As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 28, 2024
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM S-8
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
| Delaware | 51-0483352 | |
| (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
777 Long Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06902
(Address and Zip Code of Principal Executive Offices)
Synchrony Financial 2024 Long-Term Incentive Plan
(Full title of the plan)
Jonathan S. Mothner, Esq.
Executive Vice President, Chief Risk and Legal Officer
Synchrony Financial
777 Long Ridge Road
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 585-2400
(Name, Address, and Telephone Number, including Area Code, of Agent for Service)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
| Large accelerated filer | ☒ | Accelerated filer | ☐ | |||
| Non-accelerated filer | ☐ | Smaller reporting company | ☐ | |||
| Emerging growth company | ☐ | |||||
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ☐
PART I
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE SECTION 10(a) PROSPECTUS
All information required by Part I to be contained in the prospectus is omitted from this Registration Statement in accordance with the explanatory note to Part I of Form S-8 and Rule 428 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). This Registration Statement on Form S-8 is filed by Synchrony Financial (the “Registrant”) regarding the Synchrony Financial 2024 Long-Term Incentive Plan (the “Plan”). Documents containing the information required by Part I of the Registration Statement will be sent or given to Plan participants as specified by Rule 428(b)(1) under the Securities Act.
PART II
INFORMATION REQUIRED IN THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
Item 3. Incorporation of Documents by Reference.
The following documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) by the Registrant are hereby incorporated in this Registration Statement by reference (other than information in such filings deemed, under Commission rules or otherwise, not to have been filed with the Commission):
1. The Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, filed with the Commission on February 8, 2024 (including those portions of the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed with the Commission on April 25, 2024 that are incorporated by reference into Part III of such Annual Report on Form 10-K) (the “Annual Report”);
2. The Registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024, filed with the Commission on April 25, 2024;
3. The Registrant’s Current Reports on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 17, 2024, February 23, 2024 and June 13, 2024;
4. All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual Report; and
5. The description of the Registrant’s Common Stock in the Registrant’s Registration Statement on Form 8-A filed on July 22, 2014 under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description, including Exhibit 4.24 to the Annual Report.
In addition, all documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a), 13(c), 14, and 15(d) of the Exchange Act, subsequent to the date of this Registration Statement (other than information in such filings deemed, under Commission rules or otherwise, not to have been filed with the Commission), prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement that indicates that all securities offered have been sold or that deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be a part hereof from the date of filing of such documents.
Any statement contained in this Registration Statement or in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained or incorporated by reference herein or in any subsequently filed document that is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Registration Statement.
Item 4. Description of Securities.
Not applicable.
Item 5. Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.
Not applicable.
Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”) provides that a corporation may indemnify any person, including directors and officers, as well as employees and agents, against expenses, including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any threatened, pending or completed actions, suits or proceedings in which such person is made a party by reason of such person being or having been a director, officer, employee or agent of such corporation. Section 145 of the DGCL provides that the rights contained therein are not exclusive of other rights to which those seeking indemnification may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.
Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director or officer of the corporation shall not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director or officer, except for liability (i) for any breach of the director’s or officer’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) for payments of unlawful dividends or unlawful stock repurchases, (iv) for any transactions from which the director or officer derived an improper personal benefit, or (v) of an officer in any action by or in the right of the corporation.
The certificate of incorporation and bylaws of the Registrant provide that the Registrant will indemnify its directors and officers to the fullest extent permitted by law, and the certificate of incorporation provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, no director or officer shall be liable for monetary damages to the Registrant or its stockholders for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director or officer.
The Registrant has obtained industry standard policies of insurance under which coverage is provided to its directors and officers against legal liability for loss which is not indemnified arising from claims made by reason of breach of duty or other wrongful act while acting in their capacity as directors and officers of the Registrant. Further, the Registrant entered into indemnification agreements with its directors and executive officers which would require it, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities which may arise by reason of their status or service as a director or officer and to advance to them expenses, subject to reimbursement to the Registrant if it is determined that they are not entitled to indemnification.
Item 7. Exemption from Registration Claimed.
Not applicable.
Item 8. Exhibits.
| * | Filed herewith. |
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement; and
(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement;
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered herein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the Registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this Registration Statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Stamford, State of Connecticut, on June 28, 2024.
| SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL | ||
| By: | /s/ Brian J. Wenzel Sr. | |
| Name: | Brian J. Wenzel Sr. | |
| Title: | Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer | |
POWER OF ATTORNEY
Each person whose signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Brian D. Doubles, Jonathan S. Mothner and Danielle Do, and each of them acting individually, as his or her true and lawful attorneys-in-fact and agents, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, to execute for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, any and all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this Registration Statement (including all pre-effective and post-effective amendments and registration statements filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act of 1933), and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto and any other documents required in connection therewith with the Securities and Exchange Commission, granting unto said attorneys-in-fact and agents and their substitutes, and each of them, full power and authority to do and perform each and every act and thing requisite and necessary to be done in connection therewith, as fully as he or she might or could do in person, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorneys-in-fact and agents, or any of them, or their or his or her substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, this Registration Statement has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.
| Signature | Title | Date | ||
| /s/ Brian D. Doubles Brian D. Doubles |
President and Chief Executive Officer and Director (Principal Executive Officer) |
June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Brian J. Wenzel Sr. Brian J. Wenzel Sr. |
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer) |
June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ David P. Melito David P. Melito |
Senior Vice President and Controller (Principal Accounting Officer) |
June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Fernando Aguirre Fernando Aguirre |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Paget L. Alves Paget L. Alves |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Kamila Chytil Kamila Chytil |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. Arthur W. Coviello, Jr. |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Roy A. Guthrie Roy A. Guthrie |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Jeffrey G. Naylor Jeffrey G. Naylor |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Bill Parker Bill Parker |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Laurel J. Richie Laurel J. Richie |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||
| /s/ Ellen M. Zane Ellen M. Zane |
Director | June 28, 2024 | ||