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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

SCHEDULE 14A
(Rule 14a-101)

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Amendment No.             )

 

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March 22, 2016

Dear Boston Scientific Stockholder:

You are cordially invited to attend the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Boston Scientific Corporation (the Company) to be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, at the Company's Corporate Headquarters located at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752 (Annual Meeting).

This year you are being asked to:

1.

elect to the Board of Directors ten nominees for director;



2.

approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, named executive officer compensation;



3.

re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan ("2011 LTIP") for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code");



4.

ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year; and



5.

consider and vote upon such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

These matters are more fully described in the accompanying Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement. Our Board of Directors urges you to read the accompanying Proxy Statement and recommends that you vote "FOR" all of the director nominees, our named executive officer compensation, the re-approval of the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 LTIP for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Code, and the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm. At the meeting, you will be provided with the opportunity to ask questions.

We are pleased to continue to take advantage of the Securities and Exchange Commission rule allowing companies to furnish proxy materials to their stockholders via the Internet. We believe this e-proxy process, also known as "notice and access," expedites stockholders' receipt of proxy materials, lowers our printing and mailing costs and reduces the environmental impact of producing the materials for our Annual Meeting. On or about March 22, 2016, we will mail to our stockholders of record at the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, the record date for our Annual Meeting, an Important Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (Notice) containing instructions on how to access our Proxy Statement and Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015 (Annual Report) on the Internet and also how to vote their shares via the Internet. If you received a Notice by mail you will not receive printed proxy materials unless you specifically request them. Both the Notice and the Proxy Statement contain instructions on how you can request a paper copy of the Proxy Statement and Annual Report.

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The Board of Directors appreciates and encourages stockholder participation in the Company's affairs. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting, we encourage you to vote your shares. Accordingly, we request that as soon as possible, you vote via the Internet or, if you have received printed proxy materials, you vote via the Internet, by telephone or by mailing your completed proxy card or voter instruction form.

Thank you for your continuing support.

Pete M. Nicholas
Chairman of the Board of Directors

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NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

Marlborough, Massachusetts
March 22, 2016

The Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Boston Scientific Corporation (Annual Meeting) will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, at the Company's Corporate Headquarters located at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752, for the following purposes:

1.

to elect to the Board of Directors ten nominees for director;



2.

to approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, named executive officer compensation;



3.

to re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code;



4.

to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year; and



5.

to consider and vote upon such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

Only stockholders of record at the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, are entitled to notice of and to vote at the meeting or any adjournments or postponements thereof.

It is important that your shares be represented and voted at the Annual Meeting. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, we encourage you to submit your proxy as soon as possible. For specific instructions, please refer to your Important Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or to the question on page 3 of the accompanying Proxy Statement entitled "How do I vote by proxy?"

At the direction of the Board of Directors,

Timothy A. Pratt
Secretary

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300 Boston Scientific Way
Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752

March 22, 2016

PROXY STATEMENT

Information About the Annual Meeting and Voting

The Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Boston Scientific Corporation (Annual Meeting) will be held on Tuesday, May 3, 2016, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time, at the Company's Corporate Headquarters located at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752. At this meeting, stockholders will be asked to elect ten nominees for director, approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, named executive officer compensation, re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan ("2011 LTIP") for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"), and ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year. Management will also report on our performance during fiscal year 2015 and will respond to questions from stockholders. Our principal executive offices are located at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752, and our telephone number is (508) 683-4000. When used in this Proxy Statement, the terms "we," "us," "our," "Boston Scientific" and "the Company" mean Boston Scientific Corporation and its businesses and subsidiaries.

Why am I receiving these materials?

In connection with its solicitation of proxies for use at our Annual Meeting, our Board of Directors (Board) (i) has made these materials available to you via the Internet or, upon your request, via email, or (ii) upon your request, has delivered or will deliver printed versions of these materials to you by mail. As a stockholder of record of our common stock at the close of business on March 16, 2016, the record date for our Annual Meeting, you are invited to attend the Annual Meeting, and are entitled to and requested to vote on the items of business described in this Proxy Statement.

Why did I receive a notice in the mail regarding the Internet availability of proxy materials instead of a full set of printed proxy materials?

Pursuant to rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), we are making this Proxy Statement and our Annual Report for the year ended December 31, 2015 (Annual Report and, together with this Proxy Statement, the proxy materials) available to stockholders electronically via the Internet. Stockholders will be able to access the proxy materials on the website referred to in the Important Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials (Notice) or request to receive printed copies of the proxy materials and a proxy card. Instructions on how to access the proxy materials via the Internet or to request a printed copy may be found in the Notice and in this Proxy Statement. We

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believe that this electronic process expedites your receipt of the proxy materials and reduces the cost and environmental impact of printing proxy materials for our Annual Meeting.

On or about March 22, 2016, stockholders of record and beneficial owners of our common stock at the close of business on March 16, 2016, will be sent a Notice instructing them as to how to receive their proxy materials via the Internet. The proxy materials will be available on the Internet as of March 22, 2016.

How can I electronically access the proxy materials?

Beginning March 22, 2016, you can access the proxy materials and vote your shares online at www.proxyvote.com. The proxy materials are also available on our own website (www.bostonscientific.com).

How can I obtain a full set of printed proxy materials?

If you prefer to receive paper copies of the proxy materials and a proxy card, you may still do so. You may request printed materials by (i) calling 1-800-579-1639; (ii) sending an email to sendmaterial@proxyvote.com; or (iii) logging onto www.proxyvote.com using the credentials provided on your Notice or proxy card.

Who is entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting?

Stockholders who held shares of our common stock at the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, are entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting. Each share of our common stock is entitled to one vote.

How many shares are eligible to be voted and how many shares are required to hold the Annual Meeting?

A quorum is required to hold the Annual Meeting and conduct business. The presence at the Annual Meeting, in person or by proxy, of stockholders holding a majority of our common stock outstanding as of the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, the record date, will constitute a quorum for purposes of holding and conducting business at the Annual Meeting. As of March 16, 2016, we had 1,354,218,154 shares of our common stock outstanding — each entitled to one vote at the Annual Meeting — meaning that 677,109,078 shares of common stock must be represented in person or by proxy to have a quorum. Our common stock is our only outstanding class of voting securities. For purposes of determining whether a quorum exists, broker non-votes (as described further below) and proxies received but marked "ABSTAIN" will be counted.

What am I voting on?

You are voting on proposals to:

1.

elect to the Board ten nominees for director;



2.

approve, on a non-binding, advisory basis, named executive officer compensation;



3.

re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code;

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4.

ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year; and



5.

consider and vote upon such other business as may properly come before the Annual Meeting or any adjournment or postponement thereof.

How does the Board recommend that I vote?

The Board recommends that you vote:

1.

FOR the election of each of the ten director nominees;



2.

FOR our named executive officer compensation;



3.

FOR the re-approval of the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code; and



4.

FOR the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year.

How do I vote by proxy?

Your vote is very important. Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, you may give a proxy to be voted at the Annual Meeting either:

•

via the Internet pursuant to the instructions provided in the Notice; or



•

if you received printed proxy materials, via the Internet or by telephone or mail pursuant to the instructions provided on the proxy card.

If you vote by mail, no postage is required if your proxy card is mailed in the United States. If you properly vote pursuant to the instructions provided in the Notice or properly complete and deliver your proxy card (whether electronically, by mail or by telephone) and our Inspector of Election receives your instructions in time to vote at the Annual Meeting, your "proxy" (one of the individuals named on your proxy card) will vote your shares as you have directed. If you sign and return your proxy card, but do not make specific selections, your proxy will vote your shares as recommended by the Board. If any other matter is properly presented at the Annual Meeting, including a proposal to postpone or adjourn the meeting, your proxy will vote your shares in accordance with his or her discretion. At present, the Board knows of no other business that is intended to be brought before or acted upon at the Annual Meeting.

How are votes counted?

In the election of directors, your vote may be cast "FOR" one or more of the nominees or your vote may be "WITHHELD" with respect to one or more of the nominees. If you sign your proxy card with no further instructions, your shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the Board.

In the advisory vote to approve named executive officer compensation, your vote may be cast "FOR" or "AGAINST" or you may "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained under our By-Laws and will have no effect on the

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determination of this proposal. If you sign your proxy card with no further instructions, your shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the Board.

In the re-approval of the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 LTIP for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Code, your vote may be cast "FOR" or "AGAINST" or you may "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained under our By-Laws and will have no effect on the determination of this proposal. If you sign your proxy card with no further instructions, your shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the Board.

In the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm, your vote may be cast "FOR" or "AGAINST" or you may "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained under our By-Laws and will have no effect on the determination of this proposal. If you sign your proxy card with no further instructions, your shares will be voted in accordance with the recommendation of the Board.

How many votes are required to approve each proposal?

1.

Under our By-Laws our directors are elected by plurality vote. That means that for Proposal 1, the ten nominees for director named in this Proxy Statement receiving the most votes from those shares present or represented at the Annual Meeting will be elected as directors. The majority voting policy set forth in our Corporate Governance Guidelines requires that, in an uncontested election, any nominee for director who receives a greater number of votes "WITHHELD" from his or her election than votes "FOR" his or her election shall promptly tender his or her resignation from the Board following the certification of the stockholder vote. The Board will then decide whether to accept the resignation (based on the recommendation of the Nominating and Governance Committee of our Board) within 90 days following certification of the stockholder vote, and will disclose its determination and its reasoning either in a press release and/or an SEC filing.



2.

The affirmative vote of a majority of shares with voting power present in person or represented by proxy and which have actually voted on the proposal is required to approve, on an advisory basis, our named executive officer compensation. The vote is advisory and non-binding in nature, but the Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee of our Board (Compensation Committee) will take into consideration the outcome of the vote when considering future executive compensation arrangements. You may vote "FOR," "AGAINST" or "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will be counted for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present for conducting the Annual Meeting, but it will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained and will have no effect on the determination of this proposal.



3.

The affirmative vote of a majority of shares with voting power present in person or represented by proxy and which have actually voted on the proposal is required to re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code. You may vote "FOR," "AGAINST" or "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will be counted for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present for conducting the Annual Meeting, but your vote will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained and will have no effect on the determination of this proposal.

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4.

The affirmative vote of a majority of shares with voting power present in person or represented by proxy and which have actually voted on the proposal is required to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the 2016 fiscal year. You may vote "FOR," "AGAINST" or "ABSTAIN." If you "ABSTAIN," it will be counted for the purpose of determining whether a quorum is present for conducting the Annual Meeting, but it will not count as a share actually voted with respect to determining if a majority vote is obtained and will have no effect on the determination of this proposal.

At present, the Board knows of no other matters to be presented for stockholder action at the Annual Meeting.

What is the difference between holding shares as a stockholder of record and as a beneficial owner?

Most of our stockholders hold their shares through a broker, trustee, bank, other financial intermediary or other nominee rather than directly in their own name. As summarized below, there are some differences between stockholders of record and beneficial owners.

Stockholders of Record

If your shares are registered directly in your name with our transfer agent, Computershare Shareowner Services, as of the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, you are considered the stockholder of record with respect to those shares, and the Notice or proxy materials are being made available, electronically or otherwise, directly to you by the Company. As the stockholder of record, you have the right to grant your voting proxy directly to the Company or a third party, or to vote in person at the Annual Meeting. The Company has made available a proxy card or electronic voting means for you to use for voting purposes.

Beneficial Owners

If your shares are held through a brokerage firm, trustee, bank, other financial intermediary or nominee, as of the close of business on Wednesday, March 16, 2016, you are considered the beneficial owner of those shares held in street name, and the Notice or proxy materials are being made available, electronically or otherwise, by the Company to your broker, trustee, bank, other financial intermediary or other nominee (the "intermediary") and they will forward these materials to you, together with a voting instruction form if furnished via paper copy to your intermediary. As the beneficial owner, you have the right to direct your intermediary on how to vote and are also invited to attend the Annual Meeting; however, since you are not the stockholder of record, you may not vote these shares in person at the Annual Meeting, unless you request, complete and deliver a legal proxy from your intermediary. If you requested printed proxy materials, your intermediary will enclose a voting instruction form for you to use in directing the intermediary regarding how to vote your shares.

What discretion does my broker have to vote my shares held in "street name?"

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) rules allow your broker to vote your shares in its discretion on "routine" proposals when it has not received instructions from you at least ten days prior to the Annual Meeting. The proposal regarding the ratification of the appointment of our independent registered public accounting firm is a matter considered routine under applicable rules and, therefore, your broker may vote on your behalf for this matter if you do not otherwise provide instructions. The election of directors, the advisory vote on our named executive officer compensation, and the vote to re-approve the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan are

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not considered routine matters. If you do not instruct your broker how to vote your shares on the non-routine matters, your broker will not be permitted to vote your shares on such matters. This is referred to as a "broker non-vote."

Broker non-votes (shares held by brokers that do not have discretionary authority to vote on the matter and have not received voting instructions from their clients) are counted for purposes of determining whether a quorum is present, but are not counted or deemed to be present, represented or voted for the purpose of determining whether stockholders have approved a proposal. A broker non-vote will have no effect on the outcome of the non-routine proposals voted on at the Annual Meeting.

How do I vote my 401(k) shares?

If you participate in our 401(k) Retirement Savings Plans, as amended and restated (401(k) Plans), you will receive a single proxy card (together with the proxy materials) or Notice that covers all shares credited to your plan account(s) and shares that you own of record that are registered in the same name. If your plan account(s) are registered in different names, you will receive separate proxy cards or Notices for your record and plan holdings. You may vote your shares by following the instructions provided in your proxy card or Notice and utilizing the credentials provided therein. Your vote will serve to instruct the trustees and fiduciaries of our 401(k) Plans how to vote any shares of our common stock held in our 401(k) Plans on your behalf. Shares of our common stock held in our 401(k) Plans must be voted on or before 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on April 28, 2016. The trustee and fiduciaries of our 401(k) Plans will vote shares for which timely instructions are not received in the same proportion as other plan shares that were voted.

What happens if I don't specify how I want my shares voted on one or all of the proposals?

If you are the stockholder of record and you sign, date and return your proxy and do not mark how you want to vote, your proxy will be counted as a vote "FOR" all of the nominees for directors, "FOR" our named executive officer compensation, "FOR" the re-approval of the material terms of the performance goals under our 2011 LTIP for purposes of Section 162(m) of the Code, and "FOR" the ratification of our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young. If you hold your shares in street name, please see the discussion on "What discretion does my broker have to vote my shares held in 'street name?'," above.

Can I change my vote or revoke my proxy after I have already voted or given my proxy?

