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Item 6.
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Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
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Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision eliminating the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from (i) actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (ii) active and deliberate dishonesty that is established by a final judgment and that is material to the cause of action. The Registrant’s charter (the “charter”) contains a provision that eliminates the liability of its directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted by the MGCL.
The MGCL requires the Registrant (unless the Registrant’s charter provides otherwise, which it does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The MGCL permits the Registrant to indemnify any present or former director or officer, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by him or her in connection with any proceeding to or in which he or she may be made or threatened to be made a party or witness by reason of his or her service in those or other capacities unless it is established that:
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the act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and (i) was committed in bad faith or (ii) was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty;
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the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services; or
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in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful.
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Under the MGCL, the Registrant may not indemnify a director or officer in a suit by the Registrant or in the Registrant’s right in which the director or officer was adjudged liable to the Registrant or in a suit in which the director or officer was adjudged liable on the basis that a personal benefit was improperly received. A court may order indemnification if it determines that the director or officer is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnification, even though the director or officer did not meet the prescribed standard of conduct or was adjudged liable on the basis that a personal benefit was improperly received. However, indemnification for an adverse judgment in a suit by the Registrant or in the Registrant’s right, or for a judgment of liability on the basis that a personal benefit was improperly received, is limited to expenses.
In addition, the MGCL permits the Registrant to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the Registrant’s receipt of:
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a written affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the Registrant; and
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a written undertaking by or on behalf of the director or officer to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the Registrant if it is ultimately determined that the director or officer did not meet the standard of conduct.
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The Registrant’s charter authorizes the Registrant, and the Registrant’s Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “bylaws”) obligate the Registrant, to the fullest extent permitted by the MGCL in effect from time to time, to
indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to:
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any present or former director or officer who is made or threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, a proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity; and
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any individual who, while a director or officer of the Registrant and at the Registrant’s request, serves or has served as a director, officer, trustee or manager of another corporation, real estate investment trust, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or any other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity.
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The Registrant’s charter and bylaws also permit the Registrant to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of the Registrant in any of the capacities described above and to any employee of the Registrant or a predecessor of the Registrant.
The indemnification and payment or reimbursement of expenses provided by the indemnification provisions of the Registrant’s charter and bylaws shall not be deemed exclusive of or limit in any way other rights to which any person seeking indemnification or payment or reimbursement of expenses may be or may become entitled under any statute, bylaw, resolution, insurance, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.
In addition, the Registrant has entered into separate indemnification agreements with each of the Registrant’s current directors. Each indemnification agreement provides, among other things, for indemnification as provided in the agreement and otherwise to the fullest extent permitted by law and the Registrant’s charter and bylaws against judgments, fines, penalties, amounts paid in settlement and reasonable expenses, including attorneys’ fees. The indemnification agreements provide for the advancement or payment of expenses to the indemnitee and for reimbursement to the Registrant if it is found that such indemnitee is not entitled to such advancement.
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Item 7.
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Exemption from Registration Claimed.
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Not applicable.
(a) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;
(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and
(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement;
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the registration statement is on Form S-8 and the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement;
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof; and
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(b) The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(c) Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
