareholders in the question queue.
Thank you. We will now pause for a moment to allow for any final voting. The voting is now closed. Ms. Secretary, please indicate the vote on each of these matters that are before this meeting.
Mr. Hertz, subject to final verification of the balloting, I'm pleased to report that the holders of record of a plurality of the shares of the company's common stock have voted to approve all of the directors up for election. Further, subject to final verification of the balloting, I'm pleased to report that the holders of a record of a majority of the shares of the company's common stock have approved the advisory proposal approving the compensation of our Named Executive Officers and have ratified the appointment of Ernst & Young as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the year ended December 31, 2026.
Thank you so much. This will conclude our business meeting today. Thanks to all of you for joining us. We appreciate your support as a shareholder, and we trust you will have a great rest of your day. Thank you for joining.
This concludes today's meeting. You may now disconnect.