Exhibit 1.1
RFS HOLDING, L.L.C
GE CAPITAL CREDIT CARD MASTER NOTE
TRUST
SERIES 2006-1 ASSET BACKED NOTES
$812,500,000 Class A Notes
$ 92,500,000 Class B Notes
$ 65,000,000 Class C Notes
UNDERWRITING
AGREEMENT
Banc of America Securities LLC
214 North Tryon Street
Charlotte, North Carolina 28255
Credit Suisse Securities (USA)
LLC
Eleven Madison Avenue
New York, New York 10010
each acting on behalf of itself
and
as Representative of the several
Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto
(together, the “ Representatives ”)
September 20, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen:
RFS Holding, L.L.C., a limited
liability company organized and existing under the laws of the
State of Delaware (the “ Company ”), proposes to
cause GE Capital Credit Card Master Note Trust (the “
Issuer ”) to issue $812,500,000 aggregate principal
amount of Class A Asset Backed Notes, Series 2006-1 (the “
Class A Notes ”), $92,500,000 aggregate principal
amount of the Class B Asset Backed Notes, Series 2006-1 (the
“ Class B Notes ”) and $65,000,000 aggregate
principal amount of the Class C Asset Backed Notes, Series 2006-1
(the “ Class C Notes ”, and together with the
Class A Notes and the Class B Notes, the “ Offered
Notes ”). The offering of the Offered Notes by the
Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement is referred to herein as
the “ Note Offering ”. The Company is a
wholly-owned subsidiary of RFS Holding, Inc. (“
Holding ”).
The Issuer is a Delaware statutory
trust formed pursuant to (a) a Trust Agreement, dated as of
September 25, 2003 (the “ Trust Agreement ”),
between the Company and The Bank of New York (Delaware), as owner
trustee (the “ Owner Trustee ”), and (b) the
filing of a certificate of trust with the Secretary of State of
Delaware on September 24, 2003. The Offered Notes will be
issued pursuant to a Master Indenture, dated as of September 25,
2003, and as amended as of February 9, 2004, June 17, 2004 and
August 31, 2006 (the “ Master Indenture ”),
between the Issuer and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, as
indenture trustee (the “ Indenture
Trustee ”), as supplemented by the Series 2006-1
Indenture Supplement with respect to the Offered Notes, to be dated
on or about September 27, 2006 (the “ Indenture
Supplement ” and, together with the Master Indenture, the
“ Indenture ”).
The assets of the Issuer include,
among other things, certain amounts due (the “
Receivables ”) on a pool of private label credit card
accounts of GE Money Bank (the “ Bank ”).
References to the Bank in this Agreement include Monogram Credit
Card Bank of Georgia, a predecessor in interest to GE Money
Bank.
The Receivables are transferred by
the Company to the Issuer pursuant to the Transfer Agreement, dated
as of September 25, 2003, and as amended as of February 9, 2004,
June 17, 2004, November 21, 2004 and August 31, 2006 (the
“ Transfer Agreement ”), between the Company and
the Issuer. The Receivables transferred to the Issuer by the
Company were acquired by the Company from the Bank pursuant to a
Receivables Sale Agreement, dated as of June 27, 2003, and as
amended as of February 9, 2004 and February 7, 2005 (the “
Receivables Sale Agreement ”), between the Company and
the Bank. The Bank has agreed to conduct the servicing,
collection and administration of the Receivables owned by the
Issuer pursuant to a Servicing Agreement, dated as of June 27,
2003, and as amended as of May 22, 2006 (the “ Servicing
Agreement ”) between the Issuer, RFS Funding Trust and
the Bank.
