UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549   

  

FORM 8-K

 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

 

Date of report (Date of earliest event reported): June 14, 2017   

  

CLEANTECH SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC.  

  

(Exact name of registrant as specified in Charter)

 

Nevada   001-34591   90-0648920

(State or other jurisdiction of

incorporation or organization)

  (Commission File No.)   (IRS Employee Identification No.)

 

No. 9 Yanyu Middle Road

Qianzhou Village, Huishan District, Wuxi City

Jiangsu Province, People’s Republic of China 

  

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)

 

(86) 51083397559

  

(Registrant’s Telephone number)

 

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

 

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

 

Emerging growth company o

 

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

 

 

 

Item 1.01 Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement.

 

On June 14, 2017, Cleantech Solutions International, Inc. (the “ Company ”) entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “ SPA ”) with certain accredited investors pursuant to which the investors purchased an aggregate of 290,000 shares (the “ Shares ”) of the Company’s common stock at a purchase price of $3.00 per share. Pursuant to the SPA, the investors have piggyback registration rights until 90 calendar days after the Shares are salable under Rule 144 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”) in the event that the Company proposes to file a registration statement under the Securities Act with respect to an offering of the Company’s securities. The SPA also contains customary representations, warranties, and covenants, including covenants relating to public reporting.

 

The foregoing descriptions of the SPA do not purport to be complete and are qualified in its entirety by reference to the complete text of such SPA, which are incorporated herein by reference and attached hereto as Exhibit 10.1.

 

Item 3.02 Unregistered Sale of Equity Securities.

  

The disclosure set forth in Item 1.01 of this Current Report on Form 8-K is incorporated by reference into this Item 3.02.

 

The Shares were issued pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act, pursuant Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act and Regulation S promulgated thereunder.

 

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors of Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

  

As previously reported on a Current Report on Form 8-K on June 7, 2017, the board of directors (the “ Board ’) of the Company approved the appointment of Parkson Yip as Chief Operating Officer of the Company, effective June 3, 2017.

 

In connection with Mr. Yip’s appointment, the Company entered into an employment agreement (the “ Agreement ”) with Mr. Yip on June 19, 2017, the terms of which became effective immediately. Pursuant to the Agreement, Mr. Yip will receive an annual base salary of $150,000 and a sign-on bonus of $19,250 upon signing the Agreement. Mr. Yip’s annual salary will be reviewed annually by the compensation committee of the Board (the “ Committee ”) and may be changed in the sole direction of the Committee.

 

The term of the Agreement is effective as of June 19, 2017 and will end on May 31, 2018 (the “ Initial Term ”). After the Initial Term, Mr. Yip’s employment will continue on a month-to-month basis with each additional term (each, an “ Extension ”) ending on the last day of the calendar month unless either party provides the other party with 30 days’ notice of non-renewal prior to the expiration of an Extension.

 

Prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or an Extension, the Agreement can be terminated by the Company with or without cause or upon Mr. Yip’s death or disability. “Cause,” as defined in the Agreement, includes, but is not limited to: (i) repeated failure or refusal to follow instructions from the Board or the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, provided that such instructions are reasonable, specific, lawful and consistent with Mr. Yip’s duties set forth in the Agreement, (ii) willful neglect or material breach of duty, (iii) breach of confidentiality, non-compete and non-solicitation provisions under the Agreement, (iv) breach of trust for personal gain or benefit, (v) fraudulent or dishonest conduct and (vi) conviction of felony and certain other crimes. The Company may also terminate the Agreement without cause upon 30 days’ written notice. In addition, upon the Company’s material breach, Mr. Yip has the right to terminate the Agreement by providing 10 days’ written notice.

 

If the Agreement is terminated by the Company without cause or by Mr. Yip upon the Company’s material breach, the Company shall pay Mr. Yip severance in the amount equal to one month’s salary. Upon termination for any other reason set forth in the Agreement, the Company is only obligated to pay Mr. Yip any unpaid base salary and any unreimbursed expenses incurred up to the termination.

 

The Agreement includes a confidentiality provision that lasts perpetually and also a non-competition and non-solicitation provision during Mr. Yip’s employment and for a period of one year following termination.

 

The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit 99.1 and is incorporated herein by reference.

 

Item 9.01.    Financial Statements and Exhibits.

 

(d)           Exhibits

 

Exhibit No.   Description
     
10.1   Form of Stock Purchase Agreement dated June 14, 2017
     
99.1   Employment Agreement, dated as of June 19, 2017, by and between the Company and Parkson Yip

    

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this Report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

 

Date: June 20, 2017 Cleantech Solutions International, Inc.
   
   
By:   /s/Jianhua Wu
  Jianhua Wu
  Chief Executive Officer

 

 

 

 

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Exhibit 10.1

 

Stock PURCHASE AGREEMENT

 

This Stock Purchase Agreement (this “ Agreement ”) is dated as of June 14, 2017, between Cleantech Solutions International, Inc., a Nevada corporation (the “ Company ”), and the purchaser identified on the signature pages hereto (including its successors and assigns, a “ Purchaser ”).

 

WHEREAS, subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement and pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “ Securities Act ”) and Regulation S as promulgated thereunder (“ Regulation S ”), the Company desires to issue and sell to the Purchaser, and the Purchaser, severally and not jointly, desires to purchase from the Company, securities of the Company as more fully described in this Agreement.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual covenants contained in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the Company and the Purchaser agree as follows:

 

ARTICLE I.
DEFINITIONS

 

1.1            Definitions . In addition to the terms defined elsewhere in this Agreement, for all purposes of this Agreement, the following terms have the meanings set forth in this Section 1.1:

 

Acquiring Person ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.5.

 

Action ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(j).

 

Affiliate ” means any Person that, directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls or is controlled by or is under common control with a Person, as such terms are used in and construed under Rule 405 under the Securities Act.

 

Board of Directors ” means the board of directors of the Company.

 

Business Day ” means any day except any Saturday, any Sunday, any day which is a federal legal holiday in the United States or any day on which banking institutions in the State of New York are authorized or required by law or other governmental action to close.

 

Closing ” means the closing of the purchase and sale of the Shares pursuant to Section 2.1.

 

Closing Date ” means the Trading Day on which all of the Transaction Documents have been executed and delivered by the applicable parties thereto, and all conditions precedent to (i) the Purchaser’s obligations to pay the Subscription Amount and (ii) the Company’s obligations to deliver the Shares, in each case, have been satisfied or waived.

 

Code ” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

 

 

 

 

Commission ” means the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

 

Common Stock ” means the common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share, and any other class of securities into which such securities may hereafter be reclassified or changed.

 

Common Stock Equivalents ” means any securities of the Company or the Subsidiaries which would entitle the holder thereof to acquire at any time Common Stock, including, without limitation, any debt, preferred stock, right, option, warrant or other instrument that is at any time convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or otherwise entitles the holder thereof to receive, Common Stock.

 

Disclosure Schedules ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1.

 

EGS ” means Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP, with offices located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105-0302.

 

Effective Date ” means the earliest of the date that (a) all of the Shares have been sold pursuant to Rule 144 or may be sold pursuant to Rule 144 without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions, (b) following the one year anniversary of the Closing Date provided that a holder of Shares is not an Affiliate of the Company, or (c) all of the Shares may be sold pursuant to an exemption from registration under Section 4(a)(1) of the Securities Act without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions and holders have retained from legal counsel a standing written unqualified opinion that resales may then be made by such holders of the Shares pursuant to such exemption which opinion shall be in form and substance reasonably acceptable to such holders.

 

Evaluation Date ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(s).

 

Exchange Act ” means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

FCPA ” means the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended.

 

GAAP ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).

 

Indebtedness ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(bb).

 

Intellectual Property Rights ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(p).

 

Liens ” means a lien, charge pledge, security interest, encumbrance, right of first refusal, preemptive right or other restriction.

 

Material Adverse Effect ” shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section 3.1(b).

 

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Material Permits ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(n).

 

Per Share Purchase Price ” equals $3.00, subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Common Stock that occur after the date of this Agreement.

 

Person ” means an individual or corporation, partnership, trust, incorporated or unincorporated association, joint venture, limited liability company, joint stock company, government (or an agency or subdivision thereof) or other entity of any kind.

 

Proceeding ” means an action, claim, suit, investigation or proceeding (including, without limitation, an informal investigation or partial proceeding, such as a deposition), whether commenced or threatened.

 

Purchaser Party ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 4.8.

 

Registrable Shares ” means all shares of Common Stock purchased pursuant to this Agreement.

 

Registration Statement ” means a registration statement in the form required to register the resale of Registrable Shares under the Securities Act and other applicable law, and including any prospectus, amendments and supplements to each such registration statement or prospectus, including pre- and post-effective amendments, all exhibits thereto, and all material incorporated by reference or deemed to be incorporated by reference in such registration statement.

 

Required Approvals ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(e).

 

Rule 144 ” means Rule 144 promulgated by the Commission pursuant to the Securities Act, as such Rule may be amended or interpreted from time to time, or any similar rule or regulation hereafter adopted by the Commission having substantially the same purpose and effect as such Rule.

 

SEC Reports ” shall have the meaning ascribed to such term in Section 3.1(h).

 

Securities Act ” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

 

Shares ” means the shares of Common Stock issued or issuable to the Purchaser pursuant to this Agreement.

 

Short Sales ” means all “short sales” as defined in Rule 200 of Regulation SHO under the Exchange Act (but shall not be deemed to include locating and/or borrowing shares of Common Stock).

 

Subscription Amount ” means the aggregate amount to be paid for Shares purchased hereunder as specified below the Purchaser’s name on the signature page of this Agreement and next to the heading “Subscription Amount,” in United States dollars and in immediately available funds.

 

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Subsidiary ” means any subsidiary of the Company as set forth on Schedule 3.1(a) and shall, where applicable, also include any direct or indirect subsidiary of the Company formed or acquired after the date hereof.

 

Trading Day ” means a day on which the principal Trading Market is open for trading.

 

Trading Market ” means any of the following markets or exchanges on which the Common Stock is listed or quoted for trading on the date in question: the NYSE MKT, the Nasdaq Capital Market, the Nasdaq Global Market, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, the New York Stock Exchange or any successors to any of the foregoing.

 

Transaction Documents ” means this Agreement, all exhibits and schedules hereto and any other documents or agreements executed in connection with the transactions contemplated hereunder.

 

Transfer Agent ” means Empire Stock Transfer Inc., the current transfer agent of the Company, with a mailing address of 1859 Whitney Mesa Dr., Henderson, NV 89014 and a telephone number of (702) 818-5898, and any successor transfer agent of the Company.

 

ARTICLE II.
PURCHASE AND SALE

 

2.1           Closing . On the Closing Date, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth herein, substantially concurrent with the execution and delivery of this Agreement by the parties hereto, the Company agrees to sell, and the Purchaser agrees to purchase, an aggregate of $990,000 of Shares. The Purchaser shall deliver to the Company, via wire transfer or a certified check, immediately available funds equal to such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount as set forth on the signature page hereto executed by such Purchaser, and the Company shall deliver to the Purchaser its respective Shares, as determined pursuant to Section 2.2(a), and the Company and the Purchaser shall deliver the other items set forth in Section 2.2 deliverable at the Closing. Upon satisfaction of the covenants and conditions set forth in Sections 2.2 and 2.3, the Closing shall occur at the offices of EGS or such other location as the parties shall mutually agree.