Yes. If you are a stockholder of record, you may change your vote or revoke your proxy at any time before the proxy is voted at the Annual Meeting. To change your vote, you may:

•

mail a written notice "revoking" your earlier vote to Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (Broadridge), 51 Mercedes Way, Edgewood, NY 11717;



•

submit to Broadridge a properly completed and signed proxy card with a later date;



•

vote again telephonically or electronically (available until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on May 2, 2016); or



•

vote in person at the Annual Meeting; however, your attendance at the Annual Meeting alone will not revoke your proxy.

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Your last dated proxy, properly completed and timely received prior to, or vote cast at, the Annual Meeting will be counted.

If you own your shares in street name, please contact your broker or other intermediary for instructions on changing your vote or revoking your proxy.

Can I vote in person at the meeting?

Yes. If you are the stockholder of record of the shares, you can vote in person by coming to the Annual Meeting, and we will give you a ballot or a new proxy card when you arrive with proper identification. However, since a beneficial owner holding shares in street name is not the stockholder of record, if you are such a beneficial owner of shares, you may not vote your shares in person at the Annual Meeting unless you obtain a legal proxy from the broker or other intermediary that holds your shares giving you the right to vote the shares at the Annual Meeting. Please bring the legal proxy with you to the Annual Meeting. If you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, you must provide proper identification. Please visit our website, www.bostonscientific.com, for directions to the Annual Meeting.

Who will count the votes?

Broadridge has been engaged as our independent agent to tabulate stockholder votes and act as Inspector of Election for the meeting.

Is voting confidential?

Proxy instructions, ballots and voting tabulations that identify individual stockholders are handled in a manner that protects your voting privacy. Your vote will not be disclosed either within the Company or to third parties, except:

•

as necessary to meet applicable legal requirements;



•

to allow for the tabulation and certification of votes; and



•

to facilitate a successful proxy solicitation.

Occasionally, stockholders provide written comments on their proxy cards, which may be forwarded to the Company's management and the Board.

What happens if the Annual Meeting is adjourned or postponed?

Your proxy will still be effective and will be voted at the rescheduled Annual Meeting. You will still be able to change or revoke your proxy until it is voted, provided such new proxy or revocation is properly completed and timely received.

Will any other business be considered or presented at the Annual Meeting?

Our By-Laws provide that a stockholder may present business to be considered at the Annual Meeting only if proper prior written notice was timely received by us. Other than the items of business described in this Proxy Statement, our Board is not aware of any other business to be acted upon at the Annual Meeting; however, if any other business does properly come before the Annual Meeting, the persons named as proxies on the proxy card will vote your shares in accordance with their discretion.

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How can I find the results of the Annual Meeting?

We will report the final voting results on a Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the SEC within four business days after the Annual Meeting. The Form 8-K will be available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov, as well as on our own website, www.bostonscientific.com, under the "Investor Relations" section.

Who is soliciting my vote pursuant to this Proxy Statement?

Our Board is soliciting your vote.

Is there a list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting?

A list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Annual Meeting will be available at the Annual Meeting and for ten days prior to the Annual Meeting, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time, at our Corporate Headquarters located at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752. If you would like to view the stockholder list, please contact our Secretary to schedule an appointment by calling (508) 683-4000 or writing to him at 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752.

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Internet Availability of Proxy Materials

Under rules adopted by the SEC, we are furnishing proxy materials to our stockholders primarily via the Internet instead of mailing printed copies of those materials to each stockholder. On or about March 22, 2016, we will mail to our stockholders (other than those who previously requested electronic or paper delivery) an Important Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials containing instructions on how to access our proxy materials, including our Proxy Statement and our Annual Report. The Notice also instructs stockholders on how to vote via the Internet.

This process is designed to expedite stockholders' receipt of proxy materials, lower the cost of the Annual Meeting and help conserve natural resources; however, if you would prefer to receive printed proxy materials and a proxy card, please follow the instructions included in the Notice and in this Proxy Statement. If you have previously elected to receive our proxy materials electronically, these materials will continue to be made available to you via email until you elect otherwise. If you have previously elected to receive printed proxy materials, you will continue to receive these materials and a proxy card in paper format until you elect otherwise.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking and Other Statements

This Proxy Statement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "anticipate," "expect," "project," "believe," "plan," "may," "estimate," "intend" and other similar words. These forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and estimates using information available to us at the time and are not intended to be guarantees of future events or performance. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the statements in this Proxy Statement can be found in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC and in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q that we have filed or will file hereafter under the heading "Risk Factors" and "Safe Harbor for Forward-Looking Statements." The forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this Proxy Statement and undue reliance should not be placed on these statements. We disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statements. This cautionary statement is applicable to all forward- looking statements contained in this document.

This Proxy Statement contains statements regarding individual and Company performance objectives and targets. These objectives and targets are disclosed in the limited context of our compensation plans and programs and should not be understood to be statements of management's future expectations or estimates of future results or other guidance. We specifically caution investors not to apply these statements to other contexts.

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PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Our entire Board is elected annually by our stockholders and currently consists of twelve members. John E. Abele, our co-founder, has served at the request of the Board as director emeritus since his retirement from the Board at the 2011 Annual Meeting of Stockholders so that the Board may continue to avail itself of his wisdom, judgment, and experience. Serving as director emeritus, Mr. Abele may attend Board and committee meetings and participate in discussion of matters that come before the Board or its committees, but he is not a director and is not entitled to vote upon any such matters.

On February 25, 2016, Pete M. Nicholas, our co-founder and the Chairman of our Board, announced that he will retire from the Board at the Annual Meeting. Mr. Pete M. Nicholas served as our Chief Executive Officer and the Co-Chairman of our Board from its founding in 1979. In 1995, he stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and become our Chairman. During his almost 40 years of leadership, Boston Scientific became a global leader in the field of interventional medicine, improving the lives of patients worldwide.

Additionally, Ernest Mario, Ph.D., a director of Boston Scientific since October 2001, and N.J. Nicholas, Jr., a director of Boston Scientific since October 1994, will be retiring from our Board at the Annual Meeting. We are deeply grateful for the enormous contributions that Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, Dr. Ernest Mario and Mr. N.J. Nicholas, Jr. have made to our Company, our Board and our stockholders.

Also, on February 23, 2016, the Board, upon the recommendation of the Nominating and Governance Committee, appointed Ellen M. Zane to serve on the Board, effective April 15, 2016, to hold office until the Annual Meeting.

In light of the three departures and the addition of one director, ten of our directors have been nominated by our Board, upon the recommendation of our Nominating and Governance Committee, to stand for election at the Annual Meeting for a one-year term, to hold office until the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders and until their successors have been elected and qualified. The nominees for election at the Annual Meeting are: Nelda J. Connors, Charles J. Dockendorff, Donna A. James, Kristina M. Johnson, Edward J. Ludwig, Stephen P. MacMillan, Michael F. Mahoney, David J. Roux, John E. Sununu and Ellen M. Zane.

Each of the director nominees is willing and able to stand for election at the Annual Meeting, and we know of no reason why any of the nominees would be unable to serve as a director. Should such a situation arise, however, the Board may designate a substitute nominee or, alternatively, reduce the number of directors to be elected. If a substitute nominee is selected, the persons named as proxies will vote for that substitute nominee. Any vacancies not filled at the Annual Meeting may be filled by the Board.

The biographies of each of the nominees are listed below and contain information regarding the person's service as a director, business experience, public company director positions currently held or held at any time during the last five years, information regarding involvement in certain legal or administrative proceedings (if applicable) and the experiences, qualifications, attributes or skills that caused the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Board to determine that the person should serve as a director in light of our business and structure. Each of the director nominees listed below exemplifies how our Board values professional experience in business, education, policy and governmental fields as well as strong moral character and diversity in terms of viewpoint as well as age, ethnicity and gender. Our Board believes that these strong backgrounds and sets of skills provide it, as a whole, with a strong foundation of technical expertise and a wealth of diverse experience in a wide variety of areas.

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Nelda J. Connors

Charles J. Dockendorff

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Donna A. James

Kristina M. Johnson, Ph.D.

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Edward J. Ludwig

Stephen P. MacMillan

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Michael F. Mahoney

David J. Roux

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John E. Sununu

Ellen M. Zane

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS THAT YOU VOTE
"FOR" THE ELECTION OF ALL TEN OF THESE NOMINEES FOR DIRECTOR.

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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

To guide the operation and direction of the Board and its committees, our Board has established our Corporate Governance Guidelines, charters for its standing committees and our Code of Conduct to reflect our commitment to good corporate governance and to comply with Delaware law, the rules and listing standards of the NYSE, the rules and regulations of the SEC and other legal requirements. These materials are available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com. These materials are also available in print free of charge to stockholders, upon written request to Boston Scientific Corporation, Investor Relations, 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752.

Our Board believes that good corporate governance is fundamental to the overall success of our business. To that end, our Board evaluates our corporate governance practices in light of applicable changes in Delaware law, the rules and listing standards of the NYSE, the rules and regulations of the SEC and the rules and regulations under the Code, as well as best practices suggested by recognized governance authorities, and makes modifications to our corporate governance practices that it determines are warranted.

Under the NYSE's Corporate Governance Standards, a majority of the Board must qualify as independent directors. However, our Corporate Governance Guidelines require that a significant majority of the Board qualify as independent directors. The NYSE Corporate Governance Standards define specific relationships that disqualify directors from being independent and further require that for a director to qualify as independent, the Board must affirmatively determine that the director has no material relationship with our Company (either directly or as a partner, stockholder or officer of an organization that has a relationship with our Company).

In making determinations regarding independence, the Board applies the NYSE standards and broadly considers all relevant facts and circumstances known to it. In addition, in making independence determinations with respect to directors who will serve on the Compensation Committee, the Board considers all factors specifically relevant to determining whether a director has a relationship with our Company that is material to that director's ability to be independent from management in connection with the duties of a Compensation Committee member, including, but not limited to: (i) the source of compensation of such director, including any consulting, advisory or other compensatory fee paid by our Company to such director and (ii) whether such director is affiliated with our Company, a subsidiary of our Company or an affiliate of a subsidiary of our Company — as required by the NYSE independence standards for compensation committee members.

The Board has determined that the following directors are independent under the independence standards set forth in the NYSE Corporate Governance Standards: Nelda J. Connors, Charles J. Dockendorff, Donna A. James, Kristina M. Johnson, Edward J. Ludwig, Stephen P. MacMillan, Ernest Mario, N.J. Nicholas, Jr., Pete M. Nicholas, David J. Roux, John E. Sununu and Ellen M. Zane.

The Board monitors its compliance with NYSE requirements for director independence on an ongoing basis, including through an annual review of director questionnaires and consideration of transactions and relationships between each director or any member of his or her immediate family and the Company as well as other relevant facts and circumstances. The Board and the Nominating and

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Governance Committee considered the directors' responses to a questionnaire asking about their relationships with the Company (and their immediate family members' relationships with the Company) and other potential conflicts of interest, as well as material provided by management related to transactions, relationships, or arrangements between the Company and the directors or parties related to the directors. The Board made its determination as to whether any relationship between a director and our Company is a material relationship based on the facts and circumstances of the relationship, the amounts involved in the relationship, the director's interest in such relationship, if any, and such other factors as the Board, in its judgment, deemed appropriate.

In making its determinations regarding independence, the Board and the Nominating and Governance Committee approved an arrangement between the Company and Mr. Pete M. Nicholas with respect to the provision of office space to him in accord with his founder's benefits. This relationship was determined by the Board not to affect Mr. Pete M. Nicholas' independence. For additional information regarding the arrangement between the Company and Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, please see the "Related Party Transactions" section below.

The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for determining the appropriate skills and characteristics required of new Board members in the context of the current make-up of the Board. In so doing, the Nominating and Governance Committee considers, with input from the Board, those factors it deems appropriate, such as independence, experience, strength of character, judgment, technical skills, diversity, years of experience and the extent to which the individual would fill a present need on the Board. The aim is to assemble a Board that is strong in its collective knowledge and that consists of individuals who bring a variety of complementary attributes and who, taken together, have the appropriate skills and experience to oversee the Company's business. The Nominating and Governance Committee considers diversity as one of a number of factors in identifying nominees for director. It does not, however, have a formal policy in this regard. The Nominating and Governance Committee views diversity broadly to include diversity of experience, skills and viewpoint as well as traditional diversity concepts such as ethnicity and gender.

Director nominees must, at a minimum, meet the general criteria outlined in our Corporate Governance Guidelines. Generally, directors should be individuals who have succeeded in their particular field and who demonstrate integrity, reliability, knowledge of corporate affairs and an ability to work well with others, and should also satisfy at least one of the following criteria:

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demonstrated management ability at senior levels in successful organizations;



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current or recent employment in positions of significant responsibility and decision making;



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expertise in leading rapidly growing multi-national organizations; or



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current and prior experience related to anticipated board and committee responsibilities in other areas of importance to our Company.

The Nominating and Governance Committee receives suggestions for new directors from a number of sources, including Board members and our Chief Executive Officer. It also may, in its discretion, employ a third-party search firm to assist in identifying candidates for director.

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The Nominating and Governance Committee will also consider recommendations for Board membership submitted by our stockholders and other sources in accordance with the advance notice provisions of our By-Laws. The qualifications of candidates recommended by stockholders will be reviewed and considered by the Nominating and Governance Committee with the same degree of care and consideration as candidates for nomination to the Board submitted by Board members and our Chief Executive Officer.

The full Board is responsible for final approval of new director candidates, as well as the nomination of existing directors for reelection. With respect to existing directors, prior to making its recommendation to the full Board, the Nominating and Governance Committee, in consultation with the Chairman of the Board, reviews each director's continuation on the Board as a regular part of the annual nominating process.

Under the advance notice provisions of our By-Laws, director nominations and proposals to bring any other business before the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders by our stockholders must be received by our Secretary at our principal executive offices on or before November 22, 2016. Director nominations by our stockholders must also satisfy the other procedures set forth in the advance notice provisions of our By-Laws. Should you wish to submit a director recommendation or nomination, have it addressed to our Secretary at Boston Scientific Corporation, 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752.

We maintain a Code of Conduct, which has been approved by our Board, to ensure that our directors, employees, and officers, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, understand the basic principles that govern our corporate conduct. The Code of Conduct is available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com. A stockholder may request a copy of the Code of Conduct by contacting our Secretary at Boston Scientific Corporation, 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752. Any waivers or substantive amendments of the Code of Conduct will be disclosed on our website at www.bostonscientific.com.

Pursuant to our Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Nominating and Governance Committee reports to the full Board periodically on succession planning for our Chief Executive Officer (and other executive officers, as appropriate). Our Chief Executive Officer discusses with the Board and the Nominating and Governance Committee at least once per year, his recommendations and evaluations of potential successors to his position, including in the event of an unexpected emergency, and reviews development plans, if any, recommended for such individuals.