Pursuant to (i) an Amended and
Restated Contribution Agreement, dated as of November 1, 2004 and
the Supplemental Contribution Agreement, dated as of March 29,
2005, each among Holding, General Electric Capital Corporation
(“ GECC ”) and General Electric Capital
Services, Inc. (“ GECS ”) and (ii) a
Supplemental Contribution Agreement, dated as of June 15, 2004,
between Holding and GECS (collectively, the “ Contribution
Agreement ”), GECS has agreed to make capital
contributions to Holding in the event that Holding is obligated to
make certain payments, including payments to the Underwriters
pursuant to this Agreement, and Holding does not otherwise have
funds available to make such payments.
GECC has agreed to provide notices
and perform on behalf of the Issuer certain other administrative
obligations required by the Transfer Agreement, the Servicing
Agreement, the Master Indenture and each indenture supplement for
each series of notes issued by the Issuer, pursuant to an
Administration Agreement, dated as of September 25, 2003 (the
“ Administration Agreement ”), between GECC, as
administrator (in such capacity, the “ Administrator
”), the Issuer and The Bank of New York (Delaware), as Owner
Trustee. GECC has also executed a Servicer Performance
Guaranty dated as of June 27, 2003 (the “ Servicer
Performance Guaranty ”) relating to the Bank’s
obligations under the Servicing Agreement. The Trust
Agreement, the Indenture, the Transfer Agreement, the Receivables
Sale Agreement, the Servicing Agreement, the Contribution
Agreement, the Administration Agreement, the Servicer Performance
Guaranty and any interest rate swaps entered into by the Issuer in
connection with the Notes are referred to herein, collectively, as
the “ Program Documents .”
This Underwriting Agreement is
referred to herein as this “ Agreement .”
To the extent not defined herein, capitalized terms used herein
have the meanings assigned in the Program Documents.
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For purposes of this Agreement and
all related documents, unless the context otherwise requires:
(a) accounting terms not otherwise defined in this Agreement,
and accounting terms partly defined in this Agreement to the extent
not defined, shall have the respective meanings given to them under
GAAP; (b) unless otherwise provided, references to any month,
quarter or year refer to a calendar month, quarter or year;
(c) terms defined in Article 9 of the UCC as in effect in
the applicable jurisdiction and not otherwise defined in this
Agreement are used as defined in that Article; (d) references
to any amount as on deposit or outstanding on any particular date
mean such amount at the close of business on such day; (e) the
words “hereof”, “herein” and
“hereunder” and words of similar import refer to this
Agreement (or the certificate or other document in which they are
used) as a whole and not to any particular provision of this
Agreement (or such certificate or document); (f) references to
any Section, Schedule or Exhibit are references to Sections,
Schedules and Exhibits in or to this Agreement (or the certificate
or other document in which the reference is made), and references
to any paragraph, subsection, clause or other subdivision within
any Section or definition refer to such paragraph, subsection,
clause or other subdivision of such Section or definition;
(g) the term “including” means “including
without limitation”; (h) references to any law or
regulation refer to that law or regulation as amended from time to
time and include any successor law or regulation;
(i) references to any agreement refer to that agreement as
from time to time amended, restated or supplemented or as the terms
of such agreement are waived or modified in accordance with its
terms; and (j) references to any Person include that
Person’s successors and permitted assigns.
The Company has
prepared and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
“ Commission ”) in accordance with the
provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “ Act
”), a registration statement on Form S-3 (having the
registration number 333-130030), including a form of prospectus and
such amendments thereto as may have been filed prior to the date
hereof, relating to the Offered Notes and the offering thereof in
accordance with Rule 415 under the Act. If any post-effective
amendment to such registration statement has been filed with
respect thereto, prior to the execution and delivery of this
Agreement, the most recent such amendment has been declared
effective by the Commission. For purposes of this Agreement,
“ Effective Time ” means the date and time as of
which such registration statement, or the most recent
post-effective amendment thereto, if any, was declared effective by
the Commission, and “ Effective Date ” means the
date of the Effective Time. Such registration statement, as
amended at the Effective Time, including all material incorporated
by reference therein and including all information (if any) deemed
to be part of the registration statement at the time of
effectiveness pursuant to Rule 430B under the Act, is referred to
in this Agreement as the “ Registration Statement
.” The Registration Statement has been declared
effective by the Commission not more than three years prior to the
date hereof.
