ITEM 6. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS.
Section 145(a) of the Delaware General Corporation Law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (the “DGCL”), provides that a Delaware corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of the corporation), because he or she is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful.
Section 145(b) of the DGCL provides, in general, that a corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation to procure a judgment in its favor because the person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the corporation, except that no indemnification shall be made with respect to any claim, issue or matter as to which he or she shall have been adjudged to be liable to the corporation unless and only to the extent that the adjudicating court determines that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all of the circumstances of the case, he or she is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the adjudicating court shall deem proper.
Section 145(g) of the DGCL provides, in general, that a corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation, or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against any liability asserted against such person and incurred by such person in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would have the power to indemnify the person against such liability under Section 145 of the DGCL.
The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that no director of the Registrant shall be personally liable to it or its stockholders for monetary damages for any breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except for liability (1) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to it or its stockholders, (2) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (3) in respect of unlawful dividend payments or stock redemptions or repurchases or other distributions pursuant to Section 174 of the DGCL, or (4) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. In addition, the Registrant’s charter provides that if the DGCL is amended to authorize the further elimination or limitation of the liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Registrant shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL, as so amended. The Registrant’s charter further provides that any amendment, repeal or modification of such article unless otherwise required by law will not adversely affect any right or protection existing at the time of such repeal or modification with respect to any acts or omissions occurring before such repeal or amendment of a director serving at the time of such repeal or modification.
The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the Registrant shall indemnify each of its directors and executive officers, and shall have power to indemnify its other officers, employees and agents, to the fullest extent permitted by the DGCL as the same may be amended (except that in the case of an amendment, only to the extent that the amendment permits the Registrant to provide broader indemnification rights than the DGCL permitted the Registrant to provide prior to such the amendment) against any and all expenses, judgments, penalties, fines and amounts reasonably paid in settlement that are incurred by the director, officer or such employee or on the director’s, officer’s or employee’s behalf in connection with any threatened, pending or completed proceeding or any claim, issue or matter therein, to which he or she is or is threatened to be made a party because he or she is or was serving as a director, officer or employee of the Registrant, or at the Registrant’s request as a director, partner, trustee, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the best interests of the Registrant and, with respect to any criminal proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful. The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation further provides for the advancement of expenses to each of its directors and, in the discretion of the board of directors, to certain officers and employees, in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding only upon receipt of an undertaking by such
person to repay all amounts advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal that such person is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses.
In addition, the Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation provides that the right of each of the Registrant’s directors and officers to indemnification and advancement of expenses shall not be exclusive of any other right now possessed or hereafter acquired under any statute, provision of the charter or amended and restated bylaws, agreement, vote of stockholders or otherwise. Furthermore, the Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation authorizes the Registrant to provide insurance for its directors, officers, employees, and agents against any liability, whether or not it would have the power to indemnify such person against such liability under the DGCL or the amended and restated bylaws.
The Registrant has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors and its executive officers. These agreements provide that the Registrant will indemnify each of its directors and such officers to the fullest extent permitted by law and its amended and restated certificate of incorporation.
The Registrant also maintains a general liability insurance policy which covers certain liabilities of directors and officers of the Registrant arising out of claims based on acts or omissions in their capacities as directors or officers.
ITEM 9. UNDERTAKINGS.
(a) The 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 the 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 the Registration Statement; and
(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement;
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if 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 the 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.
(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 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 the 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.