Exhibit
10.1
Commercial Paper Dealer Agreement
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[4(2)
Program]
Between:
BlackRock,
Inc., as Issuer and Barclays Capital Inc., as Dealer.
Concerning
Notes to be issued pursuant to an Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement dated as of October 14, 2009 between the Issuer and
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, as Issuing and Paying
Agent
Dated as of
October 14, 2009
Commercial
Paper Dealer Agreement
[4(2)
Program]
This agreement
(as amended, supplemented or otherwise modified and in effect from
time to time, “Agreement”) sets forth the
understandings between the Issuer and the Dealer, each named on the
cover page hereof, in connection with the issuance and sale by the
Issuer of its short-term promissory notes in substantially the form
of Exhibit D hereto (the “Notes”) through the
Dealer.
Certain terms
used in this Agreement are defined in Section 6 hereof.
The Addendum to
this Agreement, and any Annexes or Exhibits described in this
Agreement or such Addendum, are hereby incorporated into this
Agreement and made fully a part hereof.
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Offers,
Sales and Resales of Notes.
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While (i) the
Issuer has and shall have no obligation to sell the Notes to the
Dealer or to permit the Dealer to arrange any sale of the Notes for
the account of the Issuer, and (ii) the Dealer has and shall have
no obligation to purchase the Notes from the Issuer or to arrange
any sale of the Notes for the account of the Issuer, the parties
hereto agree that in any case where the Dealer purchases Notes from
the Issuer, or arranges for the sale of Notes by the Issuer, such
Notes will be purchased or sold by the Dealer in reliance on the
representations, warranties, covenants and agreements of the Issuer
contained herein or made pursuant hereto and on the terms and
conditions and in the manner provided herein.
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So long as this
Agreement shall remain in effect, and in addition to the
limitations contained in Section 1.7 hereof, the Issuer shall not,
without the consent of the Dealer, offer, solicit or accept offers
to purchase, or sell, any Notes except (a) in transactions with one
or more dealers which may from time to time after the date hereof
become dealers with respect to the Notes by executing with the
Issuer one or more agreements which contain provisions
substantially identical to those contained in Section 1 of this
Agreement, of which the Issuer hereby undertakes to provide the
Dealer prompt notice or
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Paper Dealer Agreement 4(2) Program ■
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(b) in
transactions with the other dealers listed on the Addendum hereto,
which are executing agreements with the Issuer which contain
provisions substantially identical to Section 1 of this Agreement
contemporaneously herewith. In no event shall the Issuer offer,
solicit or accept offers to purchase, or sell, any Notes directly
on its own behalf in transactions with persons other than
broker-dealers as specifically permitted in this Section
1.2.
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The Notes shall
be in a minimum denomination of $250,000 or integral multiples of
$1,000 in excess thereof, will bear such interest rates, if
interest bearing, or will be sold at such discount from their face
amounts, as shall be agreed upon by the Dealer and the Issuer,
shall have a maturity not exceeding 397 days from the date of
issuance and may have such terms as are specified in Exhibit C
hereto or the Private Placement Memorandum. The Notes
shall not contain any provision for extension, renewal or automatic
“rollover.”
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The
authentication and issuance of, and payment for, the Notes shall be
effected in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement, and the Notes shall be either individual physical
certificates or book-entry notes evidenced by one or more master
notes (each, a “Master Note”) registered in the name of
The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) or its nominee, in
the form or forms annexed hereto as Exhibit D.