The Company
proposes to file with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) under
the Act (“ Rule 424(b) ”) a supplement (the
“ Prospectus Supplement ”) to the prospectus
included in the Registration Statement (such prospectus, in the
form it appears in the Registration Statement, or in the form most
recently revised and filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule
424(b), is hereinafter referred to as the “ Base
Prospectus ”) relating to the Offered Notes and the
method of distribution thereof. The Base Prospectus and the
Prospectus Supplement, together with any amendment thereof or
supplement thereto, together with the information referred to under
the caption “Static Pool Information” in the Prospectus
Supplement regardless of whether it is deemed a part of the
Prospectus Supplement, are hereinafter referred to as the “
Prospectus ”.
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At or prior to
11:21 a.m. (New York City Time) on September 20, 2006 (the time the
first Contract of Sale (as defined below) was entered into as
designated by the Representatives (the “ Time of Sale
”), the Company also had prepared a Preliminary Prospectus
dated September 18, 2006 with respect to such Offered Notes
(together with the Permitted Additional Information (as defined
herein ), the “ Time of Sale Information
”). As used herein, “ Preliminary
Prospectus ” means, with respect to any date or time
referred to herein, the most recent preliminary Prospectus (as
amended or supplemented, if applicable), which has been prepared
and delivered by the Company to the Representatives in accordance
with the provisions hereof, together with the information referred
to under the caption “Static Pool Information” therein
regardless of whether it is deemed a part of the Registration
Statement or the Prospectus. If, subsequent to the Time of
Sale (as defined above) and prior to the Closing Date (as defined
below), the Preliminary Prospectus included an untrue statement of
material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in
order to make the statements therein, in the light of the
circumstances under which they were made, not misleading and the
Company has prepared and delivered to the Underwriters a Corrected
Prospectus (as defined below), and as a result investors in the
Notes elect to terminate their existing “Contracts of
Sale” (within the meaning of Rule 159 under the Securities
Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”)) for any Notes,
then “Time of Sale Information” will refer to the
information conveyed to investors at the time of entry into the
first such new Contract of Sale in an amended Preliminary
Prospectus approved by the Company and the Representatives that
corrects such material misstatements or omissions (a
“Corrected Prospectus”) and “Time of Sale”
will refer to the time and date on which such new Contracts of Sale
were entered into.
The Company and Holding hereby
agree, severally and not jointly, with the underwriters for the
Class A Notes listed on Schedule A hereto (the “
Class A Underwriters ”), the underwriters for the
Class B Notes listed on Schedule A hereto (the “
Class B Underwriters ”) and the underwriters for the
Class C Notes listed on Schedule A hereto (the “
Class C Underwriters ” and, together with the Class A
Underwriters and the Class B Underwriters, the “
Underwriters ”) as follows:
1.
Representations and
Warranties . The Company
represents and warrants to and agrees with each Underwriter, as of
the date hereof, that:
(a)
(i) The
conditions to the use of a registration statement on Form S-3 under
the Act, as set forth in the General Instructions to Form S-3, and
the conditions of Rule 415 under the Act, have been satisfied with
respect to the Registration Statement. No stop order
suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been
issued, and no proceeding for that purpose has been instituted or
threatened by the Commission.
(ii)
As of the Closing
Date (as such term is defined below), the Registration Statement,
the Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus, except with respect
to any modification as to which the Representatives have been
notified, shall be in all substantive respects in the form
furnished to the Representatives or its counsel before such date
or, to the extent not completed on such date, shall contain only
such specific additional information and other changes (beyond that
contained in the latest Preliminary Prospectus that has
4
previously been
furnished to the Representatives) as the Company or Holding has
advised the Representatives, before such time, will be included or
made therein.