 

2.2           Deliveries .

 

(a)          On or prior to the Closing Date, the Company shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Purchaser the following:

 

(i)       this Agreement duly executed by the Company;

 

(ii)       a copy of the irrevocable instructions to the Transfer Agent instructing the Transfer Agent to deliver, on an expedited basis, a certificate evidencing a number of Shares equal to such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount divided by the Per Share Purchase Price, registered in the name of such Purchaser; and

 

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(iii)       the Company shall have provided the Purchaser with the Company’s wire instructions, on Company letterhead and executed by the Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer.

 

(b)          On or prior to the Closing Date, the Purchaser shall deliver or cause to be delivered to the Company the following:

 

(i)       this Agreement duly executed by such Purchaser;

 

(ii)       such Purchaser’s Subscription Amount by wire transfer to the account designated by the Company; and

 

(iii)       an Accredited Investor Questionnaire in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A , duly executed by the Purchaser.

 

2.3           Closing Conditions .

 

(a)          The obligations of the Company hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:

 

(i)       the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Purchaser contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate as of such date);

 

(ii)       all obligations, covenants and agreements of the Purchaser required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed; and

 

(iii)       the delivery by the Purchaser of the items set forth in Section 2.2(b) of this Agreement.

 

(b)          The obligations of the Purchaser hereunder in connection with the Closing are subject to the following conditions being met:

 

(i)       the accuracy in all material respects (or, to the extent representations or warranties are qualified by materiality or Material Adverse Effect, in all respects) when made and on the Closing Date of the representations and warranties of the Company contained herein (unless as of a specific date therein in which case they shall be accurate as of such date);

 

(ii)       all obligations, covenants and agreements of the Company required to be performed at or prior to the Closing Date shall have been performed;

 

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(iii)       the delivery by the Company of the items set forth in Section 2.2(a) of this Agreement;

 

(iv)       there shall have been no Material Adverse Effect with respect to the Company since the date hereof; and

 

(v)       from the date hereof to the Closing Date, trading in the Common Stock shall not have been suspended by the Commission or the Company’s principal Trading Market, and, at any time prior to the Closing Date, trading in securities generally as reported by Bloomberg L.P. shall not have been suspended or limited, or minimum prices shall not have been established on securities whose trades are reported by such service, or on any Trading Market, nor shall a banking moratorium have been declared either by the United States or New York State authorities nor shall there have occurred any material outbreak or escalation of hostilities or other national or international calamity of such magnitude in its effect on, or any material adverse change in, any financial market which, in each case, in the reasonable judgment of such Purchaser, makes it impracticable or inadvisable to purchase the Shares at the Closing.

 

ARTICLE III.
REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES

 

3.1           Representations and Warranties of the Company . Except as set forth in the Disclosure Schedules, which Disclosure Schedules shall be deemed a part hereof and shall qualify any representation or otherwise made herein to the extent of the disclosure contained in the corresponding section of the Disclosure Schedules, the Company hereby makes the following representations and warranties to the Purchaser:

 

(a)            Subsidiaries . All of the direct and indirect subsidiaries of the Company are set forth on Schedule 3.1(a) . The Company owns, directly or indirectly, all of the capital stock or other equity interests of each Subsidiary free and clear of any Liens, and all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock of each Subsidiary are validly issued and are fully paid, non-assessable and free of preemptive and similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. If the Company has no subsidiaries, all other references to the Subsidiaries or any of them in the Transaction Documents shall be disregarded.

 

(b)            Organization and Qualification . The Company and each of the Subsidiaries is an entity duly incorporated or otherwise organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, with the requisite power and authority to own and use its properties and assets and to carry on its business as currently conducted. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary is in violation nor default of any of the provisions of its respective certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents. Each of the Company and the Subsidiaries is duly qualified to conduct business and is in good standing as a foreign corporation or other entity in each jurisdiction in which the nature of the business conducted or property owned by it makes such qualification necessary, except where the failure to be so qualified or in good standing, as the case may be, could not have or reasonably be expected to result in: (i) a material adverse effect on the legality, validity or enforceability of any Transaction Document, (ii) a material adverse effect on the results of operations, assets, business, prospects or condition (financial or otherwise) of the Company and the Subsidiaries, taken as a whole, or (iii) a material adverse effect on the Company’s ability to perform in any material respect on a timely basis its obligations under any Transaction Document (any of (i), (ii) or (iii), a “ Material Adverse Effect ”) and no Proceeding has been instituted in any such jurisdiction revoking, limiting or curtailing or seeking to revoke, limit or curtail such power and authority or qualification.

 

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(c)            Authorization; Enforcement . The Company has the requisite corporate power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and each of the other Transaction Documents and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of each of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents by the Company and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby have been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Company and no further action is required by the Company, the Board of Directors or the Company’s stockholders in connection herewith or therewith other than in connection with the Required Approvals. This Agreement and each other Transaction Document to which it is a party has been (or upon delivery will have been) duly executed by the Company and, when delivered in accordance with the terms hereof and thereof, will constitute the valid and binding obligation of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms, except: (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

(d)            No Conflicts . The execution, delivery and performance by the Company of this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents to which it is a party, the issuance and sale of the Shares and the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby and thereby do not and will not: (i) conflict with or violate any provision of the Company’s or any Subsidiary’s certificate or articles of incorporation, bylaws or other organizational or charter documents, (ii) conflict with, or constitute a default (or an event that with notice or lapse of time or both would become a default) under, result in the creation of any Lien upon any of the properties or assets of the Company or any Subsidiary, or give to others any rights of termination, amendment, acceleration or cancellation (with or without notice, lapse of time or both) of, any agreement, credit facility, debt or other instrument (evidencing a Company or Subsidiary debt or otherwise) or other understanding to which the Company or any Subsidiary is a party or by which any property or asset of the Company or any Subsidiary is bound or affected, or (iii) subject to the Required Approvals, conflict with or result in a violation of any law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, decree or other restriction of any court or governmental authority to which the Company or a Subsidiary is subject (including federal and state securities laws and regulations), or by which any property or asset of the Company or a Subsidiary is bound or affected; except in the case of each of clauses (ii) and (iii), such as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

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(e)            Filings, Consents and Approvals . The Company is not required to obtain any consent, waiver, authorization or order of, give any notice to, or make any filing or registration with, any court or other federal, state, local or other governmental authority or other Person in connection with the execution, delivery and performance by the Company of the Transaction Documents, other than: (i) the filings required pursuant to Section 4.4 of this Agreement, (ii) the notice and/or application(s) to each applicable Trading Market for the issuance and sale of the Shares and the listing of the Shares for trading thereon in the time and manner required thereby, and, if necessary (iii) the filing of Form D with the Commission and such filings as are required to be made under applicable state securities laws (collectively, the “ Required Approvals ”).

 

(f)            Issuance of the Shares . The Shares are duly authorized and, when issued and paid for in accordance with the applicable Transaction Documents, will be duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, free and clear of all Liens imposed by the Company other than restrictions on transfer provided for in the Transaction Documents. The Company has reserved from its duly authorized capital stock the maximum number of shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to this Agreement.

 

(g)            Capitalization . The Company has not issued any capital stock since its most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act, other than pursuant to the exercise of employee stock options under the Company’s stock option plans, the issuance of shares of Common Stock to employees pursuant to the Company’s employee stock purchase plans and pursuant to the conversion and/or exercise of Common Stock Equivalents outstanding as of the date of the most recently filed periodic report under the Exchange Act. No Person has any right of first refusal, preemptive right, right of participation, or any similar right to participate in the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. Except as a result of the purchase and sale of the Shares, there are no outstanding options, warrants, scrip rights to subscribe to, calls or commitments of any character whatsoever relating to, or securities, rights or obligations convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for, or giving any Person any right to subscribe for or acquire any shares of Common Stock or the capital stock of any Subsidiary, or contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to issue additional shares of Common Stock or Common Stock Equivalents or capital stock of any Subsidiary. The issuance and sale of the Shares will not obligate the Company or any Subsidiary to issue shares of Common Stock or other securities to any Person (other than the Purchaser) and will not result in a right of any holder of Company securities to adjust the exercise, conversion, exchange or reset price under any of such securities. There are no outstanding securities or instruments of the Company or any Subsidiary that contain any redemption or similar provisions, and there are no contracts, commitments, understandings or arrangements by which the Company or any Subsidiary is or may become bound to redeem a security of the Company or such Subsidiary. The Company does not have any stock appreciation rights or “phantom stock” plans or any similar plan or agreement. All of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the Company are duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable, have been issued in compliance with all federal and state securities laws, and none of such outstanding shares was issued in violation of any preemptive rights or similar rights to subscribe for or purchase securities. No further approval or authorization of any stockholder, the Board of Directors or others is required for the issuance and sale of the Shares.

 

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(h)            SEC Reports; Financial Statements . The Company has filed all reports, schedules, forms, statements and other documents required to be filed by the Company under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, including pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) thereof, for the two years preceding the date hereof (or such shorter period as the Company was required by law or regulation to file such material) (the foregoing materials, including the exhibits thereto and documents incorporated by reference therein, being collectively referred to herein as the “ SEC Reports ”). As of their respective dates, the SEC Reports complied in all material respects with the requirements of the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, as applicable, and none of the SEC Reports, when filed, contained any untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading. The financial statements of the Company included in the SEC Reports comply in all material respects with applicable accounting requirements and the rules and regulations of the Commission with respect thereto as in effect at the time of filing. Such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles applied on a consistent basis during the periods involved (“ GAAP ”), except as may be otherwise specified in such financial statements or the notes thereto and except that unaudited financial statements may not contain all footnotes required by GAAP, and fairly present in all material respects the financial position of the Company and its consolidated Subsidiaries as of and for the dates thereof and the results of operations and cash flows for the periods then ended, subject, in the case of unaudited statements, to normal, immaterial, year-end audit adjustments.

 

(i)            Material Changes; Undisclosed Events, Liabilities or Developments . Since the date of the latest audited financial statements included within the SEC Reports, except as specifically disclosed in a subsequent SEC Report filed prior to the date hereof: (i) there has been no event, occurrence or development that has had or that could reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, (ii) the Company has not incurred any liabilities (contingent or otherwise) other than (A) trade payables and accrued expenses incurred in the ordinary course of business consistent with past practice and (B) liabilities not required to be reflected in the Company’s financial statements pursuant to GAAP or disclosed in filings made with the Commission, (iii) the Company has not altered its method of accounting, (iv) the Company has not declared or made any dividend or distribution of cash or other property to its stockholders or purchased, redeemed or made any agreements to purchase or redeem any shares of its capital stock and (v) the Company has not issued any equity securities to any officer, director or Affiliate, except pursuant to existing Company stock option plans. The Company does not have pending before the Commission any request for confidential treatment of information. Except for the issuance of the Shares contemplated by this Agreement, no event, liability, fact, circumstance, occurrence or development has occurred or exists, or is reasonably expected to occur or exist, with respect to the Company or its Subsidiaries or their respective businesses, properties, operations, assets or financial condition, that would be required to be disclosed by the Company under applicable securities laws at the time this representation is made or deemed made that has not been publicly disclosed at least one (1) Trading Day prior to the date that this representation is made.

 

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(j)            Litigation . There is no action, suit, inquiry, notice of violation, proceeding or investigation pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened against or affecting the Company, any Subsidiary or any of their respective properties before or by any court, arbitrator, governmental or administrative agency or regulatory authority (federal, state, county, local or foreign) (collectively, an “ Action ”) which (i) adversely affects or challenges the legality, validity or enforceability of any of the Transaction Documents or the Shares or (ii) could, if there were an unfavorable decision, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary, nor any director or officer thereof, is or has been the subject of any Action involving a claim of violation of or liability under federal or state securities laws or a claim of breach of fiduciary duty. There has not been, and to the knowledge of the Company, there is not pending or contemplated, any investigation by the Commission involving the Company or any current or former director or officer of the Company. The Commission has not issued any stop order or other order suspending the effectiveness of any registration statement filed by the Company or any Subsidiary under the Exchange Act or the Securities Act.

