Exhibit 10.42
INDEMNIFICATION AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is entered into,
effective as of December 21, 2005 by and between Assured Guaranty
Ltd., a Bermuda company (the “Company”),
and
(“Indemnitee”).
WHEREAS, it is essential to the
Company to retain and attract as directors and officers the most
capable persons available;
WHEREAS, Indemnitee is a director
and/or officer of the Company;
WHEREAS, both the Company and
Indemnitee recognize the increased risk of litigation and other
claims currently being asserted against directors and officers of
corporations;
WHEREAS, the Bye-Laws of the Company
require the Company to indemnify its directors and officers to the
fullest extent permitted by law, and permit the Company to advance
expenses relating to the defense of indemnification matters, and
the Indemnitee has been serving and continues to serve as a
director and/or officer of the Company in part in reliance on the
Company’s Bye-Laws;
WHEREAS, in recognition of
Indemnitee’s need for (i) substantial protection against
personal liability based on Indemnitee’s reliance on the
aforesaid Bye-Laws, (ii) specific contractual assurance that
the protection promised by the Bye-Laws will be available to
Indemnitee (regardless of, among other things, any amendment to or
revocation of the Bye-Laws or any change in the composition of the
Company’s Board of Directors or acquisition transaction
relating to the Company), and (iii) an inducement to provide
effective services to the Company as a director and/or officer, the
Company wishes to provide in this Agreement for the indemnification
of and the advancing of expenses to Indemnitee to the fullest
extent (whether partial or complete) permitted under law and as set
forth in this Agreement, and, to provide for the continued coverage
of Indemnitee under the Company’s directors’ and
officers’ liability insurance policies; and
WHEREAS, the Board of Directors has
determined that contractual indemnification as set forth herein is
reasonable and prudent and promotes the best interests of the
Company and its shareholders;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the above premises and of Indemnitee continuing to serve the
Company directly or, at its request, with another enterprise, and
intending to be legally bound hereby, the parties agree as
follows:
1.
Certain Definitions
:
(a)
Board : the Board of Directors of the
Company.
(b)
Affiliate : any corporation or other person or entity that
directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries,
controls or is controlled by, or is under common control with, the
person specified.
(c)
Change in Control
: shall be deemed to have occurred
if:
(i)
any “person,” as such
term is used in Sections 3(a)(9) and 13(d) of the United
States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, becomes a “beneficial
owner,” as such term is used in Rule 13d-3 promulgated under
that act, of 25% or more of the Voting Stock (as defined below) of
the Company;
(ii)
the majority of the Board consists
of individuals other than Incumbent Directors, which term means the
members of the Board on the Effective Date; provided that any
person becoming a director subsequent to such date whose election
or nomination for election was supported by three-quarters of the
directors who then comprised the Incumbent Directors shall be
considered to be an Incumbent Director;
(iii)
the Company adopts any plan of
liquidation providing for the distribution of all or substantially
all of its assets;
(iv)
all or substantially all of the
assets or business of the Company is disposed of pursuant to a
merger, consolidation or other transaction (unless the shareholders
of the Company immediately prior to such merger, consolidation or
other transaction beneficially own, directly or indirectly, in
substantially the same proportion as they owned the Voting Stock of
the Company, all of the Voting Stock or other ownership interests
of the entity or entities, if any, that succeed to the business of
the Company); or
(v)
the Company combines with another
company and is the surviving corporation but, immediately after the
combination, the shareholders of the Company immediately prior to
the combination hold, directly or indirectly, 50% or less of the
Voting Stock of the combined company (there being excluded from the
number of shares held by such shareholders, but not from the Voting
Stock of the combined company, any shares received by Affiliates
(as defined below) of such other company in exchange for stock of
such other company).
For the purpose of this definition
of “Change in Control,” (I) an “Affiliate”
of a person or other entity shall mean a person or other entity
that directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under
common control with the person or other entity specified and (II)
“Voting Stock” shall mean capital stock of any class or
classes having general voting power under ordinary circumstances,
in the absence of contingencies, to elect the directors of a
corporation.
(d)
Expenses : any expense, liability, or loss, including
attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes and
penalties, amounts paid or to be paid in settlement, any interest,
assessments, or other charges imposed thereon, any federal, state,
local, or foreign taxes imposed as a result of the actual or deemed
receipt of any
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payments under this Agreement, and
all other costs and obligations, paid or incurred in connection
with investigating, defending, prosecuting (subject to
Section 2(b)), being a witness in, participating in (including
on appeal), or preparing for any of the foregoing in, any
Proceeding relating to any Indemnifiable Event.
(e)
Indemnifiable Event
: any event or occurrence that takes
place either prior to or after the execution of this Agreement,
directly or indirectly, related to the fact that Indemnitee is or
was a director or officer of the Company, or while a director or
officer is or was serving at the request of the Company as a
director, officer, employee, trustee, agent, or fiduciary of
another foreign or domestic corporation, partnership, limited
liability company, joint venture, employee benefit plan, trust, or
other enterprise, or was a director, officer, employee, or agent of
a foreign or domestic corporation that was a predecessor
corporation of the Company or of another enterprise at the request
of such predecessor corporation, or related to anything done or not
done by Indemnitee in any such capacity, whether or not the basis
of the Proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as a
director, officer, employee, or agent or in any other capacity
while serving as a director, officer, employee, or agent of the
Company, as described above.
(f)
Independent Counsel
: the person or body appointed in
connection with Section 3.
(g)
Proceeding
: any threatened, pending, or
completed action, suit, or proceeding or any alternative dispute
resolution mechanism (including an action by or in the right of the
Company), or any inquiry, hearing, or investigation, whether
conducted by the Company or any other party, that Indemnitee in
good faith believes might lead to the institution of any action,
suit, or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative,
investigative, or other.