(iii)
The Registration
Statement, as of the Effective Date, conformed in all material
respects to the requirements of the Act and the rules and
regulations of the Commission thereunder; on the date of this
Agreement, the Registration Statement and the Prospectus, conform,
and as of the time of filing the Prospectus pursuant to Rule
424(b), the Prospectus will conform in all material respects to the
requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations of the
Commission thereunder and of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as
amended; the Registration Statement, at the Effective Time, did not
contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a
material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make
the statements therein not misleading; and the Prospectus as of its
date, and as of the time of filing pursuant to Rule 424(b), and as
of the Closing Date, will not include any untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make
the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under
which they are made, not misleading; provided, however, that
the Company makes no representations or warranties as to the
information contained in or omitted from such Registration
Statement or such Prospectus in reliance upon and in conformity
with written information furnished to the Company by or on behalf
of any Underwriter specifically for use in the preparation thereof,
which information consists of the Underwriters’ Information
(as defined herein).
(b)
The Time of Sale
Information at the Time of Sale did not, and at the Closing Date
will not, include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit
to state any 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 (it being
understood that no representation or warranty is made with respect
to the omission of pricing and price-dependent information, which
information shall of necessity appear only in the final
Prospectus); provided , that this representation and
warranty shall not apply to any statements or omissions made in
reliance upon and in conformity with information contained in or
omitted from either the Registration Statement or the Prospectus
based upon Underwriters’ Information.
(c)
Other than with
respect to the Preliminary Prospectus , the Prospectus and the
Permitted Additional Information (as defined below) and any
Underwriter Free Writing Prospectus (as defined in Section 8(b)),
the Issuer (including its agents and representatives) has not made,
used, authorized or approved and will not make, use, authorize or
approve any “written communication” (as defined in Rule
405 under the Act) that constitutes an offer to sell or
solicitation of any offer to buy the Offered Notes.
(d)
The Offered Notes
will conform to the description thereof contained in the
Preliminary Prospectus and the Prospectus and as of the Closing
Date will be duly and validly authorized and, when validly
executed, countersigned, issued and delivered in accordance with
the Indenture and sold to the Underwriters as provided herein, will
be validly issued and outstanding and entitled to the benefits of
the related Indenture.
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(e)
Neither the
issuance nor sale of the Offered Notes nor the consummation of any
other of the transactions herein contemplated, nor the fulfillment
of the terms hereof, will conflict with any statute, order or
regulation applicable to the Company with respect to the offering
of the Offered Notes by any court, regulatory body, administrative
agency or governmental body having jurisdiction over the Company or
with any organizational document of the Company or any instrument
or any agreement under which the Company is bound or to which it is
a party.
(f)
This Agreement
has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the
Company.
(g)
The Company was
not, on the date on which the first bona fide offer of the Offered
Notes sold pursuant to this Agreement was made, an
“ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the
Act.
2.
Purchase and
Sale .
(a)
On the basis of
the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained,
but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the
Company agrees to sell to the Class A Underwriters, and the Class A
Underwriters agree to purchase from the Company, at a purchase
price of 99.85549% of the principal amount thereof, $812,500,000
aggregate principal amount of the Class A Notes, each Class A
Underwriter to purchase the amounts shown on Schedule A
hereto.
(b)
On the basis of
the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained,
but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the
Company agrees to sell to the Class B Underwriters, and the Class B
Underwriters agree to purchase from the Company, at a purchase
price of 99.80000% of the principal amount thereof, $92,500,000
aggregate principal amount of the Class B Notes, each Class B
Underwriter to purchase the amounts shown on Schedule A
hereto.
(c)
On the basis of
the representations, warranties and agreements herein contained,
but subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the
Company agrees to sell to the Class C Underwriters, and the Class C
Underwriters agree to purchase from the Company, at a purchase
price of 99.75000% of the principal amount thereof, $65,000,000
aggregate principal amount of the Class C Notes, each Class C
Underwriter to purchase the amounts shown on Schedule A
hereto.