 

(k)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(l)             Compliance . Neither the Company nor any Subsidiary: (i) is in default under or in violation of (and no event has occurred that has not been waived that, with notice or lapse of time or both, would result in a default by the Company or any Subsidiary under), nor has the Company or any Subsidiary received notice of a claim that it is in default under or that it is in violation of, any indenture, loan or credit agreement or any other agreement or instrument to which it is a party or by which it or any of its properties is bound (whether or not such default or violation has been waived), (ii) is in violation of any judgment, decree, or order of any court, arbitrator or other governmental authority or (iii) is or has been in violation of any statute, rule, ordinance or regulation of any governmental authority, including without limitation all foreign, federal, state and local laws relating to taxes, environmental protection, occupational health and safety, product quality and safety and employment and labor matters, except in each case as could not have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

 

(m)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(n)            Intentionally Omitted.

 

(o)            Intentionally Omitted.

 

(p)            Intentionally Omitted.

 

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(q)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(r)             Transactions With Affiliates and Employees . Except as set forth in the SEC Reports, none of the officers or directors of the Company or any Subsidiary and, to the knowledge of the Company, none of the employees of the Company or any Subsidiary is presently a party to any transaction with the Company or any Subsidiary (other than for services as employees, officers and directors), including any contract, agreement or other arrangement providing for the furnishing of services to or by, providing for rental of real or personal property to or from, providing for the borrowing of money from or lending of money to or otherwise requiring payments to or from any officer, director or such employee or, to the knowledge of the Company, any entity in which any officer, director, or any such employee has a substantial interest or is an officer, director, trustee, stockholder, member or partner, in each case in excess of $120,000 other than for: (i) payment of salary or consulting fees for services rendered, (ii) reimbursement for expenses incurred on behalf of the Company and (iii) other employee benefits, including stock option agreements under any stock option plan of the Company.

 

(s)            Intentionally Omitted.

 

(t)            Intentionally Omitted.

 

(u)            Private Placement . Assuming the accuracy of the Purchaser’s representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2, no registration under the Securities Act is required for the offer and sale of the Shares by the Company to the Purchaser as contemplated hereby. The issuance and sale of the Shares hereunder does not contravene the rules and regulations of the Trading Market.

 

(v)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(w)            Registration Rights . No Person has any right to cause the Company to effect the registration under the Securities Act of any securities of the Company or any Subsidiary.

 

(x)            Listing and Maintenance Requirements . The Common Stock is registered pursuant to Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act, and the Company has taken no action designed to, or which to its knowledge is likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Common Stock under the Exchange Act nor has the Company received any notification that the Commission is contemplating terminating such registration. The Company is, and has no reason to believe that it will not in the foreseeable future continue to be, in compliance with all listing and maintenance requirements of the Trading Market. The Common Stock is currently eligible for electronic transfer through the Depository Trust Company or another established clearing corporation and the Company is current in payment of the fees to the Depository Trust Company (or such other established clearing corporation) in connection with such electronic transfer.

 

(y)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

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(z)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(aa)          No Integrated Offering . Assuming the accuracy of the Purchaser’s representations and warranties set forth in Section 3.2, neither the Company, nor any of its Affiliates, nor any Person acting on its or their behalf has, directly or indirectly, made any offers or sales of any security or solicited any offers to buy any security, under circumstances that would cause this offering of the Shares to be integrated with prior offerings by the Company for purposes of (i) the Securities Act which would require the registration of any such securities under the Securities Act, or (ii) any applicable shareholder approval provisions of any Trading Market on which any of the securities of the Company are listed or designated.

 

(bb)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

(cc)          Tax Status . Except for matters that would not, individually or in the aggregate, have or reasonably be expected to result in a Material Adverse Effect, the Company and its Subsidiaries each (i) has made or filed all United States federal, state and local income and all foreign income and franchise tax returns, reports and declarations required by any jurisdiction to which it is subject, (ii) has paid all taxes and other governmental assessments and charges that are material in amount, shown or determined to be due on such returns, reports and declarations and (iii) has set aside on its books provision reasonably adequate for the payment of all material taxes for periods subsequent to the periods to which such returns, reports or declarations apply. There are no unpaid taxes in any material amount claimed to be due by the taxing authority of any jurisdiction, and the officers of the Company or of any Subsidiary know of no basis for any such claim.

 

(dd)          No General Solicitation . Neither the Company nor any Person acting on behalf of the Company has offered or sold any of the Shares by any form of general solicitation or general advertising. The Company has offered the Shares for sale only to the Purchaser.

 

(ee)          Intentionally Omitted.

 

(ff)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(gg)          No Disagreements with Accountants and Lawyers. There are no disagreements of any kind presently existing, or reasonably anticipated by the Company to arise, between the Company and the accountants and lawyers formerly or presently employed by the Company and the Company is current with respect to any fees owed to its accountants and lawyers which could affect the Company’s ability to perform any of its obligations under any of the Transaction Documents.

 

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(hh)          Acknowledgment Regarding Purchaser’s Purchase of Shares . The Company acknowledges and agrees that the Purchaser is acting solely in the capacity of an arm’s length purchaser with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby. The Company further acknowledges that no Purchaser is acting as a financial advisor or fiduciary of the Company (or in any similar capacity) with respect to the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby and any advice given by the Purchaser or any of its respective representatives or agents in connection with the Transaction Documents and the transactions contemplated thereby is merely incidental to the Purchaser’s purchase of the Shares. The Company further represents to the Purchaser that the Company’s decision to enter into this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents has been based solely on the independent evaluation of the transactions contemplated hereby by the Company and its representatives.

 

(ii)            Acknowledgment Regarding Purchaser’s Trading Activity . Anything in this Agreement or elsewhere herein to the contrary notwithstanding (except for Section 3.2(f) hereof), it is understood and acknowledged by the Company that: (i) the Purchaser has not been asked by the Company to agree, nor has the Purchaser agreed, to desist from purchasing or selling, long and/or short, securities of the Company, or “derivative” securities based on securities issued by the Company or to hold the Shares for any specified term, (ii) past or future open market or other transactions by the Purchaser, specifically including, without limitation, Short Sales or “derivative” transactions, before or after the closing of this or future private placement transactions, may negatively impact the market price of the Company’s publicly-traded securities, (iii) the Purchaser, and counter-parties in “derivative” transactions to which any such Purchaser is a party, directly or indirectly, may presently have a “short” position in the Common Stock and (iv) the Purchaser shall not be deemed to have any affiliation with or control over any arm’s length counter-party in any “derivative” transaction.

 

(jj)            Regulation M Compliance. The Company has not, and to its knowledge no one acting on its behalf has, (i) taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or to result in the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any security of the Company to facilitate the sale or resale of any of the Shares, (ii) sold, bid for, purchased, or paid any compensation for soliciting purchases of, any of the Shares, or (iii) paid or agreed to pay to any Person any compensation for soliciting another to purchase any other securities of the Company.

 

(kk)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

(ll)           Intentionally Omitted.

 

(mm)       Intentionally Omitted.

 

(nn)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

(oo)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

(pp)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

(qq)         Intentionally Omitted.

 

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(rr)            No Disqualification Events . With respect to the Shares to be offered and sold hereunder in reliance on Rule 506 under the Securities Act, none of the Company, any of its predecessors, any affiliated issuer, any director, executive officer, other officer of the Company participating in the offering hereunder, any beneficial owner of 20% or more of the Company’s outstanding voting equity securities, calculated on the basis of voting power, nor any promoter (as that term is defined in Rule 405 under the Securities Act) connected with the Company in any capacity at the time of sale (each, an " Issuer Covered Person " and, together, " Issuer Covered Persons ") is subject to any of the "Bad Actor" disqualifications described in Rule 506(d)(1)(i) to (viii) under the Securities Act (a " Disqualification Event "), except for a Disqualification Event covered by Rule 506(d)(2) or (d)(3). The Company has exercised reasonable care to determine whether any Issuer Covered Person is subject to a Disqualification Event. The Company has complied, to the extent applicable, with its disclosure obligations under Rule 506(e), and has furnished to the Purchaser a copy of any disclosures provided thereunder.

 

(ss) Other Covered Persons . The Company is not aware of any person (other than any Issuer Covered Person) that has been or will be paid (directly or indirectly) remuneration for solicitation of purchasers in connection with the sale of any Shares.

 

(tt) Notice of Disqualification Events . The Company will notify the Purchaser in writing, prior to the Closing Date of (i) any Disqualification Event relating to any Issuer Covered Person and (ii) any event that would, with the passage of time, become a Disqualification Event relating to any Issuer Covered Person.

 

3.2            Representations and Warranties of the Purchaser . The Purchaser hereby represents and warrants as of the date hereof and as of the Closing Date to the Company as follows (unless as of a specific date therein, in which case they shall be accurate as of such date):

 

(a)            Organization; Authority . Such Purchaser is either an individual or an entity duly incorporated or formed, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or formation with full right, corporate, partnership, limited liability company or similar power and authority to enter into and to consummate the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents and otherwise to carry out its obligations hereunder and thereunder. The execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents and performance by such Purchaser of the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents have been duly authorized by all necessary corporate, partnership, limited liability company or similar action, as applicable, on the part of such Purchaser. Each Transaction Document to which it is a party has been duly executed by such Purchaser, and when delivered by such Purchaser in accordance with the terms hereof, will constitute the valid and legally binding obligation of such Purchaser, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, except: (i) as limited by general equitable principles and applicable bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium and other laws of general application affecting enforcement of creditors’ rights generally, (ii) as limited by laws relating to the availability of specific performance, injunctive relief or other equitable remedies and (iii) insofar as indemnification and contribution provisions may be limited by applicable law.

 

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(b)            Own Account . Such Purchaser understands that the Shares are “restricted securities” and have not been registered under the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law and is acquiring the Shares as principal for its own account and not with a view to or for distributing or reselling such Shares or any part thereof in violation of the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law, has no present intention of distributing any of such Shares in violation of the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law and has no direct or indirect arrangement or understandings with any other persons to distribute or regarding the distribution of such Shares in violation of the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law (this representation and warranty not limiting such Purchaser’s right to sell the Shares in compliance with applicable federal and state securities laws).

 

(c)            Purchaser Status . At the time such Purchaser was offered the Shares, it was, and as of the date hereof it is: (i) an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3), (a)(7) or (a)(8) under the Securities Act or (ii) a “qualified institutional buyer” as defined in Rule 144A(a) under the Securities Act. If the Purchaser is not a United States person, as defined by Section 7701(a)(30) of the Code (“U.S. Person”) from the time of the origination of contact concerning this Agreement through the date of the execution and delivery of this Agreement, the Purchaser hereby represents that it has satisfied itself as to the full observance of the laws of its jurisdiction in connection with any invitation to subscribe for the Shares or any use of this Agreement, including (i) the legal requirements within its jurisdiction for the purchase of the Shares, (ii) any foreign exchange restrictions applicable to such purchase, (iii) any governmental or other consents that may need to be obtained, and (iv) the income tax and other tax consequences, if any, that may be relevant to the purchase, holding, redemption, sale, or transfer of the Shares. The Purchaser’s subscription and payment for and continued beneficial ownership of the Shares will not violate any applicable securities or other laws of the Purchaser’s jurisdiction.