Our current Corporate Governance Guidelines require that the offices of Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Board be held by separate individuals, and that the Chairperson of the Board not be an executive of the Company. Our Chairman of the Board is Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, our co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer. Our Chief Executive Officer is Mr. Mahoney.

Throughout 2015, our Board of Directors reassessed the leadership structure of the Board. Our Board believes that it is important that it retain flexibility to make the determination as to whether the

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interests of the Company and our stockholders are best served by having the same individual serve as both Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board or whether the roles should be separated based on the circumstances at any given time. As such, in February 2016, the Board revised our Corporate Governance Guidelines, effective following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, to provide this flexibility. Under the amended Corporate Governance Guidelines, the Board will appoint a Lead Independent Director when the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board roles are combined or if the Chairman is not otherwise independent. The Lead Independent Director will preside over meetings of our non-management directors, serve as liaison between our Chairman and the independent directors, work with the Chairman to establish agendas for Board and committee meetings, raise issues with management on behalf of the independent directors, consult with committee leadership, and carry out other duties as requested by the Board.

In connection with the retirement of our current Chairman, Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, effective following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, our Board has decided that our Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mahoney, will assume the role of Chairman of the Board. Further, the Board has appointed Mr. Ludwig to serve as Lead Independent Director, immediately following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting. Our Board believes that this leadership structure, coupled with a commitment to Board independence, provides effective independent oversight of management, while fostering a constructive and cooperative relationship between the Board and management and allowing both the Board and management to benefit from Mr. Mahoney's day-to-day familiarity with our business operations.

Our Board oversees an enterprise-wide approach to risk management, designed to support the achievement of our strategic and organizational objectives, to improve long-term organizational performance and to enhance stockholder value. A fundamental part of risk oversight is to understand the individual risks our Company faces, the steps management is taking to manage those risks, including the framework used by management for the coordinated oversight, control, and continuous improvement of processes used to manage risk, and to assess management's appetite for risk. It is management's responsibility to manage risk and bring to the Board's attention material risks facing our Company. Our Board receives regular reports from management on matters relating to strategic and operational initiatives, financial performance and legal developments, which are each integrated with enterprise-risk exposures. The involvement of the full Board in approving our strategic plan is a key part of its assessment of the risks inherent in our corporate strategy.

While the Board has the ultimate responsibility for risk oversight, each committee of the Board also oversees risk to the extent that it relates to the committee's responsibilities, as outlined below:

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The Audit Committee focuses on financial risk, including internal controls, legal and regulatory risks, as well as compliance risks of a financial nature, including those related to federal healthcare programs and healthcare providers, and receives an annual risk assessment report from our internal auditors. It also assists the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibility with respect to compliance risks of a non-financial nature, including those related to federal healthcare programs and healthcare providers, and regulatory, quality and product safety issues that affect us. The Audit Committee receives an annual risk assessment from our global compliance group. The Compliance and Quality Committee had this oversight over compliance risks of a non-financial nature during 2015. As noted below, effective January 1, 2016, our Board reassigned the responsibilities of the Compliance and Quality Committee to the Audit Committee and the full Board of Directors.

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The Finance Committee focuses on risk exposure and risk management strategies associated with our strategic initiatives, current and potential investments, as well as cash, debt and equity management and our ongoing ability to access capital markets. In addition, the Finance Committee consults with the Audit Committee, as necessary, to share information pertinent to the Audit Committee's consideration and oversight of the Company's risk and risk management programs and policies.



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The Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee evaluates and sets compensation programs that encourage decision-making predicated upon a level of risk consistent with our business strategy. The Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee also reviews compensation and benefit plans affecting employees in addition to those applicable to executive officers.



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The Nominating and Governance Committee oversees governance and succession risk, including Board and Chief Executive Officer succession, and evaluates director skills and qualifications to ensure the appropriate appointment of particular directors to our standing committees based upon the needs of that committee. Each committee makes reports in its respective area of responsibility to the Board at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting immediately following the committee meeting. Such reports may identify current risks impacting each committee's areas of responsibility to the extent such risks were addressed at the earlier meeting.

As previously discussed, following our Annual Meeting, the offices of Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson of the Board will be held by one individual, and an independent director will serve as Lead Independent Director. Given its role in the risk oversight, our Board believes that any leadership structure that it adopts must allow it to effectively oversee the management of the risks relating to our operations. Although there are different leadership structures that could allow our Board to effectively oversee the management of such risks, and while our Board believes this leadership structure will enable it to effectively manage such risks, it was one factor among many considered by our Board in selecting this leadership structure over other potential alternatives. For a discussion of the reasons why our Board has determined that its leadership structure is appropriate, please see the "Board Leadership Structure" above.

Stockholders and other interested parties who wish to communicate directly with any member of our Board, or our non-management directors as a group, may do so by writing to the Board of Directors or Non-Management Directors, Boston Scientific Corporation, c/o General Counsel, 300 Boston Scientific Way, Marlborough, Massachusetts 01752 or by contacting the Board via email at BSCboardofdirectors@bsci.com or non-management directors via email at non-managementdirectors@bsci.com. The Board has authorized the office of our General Counsel to review and organize, but not screen, communications from stockholders and other interested parties and deliver them to the Board or non-management directors, as applicable. We do screen commercial solicitations for appropriateness.

Without the approval of the Nominating and Governance Committee, no director may sit on more than four public company boards (including our Board) and our Chief Executive Officer may not sit on more than one public company board (in addition to our Board). No member of the Audit Committee may

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serve on the audit committee of more than three public companies, including our Company. All of our Board members have complied with these limitations or procedures.

Our Board has adopted a written related party transaction policy to monitor transactions, arrangements or relationships in which the Company and any of the following have an interest: (i) any person who is or was (since the beginning of fiscal year 2015, even if they do not presently serve in that role) an executive officer or director or director nominee; (ii) any person who is a director emeritus; (iii) any person or entity who holds more than a 5% beneficial ownership of our common stock; (iv) any immediate family member of any of the foregoing; or (v) any entity in which any of the foregoing persons is employed or is a general partner or principal or acts in any similar position in which such person or persons collectively have a 10% or greater beneficial ownership interest. The policy covers any related party transaction that meets the minimum threshold for disclosure under relevant SEC rules (generally, transactions involving amounts exceeding $120,000 in which a related person has a direct or indirect material interest).

Related party transaction oversight is the responsibility of our Nominating and Governance Committee. Our General Counsel is responsible for identifying any potential related party transactions and, if he determines that an existing or proposed transaction constitutes a related party transaction under the policy, he will provide relevant details and an analysis of the related party transaction to the Nominating and Governance Committee. The General Counsel provides an annual summary to the Nominating and Governance Committee of all transactions or relationships which he considered under this policy, including those that he determined do not constitute a related party transaction. If the General Counsel has an interest in a potential related party transaction, he will provide all relevant information to the Chairperson of the Nominating and Governance Committee who will provide the information to the other members of such Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee reviews relevant information concerning any existing or proposed transaction contemplated by the Company with an entity that is the subject of a disclosed relationship, and approves or rejects the transaction, with or without conditions or additional protections for the Company. Our related party transactions policy can be found in our Corporate Governance Guidelines available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com.

In December 2013, following approval by the Nominating and Governance Committee, the Company entered into an arrangement with Mr. Pete M. Nicholas to provide office space in accordance with his founders' benefits to assist him in the performance of his duties as Chairman and other services provided to the Company. This office space is provided to Mr. Pete M. Nicholas at a monthly invoiced amount of $3,750 (for a total of $45,000 per year), subject to renewal annually at the same rate, and to reimburse up to $50,000 in aggregate amount of documented renovation expenses, including for the installation of secure telephone- and data-lines and/or such other protections required by the Company.

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MEETINGS AND BOARD COMMITTEES

The Board met five times in fiscal year 2015. In 2015, each incumbent director attended at least 75% of the aggregate of (1) the total number of meetings of our Board of Directors (held during the period for which he or she has been a director) and (2) the total number of meetings of all committees of our Board of Directors on which the director served (during the periods that he or she served).

Directors who qualify as independent directors within the meaning of the NYSE Corporate Governance Standards meet in executive sessions without management at every regularly scheduled Board meeting and at such other times as they deem appropriate. Our independent directors meet in executive session at least once annually. In 2015, our independent directors met in executive session without non-independent directors five times. The Chairman of the Board, if independent, or the Lead Independent Director, if the Chairman of the Board is not independent, will preside at executive sessions of independent directors. In his absence, the Chairperson of the Nominating and Governance Committee presides at these executive sessions, and, in his absence, the Chairperson of the Audit Committee presides.

Directors are expected to prepare for and use reasonable efforts to participate in all Board meetings and meetings of the committees on which they serve. The Board and each committee will meet as frequently as necessary to properly discharge their responsibilities, provided that the full Board will meet at least four times per year. Generally, the Board meets in February, May, July, and November. In addition, directors are expected to use reasonable efforts to attend Annual Meetings of Stockholders. At our 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, all of our directors at the time of such meeting were in attendance.

Our Board has standing Audit, Executive Compensation and Human Resources, Nominating and Governance, and Finance Committees. All of the members of the Audit Committee, Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee, and Nominating and Governance Committee meet the applicable independence requirements of the NYSE and the SEC. Our Board also establishes special committees from time to time to address specific issues or discrete matters as the need arises.

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As of March 1, 2016, our committee membership was as follows:

Following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, we expect that our committee membership will be as follows:

Our Audit Committee met eleven times during fiscal year 2015, including one joint meeting with the Compliance and Quality Committee of the Board. For additional discussion of our Compliance and Quality Committee, please see the "Compliance & Quality Committee" section below. Our Audit Committee is comprised of Messrs. Ludwig and Dockendorff and Dr. Mario, each of whom meet the independence requirements of the NYSE and the SEC. The Board has also determined that each of

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Messrs. Ludwig, Dockendorff and Sununu and Dr. Mario is an "audit committee financial expert" as that term is defined in the rules and regulations of the SEC.

The Audit Committee is governed by a written charter approved by our Board, which is subject to review on an annual basis. As outlined in its written charter (which is available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com), the primary purpose of the Audit Committee is to provide oversight of our accounting and financial reporting processes and audits of our financial statements, as well as of our global compliance program, including matters related to compliance with financial, legal and regulatory requirements. The Audit Committee primarily provides assistance to our Board in the areas of corporate accounting, internal control, independent audit and reporting practices, and maintains, by way of regularly scheduled meetings, a direct line of communication among our directors, management, our internal auditors and our independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee appoints our independent registered public accounting firm, evaluates its qualifications, independence and performance, and reviews its reports and other services. In addition, the Audit Committee pre-approves audit, audit-related and non-audit services performed for us by our independent registered public accounting firm and has the right to terminate our independent registered public accounting firm. The Audit Committee also assists the Board in its oversight of financial, legal and regulatory compliance including financial reporting, internal controls and financial risk exposure to the Company resulting from legal and regulatory compliance matters, and all other areas of compliance. The Audit Committee Report can be found on page 110 of this Proxy Statement.

Our Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee (the "Compensation Committee") met five times during fiscal year 2015. The Compensation Committee is, and has been during 2015, comprised exclusively of "independent directors," as defined by the NYSE, including under the heightened independence standards applicable to compensation committee members, "non-employee directors" within the meaning of Rule 16b-3 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act), and "outside directors" within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code.

As outlined in its written charter (which is available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com), the Compensation Committee has the authority, among other things, to:

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set the corporate goals and objectives relative to the Chief Executive Officer's compensation and evaluate the Chief Executive Officer's performance against those goals and objectives;



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determine and approve our Chief Executive Officer's compensation;



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review, oversee and determine (or make recommendations to the Board regarding) the total compensation package for our other executive officers;



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review and make recommendations to the Board regarding all new employment, consulting, retirement, severance and change in control agreements, indemnification agreements and other arrangements proposed for our executive officers and periodically review and evaluate these arrangements for continuing appropriateness;

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•

review and make recommendations to the Board regarding the compensation of our non-employee directors;



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adopt and periodically review a comprehensive statement of executive compensation philosophy, strategy and principles; and



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review and discuss with management how the Company's compensation policies and programs for all of its employees may create incentives that can affect risk and the management of that risk, as well as whether the Company's compensation programs are appropriately aligned with the Company's risk management.

The Compensation Committee may delegate its authority and duties to subcommittees or individual members of the Compensation Committee, as it deems appropriate in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The Compensation Committee has delegated authority to our Chief Executive Officer to make equity grants to new hires who are not executive officers within predetermined guidelines. These grants are reviewed with the Compensation Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting.

Pursuant to its charter, the Compensation Committee has sole authority to retain or obtain advice from any compensation consultant, legal counsel or other advisor, as the Compensation Committee deems appropriate to assist the Committee in the performance of its duties, including the sole authority to approve the compensation and other terms and conditions of retention. Prior to any such retention, the Compensation Committee considers any factors relevant to such consultant's, legal counsel's or advisor's independence from management, including the factors specified in the NYSE Corporate Governance Standards or other listing rules, to evaluate whether the services to be performed will raise any conflict of interest or compromise the independence of such consultant, legal counsel or advisor. In May 2015, the Compensation Committee renewed the engagement of the independent compensation consultant Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. (Cook & Co.) to provide advisory services, including a market perspective on executive and director compensation matters. During 2015, Cook & Co. provided the following compensation services to the Compensation Committee:

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reviewed and recommended the peer group of companies used in evaluating executive and director compensation;



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provided information and commentary on executive and director compensation trends as they related to our current compensation programs;



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collected and analyzed market data on director and executive compensation;



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reviewed and provided commentary and recommendations on our executive and director compensation arrangements in comparison to market; and



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reviewed and provided commentary on developments regarding proxy disclosures and management proposals concerning executive pay.

For additional information regarding the services provided by Cook & Co., please see the Compensation Discussion & Analysis section.

In 2015, Cook & Co. and its affiliates did not provide additional services to the Company other than at the request of the Compensation Committee. After review and consultation with Cook & Co., the Compensation Committee determined that Cook & Co. is independent, and there is no conflict of interest resulting from retaining Cook & Co. currently or during the year ended December 31, 2015. In

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reaching these conclusions, the Compensation Committee considered the factors set forth in the SEC rules and the NYSE listing standards.

In accordance with its annual review of its compensation consultant engagement, the Compensation Committee will evaluate the engagement of Cook & Co. in May 2016.

The Compensation Committee Report can be found on page 67 of this Proxy Statement.

The Nominating and Governance Committee met five times during fiscal year 2015. The Nominating and Governance Committee is comprised exclusively of non-employee directors, all of whom meet the independence requirements of the NYSE.