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If the Issuer
and the Dealer shall agree on the terms of the purchase of any Note
by the Dealer or the sale of any Note arranged by the Dealer
(including, but not limited to, agreement with respect to the date
of issue, purchase price, principal amount, maturity and interest
rate or interest rate index and margin (in the case of
interest-bearing Notes) or discount thereof (in the case of Notes
issued on a discount basis), and appropriate compensation for the
Dealer’s services hereunder) pursuant to this Agreement, the
Issuer shall cause such Note to be issued and delivered in
accordance with the terms of the Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement and payment for such Note shall be made by the purchaser
thereof, either directly or through the Dealer, to the Issuing and
Paying Agent, for the account of the Issuer. Except as otherwise
agreed, in the event that the Dealer is acting as an agent and a
purchaser shall either fail to accept delivery of or make payment
for a Note on the date fixed for settlement, the Dealer shall
promptly notify the Issuer, and if the Dealer has theretofore paid
the Issuer for the Note, the Issuer will promptly return such funds
to the Dealer against its return of the Note to the Issuer, in the
case of a certificated Note, and upon notice of such failure in the
case of a book-entry Note. If such failure occurred for any reason
other than default by the Dealer, the Issuer shall reimburse the
Dealer on an equitable basis for the Dealer’s loss of the use
of such funds for the period such funds were credited to the
Issuer’s account.
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The Dealer and
the Issuer hereby establish and agree to observe the following
procedures in connection with offers, sales and subsequent resales
or other transfers of the Notes:
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Offers and
sales of the Notes by or through the Dealer shall be made only to:
(i) investors reasonably believed by the Dealer to be Qualified
Institutional Buyers, Institutional Accredited Investors or
Sophisticated Individual Accredited Investors and (ii) non-bank
fiduciaries or agents that will be purchasing Notes for one or more
accounts, each of which is reasonably believed by the Dealer to be
an Institutional Accredited Investor or Sophisticated Individual
Accredited Investor.
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Resales and
other transfers of the Notes by the holders thereof shall be made
only in accordance with the restrictions in the legend described in
clause (e) below.
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Dealer Agreement 4(2) Program ■
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No general
solicitation or general advertising shall be used in connection
with the offering of the Notes. Without limiting the generality of
the foregoing, without the prior written approval of the Dealer
(which shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), the Issuer
shall not issue any press release or place or publish any
“tombstone” or other advertisement relating to the
Notes.
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No sale of
Notes to any one purchaser shall be for less than $250,000
principal or face amount, and no Note shall be issued in a smaller
principal or face amount. If the purchaser is a non-bank fiduciary
acting on behalf of others, each person for whom such purchaser is
acting must purchase at least $250,000 principal or face amount of
Notes.
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Offers and
sales of the Notes by the Issuer through the Dealer acting as agent
for the Issuer shall be made in accordance with Rule 506 under the
Securities Act, and shall be subject to the restrictions described
in the legend appearing on Exhibit A hereto. A legend substantially
to the effect of such Exhibit A shall appear as part of the Private
Placement Memorandum used in connection with offers and sales of
Notes hereunder, as well as on each individual certificate
representing a Note and each Master Note representing book-entry
Notes offered and sold pursuant to this Agreement.
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The Dealer
shall furnish or shall have furnished to each purchaser of Notes
for which it has acted as the Dealer a copy of the then-current
Private Placement Memorandum unless such purchaser has previously
received a copy of the Private Placement Memorandum as then in
effect. The Private Placement Memorandum shall expressly state that
any person to whom Notes are offered shall have an opportunity to
ask questions of, and receive information from, the Issuer and the
Dealer and shall provide the names, addresses and telephone numbers
of the persons from whom information regarding the Issuer may be
obtained.
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The Issuer
agrees, for the benefit of the Dealer and each of the holders and
prospective purchasers from time to time of the Notes that, if at
any time the Issuer shall not be subject to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Exchange Act, the Issuer will furnish, upon request and at its
expense, to the Dealer and to holders and prospective purchasers of
Notes information required by Rule 144A(d)(4)(i) in compliance with
Rule 144A(d).
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In the event
that any Note offered or to be offered by the Dealer would be
ineligible for resale under Rule 144A, the Issuer shall immediately
notify the Dealer (by telephone, confirmed in writing) of such fact
and shall promptly prepare and deliver to the Dealer an amendment
or supplement to the Private Placement Memorandum describing the
Notes that are ineligible, the reason for such ineligibility and
any other relevant information relating thereto.
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The Issuer
represents that it is not currently issuing commercial paper in the
United States market in reliance upon the exemption provided by
Section 3(a)(3) of the Securities Act. The Issuer agrees that, if
it shall issue commercial paper after the date hereof in reliance
upon such exemption (a) the proceeds from the sale of the Notes
will be segregated from the proceeds of the sale of any such
commercial paper by being placed in a separate account; (b) the
Issuer will institute appropriate corporate procedures to ensure
that the offers and sales of notes issued by the Issuer pursuant to
the Section 3(a)(3) exemption are not integrated with offerings and
sales of Notes hereunder; and (c) the Issuer will comply with each
of the requirements of Section 3(a)(3) of the Securities Act in
selling commercial paper or other short-term debt securities other
than the Notes in the United States.
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The Issuer
hereby represents and warrants to the Dealer, in connection with
offers, sales and resales of Notes by the Issuer, as
follows:
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The Issuer
hereby confirms to the Dealer that (except as permitted by Section
1.6(i)) within the preceding six months neither the Issuer nor any
person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in
Section 1.2 hereof acting on behalf of the Issuer has offered or
sold any Notes, or any substantially similar security of the Issuer
(including, without limitation, medium-term notes issued by the
Issuer), to, or solicited offers to buy any such security from, any
person other than the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in
Section 1.2 hereof. The Issuer also agrees that (except as
permitted by Section 1.6(i)), as long as the Notes are being
offered for sale by the Dealer and the other dealers referred to in
Section 1.2 hereof as contemplated hereby and until at least six
months after the offer of Notes hereunder has been terminated,
neither the Issuer nor any person other than the Dealer or the
other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof (except as
contemplated by Section 1.2 hereof) will offer the Notes or any
substantially similar security of the Issuer for sale to, or
solicit offers to buy any such security from, any person other than
the Dealer or the other dealers referred to in Section 1.2 hereof,
it being understood that such agreement is made with a view to
bringing the offer and sale of the Notes within the exemption
provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act and Rule 506
thereunder and shall survive any termination of this Agreement. The
Issuer hereby represents and warrants that it has not taken or
omitted to take, and will not take or omit to take, any action that
would cause the offering and sale of Notes hereunder to be
integrated with any other offering of securities, whether such
offering is made by the Issuer or some other party or
parties.
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The Issuer
represents and agrees that the proceeds of the sale of the Notes
are not currently contemplated to be used for the purpose of
buying, carrying or trading securities within the meaning of
Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder by the Board of
Governors of the Federal Reserve System. In the event that the
Issuer determines to use such proceeds for the purpose of buying,
carrying or trading securities, whether in connection with an
acquisition of another company or otherwise, the Issuer shall give
the Dealer at least five business days’ prior written notice
to that effect. The Issuer shall also give the Dealer prompt notice
of the actual date that it commences to purchase securities with
the proceeds of the Notes. Thereafter, in the event that the Dealer
purchases Notes as principal and does not resell such Notes on the
day of such purchase, to the extent necessary to comply with
Regulation T and the interpretations thereunder, the Dealer will
sell such Notes either (i) only to offerees it reasonably believes
to be Qualified Institutional Buyers or to Qualified Institutional
Buyers it reasonably believes are acting for other Qualified
Institutional Buyers, in each case in accordance with Rule 144A or
(ii) in a manner which would not cause a violation of Regulation T
and the interpretations thereunder.
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Representations and Warranties of
Issuer.
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The
Issuer represents and warrants that:
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The Issuer is a
corporation duly organized, validly existing and in good standing
under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation, has the power
and authority to own its properties and to carry on its business as
now being and hereafter proposed to be conducted and is duly
qualified and authorized to do business in each jurisdiction in
which the character of its properties or the nature of its business
requires such
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qualification
and authorization, except where the failure to be so qualified or
in good standing could not be reasonably expected to result in a
Material Adverse Effect. The Issuer has all the
requisite power and authority to execute, deliver and perform its
obligations under the Notes, this Agreement and the Issuing and
Paying Agency Agreement.