(h)
Reviewing Party
: the person or body appointed in
accordance with Section 3.
(i)
Voting Securities
: any securities of the Company that
vote generally in the election of directors.
2.
Agreement to Indemnify
.
(a)
General Agreement
. In the event Indemnitee was, is,
or becomes a party to or witness or other participant in, or is
threatened to be made a party to or witness or other participant
in, a Proceeding by reason of (or arising in part out of) an
Indemnifiable Event, the Company shall indemnify Indemnitee from
and against any and all Expenses to the fullest extent permitted by
law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended or interpreted
(but in the case of any such amendment or interpretation, only to
the extent that such amendment or interpretation permits the
Company to provide broader indemnification rights than were
permitted prior thereto). The parties hereto intend that this
Agreement shall provide for indemnification in excess of that
expressly permitted by statute, including, without limitation, any
indemnification provided by the Company’s Bye-Laws, vote of
its shareholders or disinterested directors, or applicable law;
provided
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that this indemnity shall not extend
to any matter which may attach to Indemnitee in respect of any
fraud or dishonesty on the part of Indemnitee, as determined by a
final and non-appealable judicial determination.
(b)
Initiation of
Proceeding .
Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary,
Indemnitee shall not be entitled to indemnification pursuant to
this Agreement in connection with any Proceeding initiated by
Indemnitee against the Company or any director or officer of the
Company unless (i) the Company has joined in or the Board has
consented to the initiation of such Proceeding; (ii) the Proceeding
is one to enforce indemnification rights under this Agreement; or
(iii) the Proceeding is instituted after a Change in Control (other
than a Change in Control approved by a majority of the directors on
the Board who were directors immediately prior to such Change in
Control) and Independent Counsel has approved its
initiation.
(c)
Expense Advances
. If so requested by Indemnitee, the
Company shall advance (within ten business days of such request)
any and all Expenses to Indemnitee (an “Expense
Advance”); provided that, (i) such an Expense Advance shall
be made only upon delivery to the Company of an undertaking by or
on behalf of the Indemnitee to repay the amount thereof if it is
ultimately determined that Indemnitee is not entitled to be
indemnified by the Company, and (ii) if and to the extent that the
Reviewing Party determines that Indemnitee would not be permitted
to be so indemnified under applicable law, the Company shall be
entitled to be reimbursed by Indemnitee (who hereby agrees to
reimburse the Company) for all such amounts theretofore paid. If
Indemnitee has commenced or commences legal proceedings in a court
of competent jurisdiction to secure a determination that Indemnitee
should be indemnified under applicable law, as provided in
Section 4, any determination made by the Reviewing Party that
Indemnitee would not be permitted to be indemnified under
applicable law shall not be binding, and Indemnitee shall not be
required to reimburse the Company for any Expense Advance until a
final judicial determination is made with respect thereto (as to
which all rights of appeal therefrom have been exhausted or have
lapsed). Indemnitee’s obligation to reimburse the Company for
Expense Advances shall be unsecured and no interest shall be
charged thereon.
(d)
Mandatory
Indemnification .
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, to the
extent that Indemnitee has been successful on the merits or
otherwise in defense of any Proceeding relating in whole or in part
to an Indemnifiable Event or in defense of any issue or matter
therein, Indemnitee shall be indemnified against all Expenses
incurred in connection therewith. For purposes of this
Agreement and without limiting the foregoing, if any action, suit
or proceeding is disposed of, on the merits or otherwise (including
a disposition without prejudice), without (i) the disposition being
adverse to Indemnitee, (ii) an adjudication that Indemnitee was
liable to the Company, (iii) a plea of guilty or nolo contendere by
Indemnitee or (iv) an adjudication that Indemnitee is not entitled
to the indemnification provided by this Agreement, Indemnitee shall
be considered for the purposes hereof to have been wholly
successful with respect thereto.
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(e)
Partial
Indemnification . If
Indemnitee is entitled under any provision of this Agreement to
indemnification by the Company for some or a portion of Expenses,
but not, however, for the total amount thereof, the Company shall
nevertheless indemnify Indemnitee for the portion thereof to which
Indemnitee is entitled.
(f)
Prohibited
Indemnification . No
indemnification pursuant to this Agreement shall be paid by the
Company:
(i)
on account of any Proceeding in
which judgment is rendered against Indemnitee for an accounting of
profits made from the purchase or sale by Indemnitee of securities
of the Company pursuant to the provisions of Section 16(b) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or similar
provisions of any federal, state, or local laws; or
(ii)
if a court of competent jurisdiction
by a final judicial determination, shall determine that such
indemnity is not permitted under applicable law.
(g)
Contribution
. In order to provide for just
and equitable contribution in circumstances in which the
indemnification provided for herein is held by a court of competent
jurisdiction to be unavailable to Indemnitee in whole or in part or
is insufficient to hold Indemnitee harmless, it is agreed that, in
such event, the Company shall, to the fullest extent permitted by
law, contribute to the payment of Indemnitee’s costs, charges
and expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines
and amounts paid in settlement with respect to any action, suit or
proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or
investigative, in an amount that is just and equitable in the
circumstances, taking into account, among other things,
contributions by other directors and officers of the Company or
others pursuant to indemnification agreements or otherwise;
provided, that, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,
such contribution shall not be required where such holding by the
court is due to any limitation on indemnification set forth in
Section 2(f), 6(c) or 13 hereof.
3.
Reviewing Party
. Prior to any Change in Control,
the Reviewing Party shall be any appropriate person or body
consisting of a member or members of the Board or any other person
or body appointed by the Board who is not a party to the particular
Proceeding with respect to which Ind