 

(d)            Experience of Such Purchaser . Such Purchaser, either alone or together with its representatives, has such knowledge, sophistication and experience in business and financial matters so as to be capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the prospective investment in the Shares, and has so evaluated the merits and risks of such investment. Such Purchaser is able to bear the economic risk of an investment in the Shares and, at the present time, is able to afford a complete loss of such investment.

 

(e)            General Solicitation . Such Purchaser is not, to such Purchaser’s knowledge, purchasing the Shares as a result of any advertisement, article, notice or other communication regarding the Shares published in any newspaper, magazine or similar media or broadcast over television or radio or presented at any seminar or any other general solicitation or general advertisement.

 

(f)            Access to Information . Such Purchaser acknowledges that it has had the opportunity to review the Transaction Documents (including all exhibits and schedules thereto) and the SEC Reports and has been afforded (i) the opportunity to ask such questions as it has deemed necessary of, and to receive answers from, representatives of the Company concerning the terms and conditions of the offering of the Shares and the merits and risks of investing in the Shares; (ii) access to information about the Company and its financial condition, results of operations, business, properties, management and prospects sufficient to enable it to evaluate its investment; and (iii) the opportunity to obtain such additional information that the Company possesses or can acquire without unreasonable effort or expense that is necessary to make an informed investment decision with respect to the investment. Such Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that neither the Company nor any Affiliate of the Company has provided such Purchaser with any information or advice with respect to the Shares nor is such information or advice necessary or desired. Neither the Company nor any Affiliate has made or makes any representation as to the Company or the quality of the Shares and the Company and any Affiliate may have acquired non-public information with respect to the Company which such Purchaser agrees need not be provided to it.

 

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(g)            Certain Transactions and Confidentiality . Other than consummating the transactions contemplated hereunder, such Purchaser has not directly or indirectly, nor has any Person acting on behalf of or pursuant to any understanding with such Purchaser, executed any purchases or sales, including Short Sales, of the securities of the Company during the period commencing as of the time that such Purchaser first received a term sheet (written or oral) from the Company or any other Person representing the Company setting forth the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereunder and ending immediately prior to the execution hereof. Other than to other Persons party to this Agreement or to such Purchaser’s representatives, including, without limitation, its officers, directors, partners, legal and other advisors, agents and Affiliates, such Purchaser has maintained the confidentiality of all disclosures made to it in connection with this transaction (including the existence and terms of this transaction).

 

(i)            Regulation S Compliance . Neither the Purchaser nor any person acting on its behalf has engaged, nor will engage, in any directed selling efforts to a U.S. Person with respect to the Purchaser’s Shares and the Purchaser and any person acting on its behalf has complied and will comply with the “offering restrictions” requirements of Regulation S. The transactions contemplated by this Agreement have not been pre-arranged with a buyer located in the United States or with a U.S. Person, and are not part of a plan or scheme to evade the registration requirements of the Securities Act. Neither the Purchaser nor any person acting on its behalf has undertaken or carried out any activity for the purpose of, or that could reasonably be expected to have the effect of, conditioning the market in the United States, its territories or possessions, for any of the Purchaser’s Shares. The Purchaser agrees not to cause any advertisement of the Purchaser’s Shares to be published in any newspaper or periodical or posted in any public place and not to issue any circular relating to the Purchaser’s Shares, except such advertisements that include the statements required by Regulation S, and only offshore and not in the U.S. or its territories, and only in compliance with any local applicable securities laws.

 

The Company acknowledges and agrees that the representations contained in this Section 3.2 shall not modify, amend or affect such Purchaser’s right to rely on the Company’s representations and warranties contained in this Agreement or any representations and warranties contained in any other Transaction Document or any other document or instrument executed and/or delivered in connection with this Agreement or the consummation of the transactions contemplated hereby.

 

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ARTICLE IV.
OTHER AGREEMENTS OF THE PARTIES

 

4.1            Transfer Restrictions .

 

(a)           The Shares may only be disposed of in compliance with state and federal securities laws. In connection with any transfer of Shares other than pursuant to an effective registration statement, the Company may require the transferor thereof to provide to the Company an opinion of counsel selected by the transferor and reasonably acceptable to the Company, the form and substance of which opinion shall be reasonably satisfactory to the Company, to the effect that such transfer does not require registration of such transferred Shares under the Securities Act. As a condition of transfer, any such transferee shall agree in writing to be bound by the terms of this Agreement and shall have the rights and obligations of a Purchaser under this Agreement.

 

(b)           The Purchaser understands that the Shares and any securities issued in respect of or exchange for the Shares, may be notated with one or all of the following legends, as applicable:

 

“THIS SECURITY HAS NOT BEEN REGISTERED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR THE SECURITIES COMMISSION OF ANY STATE IN RELIANCE UPON AN EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND, ACCORDINGLY, MAY NOT BE OFFERED OR SOLD EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR PURSUANT TO AN AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM, OR IN A TRANSACTION NOT SUBJECT TO THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS. THIS SECURITY MAY BE PLEDGED IN CONNECTION WITH A BONA FIDE MARGIN ACCOUNT WITH A REGISTERED BROKER-DEALER OR OTHER LOAN WITH A FINANCIAL INSTITUTION THAT IS AN “ACCREDITED INVESTOR” AS DEFINED IN RULE 501(a) UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR OTHER LOAN SECURED BY SUCH SECURITIES.”

 

“THESE SECURITIES ARE BEING OFFERED TO INVESTORS WHO ARE NOT U.S. PERSONS (AS DEFINED IN REGULATION S UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (“THE SECURITIES ACT”) AND WITHOUT REGISTRATION WITH THE UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT IN RELIANCE UPON REGULATION S PROMULGATED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT. TRANSFER OF THESE SECURITIES IS PROHIBITED, EXCEPT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROVISIONS OF REGULATION S PROMULGATED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT, PURSUANT TO REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT, OR PURSUANT TO AVAILABLE EXEMPTION FROM REGISTRATION. HEDGING TRANSACTIONS MAY NOT BE CONDUCTED UNLESS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE SECURITIES ACT.”

 

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The Company acknowledges and agrees that a Purchaser may from time to time pledge pursuant to a bona fide margin agreement with a registered broker-dealer or grant a security interest in some or all of the Shares to a financial institution that is an “accredited investor” as defined in Rule 501(a) under the Securities Act and, if required under the terms of such arrangement, such Purchaser may transfer pledged or secured Shares to the pledgees or secured parties. Such a pledge or transfer would not be subject to approval of the Company and no legal opinion of legal counsel of the pledgee, secured party or pledgor shall be required in connection therewith. Further, no notice shall be required of such pledge. At the appropriate Purchaser’s expense, the Company will execute and deliver such reasonable documentation as a pledgee or secured party of Shares may reasonably request in connection with a pledge or transfer of the Shares.

 

(c)           Certificates evidencing the Shares shall not contain any legend (including the legend set forth in Section 4.1(b) hereof), (i) while a registration statement covering the resale of such security is effective under the Securities Act, (ii) following any sale of such Shares pursuant to Rule 144, (iii) if such Shares are eligible for sale under Rule 144, without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such Shares and without volume or manner-of-sale restrictions, or (iv) if such legend is not required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Commission). If the Shares may be sold under Rule 144 and the Company is then in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144, or if the Shares may be sold under Rule 144 without the requirement for the Company to be in compliance with the current public information required under Rule 144 as to such Shares or if such legend is not otherwise required under applicable requirements of the Securities Act (including judicial interpretations and pronouncements issued by the staff of the Commission) then such Shares shall be issued free of all legends. The Company agrees that following the Effective Date or at such time as such legend is no longer required under this Section 4.1(c), it will promptly, following the delivery by a Purchaser to the Company or the Transfer Agent of a certificate representing Shares issued with a restrictive legend and Transfer Agent’s receipt of any other information needed to issue a certificate free of legend, deliver or cause to be delivered to such Purchaser a certificate representing such shares that is free from all restrictive and other legends. The Company may not make any notation on its records or give instructions to the Transfer Agent that enlarge the restrictions on transfer set forth in this Section 4. Certificates for Shares subject to legend removal hereunder shall be transmitted by the Transfer Agent to the Purchaser by crediting the account of the Purchaser’s prime broker with the Depository Trust Company System as directed by such Purchaser. As used herein, “ Standard Settlement Period ” means the standard settlement period, expressed in a number of Trading Days, on the Company’s primary Trading Market with respect to the Common Stock as in effect on the date of delivery of a certificate representing Shares issued with a restrictive legend.

 

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(d)           If the Purchaser is not a U.S. Person, then:

 

(i)           Any resale of the Purchaser’s Shares during the “distribution compliance period” as defined in Rule 902(f) to Regulation S shall only be made in compliance with exemptions from registration afforded by Regulation S. Further, any such sale of the Purchaser’s Shares in any jurisdiction outside of the United States will be made in compliance with the securities laws of such jurisdiction. The Purchaser will not offer to sell or sell the Purchaser’s Shares in any jurisdiction unless the Purchaser obtains all required consents, if any;

 

(ii)           The Purchaser will not, during the period commencing on the date of issuance of the Purchaser’s Shares and ending on the six-month anniversary of such date, or such shorter period as may be permitted by Regulation S or other applicable securities law (the “ Restricted Period ”), offer, sell, pledge or otherwise transfer the Purchaser’s Shares in the United States, or to a U.S. Person for the account or for the benefit of a U.S. Person, or otherwise in a manner that is not in compliance with Regulation S; and

 

(iii)           The Purchaser will, after expiration of the Restricted Period, offer, sell, pledge or otherwise transfer the Purchaser’s Shares only pursuant to registration under the Securities Act or an available exemption therefrom and in accordance with all applicable state and foreign securities laws.

 

(e)           The Purchaser agrees with the Company that it will sell any Shares pursuant to either the registration requirements of the Securities Act, including any applicable prospectus delivery requirements, or an exemption therefrom, and that if Shares are sold pursuant to a registration statement, they will be sold in compliance with the plan of distribution set forth therein, and acknowledges that the removal of the restrictive legend from certificates representing Shares as set forth in this Section 4.1 is predicated upon the Company’s reliance upon this understanding.

 

4.2            Furnishing of Information; Public Information . Until no Purchaser owns Shares, the Company covenants to use commercially reasonable efforts to maintain the registration of the Common Stock under Section 12(b) or 12(g) of the Exchange Act and to timely file (or obtain extensions in respect thereof and file within the applicable grace period) all reports required to be filed by the Company after the date hereof pursuant to the Exchange Act even if the Company is not then subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act.

 

4.3            Integration . The Company shall not sell, offer for sale or solicit offers to buy or otherwise negotiate in respect of any security (as defined in Section 2 of the Securities Act) that would be integrated with the offer or sale of the Shares in a manner that would require the registration under the Securities Act of the sale of the Shares or that would be integrated with the offer or sale of the Shares for purposes of the rules and regulations of any Trading Market such that it would require shareholder approval prior to the closing of such other transaction unless shareholder approval is obtained before the closing of such subsequent transaction.