(d)
The parties
hereto agree that settlement for all securities pursuant to this
Agreement shall take place on the terms set forth herein and not as
set forth in Rule 15c6-1(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (the “ Exchange Act
”).
3.
Delivery and
Payment . Delivery of and
payment for the Offered Notes shall be made at the offices of
Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, Chicago, Illinois, at 10:00 A.M.,
New York City time, on the “Closing Date” specified in
the Indenture Supplement, which date and time may be postponed by
agreement between the Representatives and the Company (such date
and time being herein called the “ Closing Date
”). Delivery of such Offered Notes shall be made to the
Underwriters against payment by the Underwriters of the purchase
price thereof to or upon
6
the order of the
Company by wire transfer in federal or other immediately available
funds or by check payable in federal funds, as the Company shall
specify no later than five full business days prior to such Closing
Date. Unless delivery is made through the facilities of The
Depository Trust Company, the Offered Notes shall be registered in
such names and in such authorized denominations as the
Representatives may request not less than two full business days in
advance of the Closing Date.
The Company agrees to notify the
Representatives at least two business days before the Closing Date
of the exact principal balance evidenced by the Offered Notes and
to have such Offered Notes available for inspection in New York,
New York, no later than 12:00 noon, New York City time on the
business day prior to the Closing Date.
4.
Offering by
the Underwriters . (a) It is understood
that each Underwriter proposes to offer the Offered Notes for sale
to the public as set forth in the Prospectus.
(b)
Each Underwriter
(severally and not jointly) represents and warrants that it has
complied in all material respects, and agrees that it will comply
in all material respects, with all applicable securities laws and
regulations in each jurisdiction in which it purchases, offers,
sells or delivers the Offered Notes or distributes the
Prospectus. Without limiting the foregoing, each Underwriter
agrees that all offers, solicitations and sales of the Offered
Notes made by it shall be made in compliance with all applicable
laws and regulations. Furthermore, such Underwriter shall
comply with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with
its use of Free Writing Prospectuses, including but not limited to
Rules 164 and 433 of the Act.
5.
Agreements
. The
Company agrees with each Underwriter that:
(a)
The Company will
cause the Prospectus to be transmitted to the Commission for filing
pursuant to Rule 424 under the Act by means reasonably calculated
to result in filing with the Commission pursuant to such rule, and
prior to the termination of the Note Offering, also will advise the
Representatives of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order
suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or
preventing the offer and sale of the Offered Notes.
(b)
If, at any time
when a prospectus relating to the Offered Notes is required to be
delivered under the Act, any event occurs as a result of which the
Prospectus as then amended or supplemented would include any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact
necessary to make the statements therein in the light of the
circumstances under which they were made not misleading, or if it
shall be necessary at any time to amend or supplement the
Prospectus to comply with the Act or the rules thereunder, the
Company promptly will notify the Representatives of such event and
prepare and file with the Commission, an amendment or supplement
that will correct such statement or omission or an amendment which
will effect such compliance.
(c)
The Company will
furnish to the Representatives a copy of the related Registration
Statement (including exhibits thereto) and, so long as delivery of
a
7
prospectus by the
Underwriters or dealers may be required by the Act, as many copies
of the Prospectus as the Underwriters may reasonably
request.
(d)
The Company will
furnish such information, execute such instruments and take such
actions as may be reasonably requested by the Representatives to
qualify the Offered Notes for sale under the laws of such
jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and to maintain
such qualifications in effect so long as required for the initial
distribution of the Offered Notes; provided, however, that
the Company shall not be required to qualify to do business in any
jurisdiction where it is not now so qualified or to take any action
which would subject it to general or unlimited service of process
in any jurisdiction in which it is not now so subject.