As outlined in its written charter (which is available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com), the Nominating and Governance Committee has responsibility for recommending nominees for election and re-election to the Board, ensuring that Board nominees are qualified and consistent with our needs, monitoring significant developments in the law and practice of corporate governance for directors of public companies, recommending Board committee assignments, reviewing and recommending Board policies and procedures, reviewing political contributions made by the Company, monitoring compliance with our stock ownership guidelines and with our related party transactions and board service policies, and overseeing the Board and each committee of the Board in their annual performance self-evaluations. In addition, the Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for recommending to the Board candidates for Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer and for reviewing and assessing a succession plan for the Chief Executive Officer. For additional information on the nomination process conducted by the Nominating and Governance Committee and our policies regarding stockholder nominations of directors, please see the Corporate Governance section titled "Director Nomination Process."

The Nominating and Governance Committee is responsible for reviewing with the Board, on an annual basis, the current size, structure and composition of the Board as a whole, and whether the Company is being well served by the current directors taking into account the following: the directors' degree of independence; business background, including any areas of particular expertise, such as accounting or related financial management expertise, marketing or technology; record of service (for incumbent directors), including attendance record; meeting preparation; overall contribution to the Board; employment status; gender; ethnicity; age; availability for service to us; and our anticipated needs.

The Finance Committee met five times during fiscal year 2015. The primary role of the Finance Committee is to provide a forum within the Board to review our overall financing plans and long-term strategic objectives, as well as our shorter-term acquisition and investment strategies and how these shorter-term activities fit within our overall business objectives. As outlined in its written charter (which is available under "Corporate Governance" in the "Investor Relations" section of our website at www.bostonscientific.com), the Finance Committee is charged with providing Board oversight of the financial management of the Company, approving strategic transactions for which the Board has delegated authority, making recommendations to the Board regarding larger transactions, and evaluating our financial strategies and policies. The Finance Committee has responsibility to review periodically with management our strategic business objectives and the manner in which transactional activity can contribute to the achievement of those objectives, and to review with management on a

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regular basis contemplated strategic opportunities. The Finance Committee conducts periodic reviews of completed transactions for the purposes of assessing the degree of success achieved, testing the extent to which the projections and other assumptions relied upon in approving past transactions have borne out, identifying the factors differentiating more successful transactions from less successful ones and evaluating the strategic contributions resulting from these transactions. The Finance Committee is further charged with conducting periodic reviews of our cash investments and cash management policies, debt ratings and global financing objectives and strategies, including the review and approval of certain borrowing arrangements, capital expenditures and dispositions, and activities that may impact our capital structure.

The Compliance and Quality Committee met six times during fiscal year 2015, including one joint meeting with the Audit Committee. After the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, Mr. Sununu and Ms. Connors served on this committee, with Mr. Sununu serving as chair. During 2015, the primary role of the Compliance and Quality Committee was to oversee and evaluate our global compliance programs and practices and our quality compliance and quality assurance systems and initiatives. Effective January 1, 2016, our Board reassigned the responsibilities of the Compliance and Quality Committee to the Audit Committee and the full Board of Directors.

The members of our Compensation Committee during 2015 were Messrs. Bruce Byrnes (who retired from our Board at our 2015 Annual Meeting), Ludwig, and MacMillan, Drs. Johnson and Mario and Ms. James. None of these Compensation Committee members is or has ever been an officer or employee of our Company. During 2015, no member of the Compensation Committee had a relationship that must be described under the SEC rules relating to disclosure of related person transactions. In 2015, none of our executive officers served on the board of directors or compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) of any entity that had one or more of its executive officers serving on the Board or the Compensation Committee of the Company.

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DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

The Compensation Committee evaluates the appropriate level and form of compensation for non-employee directors at least annually and recommends changes to our Board when appropriate. Non-employee directors receive a combination of cash and equity compensation for their service on our Board. To determine the appropriate level of compensation for 2015, the Compensation Committee relied on the consulting services of Cook & Co., as well as publicly available data describing director compensation in our peer group companies. The Compensation Committee also took into consideration the significant amount of time and dedication required by our directors to fulfill their duties on our Board and Board committees as well as the need to continue to attract highly qualified candidates to serve on our Board. Our director compensation is as follows:

Non-Employee Directors

2015 Compensation

In 2015, we compensated our non-employee directors (other than the Chairman of the Board) as described below:

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an annual cash retainer of $90,000;



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an annual grant of equity with a value of $185,000 (increased from $175,000 effective as of the beginning of the 2015 Board term, which commenced at the 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders); and



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an annual cash fee of $20,000 for the chair of each of our Board committees.

The equity granted to our non-employee directors may be granted in one of three forms, as discussed in greater detail below, and vest on the date of the annual meeting of stockholders immediately following the date of grant, subject to the director's continuation of service during such term. The grants are also subject to the terms and conditions of our Long-Term Incentive Plans. The annual equity grants are made on the date of each annual meeting of stockholders. If a non-employee director is appointed to the Board on a date other than the annual meeting of stockholders, however, an equity grant in an amount equal to the then-current non-employee director annual award, prorated for the time period from the effective date of the appointment to the next annual meeting of stockholders, is made on the first trading day of the month following the month in which the new director was appointed to the Board. Such awards made to new non-employee directors become free from restriction upon the expiration of the new director's current term of office on the date of the annual meeting of stockholders immediately following the date of grant, subject to the director's continuation of service during such term. Additionally, if a non-employee director is appointed to the Board on a date other than the annual meeting of stockholders, the annual cash retainer for such director will be prorated for the time period from the effective date of the appointment to the next annual meeting of stockholders.

Cash Compensation

Each non-employee director receives his or her cash retainers and fees, payable on a quarterly basis. Each non-employee director, however, may elect to convert all or a portion of his or her cash

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compensation into one or more of three equity alternatives, each to vest on the date of the annual meeting of stockholders immediately following the date of grant, subject to the director's continuation of service during such term: (i) restricted stock valued based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant; (ii) stock options valued based on a Black Scholes valuation on the date of grant and exercisable for up to one year after a director's separation from Board Service; and/or (iii) deferred stock units, valued based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant (with shares of our common stock to be issued only after a director's separation from Board service in accordance with the Boston Scientific Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plan, as amended and restated effective, January 1, 2014 (the 2014 Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plan)). Each non-employee director may also choose to defer receipt of all or a portion of his or her annual cash compensation under the 2014 Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plan, as described further below.

Equity Compensation

Each non-employee director may elect to receive their annual equity award as one or more of the following three equity compensation alternatives, each to vest on the date of the annual meeting of stockholders immediately following the date of grant, subject to the director's continuation of service during such term: (i) restricted stock valued based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant; (ii) stock options valued based on a Black Scholes valuation on the date of grant and exercisable until the earlier of ten years from the date of grant or one year after a director's separation from Board service; and/or (iii) deferred stock units valued based on the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant (with shares of our common stock to be issued only after a director's separation from Board service in accordance with the 2014 Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plan).

Employee Directors

Directors who are also employees of the Company receive no additional compensation for serving on the Board or its committees.

Chairman of the Board

Our Chairman of the Board receives an annual cash retainer of $210,000 and, in 2015, an annual grant of equity with a value of $185,000. With respect to his annual cash retainer, Mr. Pete M. Nicholas is entitled to elect to convert it into, and, with respect to his annual equity compensation he is entitled to elect to receive, one or more of the three equity alternatives described under the section titled "Non-Employee Directors" above. Mr. Pete M. Nicholas also receives certain benefits under his founders' retirement arrangements, including continued medical coverage under our benefit policies, so long as he remains a director or director emeritus of our Company. For additional information, please see the section titled "Founders' Benefits" below and the "Director Compensation" table and related footnotes.

Director Emeritus

Under our Corporate Governance Guidelines, each of our co-founders is eligible, at the Board's discretion, to become a director emeritus of the Company. In connection with his retirement from the Board in 2011, Mr. Abele agreed to serve as director emeritus at the request of the Board. Mr. Abele does not receive any compensation for his role as director emeritus. However, Mr. Abele receives certain benefits under his founders' retirement arrangements, including continued medical coverage under our benefit policies, for as long as he remains a director or director emeritus of our Company.

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For additional information regarding Mr. Abele's founders' benefits, please see the section titled "Founders' Benefits" below.

Other Payments and Benefits

We pay or reimburse our directors for transportation, hotel, meals and other incidental expenses incurred in connection with their performance of services for us, including attending Board and committee meetings and participating in director education programs. Our corporate aircraft is made available to our directors for travel to and from our Board meetings, as well as for certain other Company business travel. We also extend directors' and officers' indemnity insurance coverage to each of our directors.

Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plans

Each non-employee director may, by written election, defer receipt of all or a portion of the annual cash retainer, annual cash committee chair fees and equity compensation under our 2014 Non-Employee Director Deferred Compensation Plan. Cash amounts deferred can be invested in deemed investment options in which we credit the amount deferred plus any earnings from the chosen investment options investment options under the plan are generally the same as those offered under the Company's 401(k) plan through Vanguard, except that, among other things, directors may not elect to invest in the BSC Stock Fund. Deferred cash amounts are payable, at the non-employee director's written election, in either a lump-sum or in annual installments after a director's separation from Board service or in a lump-sum on an earlier fixed date (each in accordance with the plan).

Director Stock Ownership Guidelines

Non-employee directors are required to hold a significant personal investment in the Company through their ownership of shares of our common stock. Our director stock ownership guidelines provide that each non-employee director should own shares with a value equal to at least five times (increased from three times effective January 1, 2016) the director annual cash retainer (currently $90,000) within five years of his or her joining the Board. For purposes of satisfying this obligation, stock units and stock or stock unit deferrals under a Company deferred compensation plan may be included in the aggregate number of the shares held by a director. We believe the stock ownership requirements for our non-employee directors align the interests of our directors with the long-term interests of our stockholders. All of our non-employee directors either currently meet our director stock ownership guidelines or we expect that they will meet the guidelines within five years of becoming a director. The Nominating and Governance Committee monitors compliance with these guidelines on an annual basis. For information regarding the stock ownership guidelines applicable to our Chief Executive Officer, please see the Compensation Discussion & Analysis section titled "Executive Stock Ownership Guidelines."

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The table below summarizes the compensation we paid to our non-employee directors for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015.

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In May 2005, Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, our co-founder and Chairman of the Board, and Mr. Abele, our co-founder and director emeritus, retired as employees of the Company. In connection with their retirement, the Board approved the following arrangements for Messrs. Pete M. Nicholas and Abele in May 2005:

•

Mr. Pete M. Nicholas receives $225,000 on an annualized basis for life, and medical coverage under our benefit policies for as long as he remains a director or "director emeritus," and continued provision of an office space and secretarial and administrative support to assist him in the performance of his duties as Chairman and other services he provides to the Company. During 2015, Mr. Pete M. Nicholas continued to have secretarial and administrative support to assist him in the performance of the services he provides to the Company. In December 2013, the Company entered into an arrangement with Mr. Pete M. Nicholas to provide office space in accordance with his founders' benefits to assist him in the performance of his duties as Chairman and other services provided to the Company. For additional information regarding the arrangement between the Company and Mr. Pete M. Nicholas, please see the "Related Party Transactions" section above. Mr. Pete M. Nicholas also receives transportation services on an as-needed basis.



•

Mr. Abele receives $150,000 on an annualized basis for life, and medical coverage under our benefit policies for as long as he remains a director or "director emeritus," and continued provision of an office space and secretarial and administrative support to assist him in the performance of the services he provides to the Company, as may be required.

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EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

As of March 1, 2016, our executive officers were as follows:

For Michael F. Mahoney, please see his biography in Proposal 1: Election of Directors.

Kevin J. Ballinger has been our Senior Vice President and President, Interventional Cardiology since January 2013 and was our President, Interventional Cardiology from July 2011 to January 2013. In his current role, Mr. Ballinger is responsible for developing and bringing to market innovative solutions that diagnose and treat coronary artery disease and cardiac valve disorders. Mr. Ballinger has more than 20 years of interventional cardiology experience. Prior to serving as our President, Interventional Cardiology, he held a variety of engineering and general management positions within our Interventional Cardiology business unit, including Vice President and General Manager, Group Program Management Cardiology, Rhythm and Vascular from January 2010 to July 2011; Vice President of Research and Development, Peripheral Interventions from September 2008 to January 2010; and Vice President of Program Management, Cardiovascular from September 2006 to September 2008. Mr. Ballinger earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Supratim Bose is our Executive Vice President and President, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, a position he has held since January 2013. Mr. Bose joined Boston Scientific in December 2011 as our Executive Vice President and President, Asia-Pacific and served in that role until he also assumed

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responsibility for the Company's Middle East and Africa units. Before joining Boston Scientific, Mr. Bose was Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Singapore-based Bose Consulting Group, which specialized in strategic management consulting services for the healthcare industry, from January 2010 to December 2011. He previously worked for nearly thirty years at Johnson & Johnson where he concluded his tenure as Company Group Chairman of its Medical Devices and Diagnostics business in 2009. Mr. Bose joined Johnson & Johnson Ltd. India in 1981, and held a variety of management positions of increasing responsibility. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry/Physics, a M.S. in Biophysics and a Masters in Management Studies from the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute for Management Studies at the University of Bombay. He has served as a member of the board of directors at Quattro Vascular Pte. Ltd. and Trireme Medical, and as a member of the advisory board at Singapore Management University's Lee Kong Chian School of Business. He served as a member of the board of directors of CareFusion Corporation, a role that he held from May 2014 until that company's acquisition by Becton, Dickinson and Company in March 2015.

Daniel J. Brennan is our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, a position he has held since January 2014. In this role, he is responsible for several Company functions, including Global Controllership, Global Internal Audit, Corporate Finance, Treasury, Corporate Tax, Investor Relations, and Corporate Business Development. Prior to that, he was the Company's Senior Vice President and Corporate Controller, a role he served in since January of 2010. Since joining Boston Scientific in December 1996, Mr. Brennan held roles with increased responsibilities. For 2009, Mr. Brennan served as Vice President and Assistant Corporate Controller and from 2001 through 2008, he served as Vice President of Finance and Information Technology for Worldwide Financial & Strategic Planning (2008), Investor Relations (2006-2007), International Finance (2005-2006) and the Cardiovascular Division (2001-2005). In 1999, Mr. Brennan became Group Controller of the Non-Vascular Division after previously serving as Controller of the Meditech Vascular Division. He holds a B.S. degree in Finance and Investments and an M.B.A from Babson College. Mr. Brennan is also a certified public accountant.