 

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4.4            Securities Laws Disclosure; Publicity . The Company shall (a) by 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) on the fourth Trading Day immediately following the date hereof, issue a press release disclosing the material terms of the transactions contemplated hereby, and (b) file a Current Report on Form 8-K, including the Transaction Documents as exhibits thereto, with the Commission within the time required by the Exchange Act. From and after the issuance of such press release, the Company represents to the Purchaser that it shall have publicly disclosed all material, non-public information delivered to the Purchaser by the Company or any of its Subsidiaries, or any of their respective officers, directors, employees or agents in connection with the transactions contemplated by the Transaction Documents. In addition, effective upon the issuance of such press release, the Company acknowledges and agrees that any and all confidentiality or similar obligations under any agreement, whether written or oral, between the Company, any of its Subsidiaries or any of their respective officers, directors, agents, employees or Affiliates on the one hand, and the Purchaser or any of its Affiliates on the other hand, shall terminate. The Company and the Purchaser shall consult with each other in issuing any other press releases with respect to the transactions contemplated hereby, and neither the Company nor the Purchaser shall issue any such press release nor otherwise make any such public statement without the prior consent of the Company, with respect to any press release of the Purchaser, or without the prior consent of the purchaser, with respect to any press release of the Company, which consent shall not unreasonably be withheld or delayed, except if such disclosure is required by law, in which case the disclosing party shall promptly provide the other party with prior notice of such public statement or communication. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall not publicly disclose the name of the Purchaser, or include the name of the Purchaser in any filing with the Commission or any regulatory agency or Trading Market, without the prior written consent of such Purchaser, except: (a) as required by federal securities law in connection with (i) any registration statement for the resale of the Shares and (ii) the filing of final Transaction Documents with the Commission and (b) to the extent such disclosure is required by law or Trading Market regulations, in which case the Company shall provide the Purchaser with prior notice of such disclosure permitted under this Section 4.4.

 

4.5           Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.6           Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.7           Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.8           Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.9            Reservation of Common Stock . As of the date hereof, the Company has reserved, free of preemptive rights, a sufficient number of shares of Common Stock for the purpose of enabling the Company to issue Shares pursuant to this Agreement.

 

4.10         Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.11         Intentionally omitted.

 

4.12         Intentionally omitted.

 

4.13         Intentionally Omitted.

 

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4.14          Certain Transactions and Confidentiality . The Purchaser covenants that neither it, nor any Affiliate acting on its behalf or pursuant to any understanding with it will execute any purchases or sales, including Short Sales, of any of the Company’s securities during the period commencing with the execution of this Agreement and ending at such time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4. The Purchaser covenants that until such time as the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are publicly disclosed by the Company pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4, such Purchaser will maintain the confidentiality of the existence and terms of this transaction and the information included in the Transaction Documents and the Disclosure Schedules. N otwithstanding the foregoing, and notwithstanding anything contained in this Agreement to the contrary, the Company expressly acknowledges and agrees that (i) no Purchaser makes any representation, warranty or covenant hereby that it will not engage in effecting transactions in any securities of the Company after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4, (ii) no Purchaser shall be restricted or prohibited from effecting any transactions in any securities of the Company in accordance with applicable securities laws from and after the time that the transactions contemplated by this Agreement are first publicly announced pursuant to the initial press release as described in Section 4.4 and (iii) no Purchaser shall have any duty of confidentiality or duty not to trade in the securities of the Company to the Company or its Subsidiaries after the issuance of the initial press release as described in Section 4.4.

 

4.15         Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.16         Intentionally Omitted.

 

4.17          Acknowledgment of Dilution . The Company acknowledges that the issuance of the Shares may result in dilution of the outstanding shares of Common Stock, which dilution may be substantial under certain market conditions. The Company further acknowledges that its obligations under the Transaction Documents, including, without limitation, its obligation to issue the Shares pursuant to the Transaction Documents, are unconditional and absolute and not subject to any right of set off, counterclaim, delay or reduction, regardless of the effect of any such dilution or any claim the Company may have against the Purchaser and regardless of the dilutive effect that such issuance may have on the ownership of the other stockholders of the Company.

 

ARTICLE V.
MISCELLANEOUS

 

5.1            Registration Rights . If the Company proposes to file a Registration Statement under the Securities Act with respect to an offering of securities for its own account or for the account of another person (other than a registration statement on Form S-4 or S-8 (or any substitute form that may be adopted by the Commission)), the Company shall give written notice of such proposed filing to the Purchasers as soon as reasonably practicable (but in no event less than ten (10) days before the anticipated date on which such registration statement will be first filed with the Commission), undertaking to provide the Purchasers the opportunity to register on the same terms and conditions such number and type of Registrable Shares as such Purchasers may request (a “ Piggyback Registration ”). Each Purchaser will have five (5) days after receipt of any such notice to notify the Company as to whether it wishes to participate in a Piggyback Registration; provided that should a Purchaser fail to provide timely notice to the Company, such Holder will forfeit any rights to participate in the Piggyback Registration with respect to such proposed offering. The Company will cause the Registrable Shares that any Purchaser requests to be included in the securities to be covered by the Registration Statement proposed to be filed by the Company, all to the extent required to permit the sale or other disposition by the requesting Purchaser (in accordance with its written request) of such Registrable Shares. In the event that the offering of securities giving rise to the filing of a Registration Statement is an underwritten offering of Common Stock, the Registrable Shares of the Purchasers to be included in the Registration Statement will be included in such Registration Statement on the same terms and conditions as the Common Stock otherwise being sold through underwriters. If the Company shall determine in its sole discretion not to register or to delay the proposed offering, the Company shall provide prompt written notice of such determination to the Purchasers. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company shall have no obligation to register any Registrable Shares 90 calendar days after the date upon which such Registrable Shares are salable under Rule 144 or a similar exemption under the Securities Act.

 

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5.2            Termination . This Agreement may be terminated by the Purchaser by written notice to the other parties, if the Closing has not been consummated on or before June 30, 2017; provided , however , that such termination will not affect the right of any party to sue for any breach by any other party (or parties).

 

5.3            Fees and Expenses . Except as expressly set forth in the Transaction Documents to the contrary, each party shall pay the fees and expenses of its advisers, counsel, accountants and other experts, if any, and all other expenses incurred by such party incident to the negotiation, preparation, execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement. The Company shall pay all Transfer Agent fees (including, without limitation, any fees required for same-day processing of any instruction letter delivered by the Company and any exercise notice delivered by a Purchaser), stamp taxes and other taxes and duties levied in connection with the delivery of any Shares to the Purchaser.

 

5.4            Entire Agreement . The Transaction Documents, together with the exhibits and schedules thereto, contain the entire understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof and supersede all prior agreements and understandings, oral or written, with respect to such matters, which the parties acknowledge have been merged into such documents, exhibits and schedules.

 

5.5            Notices . Any and all notices or other communications or deliveries required or permitted to be provided hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed given and effective on the earliest of: (a) the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via facsimile at the facsimile number or email attachment as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto at or prior to 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on a Trading Day, (b) the next Trading Day after the date of transmission, if such notice or communication is delivered via facsimile at the facsimile number or email attachment as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto on a day that is not a Trading Day or later than 5:30 p.m. (New York City time) on any Trading Day, (c) the second (2 nd ) Trading Day following the date of mailing, if sent by U.S. nationally recognized overnight courier service or (d) upon actual receipt by the party to whom such notice is required to be given. The address for such notices and communications shall be as set forth on the signature pages attached hereto. To the extent that any notice provided pursuant to any Transaction Document constitutes, or contains material, non-public information regarding the Company or any of the Subsidiaries, the Company shall simultaneously file such notice with the Commission pursuant to a Current Report on Form 8-K.

 

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5.6            Amendments; Waivers . No provision of this Agreement may be waived, modified, supplemented or amended except in a written instrument signed, in the case of an amendment, by the Company and the Purchaser. No waiver of any default with respect to any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement shall be deemed to be a continuing waiver in the future or a waiver of any subsequent default or a waiver of any other provision, condition or requirement hereof, nor shall any delay or omission of any party to exercise any right hereunder in any manner impair the exercise of any such right. Any amendment effected in accordance with this Section 5.5 shall be binding upon the Purchaser and holder of Shares and the Company.

 

5.7            Headings . The headings herein are for convenience only, do not constitute a part of this Agreement and shall not be deemed to limit or affect any of the provisions hereof.

 

5.8            Successors and Assigns . This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their successors and permitted assigns. The Company may not assign this Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder without the prior written consent of the Purchaser (other than by merger). The Purchaser may assign any or all of its rights under this Agreement to any Person to whom the Purchaser assigns or transfers any Shares, provided that such transferee agrees in writing to be bound, with respect to the transferred Shares, by the provisions of the Transaction Documents that apply to the “Purchaser.”

 

5.9            No Third-Party Beneficiaries . This Agreement is intended for the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective successors and permitted assigns and is not for the benefit of, nor may any provision hereof be enforced by, any other Person, except as otherwise set forth in Section 4.8 and this Section 5.8.

 

5.10          Governing Law . All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of the Transaction Documents shall be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the internal laws of the State of New York, without regard to the principles of conflicts of law thereof. Each party agrees that all legal Proceedings concerning the interpretations, enforcement and defense of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and any other Transaction Documents (whether brought against a party hereto or its respective affiliates, directors, officers, shareholders, partners, members, employees or agents) shall be commenced exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York. Each party hereby irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts sitting in the City of New York, Borough of Manhattan for the adjudication of any dispute hereunder or in connection herewith or with any transaction contemplated hereby or discussed herein (including with respect to the enforcement of any of the Transaction Documents), and hereby irrevocably waives, and agrees not to assert in any Action or Proceeding, any claim that it is not personally subject to the jurisdiction of any such court, that such Action or Proceeding is improper or is an inconvenient venue for such Proceeding. Each party hereby irrevocably waives personal service of process and consents to process being served in any such Action or Proceeding by mailing a copy thereof via registered or certified mail or overnight delivery (with evidence of delivery) to such party at the address in effect for notices to it under this Agreement and agrees that such service shall constitute good and sufficient service of process and notice thereof. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit in any way any right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law. If any party hereto shall commence an Action or Proceeding to enforce any provisions of the Transaction Documents, then, in addition to the obligations of the Company under Section 4.8, the prevailing party in such Action or Proceeding shall be reimbursed by the non-prevailing party for its reasonable attorneys’ fees and other costs and expenses incurred with the investigation, preparation and prosecution of such Action or Proceeding.

 

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5.11          Survival . The representations and warranties contained herein shall survive the Closing and the delivery of the Shares.

 

5.12          Execution . This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, all of which when taken together shall be considered one and the same agreement and shall become effective when counterparts have been signed by each party and delivered to each other party, it being understood that the parties need not sign the same counterpart. In the event that any signature is delivered by facsimile transmission or by e-mail delivery of a “.pdf” format data file, such signature shall create a valid and binding obligation of the party executing (or on whose behalf such signature is executed) with the same force and effect as if such facsimile or “.pdf” signature page were an original thereof.

 

5.13          Severability . If any term, provision, covenant or restriction of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable, the remainder of the terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions set forth herein shall remain in full force and effect and shall in no way be affected, impaired or invalidated, and the parties hereto shall use their commercially reasonable efforts to find and employ an alternative means to achieve the same or substantially the same result as that contemplated by such term, provision, covenant or restriction. It is hereby stipulated and declared to be the intention of the parties that they would have executed the remaining terms, provisions, covenants and restrictions without including any of such that may be hereafter declared invalid, illegal, void or unenforceable.

 

5.14          Rescission and Withdrawal Right . Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in (and without limiting any similar provisions of) any of the other Transaction Documents, whenever the Purchaser exercises a right, election, demand or option under a Transaction Document and the Company does not timely perform its related obligations within the periods therein provided, then such Purchaser may rescind or withdraw, in its sole discretion from time to time upon written notice to the Company, any relevant notice, demand or election in whole or in part without prejudice to its future actions and rights.

