Midland States Bancorp Inc

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The Decision-Making Process

The Role of the Compensation Committee. The Compensation Committee oversees the executive compensation program for our NEOs. The Compensation Committee is comprised of independent, non-employee members of the Board. The Compensation Committee works very closely with its independent consultant and management to examine the effectiveness of the Company’s executive compensation program throughout the year. Details of the Compensation Committee’s authority and responsibilities are specified in its charter, which may be accessed at www.midlandsb.com under “Investors — Corporate Governance — Governance Highlights.”

Role of Executive Officers. None of our NEOs participates in or makes recommendations with respect to the determination of their own compensation. The Compensation Committee is responsible for all compensation decisions affecting our Chief Executive Officer, and for performance-driven and other determinations of incentive bonuses and equity awards for all our NEOs. Our Chief Executive Officer recommends salary adjustments for the other NEOs, which the Compensation Committee reviews prior to adjustments becoming effective.

Use of Independent Consultants. The Compensation Committee has authority to retain, at the Company’s expense, outside counsel, experts, compensation consultants and other advisors, as needed. For 2023, the Compensation Committee retained Pearl Meyer & Partners, LLC as an independent compensation consultant to advise it on compensation matters. Pearl Meyer’s specific services to the Compensation Committee have included support in the Compensation Committee’s effort to develop an appropriate peer group; review and update, as appropriate, our compensation philosophy; review potential risks associated with our compensation programs; analyze our NEO and director compensation levels, including based on our peer group; and analyze our equity utilization. Pearl Meyer also provides reports to the Compensation Committee on market compensation trends and developments.

In its engagement of Pearl Meyer, the Compensation Committee considered the independence of its compensation advisor under applicable SEC and Nasdaq listing rules and concluded there was no conflict of interest with respect to their engagement.

The Role of Peer Group Companies. The Compensation Committee strives to set a competitive level of total compensation for each NEO as compared with executive officers in similar positions at peer companies.

For the purposes of setting 2023 compensation, the Compensation Committee conducted an in-depth assessment of potential comparators to evaluate the degree to which the current peer group companies appropriately reflect the Bank’s current size and scope. The Compensation Committee also took into consideration the broader marketplace to identify appropriate and relevant additions and removals from the current peer group companies. As a result of this review, and with the support of Pearl Meyer, the following changes were made to the peer group companies: