<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 10.1
EXPENSE AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT
This
Expense and Indemnity Agreement (this "Agreement") is entered into
as
of [_______], 2005, by and between ING USA
Annuity and Life Insurance Company,
an Iowa insurance company ("ING USA"), and
U.S. Bank National Association, as
trustee (the "Trustee"), on behalf of
itself and on behalf of each Trust
organized in connection with the
Program.
WHEREAS,
in consideration of the Trustee providing services to each
Trust
created in connection with the Program and
pursuant to the Program Documents
under which the Trustee will have certain
duties and obligations, ING USA hereby
agrees to the following compensation
arrangements and terms of indemnity with
the Trustee and reimbursement arrangements
and terms of indemnity with each
Trust organized in connection with the
Program; and
WHEREAS,
the Trustee is entering into this Agreement on behalf of itself
and on behalf of each Trust to be organized
in connection with the Program and,
therefore, this Agreement shall inure to
the benefit of and be binding upon each
such Trust.
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the agreements and obligations
set
forth herein and for other good and
valuable consideration, the sufficiency of
which is hereby acknowledged, each party
hereby agrees as follows:
ARTICLE I
DEFINITIONS
Section
1.01 Definitions. All capitalized terms not otherwise defined
herein will have the meanings set forth in
the Standard Indenture Terms attached
as Exhibit 4.1 to Registration Statement on
Form S-3 (File No. [__________])
filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission by ING USA on [_________],
2005, as may be amended. The following
terms, as used herein, have the following
meanings:
"Excluded
Amounts" means (i) any obligation of any Trust to make any
payment to any Holder in accordance with
the terms of the applicable Indenture
or such Trust's Notes, (ii) any obligation
or expense of any Trust to the extent
that such obligation or expense has
actually been paid utilizing funds available
to such Trust from payments under the
applicable Funding Agreement, (iii) any
cost, loss, damage, claim, action, suit,
expense, disbursement, tax, penalty or
liability of any kind or nature whatsoever
resulting from or relating to any
insurance regulatory or other governmental
authority asserting that: (a) any
Trust's Notes are, or are deemed to be, (1)
participations in the applicable
Funding Agreement or (2) contracts of
insurance, or (b) the offer, purchase,
sale and/or transfer of any Trust's Notes
and/or the pledge and collateral
assignment of the applicable Funding
Agreement by any Trust to the Indenture
Trustee on behalf of the Holders of such
Trust's Notes (1) constitutes the
conduct of the business of insurance or
reinsurance in any jurisdiction or (2)
requires such Trust or any Holder of such
Trust's Notes to be licensed as an
insurer, insurance agent or broker in any
jurisdiction, (iv) any cost, loss,
damage, claim, action, suit, expense,
disbursement, tax, penalty or liability of
any kind or nature whatsoever imposed on
the Trustee that results from the bad
faith, misconduct or negligence of the
Trustee, (v) any costs and expenses
attributable solely to the Trustee's
1
<PAGE>
administrative overhead unrelated to the
Program, (vi) any tax imposed on fees
paid to the Trustee, (vii) any withholding
taxes imposed on or with respect of
payments made under the applicable Funding
Agreement, the applicable Indenture
or a Trust's Note and (viii) any Additional
Amounts paid to any Holder.
"Fees"
means the fees agreed to between ING USA and the Trustee as set
forth in the fee schedule attached as
Exhibit A to this Agreement.
"Obligation" means any and all (i) costs and expenses reasonably
incurred
(including the reasonable fees and expenses
of counsel) relating to the
offering, sale or issuance of any Notes by
any Trust under the Program or the
administration of any Trust and (ii) costs,
expenses and taxes of each Trust;
provided, however, that Obligations do not
include Excluded Amounts.
ARTICLE II
SERVICES AND FEES
Section
2.01 Fees. ING USA hereby agrees to pay the Trustee its Fees.
Such
Fees may be subject to amendment in the
event of a substantive change in the
nature of the Trustee's duties under the
Program, as may be agreed to in writing
from time to time by the Trustee and ING
USA.
Section
2.02 Payment of Obligations. (a) In the event that the Trustee
delivers written notice and evidence,
reasonably satisfactory to ING USA, of any
Obligation of the Trustee or any Trust, ING
USA shall, upon receipt of such
notice, promptly pay such Obligation.
Notice of any Obligation (including any
invoices) should be sent to ING USA at its
address set forth in Section 4.05
herein, or at such other address as such
party shall hereafter furnish in
writing.
(b) At the
written request and expense of ING USA, the Trustee will (i)
from time to time execute all such
instruments and other agreements and take all
such other actions as may be necessary or
desirable on behalf of itself or any
Trust, or that ING USA may reasonably
request, in writing, to protect any
interest of ING USA with respect to any
Obligation or to enable ING USA to
exercise or enforce any right, interest or
remedy it may have with respect to
any such Obligation, and (ii) release to
ING USA any amount received from ING
USA relating to any Obligation or any
portion of any Obligation, promptly after
any such amount relating to such
Obligation, or any portion of any such
Obligation, is otherwise received by the
Trustee or any Trust from a party other
than ING USA.
(c) ING
USA and the Trustee, on behalf of itself and each Trust, hereby
agree that all payments due under this
Agreement in respect of any Obligation
shall be effected, and any responsibility
of ING USA to pay such Obligation
pursuant to this Agreement shall be
discharged, by the payment by ING USA to the
account of the person to whom such
Obligation is owed. For the avoidance of
doubt, amounts due hereunder from ING USA
to the Trustee are not subject to the
cap set forth in Section 6.06 of the
Indenture.
2
<PAGE>
ARTICLE III
INDEMNIFICATION
Section
3.01 Indemnification.
(a)
Subject to the remaining sections of this Article III, ING USA
covenants to fully indemnify and defend the
Trustee and its executive officers
and directors (each, a "Trustee Indemnified
Person") for, and to hold them
harmless against, any and all loss,
liability, claim, damage or reasonable
expense (including the reasonable
compensation, expenses and disbursements of
its counsel) arising out of the acceptance
by the Trustee, in its capacity as
Trustee, of administration of the
applicable Trust Agreement or any Trust and/or
the performance of the Trustee's duties
and/or