Wendy Carruthers has been our Senior Vice President, Human Resources since December 2012 and served as the head of Human Resources on an interim basis from August 2012 to November 2012. In her current role, Ms. Carruthers oversees the Company's human resources activities globally, including Human Resources operations and services, total rewards, talent management, and diversity and inclusion. Prior to her current role, she served as our Vice President of Global Talent Management from January 2011 to November 2012, responsible for all aspects of global talent management including the design, development and implementation of global processes and systems to enable managers to identify, attract, leverage and develop people. Ms. Carruthers has been with Boston Scientific since 2004 and was previously Vice President of Human Resources for our Europe, Middle East and Africa region, based in Paris, from June 2007 to December 2010; our Vice President of Human Resources for Europe from January 2006 to June 2007; and our Director of Human Resources for Europe from March 2004 to December 2005. Prior to joining us, Ms. Carruthers was Vice President of Human Resources, Europe for global telecommunications company Cable & Wireless. She also previously worked in human resources for Diageo, a food and beverage company, and Tesco, a U.K. supermarket chain. Ms. Carruthers holds a B.A. First Class Honors Degree in Modern Languages from the University of Salford and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Keith D. Dawkins, M.D. has been our Executive Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer since January 2012. Prior to that, he was Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of our Cardiology, Rhythm and Vascular Group. From 2008 until May 2010, he was our Senior Vice President and Associate Chief Medical Officer of our Cardiovascular business. Prior to joining Boston Scientific in 2008, Dr. Dawkins was a practicing interventional cardiologist for more than 20 years in England. He has earned a series of clinical, research and academic distinctions, including a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at Stanford University as a Fulbright Scholar. He served as President of the British

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Cardiovascular Intervention Society, and held numerous appointments on hospital, regional and national committees, including the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. He has been an author on more than 750 academic publications and presentations on a variety of cardiac topics. Dr. Dawkins was educated at London University and Guys Hospital, earning a First Class Honors degree in Pathology. He trained in cardiology at Oxford and at the Brompton & St. George's Hospital in London.

Joseph M. Fitzgerald has been our Executive Vice President and President, Rhythm Management since February 2014, having previously served as Senior Vice President and President, Cardiac Rhythm Management from July 2011. He served as Senior Vice President and President, Endovascular from February 2010 until July 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Fitzgerald was President and General Manager of our Peripheral Interventions business from June 2008 to February 2010 and President of Electrophysiology business from 2005 to 2008. Previously, he held a variety of management positions in our Neurovascular and Peripheral Interventions businesses. These included numerous regional and divisional sales management assignments up to and including his roles as Vice President, Global Marketing for the Neurovascular business from January 2001 to July 2005 and Vice President of U.S. Sales for the Neurovascular business from 1997 to January 2001. Prior to joining Boston Scientific in 1990 as a sales representative, Mr. Fitzgerald was with Anheuser Busch, Inc., where he held a variety of sales, marketing and training assignments. Mr. Fitzgerald holds a B.S. in Business from Indiana University and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University with a concentration in Marketing and Finance.

Edward F. Mackey has been our Executive Vice President, Operations since February 2015. Prior to joining Boston Scientific, Mr. Mackey was Worldwide President of DePuy Synthes Power Tools, a division of Johnson & Johnson from November 2012 to January 2015, and Vice President of Integration for Johnson & Johnson's acquisition of Synthes from June 2010 to November 2012. Early in his career, Mr. Mackey held management positions in Operations, Quality and Product Development at Raytheon's Mille Systems division. In 1995, he moved to Johnson & Johnson Orthopaedics as a plant manager and progressed through a series of manufacturing and supply chain leadership roles, becoming Worldwide Vice President of Supply Chain and Manufacturing for DePuy in 2007, a position he held until 2010. Mr. Mackey holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.B.A from the University of Massachusetts.

Jeffrey B. Mirviss has been our Senior Vice President and President, Peripheral Interventions since January 2013 and was our President, Peripheral Interventions from July 2011 to January 2013. Mr. Mirviss has more than 26 years of experience in medical device and pharmaceutical general management, marketing and sales. Since joining us in 1997, Mr. Mirviss also served as our Vice President, Group Global Marketing, CRV from July 2009 to July 2011 and Vice President, Global Cardiology Marketing from December 2004 to July 2009. In addition to his positions at Boston Scientific, Mr. Mirviss has worked for companies ranging in size from a pre-revenue venture-backed medical device startup to Dow 30 companies. He holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.

Maulik Nanavaty became our Senior Vice President and President, Neuromodulation in September 2011. Prior to his current role, Mr. Nanavaty was President of Boston Scientific Japan from December 2007 until September 2011. From January 2007 through November 2007, he served as Vice President and General Manager, Interventional Cardiology of Boston Scientific Japan. Mr. Nanavaty joined our Company in 2005 as Vice President, Corporate Strategy of Boston Scientific Japan and served in that capacity through December 2006. Prior to joining our Company, Mr. Nanavaty spent 16 years working in various executive positions at Baxter International, Inc. and Baxter Japan. Mr. Nanavaty is a member

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of the board of directors for the California Health Institute. Mr. Nanavaty earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

Michael P. Phalen has been our Executive Vice President and President, MedSurg since January 2012. Prior to his current role, he served as Executive Vice President and President, International from January 2011. Mr. Phalen served as Senior Vice President and President of our Endoscopy business from 2010 to 2011 and Vice President and President of Endoscopy from 2001 to 2010. Mr. Phalen joined us in 1988 and has held a variety of management positions at the Company. Prior to becoming President of the Endoscopy business, he was Vice President, Business Unit Manager for Endoscopic Surgery and Vice President of Global Marketing for Endoscopy. Prior to these appointments, Mr. Phalen held positions as Director of Marketing, Group Product Manager, Regional Sales Manager, Product Manager and Territory Manager. Before joining us, he held management positions with MD Technology, Kendall Healthcare and Pennwalt Pharmaceuticals. He earned a B.S. in General Science from Villanova University and an M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

David A. Pierce has served as our Senior Vice President and President, Endoscopy since January 2011. Prior to his current role, Mr. Pierce served as Vice President, Marketing for the Company's Endoscopy Division from April 2006 until January 2011. From December 2004 until March 2006, Mr. Pierce was the Group Marketing Director in the Company's Endoscopy Division. He joined our Company in 1991 as a Territory Manager before assuming management-level positions of increasing responsibility. Before joining our Company, Mr. Pierce worked as a Senior Sales Representative for Airborne Express and served as a Captain in the United States Army. He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Norwich University and an M.B.A. from Boston University.

Karen Prange is our Senior Vice President and President, Urology and Pelvic Health, a position she has held since June 2012. Prior to her career with Boston Scientific, Ms. Prange spent 17 years with Johnson & Johnson in various medical device businesses, including as Vice President and General Manager, Micrus Endovascular LLC and Codman Neurovascular from September 2010 to June 2012; Vice President and General Manager, Codman Neurovascular from August 2008 to September 2010; and Vice President, Global Marketing for Codman from June 2006 to July 2008. Ms. Prange holds a B.S. in Business Administration with honors from the University of Florida.

Timothy A. Pratt is our Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer, General Counsel and Secretary, a position he has held since February 2010. He is responsible for the worldwide management of our Legal functions, Global Compliance, Global Security, Government Affairs, Enterprise Strategy and Marketing, Health Economics and Reimbursement, Corporate Communications, and Aviation Services. Mr. Pratt joined Boston Scientific in May 2008 as our Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. Previously, Mr. Pratt worked for the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon. He joined the firm in 1977 and became partner in 1981. He concentrated his practice in the defense of pharmaceutical and medical device litigation and toxic tort cases. Mr. Pratt recently served as a director on the boards of the Lawyers for Civil Justice and DRI — The Voice of the Defense Bar, and is currently serving on the board of the New England Legal Foundation. He is also active in the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, where he has served as President and Chairman of the board. Mr. Pratt has served as a member of the board of directors and executive committee of AdvaMed. Mr. Pratt earned a B.A. degree at Tarkio College and graduated Order of the Coif from Drake University Law School, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Drake Law Review. After graduating, Mr. Pratt was law clerk to Judge Floyd R. Gibson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.

John Bradley Sorenson is our Senior Vice President, Manufacturing and Supply Chain, a position he has held since November 2014. In this role, he is responsible for the global manufacturing and distribution of our products. Mr. Sorenson has more than 16 years of medical device manufacturing

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experience. Prior to his current role, he held a variety of Operations positions at Boston Scientific, supporting the Cardiac Rhythm Management, Neuromodulation, Interventional Cardiology, Peripheral Interventions and Structural Heart businesses. For six years prior to his current appointment, he served as Multi-Site Vice President, Operations. Before joining Boston Scientific, he was president and COO of QRS Diagnostic and held manufacturing management positions at Federal Cartridge. Mr. Sorenson earned a B.A. in Economics from Gustavus Adolphus College and an M.B.A. from the University of Minnesota.

Eric Thépaut is our Senior Vice President and President, Europe, a position he has held since January 2015. Prior to his current role, Mr. Thépaut was Vice President Interventional Cardiology & Structural Heart, Europe, a position he held since 2012. He joined Boston Scientific Europe, in 1996, as a business finance manager and earned roles of increasing responsibility in marketing and finance, becoming Vice President, Finance, Europe, from 2002 to 2005, General Manager and Vice President, France, from 2005 to 2008, and General Manager and Vice President of the France Group, comprised of France, Benelux and Middle East North Africa, from 2009 to 2011. Before coming to Boston Scientific, Mr. Thépaut held management positions in treasury operations and auditing at Nestlé and financial planning & analysis at Apple Computer. Mr. Thépaut earned his M.B.A. at Paris Dauphine University.

Under applicable SEC rules, we are required to disclose certain compensation and other information regarding our Chief Executive Officer, our Chief Financial Officer, and our three other most highly-compensated executive officers (referred to as our named executive officers or NEOs). Our named executive officers for the year ended December 31, 2015, are:

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CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP MATTERS

Set forth below are stockholders known by us to be the beneficial owner of more than 5% of our common stock as of March 1, 2016. As of March 1, 2016, there were 1,354,033,627 shares of our common stock outstanding.

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The following table shows, as of March 1, 2016, the amount of our common stock beneficially owned by:

•

our directors and director nominees;



•

our executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table; and



•

all of our directors and executive officers as a group.

"Beneficial ownership" includes those shares of our common stock the reporting person has the power to vote or transfer, stock options that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days, and deferred stock units that will vest within 60 days. Unless otherwise indicated, the persons named below have sole voting and investment power over the shares listed.

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Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act requires our directors, executive officers and persons beneficially holding more than 10% of our common stock to file reports of their ownership of our common stock and any changes in that ownership with the SEC. Specific due dates for these reports have been established and we are required to report any failure to file by these dates during fiscal year 2015. To our knowledge, all of these filing requirements were timely satisfied by our directors, executive officers and 10% stockholders except that on March 10, 2016, a Form 4 was filed on behalf of N.J. Nicholas, Jr. reporting a distribution from a trust that took place in August 2014. In making these statements, we have relied upon the written representations of our directors and executive officers and copies of reports that have been filed with the SEC.

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COMPENSATION DISCUSSION & ANALYSIS

This discussion and analysis describes material elements of our 2015 compensation program for our NEOs.

Company Strategic Imperatives and Select Business Results Linked to 2015 Executive Compensation

During 2015, we continued to focus on the five strategic imperatives we launched in 2013 to help drive innovation, accelerate profitable revenue growth and increase stockholder value:

•

Strengthen execution to grow share in our served markets.



•

Expand into high growth adjacencies that complement our core businesses.



•

Drive global expansion, including in emerging markets.



•

Fund the journey to fuel growth through optimization and cost reduction initiatives and a re-allocation of spending to support growth initiatives.



•

Develop key capabilities to enable delivery of economic- and customer-focused products and solutions aligned with marketplace needs.

With respect to our performance in 2015 relative to the financial performance metrics used in our short- and long-term incentive programs, we:

•

Generated GAAP (as defined below) net sales of $7.477 billion and net sales on a constant currency basis excluding sales from a significant acquired business (SFX net sales) of $7.910 billion.



•

Reported a GAAP net loss per share of $(0.18) and generated adjusted net income per share (adjusted EPS) of $0.93.



•

Generated GAAP cash flow from operating activities of $600 million and adjusted free cash flow of $1.331 billion.

SFX net sales, adjusted EPS and adjusted free cash flow are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (GAAP). For a reconciliation of these financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures and insight into how these non-GAAP measures are considered by management, please see Annex A.

Pay for Performance

Our executive compensation philosophy is to provide appropriate competitive compensation opportunities to our executives with actual pay outcomes heavily influenced by achievement of Company and individual performance targets in support of our business strategy and creation of long-term stockholder value.

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CEO's Realizable Total Direct Compensation Aligns with Company Performance

The following chart shows the value of the primary elements of total direct compensation (TDC), consisting of base salary and annual short- and long- term incentives, for our Chief Executive Officer in 2015 (i) at "target" opportunity as considered by our Compensation Committee; (ii) as disclosed in our Summary Compensation Table; and (iii) as "realizable" at December 31, 2015. These values were calculated using the 2015 base salary, annual equity incentives, and Annual Bonus Plan award amounts for our Chief Executive Officer as set forth in the footnotes to the chart below.

---

Amounts in the "Target" column consist of the following:

•

the annual equity awards granted on February 23, 2015, with (a) stock options valued using the Black-Scholes valuation model described in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table" and (b) service-based deferred stock units (DSUs) and performance-based DSUs valued at target (the number of units and target units awarded multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant);



•

the target 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award; and



•

the annual base salary approved in February 2015.

Amounts in the "Summary Compensation Table" column consist of the following:

•

the annual equity awards granted on February 23, 2015, with the value of each award determined in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification (FASB ASC) Topic 718, as described in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table";



•

the actual 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award; and



•

the annual base salary earned in 2015.

Amounts in the "Realizable" column consist of the following:

•

the annual equity awards granted on February 23, 2015, with (a) stock options valued at their intrinsic value (number of options awarded multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015 less the exercise price of such options), (b) service-based DSUs valued using the number of units awarded multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015, (c) Total Shareholder Return (TSR) performance-based DSUs valued at maximum due to the Company's TSR rank being 1^st out of 51 in 2015 (the maximum number of units multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015), and (d) the free cash flow (FCF) performance-based DSUs valued using 108.8% of the target FCF performance-based DSUs (the actual percentage of target units earned under the program) multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015;



•

the actual 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award; and



•

the annual base salary earned in 2015.

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The significant difference in value of the long-term incentive compensation portion of our Chief Executive Officer's TDC reflected in the "Realizable" column of the chart above relative to the values reflected in the "Target" and "Summary Compensation Table" columns is primarily due to:

•

The increase in the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015 ($18.44) compared to the closing price of our common stock on February 23, 2015 ($16.31), the date of grant for the 2015 annual equity awards;



•

the 2015 TSR performance-based DSUs being valued at 200% of target as a result of the Company's TSR performance in 2015 relative to that of the other companies in the S&P 500 Healthcare Index, i.e., being ranked 1^st out of 51 for the 2015 performance period; and



•

the 2015 FCF performance-based DSUs being valued at 108.8% of target as a result of the Company's FCF performance in 2015.