 

5.15          Replacement of Shares . If any certificate or instrument evidencing any Shares is mutilated, lost, stolen or destroyed, the Company shall issue or cause to be issued in exchange and substitution for and upon cancellation thereof (in the case of mutilation), or in lieu of and substitution therefor, a new certificate or instrument, but only upon receipt of evidence reasonably satisfactory to the Company of such loss, theft or destruction. The applicant for a new certificate or instrument under such circumstances shall also pay any reasonable third-party costs (including customary indemnity) associated with the issuance of such replacement Shares.

 

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5.16          Remedies . In addition to being entitled to exercise all rights provided herein or granted by law, including recovery of damages, the Purchaser and the Company will be entitled to specific performance under the Transaction Documents. The parties agree that monetary damages may not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of any breach of obligations contained in the Transaction Documents and hereby agree to waive and not to assert in any Action for specific performance of any such obligation the defense that a remedy at law would be adequate.

 

5.17          Payment Set Aside . To the extent that the Company makes a payment or payments to the Purchaser pursuant to any Transaction Document or a Purchaser enforces or exercises its rights thereunder, and such payment or payments or the proceeds of such enforcement or exercise or any part thereof are subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside, recovered from, disgorged by or are required to be refunded, repaid or otherwise restored to the Company, a trustee, receiver or any other Person under any law (including, without limitation, any bankruptcy law, state or federal law, common law or equitable cause of action), then to the extent of any such restoration the obligation or part thereof originally intended to be satisfied shall be revived and continued in full force and effect as if such payment had not been made or such enforcement or setoff had not occurred.

 

5.18          Independent Nature of Purchaser’s Obligations and Rights . The Purchaser has been represented by its own separate legal counsel in its review and negotiation of the Transaction Documents. EGS does not represent the Purchaser and only represents the Company.

 

5.19          Liquidated Damages . The Company’s obligations to pay any partial liquidated damages or other amounts owing under the Transaction Documents is a continuing obligation of the Company and shall not terminate until all unpaid partial liquidated damages and other amounts have been paid notwithstanding the fact that the instrument or security pursuant to which such partial liquidated damages or other amounts are due and payable shall have been canceled.

 

5.20          Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.

 

5.21          Construction . The parties agree that each of them and/or their respective counsel have reviewed and had an opportunity to revise the Transaction Documents and, therefore, the normal rule of construction to the effect that any ambiguities are to be resolved against the drafting party shall not be employed in the interpretation of the Transaction Documents or any amendments thereto. In addition, each and every reference to share prices and shares of Common Stock in any Transaction Document shall be subject to adjustment for reverse and forward stock splits, stock dividends, stock combinations and other similar transactions of the Common Stock that occur after the date of this Agreement.

 

5.22          WAIVER OF JURY TRIAL . IN ANY ACTION, SUIT, OR PROCEEDING IN ANY JURISDICTION BROUGHT BY ANY PARTY AGAINST ANY OTHER PARTY, THE PARTIES EACH KNOWINGLY AND INTENTIONALLY, TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HEREBY ABSOLUTELY, UNCONDITIONALLY, IRREVOCABLY AND EXPRESSLY WAIVES FOREVER TRIAL BY JURY.

 

(Signature Pages Follow)

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by their respective authorized signatories as of the date first indicated above.

 

CLEANTECH SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC.

 

Address for Notice:

By:__________________________________________

 

Name:

 

Title:

 

With a copy to (which shall not constitute notice):

Fax:

 

[REMAINDER OF PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

 

SIGNATURE PAGE FOR PURCHASER FOLLOWS]

 

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[PURCHASER SIGNATURE PAGES TO SECURITIES PURCHASE AGREEMENT]

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has caused this Securities Purchase Agreement to be duly executed by its authorized signatory as of the date first indicated above.

 

Name of Purchaser: ________________________________________________________

 

Signature of Authorized Signatory of Purchaser : __________________________________

 

Name of Authorized Signatory: ____________________________________________________

 

Title of Authorized Signatory: _____________________________________________________

 

Email Address of Authorized Signatory: ______________________________________________

 

Facsimile Number of Authorized Signatory: _____________________________________________

 

Address for Notice to Purchaser:

 

Address for Delivery of Shares to Purchaser (if not same as address for notice):

 

Subscription Amount: $_________________

 

Shares: _________________

 

EIN Number: _______________________

 

 

27

 

 

Exhibit 99.1

 

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

 

AGREEMENT dated as of the 19th day of June, 2017, by and among Cleantech Solutions International, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal office at No. 9 Yanyu Middle Road, Qianzhou Township, Huishan District, Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, China (the “Company”), and Parkson Yip, whose address is 42RA, The Rise, 63 Yau Ma Hom Road, Tsuen Wan, N.T., Hong Kong (“Executive”).

 

WITNESSETH:

 

WHEREAS , the Company desires to employ Executive to serve as its Chief Operating Officer and Executive desires to be employed by the Company on the terms and conditions herein provided; and

 

WHEREAS , the Company and Executive desire to set forth the terms of Executive’s employment with the Company;

 

NOW, THEREFORE , in consideration of the mutual promises set forth in this Agreement, and intending to be legally bound hereby, the parties agree as follows:

 

1. Employment and Duties. Subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, the Company hereby employs Executive as its Chief Operating Officer during the Term, as hereinafter defined. In this capacity, Executive will report to the Company’s Board of Directors and shall have full responsibility and authorization for such duties as are customarily and normally associated with the position of Chief Operating Officer of a publicly-traded company, including but not limited to: assist the Company in developing new business initiatives, oversee the operations of the various business units of the Company, and participate in road shows and investor conferences. Executive hereby accepts the employment contemplated by this Agreement.

 

2. Term This Agreement shall have an Initial Term commencing on the date of this Agreement and ending at 11:59 p.m. on May 31, 2018 and shall continue on a month-to-month basis thereafter with each additional term ending at 11:59 p.m. on the last day of the calendar month; unless terminated by either party on not less than 30 days’ written notice prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or any extension, unless otherwise terminated as provided in this Agreement. The Initial Term and any extension are referred to as the “Term.”

 

 

 

 

3. Full Time & Best Efforts. During the Term, Executive shall perform his duties diligently, in good faith and in a manner consistent with the best interests of the Company. Executive will devote substantially all of his business time, attention and efforts as is reasonably necessary to the performance of his duties under this Agreement. Executive may not undertake any other paid work without the prior express written consent of the Company’s Board of Directors, which consent may be revoked at any time in the Company’s sole discretion. However, nothing in this paragraph shall preclude Executive from continuing to sit on any corporate board of directors on which he sits as of the date of this Agreement or from receiving compensation therefrom.

 

4. Compensation. For his services during the Term, the Company shall pay Executive the following:

 

(a) Salary. Executive shall receive a salary (“Salary”) at the annual rate of US$150,000 per annum, which amount is payable in accordance with the Company’s customary payroll practices in equal installments no less frequently than monthly. Executive’s Salary shall be subject to annual review by the compensation committee of the Board of Directors (the “Compensation Committee”). Any change in the Executive’s Salary and the amount of any such change are within the sole discretion of the Compensation Committee.

 

(b) Sign-On Bonus. Executive shall receive a bonus (the “Sign-on Bonus”) at the amount of US$19,250 on signing of this Agreement.

 

(c) Time Off. Employee shall be entitled to such annual paid vacation in accordance with the Company’s policy applicable to senior executive officers from time to time in effect, but not less than fifteen days per calendar year, in addition to any national holidays in the United States of America. Executive shall also be entitled to sick days and personal days as are consistent with the Company’s policies in effect from time to time.

 

(d) To the extent offered and maintained by the Company, Executive shall be entitled to participate in the Employer’s healthcare plans, welfare benefit plans, fringe benefit plans, profit sharing plans, and any qualified or non-qualified retirement plans as may be in effect from time to time, on the same basis as those benefits are made available to the other similarly situated employees of the Company, in accordance with the Company policy as in effect from time to time and in accordance with the terms of the applicable plan documents (if any). Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as requiring the Company or any affiliate of the Company to offer or maintain any particular employee benefit plan or program or preclude the Company from terminating same from time to time.

 

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5. Reimbursement of Expenses. The Company shall reimburse Executive, upon presentation of proper expense statements, for all authorized, ordinary and necessary out-of-pocket business expenses reasonably and actually incurred by Executive during the Term in connection with the performance of his duties pursuant to this Agreement in accordance with the Company’s expense reimbursement policy. If the Company requires Executive to travel, the Company will pay (or reimburse Executive for) only coach fare.

 

6. Termination of Employment. This Agreement may terminate prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or the then-current renewal term by mutual written agreement, or as provided in Section 2 above, or by reason of any of the following:

 

(a) Termination Upon Death or Disability. This Agreement shall terminate upon Executive’s death. This Agreement and Executive’s employment pursuant to this Agreement may be terminated by the Executive or the Company on not less than 30 days’ written notice in the event of Executive’s Disability. The term “Disability” shall mean any physical or mental illness, disability or incapacity of the Executive which prevents him from substantially performing his regular duties, as determined by a licensed physician, for a period of two consecutive months or three months, even though not consecutive, in any twelve-month period. The Company reserves the right to select a physician to independently make this determination.

 

(b) Termination by the Company for Cause. This Agreement and Executive’s employment pursuant to this Agreement may be immediately terminated by the Company for Cause. The term “Cause” shall mean:

 

(i) repeated failure or refusal of Executive to follow instructions from the Board of Directors, or the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, provided that such instructions are reasonable, specific, lawful and consistent with Executive’s duties as set forth in Section 1 of this Agreement,; provided, however, that Executive shall have received notice from the board of directors or a committee thereof specifying the nature of such failure in reasonable detail and Executive shall have failed to cure the failure within five business days after receipt of such notice;

 

(ii)  willful neglect or material breach of duty by Executive under this Agreement, any other failure or refusal by Executive to perform his duties required by Section 1 of this Agreement;

 

(iii) a breach of Sections 7, 8, 9 or 10 of this Agreement;

 

(iv)  a breach of trust whereby Executive obtains personal gain or benefit at the 
expense of or to the detriment of the Company or any of its affiliates, or misappropriation of Company assets;

 

(iv) any fraudulent or dishonest conduct by Executive or any other conduct by Executive which damages the Company or any of its affiliates or their property, business or reputation;

 

(v) a conviction of, or guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere by, of Executive of (x) any felony or (y) any other crime involving fraud, theft, embezzlement, moral turpiturde or use or possession of illegal substances; or

 

(vi) the admission to the Company, or any of its employees or agents, by Executive of any matters set forth in Section 6(a)(v) of this Agreement.

 

(c) Termination by the Executive for Breach by the Company. Executive shall have the right to terminate his employment under this Agreement on not less than ten (10) days’ written notice to Company for any material breach of this Agreement by Company, which is not cured by Company within thirty (30) days of the written notice of such breach by Executive. If Executive shall terminate this Agreement pursuant to this Section 6(c), Executive shall be entitled to receive one month’s Salary as a severance payment, and the Company shall have no further obligations to Executive except pursuant to Section 6 of this Agreement or as otherwise required by law.

 

(d) Termination by the Company Without Cause. The Company may terminate this Agreement without Cause on thirty days’ prior written notice, in which event the Company shall pay Executive severance of one month’s Salary.

 

(e) Resignation by Executive. In the event of Executive’s resignation or termination of his employment with the Company other than pursuant to Section 6(c) of this Agreement, the Company shall have no obligation to Executive from the date of such resignation or other termination of employment other than as provided in Sections 2 and 4 of this Agreement or as required by law.