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This Agreement
and the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement have been duly
authorized, executed and delivered by the Issuer and constitute
legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer enforceable
against the Issuer in accordance with their terms, except as such
enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency,
reorganization, moratorium or similar state or federal debtor
relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the
enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the
availability of equitable remedies (regardless of whether
enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at
law).
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The Notes have
been duly authorized, and when issued as provided in the Issuing
and Paying Agency Agreement, will be duly and validly issued and
will constitute legal, valid and binding obligations of the Issuer
enforceable against the Issuer in accordance with their terms,
except as such enforceability may be limited by bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or similar state or federal
debtor relief laws from time to time in effect which affect the
enforcement of creditors’ rights in general and the
availability of equitable remedies (regardless of whether
enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at
law).
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The offer and
sale of the Notes by the Issuer in the manner contemplated hereby
do not require registration of the Notes under the Securities Act,
pursuant to the exemption from registration contained in Section
4(2) thereof, and no indenture in respect of the Notes is required
to be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as
amended.
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The Notes will
rank at least pari passu with all other
unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the Issuer.
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No consent or
action of, or filing or registration with, any governmental or
public regulatory body or authority, including the SEC, is required
to authorize, or is otherwise required in connection with the
execution, delivery or performance of, this Agreement, the Notes or
the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, except as may be required
by the securities or Blue Sky laws of the various states in
connection with the offer and sale of the Notes.
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The execution,
delivery and performance by the Issuer of this Agreement and the
Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, and the issuance of the Notes
in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, each in
accordance with its respective terms, and the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby do not and will not, by the passage
of time, the giving of notice or otherwise, (i) require any
Governmental Approval relating to the Issuer where the failure to
obtain such Governmental Approval could reasonably be expected to
have a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) violate any Applicable Law
relating to the Issuer except where such violation could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (iii)
conflict with, result in a breach of or constitute a default under
the articles of incorporation or bylaws of the Issuer, (iv)
conflict with, result in a breach of or constitute a default under
any indenture, agreement or other instrument to which the Issuer is
a party or by which any of its properties may be bound or any
Governmental Approval relating to the Issuer, which could
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse Effect, (v)
result in or require the creation or imposition of any Lien upon or
with respect to any property now owned or hereafter acquired by the
Issuer
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or (vi) require
any consent or authorization of, filing with, or other act in
respect of, an arbitrator or Governmental Authority and no consent
of any other Person is required in connection with the execution,
delivery, performance, validity or enforceability of this
Agreement, the Notes or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement
other than consents, authorizations, filings or other acts or
consents which have been obtained or made and are in full force and
effect or for which the failure to obtain or make could not
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect.
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Except for
matters disclosed in any filings made by the Issuer with the SEC,
there are no actions, suits or proceedings pending nor, to the
knowledge of the Issuer, threatened against or in any other way
relating adversely to or affecting the Issuer or any of its
properties in any court or before any arbitrator of any kind or
before or by any Governmental Authority that has had or could
reasonably be expected to have a Material Adverse
Effect.
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The Issuer is
not an “investment company” within the meaning of the
Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
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Neither the
Private Placement Memorandum nor the Company Information contains
any untrue statement of a material fact or omits to state a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make
the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which
they were made, not misleading.
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Each (a)
issuance of Notes by the Issuer hereunder and (b) amendment or
supplement of the Private Placement Memorandum shall be deemed a
representation and warranty by the Issuer to the Dealer, as of the
date thereof, that, both before and after giving effect to such
issuance and after giving effect to such amendment or supplement,
(i) the representations and warranties given by the Issuer set
forth in this Section 2 remain true and correct on and as of such
date as if made on and as of such date, (ii) in the case of an
issuance of Notes, the Notes being issued on such date have been
duly and validly issued and constitute legal, valid and binding
obligations of the Issuer, enforceable against the Issuer in
accordance with their terms, except as such enforceability may be
limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or
similar state or federal debtor relief laws from time to time in
effect which affect the enforcement of creditors’ rights in
general and the availability of equitable remedies (regardless of
whether enforcement is sought in a proceeding in equity or at law),
(iii) in the case of an issuance of Notes, since the date of the
most recent Private Placement Memorandum, there has been no
material adverse change in the financial condition or operations of
the Issuer which, if not publicly available, has not been disclosed
to the Dealer in writing and (iv) the Issuer is not in default
under any of its obligations hereunder, under the Issuing and
Paying Agency Agreement or the Notes that is reasonably likely to
result in a Material Adverse Effect.
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Covenants
and Agreements of Issuer.
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The Issuer covenants and agrees that:
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The Issuer will
give the Dealer prompt notice (but in any event prior to any
subsequent issuance of Notes hereunder) of any amendment to,
modification of or waiver with respect to, the Notes or the Issuing
and Paying Agency Agreement, including a complete copy of any such
amendment, modification or waiver.
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The Issuer
shall, whenever there shall occur any change, development or
occurrence in relation to the Issuer that would have a Material
Adverse Effect (including any receipt by the Issuer, from any
nationally recognized statistical ratings organization that
has
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provided a
rating to the Notes, of any notice of a downgrading in such rating
that is publicly available), promptly, and in any event prior to
any subsequent issuance of Notes hereunder, notify the Dealer (by
telephone, confirmed in writing) of such change, development or
occurrence.
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The Issuer
shall from time to time furnish to the Dealer such non-public
information as the Dealer may reasonably request, regarding (i) the
Issuer’s operations and financial condition, (ii) the due
authorization and execution of the Notes and (iii) the
Issuer’s ability to pay the Notes as they mature;
provided that the disclosure of such information shall not
be reasonably likely to cause the Issuer to be in violation of any
Applicable Law or otherwise violate the terms of any
confidentiality agreement to which the Issuer is
subject.
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The Issuer will
take all such action as the Dealer may reasonably request to ensure
that each offer and each sale of the Notes will comply with any
applicable state Blue Sky laws; provided, however, that the Issuer
shall not be obligated to file any general consent to service of
process or to qualify as a foreign corporation in any jurisdiction
in which it is not so qualified or subject itself to taxation in
respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not
otherwise so subject.
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The Issuer will
not be in default of any of its obligations hereunder, under the
Notes or under the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, at any time
that any of the Notes are outstanding.
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The Issuer
shall not issue Notes hereunder until the Dealer shall have
received (a) one or more opinions of counsel to the Issuer,
addressed to the Dealer, satisfactory in form and substance to the
Dealer, (b) a copy of the executed Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement as then in effect, (c) a copy of resolutions adopted by
the Board of Directors of the Issuer, satisfactory in form and
substance to the Dealer and certified by the Secretary or similar
officer of the Issuer, authorizing execution and delivery by the
Issuer of this Agreement, the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement
and the Notes and consummation by the Issuer of the transactions
contemplated hereby and thereby, (d) prior to the issuance of any
book-entry Notes represented by a master note registered in the
name of DTC or its nominee, a copy of the executed Letter of
Representations among the Issuer, the Issuing and Paying Agent and
DTC and of the executed master note, (e) prior to the issuance of
any Notes in physical form, a copy of such form (unless attached to
this Agreement or the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement), (f)
confirmation of the then current ratings assigned to the Notes by
each nationally recognized statistical ratings organization then
rating the Notes and (g) such other certificates, opinions, letters
and documents as the Dealer shall have reasonably
requested.
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The Issuer
shall reimburse the Dealer for all of the Dealer’s reasonable
out-of-pocket expenses related to this Agreement, including
reasonable expenses incurred in connection with its preparation and
negotiation, and the transactions contemplated hereby (including,
but not limited to, the printing and distribution of the Private
Placement Memorandum), and, if applicable, for the reasonable fees
and out-of-pocket expenses of the Dealer’s
counsel.
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The Private
Placement Memorandum and its contents (other than the Dealer
Information) shall be the sole responsibility of the Issuer. The
Private Placement Memorandum shall contain a statement expressly
offering an opportunity for each prospective purchaser to ask
questions of, and receive answers from, the Issuer concerning the
offering of Notes
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and to obtain
relevant additional information which the Issuer possesses or can
acquire without unreasonable effort or expense.
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The Issuer
agrees to promptly furnish the Dealer the Company Information as it
becomes available.
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(1) The Issuer further agrees to notify
the Dealer promptly upon the occurrence of any event relating to or
affecting the Issuer that would cause the Company Information then
in existence to include an untrue statement of a material fact or
to omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the
statements contained therein, in light of the circumstances under
which they are made, not misleading.
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In the event
that the Issuer gives the Dealer notice pursuant to Section 4.3(a)
and the Dealer notifies the Issuer that it then has Notes it is
holding in inventory, (i) the Issuer agrees promptly to supplement
or amend the Private Placement Memorandum so that the Private
Placement Memorandum, as amended or supplemented, shall not contain
an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material
fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of
the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading, and
the Issuer shall make such supplement or amendment available to the
Dealer prior to any further sale or resale of Notes or (ii) the
Issuer shall repurchase any such Note held in inventory at a price
equal to the face amount thereof discounted on a ratable basis
based on the Issuer's market rate reflecting the remaining period
to maturity in relation to the original term.
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In the event
that (i) the Issuer gives the Dealer notice pursuant to Section
4.3(a), (ii) the Dealer does not notify the Issuer that it is then
holding Notes in inventory and (iii) the Issuer chooses not to
promptly amend or supplement the Private Placement Memorandum in
the manner described in clause (b) above, then all solicitations
and sales of Notes shall be suspended until such time as the Issuer
has so amended or supplemented the Private Placement Memorandum,
and made such amendment or supplement available to the
Dealer.
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Without
limiting the generality of Section 4.3(a), the Issuer shall review,
amend and supplement the Private Placement Memorandum on a periodic
basis, but no less than at least once annually, to incorporate
current financial information of the Issuer to the extent necessary
to ensure that the information provided in the Private Placement
Memorandum is accurate and complete.
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Indemnification and Contribution.
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The Issuer will
indemnify and hold harmless the Dealer, each individual,
corporation, partnership, trust, association or other entity
controlling the Dealer, any affiliate of the Dealer or any such
controlling entity and their respective directors, officers,
employees, partners, incorporators, shareholders, servants,
trustees and agents (hereinafter the “Indemnitees”)
against any and all liabilities, penalties, suits, causes of
action, losses, damages, claims, costs and expenses (including,
without limitation, fees and disbursements of counsel) or judgments
of whatever kind or nature (each a “Claim”), imposed
upon, incurred by or asserted against the Indemnitees arising out
of or based upon (i) any allegation that the Private Placement
Memorandum, the Company Information or any information provided by
the Issuer to the Dealer included (as of any relevant time) or
includes an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted (as of
any relevant time) or omits to state any material fact necessary to
make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under
which they were made, not misleading or (ii) arising out of or
based upon the breach by the Issuer of any agreement, covenant
or
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representation
made in or pursuant to this Agreement. This
indemnification shall not apply to the extent that the Claim arises
out of or is based upon Dealer Information or is determined to have
resulted from an Indemnitee's gross negligence or willful
misconduct.
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Provisions
relating to claims made for indemnification under this Section 5
are set forth on Exhibit B to this Agreement.
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In order to
provide for just and equitable contribution in circumstances in
which the indemnification provided for in this Section 5 is held to
be unavailable or insufficient to hold harmless the Indemnitees,
although applicable in accordance with the terms of this Section 5,
the Issuer shall contribute to the aggregate costs incurred by the
Dealer in connection with any Claim in the proportion of the
respective economic interests of the Issuer and the Dealer;
provided, however, that such contribution by the Issuer shall be in
an amount such that the aggregate costs incurred by the Dealer do
not exceed the aggregate of the commissions and fees earned by the
Dealer hereunder with respect to the issue or issues of Notes to
which such Claim relates. The respective economic interests shall
be calculated by reference to the aggregate proceeds to the Issuer
of the Notes issued hereunder and the aggregate commissions and
fees earned by the Dealer hereunder.
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“Claim” shall have the meaning set
forth in Section 5.1.
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“Company
Information” at any given time shall mean the Private
Placement Memorandum and information incorporated by reference
therein together with, to the extent applicable, (i) the
Issuer’s most recent report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC
and each report on Form 10-Q or 8-K filed by the Issuer with the
SEC since the most recent Form 10-K, (ii) the Issuer’s most
recent annual audited financial statements and each interim
financial statement or report prepared subsequent thereto, if not
included in item (i) above, (iii) the Issuer’s and its
affiliates’ other publicly available recent reports,
including, but not limited to, any publicly available filings or
reports provided to their respective shareholders, (iv) any other
information or disclosure prepared pursuant to Section 4.3 hereof
and (v) any information prepared or approved by the Issuer for
dissemination to investors or potential investors in the
Notes.
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“Dealer
Information” shall mean material concerning the Dealer
provided by the Dealer in writing expressly for inclusion in the
Private Placement Memorandum.
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“Exchange
Act” shall mean the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended.
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“Governmental Approval” shall mean
all authorizations, consents, approvals, permits, licenses and
exemptions of, registrations and filings with, and reports to, all
Governmental Authorities.
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“Governmental Authority” shall mean
the government of the United States or any other nation, or of any
political subdivision thereof, whether state or local, and any
agency, authority, instrumentality, regulatory body, court, central
bank or other entity exercising executive, legislative, judicial,
taxing, regulatory or administrative powers or functions of or
pertaining to government (including any supra-national bodies such
as the European Union or the European Central Bank).
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“Indemnitee” shall have the meaning
set forth in Section 5.1.
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“Institutional Accredited Investor”
shall mean an institutional investor that is an accredited investor
within the meaning of Rule 501 under the Securities Act and that
has such knowledge and experience in financial and business matters
that it is capable of
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■ Commercial Paper
Dealer Agreement 4(2) Program ■
9
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evaluating and
bearing the economic risk of an investment in the Notes, including,
but not limited to, a bank, as defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the
Securities Act, or a savings and loan association or other
institution, as defined in Section 3(a)(5)(A) of the Securities
Act, whether acting in its individual or fiduciary
capacity.
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“Issuing
and Paying Agency Agreement” shall mean the issuing and
paying agency agreement described on the cover page of this
Agreement, as such agreement may be amended or supplemented from
time to time.
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“Issuing
and Paying Agent” shall mean the party designated as such on
the cover page of this Agreement, as issuing and paying agent under
the Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement, or any successor thereto
in accordance with the Issuing and Paying Agency
Agreement.
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“Material
Adverse Effect” shall mean a material adverse effect on (a)
the business, operations or financial condition of the Issuer and
its subsidiaries taken as a whole or (b) the ability of the Issuer
to perform its obligations under this Agreement, the Notes and the
Issuing and Paying Agency Agreement.
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“Non-bank
fiduciary or agent” shall mean a fiduciary or agent other
than (a) a bank, as defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities
Act, or (b) a savings and loan association, as defined in Section
3(a)(5)(A) of the Securities Act.
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“Person” shall mean any natural
person, corporation, limi
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