We believe that our CEO's "Realizable" TDC in light of the Company's strong stock price increase and TSR and FCF performance during 2015 demonstrates the alignment of our CEO's pay with Company performance and the long-term interests of our stockholders.

A Significant Portion of our NEOs' 2015 Target TDC is At-Risk, Performance-Based Compensation

Our Compensation Committee ties a significant portion of the primary elements of our executives' target TDC to at-risk, performance-based incentive opportunities. For 2015, 84% of the target value of the primary elements of TDC for our NEOs as a group (including our CEO) consisted of at-risk, performance-based incentive compensation, which was comprised of the following:

•

15% Short-Term Cash Incentive Awards, with:



Ø

Funding of the Total Bonus Pool tied to Company performance measured against adjusted EPS and SFX net sales performance targets.



Ø

Allocation of the Total Bonus Pool, as funded, based on business and functional performance measured against their respective financial and/or operational performance targets.



Ø

Actual payout adjusted based on each individual's performance.



•

69% Long-Term Equity Incentive Awards, with mix of opportunity comprised of:



Ø

25% Company performance-based deferred stock units (DSUs), a percentage of which is earned based on the total shareholder return (TSR) of our common stock relative to that of the other companies in the S&P 500 Healthcare Index over a three-year performance period.



Ø

25% performance-based DSUs, a percentage of which is earned based on our adjusted free cash flow (FCF) measured against our target performance over a one-year performance period and subject to service-based vesting over a three-year period (inclusive of the performance period).



Ø

25% stock options, with ultimate value tied to the performance of our stock price.



Ø

25% service-based DSUs, with ultimate value tied to the performance of our stock price.

The percentages above were calculated using the 2015 base salary, target equity values and target Annual Bonus Plan award amounts for our NEOs set forth in the footnote to the charts below. The percentages exclude the new hire equity incentive award granted to Mr. Mackey in March 2015

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pursuant to his offer letter. The new hire equity incentive award was primarily intended to incentivize Mr. Mackey to become our Executive Vice President, Operations, taking into consideration the value of the unvested equity that he relinquished by leaving his position with his prior employer. The allocation of the target value of the primary elements of TDC for our Chief Executive Officer and for our other NEOs as a group in 2015 was as follows:

We believe our emphasis on at-risk, performance-based incentive compensation — consisting of our Annual Bonus Plan awards and long- term equity awards — aligns our executives with our business strategy and the short- and long-term interests of our stockholders, providing "pay for performance" and putting a significant portion of our executives' pay "at risk."

Executive Compensation Program Best Practices

Our Compensation Committee believes that a strong foundation for our compensation program is necessary to execute our executive compensation philosophy effectively. The following key aspects of executive compensation best practices serve as the foundation for our compensation program:

ü

Use a mix of short- and long-term incentive compensation, with an emphasis on long-term compensation.



ü

Use a mix of fixed and variable compensation, with an emphasis on variable, at-risk performance-based compensation.



ü

Require a "double-trigger" (both a change in control and termination without cause or for good reason) for cash payments and accelerated vesting of equity awards where the surviving or acquiring entity substitutes or assumes outstanding equity awards.



ü

Do not provide income tax gross-ups (except on relocation benefits).

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ü

Do not provide any excise tax gross-ups on severance or other payments in the event of a change in control.



ü

Maintain stock ownership guidelines for our executives and directors.



ü

Have a policy for the recovery, commonly referred to as a "claw-back," of all or a portion of certain incentive compensation awards under certain circumstances.



ü

Use internal pay equity analysis.



ü

Use peer group company comparative analysis.



ü

Engage an independent compensation consultant reporting directly to the Compensation Committee.



ü

Perform risk assessment of incentive compensation policies and programs.



ü

Do not pay dividend equivalents paid on unvested performance-based DSUs or service-based DSUs.



ü

Do not permit repricing of underwater stock options without stockholder approval.



ü

Prohibit pledging or hedging of the economic value of our common stock by our executives and directors¹.

At our 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, we asked our stockholders to vote, on an advisory basis, on the 2014 compensation of our then named executive officers as disclosed in our 2015 Proxy Statement, commonly referred to as a "say-on-pay" advisory vote. Our stockholders approved the compensation of our then-named executive officers with approximately 98% of the votes cast voting in favor of the proposal. In connection with its review of our compensation program against our executive compensation philosophy and business objectives, our Compensation Committee took into consideration the modifications it had already made in prior years to our compensation programs in support of our executive compensation philosophy and best practices, the results of the say-on-pay advisory vote, as well as feedback the Company received on the matter from its stockholders in prior years. As a result, our Compensation Committee concluded that it would retain our compensation program's emphasis on at-risk, performance-based incentive compensation.

Executive Compensation Philosophy and Objectives

Our executive compensation philosophy is to provide appropriate competitive compensation opportunities to our executives with actual pay outcomes heavily influenced by achievement of Company, business and individual performance targets/objectives in support of our business strategy and creation of long- term stockholder value. The core objectives of our compensation program are to:

•

Attract, retain, and engage top talent.



•

Reinforce our culture of quality.

   

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¹ Hedging and pledging arrangements of any of our directors that were in existence prior to January 1, 2011 are exempt from the policy.

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•

Align management's interests with the long-term interests of our stockholders.



•

Incentivize achievement of key Company, business and individual targets/objectives to support our business strategy.



•

Appropriately manage compensation risk in light of our business strategy.

Our Compensation Committee evaluates executive compensation best practices and makes modifications to our compensation program that it determines are appropriate to support our executive compensation philosophy.

Competitive Market Analysis

Our Compensation Committee considers executive compensation comparative data of our peer group companies in order to facilitate an understanding of trends and comparative practices in executive compensation generally, as well as with respect to the specific levels and mix of target compensation opportunities provided to our executives and program design in the market within which we compete for top talent. The companies in our peer group (i) are in two Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) Industry Groups, which include companies generally focused on a comparable industry (customer base and product offerings) such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology & life sciences and healthcare equipment & services companies, and (ii) generally have a comparable size (0.5x to 2x) in relation to one or both of our revenue and market capitalization. Additional characteristics of our peer group companies may include being listed in three or more of our comparable companies' peer groups and being in our GICS Sub-Industry (healthcare equipment).

Our Compensation Committee reviews the composition and appropriateness of our peer group companies for executive compensation comparative purposes annually. Following a review in February 2015, our Compensation Committee made no changes to our 2014 peer group companies for 2015 executive compensation comparative purposes. Our 2015 peer group companies are listed below. At the time of review, our revenue for 2014 was within a reasonable range of the median revenue of our peer group companies for the prior four quarters and our market capitalization as of December 31, 2014 was within a reasonable range of the median market capitalization of our peer group companies.

For 2015, general industry survey data was also used for executive compensation comparative purposes for positions where sufficient peer group proxy data was not available. When making its determinations, the Compensation Committee was not aware of the constituent companies used in the general industry survey.

In July 2015, our Compensation Committee reviewed the composition and appropriateness of our peer group companies for future executive compensation comparative purposes and removed from our peer group Allergan, Inc., CareFusion Corp. and Covidien Ltd., which were acquired by other companies. As a result of the reduction in the peer group, to ensure the statistical reliability of the market data, our Compensation Committee added to our peer group Abbott Laboratories, Mylan, Inc., Quest Diagnostics Incorporated and Varian Medical Systems, Inc.

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Internal Pay Equity and Other Considerations

Our Compensation Committee considers the primary elements of each executive's TDC opportunity compared to that of our other executives as well as the economic and retentive value of prior equity awards received by our executives in determining their current and future compensation.

Risk Considerations

Our Compensation Committee considers whether our executive compensation program is appropriately aligned with business risk by examining the potential effects that elements of our executive compensation program may have on such business risk. This includes, among other things, the mix of fixed and variable compensation; the mix of short- and long-term compensation; the mix of long-term equity incentives; mix of performance metrics, weighting, measurement, and payout timing; discretion and caps on short-term incentives; award size, vesting schedules and performance and other terms of long-term equity incentives; and other incentive opportunities and their features. Our Compensation Committee also considers mitigating design elements, including among other things, our recovery of incentive compensation awards policy and other recovery and forfeiture provisions relating to incentive compensation awards and other benefits, executive stock ownership guidelines, and hedging/pledging prohibition. For more details on these policies and guidelines, please see "Recovery of Incentive Compensation Awards Policy and Provisions," "Executive Stock Ownership Guidelines" and "Prohibition on Pledging and Hedging the Economic Value of our Common Stock." For more information about our assessment of compensation policies and practices as they relate to our risk management, please see "Risk Assessment of our Compensation Programs."

Performance Considerations

We utilize a performance, development and coaching (PDC) process to help guide individual development and performance discussions and assess annual performance. With respect to each of our executives that report directly to him, our Chief Executive Officer undertakes his or her annual PDC reviews, assesses his or her performance results and makes related compensation recommendations to our Compensation Committee for its consideration. Our Compensation Committee reviews our Chief Executive Officer's performance objectives and oversees the evaluation of our Chief Executive Officer's performance in relation to those objectives. For 2015, the overall performance of our executives, including our NEOs, was rated on a 3-point scale designed to support a culture of high performance and accountability with clear expectations. This scale consisted of "outstanding," "successful" and "improvement required." These performance achievement indicators, among the other considerations reviewed in this discussion and analysis, influence our executives' base salaries, the individual component of their Annual Bonus Plan awards and, as an indication of future performance potential, their long-term equity incentive awards.

Chief Executive Officer and Compensation Committee Judgment

The application of Chief Executive Officer and Compensation Committee judgment is an important factor in setting and determining executive pay. We do not employ a purely formulaic approach to our executive compensation program. Target market guidelines and individual target TDC, financial and operational targets, individual performance objectives and funding formulae are established in advance; however, other Company and individual performance and other considerations (such as budgets, costs to the Company, our quality objectives, changes in executive roles or responsibilities and current economic conditions) may also be taken into account. For example, while the funding formula tied to Company-level financial performance targets are set in advance under our Annual Bonus Plan, our Compensation Committee is able to reduce the Total Bonus Pool funding percentage (to not less

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than 50% of the target) based on its assessment of the Company's progress toward achievement of our quality objectives.

Participants in the Compensation Process

Our Compensation Committee bears principal responsibility for, among other things, structuring our executive compensation program and making individual executive compensation determinations. To help facilitate informed determinations with respect to its responsibilities, our Compensation Committee engages an independent compensation consultant, Frederic W. Cook & Co. (Cook & Co.), which serves at the direction and under the supervision of our Compensation Committee. For further information about our Compensation Committee and its composition, processes and responsibilities and about the services provided by Cook & Co., please see the Meetings and Board Committees section titled "Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee." Cook & Co. and certain members of management support our Compensation Committee with respect to the following, among other things:

Primary Elements of Total Direct Compensation

We compensate our executives primarily through total direct compensation, namely in the form of base salary and short- and long-term incentives (the primary elements of TDC). Our primary elements of TDC are heavily weighted towards variable, at-risk performance-based elements, which is reflected in the charts under the section above titled "A Significant Portion of our NEOs' 2015 Target TDC is At-Risk, Performance-Based Compensation." For 2015, only 16% of the target value of the primary elements of TDC for our NEOs as a group (including our CEO) consisted of fixed compensation in the form of base salary, while variable, at-risk performance-based compensation accounted for the remaining 84% of the primary elements of TDC. These percentages were calculated using the 2015 base salary, target equity values and target Annual Bonus Plan award amounts for our NEOs set forth in the footnotes to the charts under the section titled "A Significant Portion of our NEOs' 2015 Target TDC is At-Risk, Performance-Based Compensation."

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The key features and objectives of the primary elements of our NEOs' 2015 TDC are summarized in the table below.

While our Compensation Committee considers the median market position relative to our peer group companies for comparable positions, individual target opportunities may vary based on our Compensation Committee's consideration of other factors, including those discussed under "How We Determine Executive Compensation." The target value of the primary elements of the TDC for our NEOs as a group for 2015 was below the market median. The primary elements of NEO TDC for 2015 is discussed below and reported in the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table" under the Salary, Stock Awards, Option Awards and Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation columns.

Base Salary

In setting base salaries for our executives, our Compensation Committee generally considers their market position relative to our peer group companies' executives with comparable positions and scope of responsibilities, our annual merit-increase budget, our performance for the prior year, the executive's experience and scope of responsibilities, internal pay equity relative to other executives and the executive's performance evaluation under the prior year's PDC process.

2015 NEO Base Salaries

In determining the 2015 base salaries of our NEOs (other than our Chief Executive Officer and Executive Vice President, Operations), our Compensation Committee also considered the recommendations of our Chief Executive Officer in light of the general factors discussed above, including their overall performance ratings for the prior year  — with Messrs. Fitzgerald and Pratt successfully meeting the high expectations of each of them for 2014 and Mr. Brennan delivering outstanding performance for 2014. In addition, the increase in Mr. Brennan's base salary was intended

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to move his base salary closer to the median market position for chief financial officers of our peer group companies. In determining the 2015 base salary of Mr. Mahoney, our Compensation Committee considered the general factors discussed above, including his overall performance successfully meeting the high expectations of him for 2014 as our President and Chief Executive Officer.

The 2015 base salaries (rounded to the nearest thousand) of our NEOs (other than Mr. Mackey) as well as the percentage increase from their 2014 base salaries are set forth below:

Executive Vice President, Operations Base Salary

Edward F. Mackey.    Our Board appointed Mr. Mackey as our Executive Vice President — Operations effective February 2, 2015 with a base salary of $450,000 pursuant to his offer letter. In setting Mr. Mackey's 2015 salary, our Compensation Committee considered the recommendation of our Chief Executive Officer, internal pay equity relative to our other executives and Mr. Mackey's experience and compensation package with his previous employer. For a discussion of the terms of Mr. Mackey's offer letter see "Elements of 2015 Executive Compensation — Other Awards — Offer Letter for Edward F. Mackey."

Short-Term Incentives

Our Compensation Committee annually reviews the design of our Annual Bonus Plan to help ensure that the program continues to support our executive compensation philosophy and core compensation program objectives. In finalizing the design for 2015, our Compensation Committee retained the provisions of our 2014 Annual Bonus Plan, which was designed to reinforce the concept of "pay for performance," align our short-term incentives with important financial and operational measures and the long-term interests of our stockholders, and to incentivize and reward individual performance.