 

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(f) Obligations on Early Termination. In the event this Agreement is terminated by the Company for any reason other than without Cause or by Executive for any reason other than pursuant to Section 6(c) of this Agreement, the Company shall be obligated to pay Executive only any unpaid base salary for services rendered up to and including the date of termination and any unreimbursed business expenses incurred prior to the date of termination, and the Company shall have no further financial obligation to Executive.

 

7. Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information. For the purposes of Sections 7 through 10 of this Agreement, the term “Company” shall include the Company, and any subsidiaries and affiliates.

 

(a) Executive recognizes and acknowledges that the Company, through the expenditure of considerable time and money, has developed and will continue to develop in the future Confidential Information, and that by virtue of Executive’s employment with the Company will be made privy to Confidential Information. “Confidential Information” shall mean all information of a proprietary or confidential nature relating to Covered Persons, including, but not limited to, such Covered Person’s trade secrets or proprietary information, know-how, marketing, services, products, business, research and development activities, methods of operation, models, plans, procedures, formulas, concepts, ideas, designs, inventions and discoveries, whether or not patentable or copyrightable, and information concerning such Covered Person’s services, business, customer or client lists, identities of clients, vendors, suppliers, consultants, customers providers of professional services, contractors, subcontractors, licensors, licensees, distributors, suppliers, joint venturers, and/or customers, proposed services, marketing strategy, business strategy, pricing policies specifications, drawings, processes and techniques, financial information, assets, purchase or acquisition costs, sales figures, revenue, stock levels, passwords, data, proposals, systems, databases, products, deliverables, reports, applications, resources, and all other intellectual property, as well as the requirements of its clients and relationships with its lenders, suppliers, licensors, licensees and others with which a Covered Person has a business relationship, financial or other data, technical data or any other confidential or proprietary information possessed, owned or used by the Company, the disclosure of which could or does have a material adverse effect on the Company, its businesses, any business in which it proposes to engage. In further consideration for the Company’s promises herein, Executive agrees that he will not at any time use or disclose to any person any Confidential Information relating to Company, whether privately and publicly, and whether by electronic, written or oral means, in person, by phone, by voicemail, by text message, by email and by any other electronic means, including on the internet via a blog post or comment, vlog, instant message, video, any online conversation, and on any social media sites or applications, including, but not limited to, Facebook (including Facebook Messenger), Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Reddit, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google+; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 7(a) shall be construed to prohibit Executive from using or disclosing such information if he can demonstrate that such information (i) became public knowledge other than by or as a result of disclosure by a person not having a right to make such disclosure; (ii) was disclosure that was authorized by the Company; or (iii) providing Confidential Infromation in compliance with a valid court order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, providing Executive takes reasonable steps to prevent dissemination of such Confidential Information. The term “Covered Person” shall include the Company, any subsidiaries and affiliates and any other person who provides information to the Company pursuant to a secrecy or non-disclosure agreement.

 

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(b) In the event that any Confidential Information is required to be produced by Executive pursuant to legal process (including judicial process or governmental administrative subpoena), Executive shall give the Company notice of such legal process within a reasonable time, but not later than ten business days prior to the date such disclosure is to be made, unless Executive has received less notice, in which event Executive shall immediately notify the Company. The Company shall have the right to object to any such disclosure, and if the Company objects (at the Company’s cost and expense) in a timely manner so that Executive is not subject to penalties for failure to make such disclosure, Executive shall not make any disclosure until there has been a court determination on the Company’s objections. If disclosure is required by a court order, final beyond right of review, or if the Company does not object to the disclosure, Executive shall make disclosure only to the extent that disclosure is required by the court order, and Executive will exercise reasonable efforts at the Company’s expense, to obtain reliable assurance that confidential treatment will be accorded the confidential information.

  

(c) Executive further realizes that any trading in Company’s common stock or other securities or aiding or assisting others in trading in Company’s common stock or other securities, including disclosing any material non-public information concerning Company or its affiliates to a person who uses such information in trading in the Company’s common stock or other securities, may constitute a violation of federal and state securities laws. Executive will not engage in any transactions involving the Company’s common stock or other securities while in the possession of material non-public information in a manner that would constitute a violation of federal and state securities laws and shall not disclose any material non- public information except pursuant to a confidentiality agreement approved by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer.

 

(d) Nothing in this Agreement prohibits or restricts the Executive (or Executive’s attorney) from initiating communications directly with, responding to an inquiry from, or providing testimony before the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), any other self-regulatory organization or any other federal or state regulatory authority regarding this Agreement, or its underlying facts or circumstances, or the Company’s business activities, or a possible securities law violation. The Executive further understands that this Agreement does not limit the Executive’s ability to communicate with any securities regulatory agency or authority/government agencies or otherwise participate in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by any securities regulatory agency or authority/government agency. This Agreement does not limit the Executive’s right to receive an award for information provided to any government agency/to the SEC staff or any other securities regulatory agency or authority. Nothing in this Agreement in any way prohibits or is intended to restrict or impede the Executive from exercising protected rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act/exercising protected rights, to the extent that such rights cannot be waived by agreement, or otherwise disclosing information to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or state or local fair employment practices agency as permitted by law.

 

(e) Application and Immunity Under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, as amended by the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016. Executive understands, acknowledges and agrees that Executive has been advised that the unauthorized access, appropriation, copying, or possession of Confidential Information with the intent to use or convert such information for the economic benefit of any person or entity other than the Company could subject Executive to criminal liability under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. However, notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, Executive understands that Executive will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for any disclosure of Confidential Information or a trade secret that is made: (i) in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney, and solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (ii) in a complaint or other document that is filed under seal in a lawsuit or other proceeding. Executive also understands that if Executive files a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for Executive’s having reported a suspected violation of law, Executive may disclose the Company’s Confidential Information or trade secrets to my attorney and use the Confidential Information or trade secret information in the court proceeding if Executive files any document containing the Confidential Information/trade secret under seal and does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.

 

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8. Proprietary Information.

 

(a) For purposes of this Agreement, “Proprietary Information” shall mean any information, observation, data, written material, record, document, software, firmware, invention, discovery, improvement, development, tool, machine, apparatus, appliance, design, promotional idea, customer list, practice, process, formula, method, technique, trade secret, product and/or research related to the actual or anticipated research, marketing strategies, pricing information, business records, development, products, organization, business or finances of the Company. Proprietary Information shall not include information in the public domain as of execution of this Agreement except through any act or omission of Executive.

 

(b) All right, title and interest of every kind and nature whatsoever in and to the Proprietary Information made, discussed, developed, secured, obtained or learned by Executive during the term of this Agreement shall be the sole and exclusive property of the Company for any purposes or uses whatsoever, and shall be disclosed promptly by Executive to the Company. The covenants set forth in the preceding sentence shall apply regardless of whether any Proprietary Information is made, discovered, developed, secured, obtained or learned (i) solely or jointly with others, (ii) during the usual hours of work or otherwise, (iii) at the request and upon the suggestion of the Company or otherwise, or (iv) with the Company’s materials, tools, instruments or on the Company’s premises or otherwise.

 

(c) All Proprietary Information developed, created, invented, devised, conceived or discovered by Executive that is subject to copyright protection is explicitly considered by Executive and the Company to be works made for hire to the extent permitted by law. Executive hereby forever fully releases and discharges the Company, and the Company and their respective officers, directors and employees, from and against any and all claims, demands, damages, liabilities, costs and expenses of Executive arising out of, or relating to, any Proprietary Information. Executive shall execute any documents and take any action the Company may deem necessary or appropriate to effectuate the provisions of this Agreement, including without limitation assisting the Company in obtaining and/or maintaining patents, copyrights or similar rights to any Proprietary Information assigned to the Company, if the Company, in their sole discretion, requests such assistance. Executive shall comply with any reasonable rules established from time to time by the Company for the protection of the confidentiality of any Proprietary Information.

 

(d) Executive irrevocably appoints the Chief Executive Officer of the Company to act as Executive’s agent and attorney-in-fact to perform all acts necessary to obtain and/or maintain patents, copyrights and similar rights to any Proprietary Information assigned by Executive to the Company under this Agreement if (a) Executive refuses to perform those acts, or (b) is unavailable, within the meaning of any applicable laws. Executive acknowledges that the grant of the foregoing power of attorney is coupled with an interest and shall survive the death or disability of Executive. Executive shall promptly disclose to the Company, in confidence (a) all Proprietary Information that Executive creates during the term of this Agreement, and (b) all patent applications, copyright registrations or similar rights filed or applied for by Executive within six months after termination of this Agreement. Any application for a patent, copyright registration or similar right filed by Executive within six months after termination of this Agreement shall be presumed to relate to Proprietary Information created by Executive during the term of this Agreement, unless Executive can prove otherwise.

 

(e) Nothing contained in this Agreement shall be construed to preclude the Company from exercising all of its rights and privileges as sole and exclusive owner of all of the Proprietary Information owned by or assigned to the Company under this Agreement. The Company, in exercising such rights and privileges with respect to any particular item of Proprietary Information, may decide not to file any patent application or any copyright registration on such Proprietary Information, may decide to maintain such Proprietary Information as secret and confidential, or may decide to abandon such Proprietary Information or dedicate it to the public. Executive shall have no authority to exercise any rights or privileges with respect to the Proprietary Information owned by or assigned to the Company under this Agreement.

 

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9. Executive’s Obligations Upon Termination of this Agreement. Executive shall, upon expiration or termination of the Term, or earlier at the request of the Company:

 

(a) turn over to the Company or destroy all documents, papers, computer disks or other material in Executive’s possession or under Executive’s control which may contain or be derived from Confidential Information. To the extent that any confidential information is on Executive’s hard drive or other storage media, he shall, upon the request of the Company, cause either such information to be erased from his computer disks and all other storage media or otherwise take reasonable steps to maintain the confidential nature of the material.

 

(b) deliver all Proprietary Information to the Company on the date of the termination of this Agreement and Executive may not retain copies of such records, documents or papers without prior written consent of an authorized officer or director of the Company.

 

(c) return all keys, computers, phones, equipment, supplies, passwords, lists, records and other property of the Company, plus Executive’s personal calendars, diaries and personal computers, if they contain any Confidential or Proprietary Information. The Company shall have a period of thirty (30) working days to delete any confidential or proprietary information found in Executive’s personal calendar, diary or computer(s) and return Executive’s personal property to Executive. The Company shall not be responsible for any damage caused to Executive’s personal property, unless such damage was caused intentionally or due to gross negligence. The removal of paper and/or loss of data or programs shall not be considered damage to personal property.

 

10. Covenant Not To Solicit or Compete.

 

(a) During the period from the date of this Agreement until one year following the date on which Executive’s employment is terminated, Executive will not, directly or indirectly:

 

(i) persuade or attempt to persuade any person which is or was a customer, client or supplier of the Company to cease doing business with the Company, or to reduce the amount of business it does with the Company (the terms “customer” and “client” as used in this Section 10 to include any potential customer or client to whom the Company submitted bids or proposals, or with whom the Company conducted negotiations, during the term of Executive’s employment or consulting relationship hereunder or during the twelve (12) months preceding the termination of his employment; or

 

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(ii) solicit for himself or any other person other than the Company the business of any person which is a customer or client of the Company, or was a customer or client of the Company within one (1) year prior to the termination of his employment or consulting relationship; provided, that this Section 10(a)(ii) shall not apply to businesses which are not engaged in any business in which the Company was engaged or planned to be engaged during the Term; or

 

(iii) persuade or attempt to persuade any employee of the Company, or any individual who was an employee of the Company during the one (1) year period prior to the termination of this Agreement, to leave the Company’s employ, or to become employed by any person in any business, which directly competes with the business of the Company as it is engaged in at the time of the termination of this Agreement.