(e)
If the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement are consummated, the
Company will pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the
performance of the obligations of the Company under this Agreement,
and will reimburse the Underwriters for any reasonable expenses
(excluding fees of the Underwriters’ counsel) reasonably
incurred by it in connection with qualification of the Offered
Notes for sale and determination of their eligibility for
investment under the laws of such jurisdictions as the
Representatives have reasonably requested pursuant to
Section 5(d), for any fees charged by investment rating
agencies for the rating of the Offered Notes, and for expenses
incurred in distributing the Prospectus to the Underwriters;
provided , however , that the Underwriters will
reimburse the Company for $101,562.50 of expenses related to the
issuance of the Offered Notes, payable on the Closing Date, subject
to netting of any expenses of the Underwriters (as evidenced by an
invoice delivered on the Closing Date) payable by the Company to
the Underwriters pursuant to this sentence. If the
transactions contemplated by this Agreement are not consummated
because any condition to the obligations of the Underwriters set
forth in Section 6 is not satisfied or because of any refusal,
inability or failure on the part of the Company to perform any
agreement herein or to comply with any provision hereof other than
by reason of default by the Underwriters, the Company will
reimburse the Underwriters upon demand for all out-of-pocket
expenses (including reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel)
that shall have been incurred by the Underwriters in connection
with the proposed purchase, sale and offering of the Offered
Notes. Except as herein provided, the Underwriters shall be
responsible for paying all costs and expenses incurred by them,
including the fees and disbursements of their counsel, in
connection with the purchase and sale of the Offered
Notes.
(f)
The Company will file with the
Commission any Underwriter Free Writing Prospectus delivered to it
by the Underwriters for filing if such filing is required by Rule
433(d) of the Act.
6.
Conditions to
the Obligations of the Underwriters . The obligations of
the Underwriters to purchase the Offered Notes shall be subject to
the accuracy in all material respects of the representations and
warranties on the part of the Company contained in this Agreement,
to the accuracy of the statements of the Company made in any
applicable officers’ certificates pursuant to the provisions
hereof, to the performance by the Company of its
8
obligations under
this Agreement and to the following additional conditions
applicable to the Note Offering:
(a)
No stop order
suspending the effectiveness of the related Registration Statement
shall have been issued and no proceedings for that purpose shall
have been instituted, or to the knowledge of the Company,
threatened by the Commission.
(b)
The Company shall
have furnished to the Representatives a certificate of the Company,
signed by the President, any Vice President, or the principal
financial or accounting officer of the Company, dated the Closing
Date, to the effect that the signer of such certificate has
carefully examined the Program Documents to which the Company is a
party, and that, to the best of such person’s knowledge after
reasonable investigation, the representations and warranties of the
Company in this Agreement and the Program Documents to which the
Company is a party are true and correct in all material respects,
and the Company has complied with all the agreements and satisfied
all the conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied
hereunder at or prior to the Closing Date.
(c)
The
Representatives shall have received on the Closing Date a signed
opinion of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP, special New York
counsel for the Company, in form and substance reasonably
satisfactory to the Representatives and counsel to the
Representatives, dated the Closing Date and addressed to the
Representatives, to the effect that:
(i)
the Company is a
limited liability company validly existing and in good standing
under the laws of the State of Delaware; Holding is a corporation
validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the State
of Delaware; and each of the Company and Holding has full power and
authority to enter into and perform its obligations under this
Agreement and the Program Documents and to consummate the
transactions contemplated hereby and thereby;
(ii)
the execution and
delivery by each of the Bank, GECC, GECS, Holding, the Issuer and
the Company (each, a “ Specified Entity ”) of
this Agreement (if applicable) and the Program Documents to which
it is a party, and the consummation by each of the transactions
contemplated thereby, will not violate any applicable law, statute
or governmental rule or regulation;
(iii)
the execution and
delivery by each Specified Entity of this Agreement (if applicable)
and the Program Documents to which it is a party does not, and the
consummation by each Specified Entity of the transactions