Total Bonus Pool Funded Based on Company Performance

Under the 2015 Annual Bonus Plan, a single Company-wide Total Bonus Pool is funded by the Company's performance measured against important Company-level financial performance metric targets, thereby reinforcing the importance of the Company's performance as a whole (which reflects the performance of our regions, businesses and functions). For 2015, our Compensation Committee:

•

Selected adjusted EPS and SFX net sales as our Company-level financial performance metrics, which measures were used to set important Company financial and operational performance goals for the year.



•

Set Company performance level targets for those metrics at $0.88 and $7.779 billion, respectively.

For a description of how we calculate these non-GAAP financial measures as well as a reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures and insight into how these non-GAAP measures are considered by management, please see the Executive Compensation section titled

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"Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table — 2015 Annual Bonus Plan" and Annex A, respectively.

In February 2015, our Compensation Committee approved the Total Bonus Pool funding scale for the Company's 2015 performance measured against our 2015 Company-level performance metric targets for adjusted EPS and SFX net sales set forth in the table below. Each metric has a 50% weighting.

However, in order to reinforce the importance of "top line" growth to the Company, Total Bonus Pool funding is capped at 90% in the event that the Company's SFX net sales are below 97% of target. In addition, our Compensation Committee has the discretion to decrease the Total Bonus Pool funding percentage (to not less than 50% of the target) based on its assessment of the Company's performance relative to our quality objectives. For 2015, our quality objectives related to our quality culture, training, audits, reporting, compliance environment, and quality systems operations. Our Compensation Committee considers quality objectives to be appropriate in emphasizing our commitment to continually improving and sustaining our quality systems, our quality compliance and product performance, thereby enhancing stockholder value.

For 2015, based on our adjusted EPS of $0.93 per share and SFX net sales of $7.910 billion, we achieved 105.6% of the target level for adjusted EPS (in the range of 105% to 110%+ of target, which correlates to a bonus range of 130% to 150%) and 101.7% of the target level for SFX net sales (in the range of 97% to <103% of target, which correlates to a bonus range of 90% to 110%). Accordingly, the funding range for our 2015 Total Bonus Pool was between 110% and 130%. In accordance with the terms of the plan and after taking into consideration the Company's overall 2015 financial performance and performance against quality objectives, our Chief Executive Officer recommended, and our Compensation Committee approved, funding the 2015 Total Bonus Pool at 130%.

Funded Total Bonus Pool Allocated to Participating Units

Under the 2015 Annual Bonus Plan, the Total Bonus Pool, as funded, is allocated by the Compensation Committee to each participating regional, business, and functional unit taking into consideration our Chief Executive Officer's recommendations in light of that participating unit's performance measured against its operational and/or financial performance metric targets (and other factors the Compensation Committee deems appropriate), thereby incentivizing and rewarding each participating unit's performance contributions. Our NEOs received their 2015 Annual Bonus Plan awards from the allocation of the funded Total Bonus Pool to our Rhythm Management unit (Mr. Fitzgerald) and to our corporate function unit (all other NEOs). For 2015:

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Due to Rhythm Management's overall performance measured against SFX net sales, adjusted operating income and constant currency growth compared to market targets coinciding with the business's operating plan for the year, the performance percentage for Rhythm Management was 125%.

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•

Due to the company's overall performance, the performance percentage for the corporate funding unit was 130%, consistent with the 2015 Total Bonus Pool funding.

The Company does not disclose the specific targets for business, regional and functional participating units' performance metrics as they are highly confidential. Disclosing such confidential information would provide competitors and third parties with insight into the Company's internal planning processes that may allow them to predict certain of our business-, region- or function- specific financial or operational strategies, which could cause us competitive harm. Business and regional unit targets related to SFX net sales, adjusted operating income and constant currency growth compared to market are established in support of Company-wide targets such as sales, operating income, earnings per share and growth. These are based on a range of factors, including growth outlooks for our product portfolio, the competitive environment, our internal budgets, external market economic conditions and market expectations. For example, growth rates implicit in targets for any one business or regional unit may be above or below the growth rates targeted for the entire Company, due to faster or slower growth in relevant markets or smaller or larger market shares. These considerations result in business and regional unit targets that are intended to coincide with Company-wide targets in their level of difficulty to achieve and probability for success. Performance targets are set at a level that the Company believes is aggressive enough to inspire top performance but reasonable enough to be achievable through the efficient and diligent execution of their operating plans.

Individual Target Incentive Award Opportunity

Each executive's target incentive award opportunity under the Annual Bonus Plan is expressed as a percentage of his or her annual base salary and is determined based on the scope of the executive's responsibilities. For 2015, our Compensation Committee maintained the target award opportunities for Messrs. Brennan, Fitzgerald and Pratt at their 2014 levels at 70%, 70% and 80%, respectively, of their base salaries and increased the target award opportunity for Mr. Mahoney at 125% of his base salary as compared to 120% for 2014 to more closely align his target award opportunity with the median target award opportunity of CEOs of our peer group. In setting Mr. Mackey's target award opportunity at 60% of his base salary, our Compensation Committee considered the recommendations of our Chief Executive Officer, internal pay equity relative to our other executives and Mr. Mackey's experience and compensation package with his previous employer.

Individual Performance Component

After year end, individual performance is considered pursuant to the PDC process described in the "Performance Considerations" section. Based on the performance assessment rating under our annual PDC process, an individual performance percentage from 0% to 200% is applied as a multiplier to an executive's funded Annual Bonus Plan award to determine the actual amount to be paid. Under our 2015 Annual Bonus Plan, a rating of (i) "outstanding" generally permits an individual performance percentage of at least 115%, (ii) "successful" generally permits an individual performance percentage between 90% and 105%, and (iii) "improvement required" generally permits an individual performance percentage between 0% and 75%.

Our NEOs had certain performance objectives intended to support our strategic imperatives, as applicable to their roles, including (i) with respect to our NEOs who support corporate functions, those aimed at driving Company-level financial performance objectives, and (ii) with respect to Mr. Fitzgerald who supports a business, those aimed at supporting business-level financial and operational performance objectives. The individual performance objectives discussed below do not represent objective performance goals that must be achieved but rather factors that may be considered by the Compensation Committee and our Chief Executive Officer in determining each NEO's individual performance percentage. Further, no single factor is determinative or required to be considered.

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For 2015, Mr. Mahoney's individual performance objectives also included driving regional, business, and functional performance as well as strengthening overall company culture, driving employee engagement and developing our people. Mr. Mahoney's individual performance percentage was 115.2% due primarily to his overall outstanding performance for 2015, with notable performance in accelerating our growth, diversifying our product portfolio, improving margin, delivering at the high end of the 2015 financial objectives shared at Investor Day and driving improved employee engagement. Accordingly, his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was 150% of his target award.

For 2015, Mr. Brennan's individual performance objectives also included driving performance for the functional units over which he has responsibility, including achieving financial goals and cost-savings, as well as objectives aimed at supporting strategic transactions and strengthening relationships with investors and the culture within Finance. Mr. Brennan's individual performance percentage was 115% due primarily to his overall outstanding performance for 2015, with notable performance driving disciplined focus on financial performance, including implementing cost-savings initiatives, executing the financing process to support strategic acquisitions, developing a high-performance culture in the finance organization and continuing to strengthen relationships with investors. Accordingly, his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was 150% of his target award.

For 2015, Mr. Fitzgerald's individual performance objectives also included driving business performance for Rhythm Management, achieving key product milestones, effectively executing product launches and other objectives related to enhancing organizational capabilities. Mr. Fitzgerald's individual performance percentage was 100% due primarily to his overall performance successfully meeting the high expectations of him for 2015, with notable performance driving Rhythm Management's operating income results, enhancing capabilities in the electrophysiology business and executing on the launches and sales strategies for the Watchman™ Left Atrial Appendage Closure device and EMBLEM™ Subcutaneous Implantable Defibrillator System. Accordingly, his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was 125% of his target award.

For 2015, Mr. Mackey's individual performance objectives also included driving performance for the functional units over which he has responsibility, including cost savings and optimization initiatives, as well as objectives aimed at optimizing research and development, advancing globalization, developing people and driving engagement. Mr. Mackey's individual performance percentage was 100% due primarily to his overall performance successfully meeting the high expectations of him for 2015, with notable performance advancing the Company's globalization through the development of a centralized campus in India and finalizing a strategy to add manufacturing capabilities in Asia, achieving cost-savings and strengthening employee engagement. Accordingly, his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was 130% of his target award. In accordance with his offer letter, Mr. Mackey's 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was not prorated.

For 2015, Mr. Pratt's individual performance objectives also included driving performance for the functional units over which he has responsibility, including achieving cost savings and optimization initiatives, improving the structure and efficiency of Legal and Compliance, developing the culture within those functional units, managing and mitigating legal risk, and connecting with customers, government officials and business and regional leaders. Mr. Pratt's individual performance percentage was 100% due primarily to his overall performance successfully meeting the high expectations of him for 2015, with notable performance driving cost reductions, managing litigation risks, leading the advocacy efforts of the government affairs team, providing broad leadership across the Company and improving the structure and efficiency of Legal and Compliance. Accordingly, his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award was 130% of his target award.

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2015 Annual Bonus Plan Awards Paid to Our NEOs

After funding the Total Bonus Pool, the actual amount of an executive's Annual Bonus Plan award is ultimately determined by (i) multiplying the product of the executive's annual base salary for 2015 and his or her target award percentage by the executive's participating unit's performance percentage, and then (ii) multiplying the result of the foregoing by his or her individual performance percentage, as illustrated below:

Details regarding the short-term incentive awards paid to our NEOs under our 2015 Annual Bonus Plan are set forth in the table below.

Long-Term Incentives

Our Compensation Committee annually reviews the design of our Long-Term Incentive Program (LTI Program) to help ensure that the program continues to support our executive compensation philosophy and core compensation program objectives. In setting the design for 2015, our Compensation Committee retained the mix of equity award opportunities for our executives under our prior LTI Program that were designed to further reinforce "pay for performance" and align the interests of our executives and their compensation with important Company financial measures and the long-term interests of our stockholders. The key features and objectives of each type of equity

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vehicle included in the mix of equity awards comprising our NEOs' 2015 long-term equity incentive compensation are summarized in the table below.

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For further discussion of the performance share programs for our Company performance-based DSUs and the equity awards granted pursuant to our Long- Term Incentive Plans (LTIPs) and a description of how we calculate adjusted free cash flow, please see the Executive Compensation sections titled "Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table — 2015 Total Shareholder Return Performance Share Program," "Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table — 2015 Free Cash Flow Performance Share Program" and "Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table — 2011 Long-Term Incentive Plan" and Annex A.

2015 Long-Term Incentive Awards for Our NEOs

In setting long-term incentive award opportunities for our executives, our Compensation Committee generally considers their market position relative to our peer group companies' executives with comparable positions and scope of responsibilities, and their experience and scope of responsibilities.

In determining the 2015 long-term equity incentive award amounts for our NEOs (other than Mr. Mackey), our Compensation Committee also considered the recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer in light of the general factors discussed above, including, as an indication of future performance potential, the executive's performance for the prior year determined under our that year's PDC process. In determining the 2015 long-term equity incentive award amount for Mr. Mackey, who joined our company in February 2015, our Compensation Committee considered the recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer, internal pay equity relative to our other executives and Mr. Mackey's experience and compensation package with his previous employer.

In February 2015, our Compensation Committee approved the grant of long-term equity incentive awards to our NEOs in the following amounts based on the target value of annual equity awards for

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our NEOs considered by the Compensation Committee (see discussion of such target annual equity award values below):

The target value of long-term equity incentive awards for our NEOs considered by our Compensation Committee in February 2015 were as follows: (i) $7.75 million for Mr. Mahoney; (ii) $1.75 million for Mr. Brennan; (iii) $1.35 million for Mr. Fitzgerald; (iv) $0.75 million for Mr. Mackey in accordance with his offer letter; and (v) $1.20 million for Mr. Pratt. The target equity award values were then allocated in accordance with our LTI Program to 25% TSR performance-based DSUs, 25% FCF performance-based DSUs, 25% service-based DSUs and 25% stock options. Both service-based DSUs and Company performance-based DSUs were valued using the number of units and target units awarded multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant and stock options were valued using the Black-Scholes valuation model described in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table."

In addition to the annual 2015 grant above, Mr. Mackey's offer letter provided for a $2,050,000 new hire equity incentive award that was primarily intended to incentivize Mr. Mackey to become our Executive Vice President, Operations, taking into consideration the value of the unvested equity that he relinquished by leaving his position with his prior employer. In accordance with his offer letter, in March 2015, we granted Mr. Mackey a new-hire long-term equity incentive award consisting of 68,106 stock options with an exercise price of $17.06 per share (the closing price on the date of grant) and 96,131 service-based DSUs. The service-based DSUs were valued using the number of units multiplied by the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant and stock options were valued using the Black-Scholes valuation model described in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table." Additional discussion of Mr. Mackey's new-hire long-term equity incentive award is included in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table."

Company Performance-Based DSUs — Results for Performance Periods Ending December 31, 2015

In February 2016, our Compensation Committee determined the number of units earned pursuant to our performance-based DSUs under our 2013 TSR PSP and our 2015 FCF PSP.

Under the 2013 TSR PSP, our TSR performance rank was 1^st relative to that of the other companies in the S&P 500 Healthcare Industry Index over the three-year performance period ending December 31, 2015. Accordingly, our Compensation Committee determined that pursuant to the terms of the

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program, 200% of the target number of TSR performance-based DSUs had been earned. As a result, the following numbers of shares of our common stock were delivered to our NEOs in settlement of the 2013 TSR performance-based DSUs awarded to them: (i) 507,442 shares for Mr. Mahoney; (ii) 27,062 shares for Mr. Brennan, (iii) 60,892 shares for Mr. Fitzgerald, and (iv) 84,572 shares for Mr. Pratt. Mr. Mackey, who joined our company in February 2015, did not participate in the 2013 TSR PSP.

Under the 2015 FCF PSP, our adjusted free cash flow performance percentile over the one-year performance period ending December 31, 2015 was 104.4% relative to target performance. Accordingly, our Compensation Committee determined that pursuant to the terms of the program, 108.8% of the target number of FCF performance-based DSUs had been earned. As a result, and subject to the satisfaction of the service-vesting criteria, the following number of shares of our common stock will be delivered to our NEOs no later than January 15, 2018 in settlement of the 2015 FCF performance-based DSUs awarded to them: (i) 129,246 shares for Mr. Mahoney; (ii) 29,185 shares for Mr. Brennan, (iii) 22,513 shares for Mr. Fitzgerald, (iv) 12,508 shares for Mr. Mackey and (v) 20,012 shares for Mr. Pratt.