 

(b) Executive will not, during or after the Term, make any disparaging statements concerning the Company, its business, officers, directors and employees that could injure, impair, damage or otherwise affect the relationship between the Company, on the one hand, and any of the Company’s employees, suppliers, customers, clients or any other person with which the Company has or may conduct business or otherwise have a business relationship of any kind and description. The Company will direct senior management with knowledge of this agreement not make any disparaging statements concerning Executive. This prohibition on disparagement applies to statements made privately and publicly, and whether by electronic, written or oral means, in person, by phone, by voicemail, by text message, by email and by any other electronic means, including on the internet via a blog post or comment, vlog, instant message, video, any online conversation, and on any social media sites or applications, including, but not limited to, Facebook (including Facebook Messenger), Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, YouTube, Vimeo, Reddit, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Google+. This Section 10(b) shall not be construed to prohibit the either party from giving factual information concerning the other party in response to inquiries that such party believes are bona fide or pursuant to legal process.

 

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(c) Executive acknowledges that the restrictive covenants contained in Sections 7 through 10 of this Agreement (the “Restrictive Covenants”) are a condition of his employment and are reasonable and valid in geographical and temporal scope and in all other respects. If any court or arbitrator determines that any of the Restrictive Covenants, or any part of any of the Restrictive Covenants, is invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of the Restrictive Covenants and parts thereof shall not thereby be affected and shall remain in full force and effect, without regard to the invalid portion. If any court or arbitrator determines that any of the Restrictive Covenants, or any part thereof, is invalid or unenforceable because of the geographic or temporal scope of such provision, such court or arbitrator shall have the power to reduce the geographic or temporal scope of such provision, as the case may be, and, in its reduced form, such provision shall then be enforceable.

 

(d) Nothing in this Section 10 shall be construed to prohibit Executive from owning a passive, non-management interest of less than 5% in any public company that is engaged in activities prohibited by this Section 10.

 

11. Injunctive Relief. Executive agrees that his violation or threatened violation of any of the provisions of Sections 7 through 10 of this Agreement shall cause immediate and irreparable harm to the Company for which there is no adequate remedy at law. Accordingly, in the event of any breach or threatened breach of any of said provisions, directly or indirectly, by Executive, Executive consents to the entry of preliminary and permanent injunctions by a court of competent jurisdiction in New York, New York prohibiting Executive from any violation or threatened violation of such provisions and compelling Executive to comply with such provisions, in addition to any and all other remedies available to the Company, including equitable relief to require specific performance of or prevent a breach under the provisions of this Agreement, without proof of any actual damages that have been or may be caused by such actual or threatened breach, and without the need to post a bond or other security. This Section 11 shall not affect or limit, and the injunctive relief provided in this Section 11shall be in addition to, any other remedies available to the Company at law or in equity or in arbitration for any such violation by Executive. During any breach of Section 10 of this Agreement, the period of restraint set forth therein shall be automatically tolled and suspended for the amount of time that the violation continues. The provisions of Sections 7 through 10 of this Agreement shall survive any termination of this Agreement and Executive’s employment relationship pursuant to this Agreement

 

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12. Indemnification.

 

(a) The Company shall provide Executive with payment of legal fees and indemnification to the maximum extent permitted by the Company’s certificate of incorporation, by-laws and applicable law with respect to any all claims and liabilities asserted against Executive in his capacity as an executive and/or director of the Company, and any related defense-related reasonable attorney fees and expenses.

 

(b) Executive agrees to indemnify the Company for all expenses, including court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees, necessarily incurred by the Company in connection with the enforcement of the Restrictive Covenants, whether or not litigation is entirely commenced and including litigation of any appeal taken or defended by the Company is any action to enforce this Agreement.

 

13. Representations of the Parties.


 

(a) Executive hereby represents, warrants, covenants and agrees that Executive has the right to enter into this Agreement, that he is not a party to any agreement or understanding, oral or written, which would prohibit performance of his obligations under this Agreement, and that he will not use in the performance of his obligations hereunder any proprietary information of any other party which he is legally prohibited from using.

 

(b) Executive further represents that, during the past five years:

 

(i) No petition has been filed under the federal bankruptcy laws or any state insolvency law by or against, or a receiver, fiscal agent or similar officer has been appointed by a court for his business or property, or any partnership in which he was a general partner at or within two years before the time of such filing, or any corporation or business association of which he was an executive officer at or within two years before the time of such filing;

 

(ii) Executive has not been convicted in a criminal proceeding and is not the subject of a pending criminal proceeding (excluding traffic violations and other minor offenses);

 

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(iii) Executive has not been the subject of any order, judgment, or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any court of competent jurisdiction, permanently or temporarily enjoining him from, or otherwise limiting, the following activities:

 

(A) Acting as a futures commission merchant, introducing broker, commodity trading advisor, commodity pool operator, floor broker, leverage transaction merchant, any other person regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or an associated person of any of the foregoing, or as an investment adviser, underwriter, broker or dealer in securities, or as an affiliated person, director or employee of any investment company, bank, savings and loan association or insurance company, or engaging in or continuing any conduct or practice in connection with such activity;

 

(B)  Engaging in any type of business practice; or 


 

(C)  Engaging in any activity in connection with the purchase or sale of any 
security or commodity or in connection with any violation of federal or state securities laws or federal commodities laws;

 

(iv) Executive has not been the subject of any order, judgment or decree, not subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated, of any federal or state authority barring, suspending or otherwise limiting, for more than 60 days, his right to engage in any activity described in Section 13(b)(iii)(A) of this Agreement, or to be associated with persons engaged in any such activity;

 

(v) Executive has not been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the SEC to have violated any federal or state securities law, and the judgment in such civil action or finding by the SEC has not been subsequently reversed, suspended, or vacated; and

 

(vi) Executive has not been found by a court of competent jurisdiction in a civil action or by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to have violated any Federal commodities law, and the judgment in such civil action or finding by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has not been subsequently reversed, suspended or vacated.

 

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(c) The Company represents, warrants and agrees that it has full power and authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and perform its obligations hereunder.

 

14. Miscellaneous.

 

(a) Notices. Any notice, consent or communication required under the provisions of this Agreement shall be given in writing and sent or delivered by hand, overnight courier or messenger service, against a signed receipt or acknowledgment of receipt, or by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or telecopier or similar means of communication if receipt is acknowledged or if transmission is confirmed by mail as provided in this Section 14(a), to the parties at their respective addresses set forth at the beginning of this Agreement, with notice to the Company being sent to the attention of the individual who executed this Agreement on its behalf. Any party may, by like notice, change the person, address or telecopier number to which notice is to be sent.

 

(b) Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements executed and to be performed wholly within such State, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws.

 

(c) Severability. If any term, covenant or condition of this Agreement or the application thereof to any party or circumstance shall, to any extent, be determined to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement, or the application of such term, covenant or condition to parties or circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby and each term, covenant or condition of this Agreement shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest extent permitted by law, and any court having jurisdiction may reduce the scope of any provision of this Agreement, including the geographic and temporal restrictions set forth in Section 9 of this Agreement, so that it complies with applicable law.

 

(d) Entire Agreement This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the Company and Executive as to the subject matter hereof, superseding all prior or contemporaneous written or oral understandings or agreements, including any and all previous employment agreements or understandings, all of which are hereby terminated, with respect to the subject matter covered in this Agreement.

 

(e) Modification; Waiver. This Agreement may not be modified or amended, nor may any right be waived, except by a writing which expressly refers to this Agreement, states that it is intended to be a modification, amendment or waiver and is signed by both parties in the case of a modification or amendment or by the party granting the waiver. No course of conduct or dealing between the parties and no custom or trade usage shall be relied upon to vary the terms of this Agreement. The failure of a party to insist upon strict adherence to any term of this Agreement on any occasion shall not be considered a waiver or deprive that party of the right thereafter to insist upon strict adherence to that term or any other term of this Agreement.

 

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(f) Employment Policies. Executive acknowledges and agrees that he will be bound to follow all Company policies as may be implemented by the Company from time to time, and as may be revised in the Company’s sole discretion from time to time.

 

(g) Resolution of Disputes. Notwithstanding the injunctive relief provisions of Section 111 of this Agreement, the Executive and the Company agree that any dispute, claim or other controversy, whether based on contract, tort, discrimination, retaliation, or otherwise, relating to, arising from, or connected in any manner with this Agreement or with the Executive’s employment with Company (“Claim”) shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration before a single arbitrator in New York City, New York under the rule then in effect of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”). If there is any conflict between the AAA rules and this arbitration clause, this arbitration clause will govern and determine the rights of the parties. The parties to this Agreement shall be entitled to full discovery regarding any Claim submitted to arbitration pursuant to this Section. Arbitration shall be the sole, binding, exclusive and final remedy for resolving any dispute between the parties (other than a claim by the Company for injunctive relief pursuant to Section 10 of this Agreement). The arbitrators shall have jurisdiction to determine any claim, including the arbitrability of any claim, submitted to them. The arbitrators may grant any relief authorized by law for any properly established claim; provided, that, except as expressly provided in Section 11, the arbitrators shall have no authority to modify the express provisions of this Agreement.

 

The arbitrator’s decision on the Claim shall be full enforceable as an arbitration award in any court having jurisdiction and venue over the parties. The arbitrator shall also award the prevailing party any reasonable attorneys’ fees and reasonable expenses the prevailing party incurs in connection with the arbitration, and the non-prevailing party shall pay the arbitrator’s fees and expenses. The arbitrator shall determine who is the prevailing party. Each party also agrees to accept service of process for all arbitration proceedings in accordance with the AAA rules. The Executive acknowledges that the purpose and effect of this Section 14(g) is solely to elect private arbitration in lieu of any judicial proceeding he might otherwise have available to him in the event of an employment-related dispute between him and the Company. Therefore, the Executive hereby waives his right to have any such employment-related dispute heard by a court or jury, as the case may be, and agrees that his exclusive procedure to redress any employment-related claims will be arbitration. This arbitration provision shall remain in full force and effect after expiration or termination this Agreement.

 

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(h) Assignment. No party shall have the right to assign or transfer any of its or his rights hereunder except that the Company’s rights and obligations may be assigned in connection with a merger or consolidation of the Company or a sale by the Company of all or substantially all of its business and assets. The term “the Company” as used throughout this Agreement shall include (i) any successors or assigns of Company, and (ii) any successor, individual, association, partnership or corporation to which all or substantially all of the business, stock or assets of the Company shall have been transferred, and (iii) any other corporation into or with which Company shall have or has been merged, consolidated, reorganized or absorbed, all of whom shall be bound by the provisions of this Agreement, provided that no such assignment, sale of assets, merger or other such event shall relieve the Company, of any of its obligations hereunder. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective heirs, successors, executors, administrators and permitted assigns.

 

(i) Drafting Ambiguities. Each party to this Agreement has reviewed and revised this Agreement. Each party to this Agreement has had the opportunity to have such party’s legal counsel review and revise this Agreement. The rule of construction that any ambiguities are to be resolved against the drafting party shall not be employed in the interpretation of this Agreement or of any amendments or exhibits to this Agreement.

 

(j)The headings in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall not affect in any way the construction or interpretation of this Agreement.

 

(k) This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which when so executed and delivered will be an original document, but both of which counterparts will together constitute one and the same instrument.

 

[Signatures on following page]

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF , the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date first above written.

 

  Signature
   

 

 

CLEANTECH SOLUTIONS INTERNATIONAL, INC.
     
  By: /s/ Jianhua Wu
    Jianhua Wu, Chief Executive Officer
     
    /s/ Parkson Yip
    Parkson Yip

 

 

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