contemplated thereby to occur on the date of this opinion will not,
require any consent, authorization or approval of, the giving of
notice to or registration with any governmental entity, except such
as may have been made and such as may be required under the Federal
securities laws, the blue sky laws of any jurisdiction or the
Uniform Commercial Code of any state;
(iv)
the execution and
delivery by each of the Company and Holding of this Agreement and
the Program Documents to which it is a party do not, and
the
9
consummation by
the Company of the transactions contemplated thereby to occur on
the date of this opinion will not, violate or contravene any term
or provision of the Certificate of Formation or the Limited
Liability Company Agreement of the Company or the Certificate of
Incorporation or By-Laws of Holding;
(v)
each of the
Program Documents (other than the Trust Agreement) constitutes a
legal, valid and binding obligation of each of GECC, GECS, the
Issuer, the Company and Holding that is a party thereto,
enforceable against each such party in accordance with its
terms;
(vi)
each of the
Offered Notes is in due and proper form and when executed,
authenticated and delivered as specified in the Indenture, and when
delivered against payment of the consideration specified herein, it
will be validly issued and outstanding, will constitute the legal,
valid and binding obligation of the Issuer, enforceable against the
Issuer in accordance with its terms, and will be entitled to the
benefits of the Indenture;
(vii)
the Issuer is not
now, and immediately following the issuance of the Offered Notes
pursuant to the Indenture will not be, required to be registered
under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;
(viii)
the Registration
Statement has become effective under the Act, and the Prospectus
has been filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b)
thereunder in the manner and within the time period required by
Rule 424(b); to the best of such counsel’s knowledge, no stop
order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement
and the Prospectus and no proceedings for that purpose have been
instituted;
(ix)
the statements in
the Base Prospectus under the headings “ The
Sponsor—Safety and Soundness ,” “ The
Trust—Perfection and Priority of Security Interests
” and “—Conservatorship and Receivership;
Bankruptcy ,” and “ ERISA Considerations
” and the statements in the Prospectus Supplement under the
heading “ Structural Summary—ERISA
Considerations ” to the extent they constitute matters of
law or legal conclusions with respect thereto, to the best of such
counsel’s knowledge are correct in all material
respects;
(x)
the Program
Documents and the Offered Notes conform in all material respects to
the descriptions thereof contained in the Prospectus;
(xi)
the Indenture has
been duly qualified under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as
amended and complies as to form with the Trust Indenture Act of
1939 and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder;
and
(xii)
each of the
Registration Statement, as of its effective date, and the
Prospectus, as of its date, complied as to form in all material
respects with the requirements of the Act and the rules and
regulations under the Act, except that such counsel need not
express any opinion as to the financial and statistical data
included therein or excluded therefrom or the exhibits to the
Registration
10
Statement and,
except as, and to the extent set forth in paragraphs (ix)
and (x) , such counsel need not assume any responsibility
for the accuracy, completeness or fairness of the statements
contained in the Registration Statement or the
Prospectus.
(d)
The
Representatives shall have received on the Closing Date a signed
opinion of Ricky B. Davis, Vice President and Counsel for the Bank,
in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the
Representatives and counsel to the Representatives, dated the
Closing Date and addressed to the Representatives, to the effect
that:
(i)
the Bank is (A)
duly organized and validly existing as a Federal savings bank in
good standing under the laws of the United States and (B) duly
qualified to do business and is in good standing as a foreign
corporation in each jurisdiction where the conduct of its business
or the ownership, lease or operation of its property requires such
qualification, except where the failure to be so qualified would
not have a material adverse effect on its ability to perform its
obligations under the Servicing Agreement and the Receivables Sale
Agreement;
(ii)
the Bank has all
requisite corporate power and authority to execute, deliver and
perform its obligations under the Servicing Agreement and the
Receivables Sale Agreement and to consummate the transactions
provided for therein;
(iii)
the execution,
delivery and performance by the Bank of the Servicing Agreement and
the Receivables Sale Agreement and the consummation of the
transactions provided for therein have been duly authorized by all
requisite corporate action on the part of
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