Other Awards

Offer Letter for Edward F. Mackey

In December 2014, our Compensation Committee approved, and we entered into, an offer letter with Mr. Mackey that provided for a $450,000 annual base salary, a 2015 Annual Bonus Plan target award percentage of 60%, a 2015 long-term equity incentive award with a grant date fair value of $750,000, a new hire equity incentive award with a grant date fair value of $2,050,000 and a cash sign-on bonus of $200,000, which was not paid because it was payable only if his prior employer did not pay him a bonus for 2014.

Primary Elements of Indirect Executive Compensation

We also compensate our executives, including our NEOs, using indirect compensation, namely in the form of benefits and limited perquisites. Generally, our benefits and perquisites are targeted to be competitive relative to our peer group companies. The primary elements of and objectives for our NEOs' 2015 indirect compensation are summarized below.

General Employee Benefits

We provide employee benefits to eligible employees, including our NEOs, to promote personal health and well-being and to provide certain financial security and protection upon retirement or in the event of death, disability or illness. As U.S.-based employees, our NEOs are eligible to receive employee benefits under our U.S. employee benefits program, which consists of the following key elements that are generally the same as those provided to our other U.S. salaried employees: (i) health and welfare benefits based primarily on a preferred provider model with executives sharing approximately 20% of the cost; (ii) Company-paid term life insurance policies that provide a benefit equal to base salary, with a minimum benefit of $50,000 and a maximum benefit of up to $1 million, payable upon death; and (iii) a qualified 401(k) retirement plan with a Company match of 6% of eligible salary up to $265,000 in 2015 resulting in a maximum possible match of $15,900. In addition, our executive officers may participate in an annual executive level physical examination program that is designed to encourage the proactive management of executive health. In approving the program, the Compensation Committee considered the overall cost of the program (estimated to be less than $10,000 per participant), that more than 60% of our peer group companies offered some form of benefit related to executive level annual physical examinations, and the importance of good health to an executive's

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ability to focus on the short and long-term needs of the Company. Company-paid term life insurance premium amounts (and related imputed income), Company matches of 401(k) plan contributions for our NEOs, Company-paid executive level annual physical examination costs, and certain other reimbursements in 2015 are reported in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table."

Deferred Compensation Programs

We maintain a Deferred Bonus Plan for certain of our management, including our NEOs, in order to provide them with the opportunity to defer up to 75% of their annual award under our Annual Bonus Plan until the earlier of termination of employment or an elected distribution date. In 2015, Mr. Fitzgerald deferred 50% of his 2015 Annual Bonus Plan award, which was paid in 2016, under the Deferred Bonus Plan. For additional discussion of the Deferred Bonus Plan, please see the narrative to the Executive Compensation section titled "Nonqualified Deferred Compensation."

Global Relocation Programs

We provide tiered relocation benefits under our global relocation program to eligible employees, including our NEOs, whom we request to move in connection with their current position or a promotion and for eligible new hires we require to move in connection with accepting a position with us. Our objectives in providing global relocation benefits are to attract and redeploy top talent. We provide "tax gross-ups" on applicable relocation benefits provided under our global relocation program as we believe that this benefit is integral to the Company's ability to attract and retain employees whose skill or knowledge enhance the Company's competitive position. The U.S. executive tier of the program covers reasonable expenses associated with the move and certain relocation services to minimize the inconvenience and cost of moving, including as applicable, lump sum payments for temporary living, home search and miscellaneous expenses; new home search assistance; departure area home sales assistance; reimbursement of duplicative housing costs; moving household goods; reimbursement of final trip expenses to the new area; spousal/partner career assistance; and cost of living allowance for increases of at least eight percent in the cost of living from the previous residence location, paid as taxable income over four years in decreasing percentages. Under our global relocation program, participants are generally required to sign a reimbursement agreement that requires them to pay back expenses incurred by the Company for their relocation in the event that they voluntarily terminate their employment or are terminated for "cause" at a rate of 100% for termination within one year of the date on which payments were first made and 50% for termination following the first year but within two years of the date on which payments were first made.

Personal Use of Aircraft

Pursuant to Mr. Mahoney's offer letter, he is permitted reasonable personal use of our corporate aircraft up to $100,000 per annum in aggregate incremental cost to the Company. Our other executives are permitted limited personal use of our corporate aircraft with prior approval. These executives are personally taxed on their personal use of our corporate aircraft and we do not provide them with income tax gross-up payments. The aggregate incremental cost to the Company (and disallowed tax deductions of the Company) for our NEOs' personal use of our corporate aircraft in 2015 is included in the footnotes to the Executive Compensation section titled "Summary Compensation Table."

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Primary Elements of Post-Employment and Change in Control Arrangements

We provide post-employment and change in control payments and benefits to our executives under certain circumstances. We believe that offering our executives these payments and benefits facilitates the operation of our business, allows them to better focus their time, attention and capabilities on our business, and assists the Company in recruiting and retaining key executives. The primary elements of and objectives for our NEOs' 2015 post- employment and change in control agreements are summarized below.

Executive Retirement Plan

Our executives are eligible to participate in our Executive Retirement Plan. The objective of our Executive Retirement Plan is to provide a clear and consistent approach to managing retirement-eligible executive departures with a standard, mutually understood separation and post-employment relationship. The Executive Retirement Plan provides retiring executives with a lump sum benefit of 2.5 months of salary for each completed year of service, up to a maximum of 36 months' pay. The amount is payable in the first payroll period after the last day of the six-month period following retirement. Receipt of payment is conditioned upon the retiring executive entering into an agreement with the Company that includes a release of claims and customary non-disclosure, non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disparagement clauses in favor of the Company. To be eligible for benefits under the Executive Retirement Plan, an executive's age plus his or her years of service with the Company must total at least 65 years (provided that the executive is at least 55 years old and has been with the Company for at least five years). For further discussion of our Executive Retirement Plan, please see the narrative to the Executive Compensation section titled "Pension Benefits."

Severance Plans

We maintain severance plans for eligible employees, including our NEOs, under which participants are entitled to receive certain severance payments, subsidized COBRA health benefits and dental benefits for specified periods of time based on position level and classification and completed years of service to the Company and to receive outplacement services in the event of certain involuntary terminations. The payment of severance benefits under the plans is subject to the Company's receipt of a release of claims. Executives, including certain of our NEOs, who are eligible to receive payments under our Executive Retirement Plan or a Change in Control Agreement are not eligible to receive payments and benefits under our severance plans. For further discussion of our severance plans, please see the Executive Compensation section titled "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control — Severance Plans."

Change in Control Agreements

We provide Change in Control Agreements to our executives, including our NEOs, and other key employees. The possibility of a change in control and the uncertainty that it may raise among our executives as to their continued employment after or in connection with a change in control may result in their departure or distraction. Our objective in providing Change in Control Agreements is to retain and encourage the continued attention and dedication of our executives during a potentially critical time, even if they fear that their position will be eliminated after or in connection with the change in control. Our Change in Control Agreements require both a change in control and termination without cause or resignation for good reason within two years after the change in control event,

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commonly referred to as a "double-trigger," for cash payments to be made under the agreement and vesting to be accelerated under the agreement for equity awards where the surviving or acquiring entity substitutes or assumes outstanding equity awards. Our Change in Control Agreements include a release of claims as well as customary non-disclosure and non-solicitation clauses in favor of the Company. Executives, including our NEOs, who are eligible to receive payments under our Change in Control Agreements are not eligible to receive payments and benefits under our Executive Retirement Plan or our severance plans. For further discussion of our Change in Control Agreements, please see the Executive Compensation section titled "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control — Change in Control Agreements." Potential payments to our NEOs under our Change in Control Agreements are included in the tables in the Executive Compensation section titled "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control."

For a discussion of our other plans and arrangements under which a change in control and/or termination of employment triggers payments or benefits, please see the Executive Compensation section titled "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control." Potential payments to our NEOs as of December 31, 2015 under such plans or arrangements are included in the tables in the Executive Compensation section titled "Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change in Control."

In February 2007, our Compensation Committee adopted a policy regarding the recovery or adjustment of short-term incentive awards paid to an executive after the policy was adopted in the event relevant Company performance measures are restated in a manner that would have reduced the size of a previously granted award. In such an event, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Company would seek to recover the amount of the short-term incentive award paid to such executive that was in excess of the amount that would have been awarded based on the restated financial results, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the policy. Our Compensation Committee monitors regulatory developments with respect to applicable executive compensation recovery policies required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and it expects to consider such changes to the Company's current recovery policy as are necessary to comply with final rules (and related guidance, if any) to be issued by the SEC in accordance with such act.

In May 2013, our Compensation Committee adopted a policy regarding the recovery of certain short-and long-term incentive compensation awards paid or granted to an executive after the policy was adopted in the event of executive misconduct or gross dereliction of duty that resulted in a material violation of Company policy and caused significant harm to the Company. In such an event, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Company may seek reimbursement of all or a portion of cash incentive compensation awards paid within a certain time period and/or recovery of all or a portion of equity incentive awards granted to such executive over which the Company retains control, subject to and in accordance with the terms of the policy.

For a discussion of other recovery and forfeiture provisions relating to incentive compensation awards and other benefits provided to our executives, please see the section titled "Global Relocation Program" above, and the Executive Compensation sections titled "Pension Benefits" and "Narrative Disclosure to Summary Compensation Table and Grants of Plan-Based Awards Table."

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Our executives are required to have a significant personal investment in the Company through their ownership of shares of our common stock. During 2015, the minimum stock ownership guidelines for executives, including our NEOs, were as follows:

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Chief Executive Officer: 240,000 shares;



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Executive Vice Presidents: 75,000 shares; and



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Senior Vice Presidents: 20,000 shares.

Effective January 1, 2016, our Board set new minimum stock ownership guidelines for executives, including our NEOs, as a number of shares of Company stock equal in value to at least the following amounts:

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Chief Executive Officer: six times annual base salary; and



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All other Executives: three times annual base salary.

Executives are required to comply with the guidelines at all times. However, if at any time an executive's ownership does not meet or exceed the guideline, he or she is expected to retain ownership of at least fifty percent of his or her net share ownership with respect to each vesting of an equity award or stock option exercise until the guideline is met or exceeded. For purposes of satisfying the guidelines, shares owned outright, shares held in company benefit plans and vested "in-the-money" stock options may be included in the aggregate number of shares held by an executive. Unvested equity award shares (including service-based DSUs and performance-based DSUs) and unvested stock options are not included in the aggregate number of shares held by an executive. The Nominating and Governance Committee monitors compliance with these guidelines on an annual basis.

Our executives, including our NEOs and our directors are prohibited from speculating in the Company's securities, engaging in transactions designed to "hedge" the value of our common stock, and pledging their common stock as collateral for a loan. Hedging and pledging arrangements of any directors that were in existence prior to January 1, 2011 are exempt from the policy. Executives and directors appointed after December 31, 2010 must unwind pre-existing hedging or pledging arrangements within nine months of their election or appointment. Pre-existing hedging or pledging arrangements of such executives and directors will be disclosed at the time of their election or appointment in the Company's related Form 8-K.

In 2009, the Company eliminated tax gross-ups for its executives except for relocation benefits, which the Compensation Committee retained because the benefit generally applies to all employees eligible to receive relocation benefits, including our executives, and the Compensation Committee believes it is integral to the Company's ability to attract and redeploy employees whose skill or knowledge enhance the Company's competitive position.

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Under our Equity Award Grant Policy, grants of equity awards to our executives are approved and effective as follows:

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Annual equity awards (if any) for our employees, including our executives, are generally approved by our Compensation Committee at a regularly scheduled meeting. Such awards are effective on the date of approval.



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New hire, promotion, retention and other special or ad hoc awards for our executive officers are generally approved by our Compensation Committee. New hire or promotion awards for executive officers are effective on the first trading day of the month following both the date of hire or promotion and the date approval. Retention and other special or ad hoc awards for our executive officers are effective on the first trading day of the month following approval.



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Stock options are granted with an exercise price equal to the closing price of our common stock on the date of grant.

Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code generally disallows a tax deduction to public companies for compensation over $1 million paid to a company's chief executive officer and the three other most highly compensated executive officers, other than the chief financial officer, employed by the company at the end of the year. Qualifying performance-based compensation is not subject to the deduction limit if certain requirements are met. Although we have plans that are intended to permit the award of deductible compensation under Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code, our Compensation Committee does not necessarily limit executive compensation to the amount deductible thereunder.

The Company accounts for stock-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, which requires the Company to recognize compensation expense for share-based payments (including stock options and other forms of equity compensation). FASB ASC Topic 718 is taken into account by the Compensation Committee in determining to use a portfolio approach to equity grants, awarding both stock options and DSUs.

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RISK ASSESSMENT OF OUR COMPENSATION PROGRAMS

With the assistance of the senior members of our Global Compensation and Benefits organization, certain senior executive officers and the Compensation Committee's independent compensation consultant, Cook & Co., in December 2015 the Compensation Committee reviewed a risk assessment of our compensation programs and policies to determine if the provisions and operations of our programs create undesired or unintentional risk of a material nature.

Our risk assessment included two work streams — one focused on reviewing areas of enterprise risk and the other focused on identifying compensation design risk. Our enterprise risk analysis examined the types and magnitudes of risks our business areas present to the Company. Our compensation design risk analysis examined the potential risks in the design of our performance-based incentive compensation arrangements. As part of this assessment, we analyzed the mix of fixed and variable compensation; the mix of short- and long-term compensation; the mix of long-term equity incentives; performance metric mix, weighting, measurement, and payout timing, discretion and caps on short-term incentives; award size, vesting schedules and performance and other terms of long-term equity incentives; and other incentive opportunities and their features. We also analyzed our recovery of incentive awards policy, executive stock ownership guidelines and hedging and pledging prohibitions. Finally, we evaluated on a combined basis the results of the enterprise and compensation risk assessments, on a business-area- by-business-area basis.

As a result of our analysis, the Compensation Committee believes that our compensation programs do not create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse effect on the Company.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The Executive Compensation and Human Resources Committee of the Board of Directors (the Compensation Committee) of Boston Scientific has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion & Analysis contained in this Proxy Statement with management and, based on such review and discussions, the Compensation Committee has approved the inclusion of the Compensation Discussion & Analysis in this Proxy Statement and in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 for filing with the SEC.

This Compensation Committee Report does not constitute soliciting material and should not be deemed filed or incorporated by reference into any other Boston Scientific filing with the SEC, except to the extent that Boston Scientific specifically incorporates this Report by reference into another Boston Scientific filing.

THE COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

Ernest Mario, Chairman
Donna A. James
Kristina M. Johnson
Edward J. Ludwig
Stephen P. MacMillan

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

The table below summarizes the total compensation for each of our named executive officers for the fiscal years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013. For a narrative description of material factors helpful to understand the information disclosed in the table below for 2015, please see the Compensation Discussion & Analysis and the narrative to this table.

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