Section 409A Limitation It is the intention of Company and Executive that the severance and other benefits payable to Executive under this Agreement either be exempt from, or otherwise comply with, Section 409A (“Section 409A”) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Notwithstanding any other term or provision of this Agreement, to the extent that any provision of this Agreement is determined by the Company, with the advice of its independent accounting firm or other tax advisors, to be subject to and not in compliance with Section 409A, including, without limitation, the definition of “Change in Control” or the timing of commencement and completion of severance benefit and/or other benefit payments to Executive hereunder in connection with a merger, recapitalization, sale of shares or other “Change in Control”, or the amount of any such payments, such provisions shall be interpreted in the manner required to comply with Section 409A. Company and Executive acknowledge and understand that such interpretation could, among other matters, (i) limit the circumstances or events that constitute a “change in control;” (ii) delay for a period of six (6) months or more, or otherwise modify the commencement of severance and/or other benefit payments; and/or (iii) modify the completion date of severance and/or other benefit payments. Company and Executive further acknowledge and agree that if, in the judgment of Company, with the advice of its independent accounting firm or other tax advisors, amendment of this Agreement is necessary to comply with Section 409A, Company and Executive will negotiate reasonably and in good faith to amend the terms of this Agreement to the extent necessary so that it complies (with the most limited possible economic effect on Company and Executive) with Section 409A. For example, if this Agreement is subject to Section 409A and it requires that severance and/or other benefit payments must be delayed until at least six (6) months after Executive terminates employment, then Company and Executive would delay payments and/or promptly seek a written amendment to this Agreement that would, if permissible under Section 409A, eliminate any such payments otherwise payable during the first six (6) months following Executive’s termination of employment and substitute therefor a lump sum payment or an initial installment payment, as applicable, at the beginning of the seventh (7th) month following Executive’s termination of employment which in the case of an initial installment payment would be equal in the aggregate to the amount of all such payments thus eliminated.
Section 409A Limit “Section 409A Limit” will mean two (2) times the lesser of: (i) Executive’s annualized compensation based upon the annual rate of pay paid to Executive during the Executive’s taxable year preceding the Executive’s taxable year of Executive’s termination of employment as determined under, and with such adjustments as are set forth in, Treasury Regulation 1.409A-1(b)(9)(iii)(A)(1) and any Internal Revenue Service guidance issued with respect thereto; or (ii) the maximum amount that may be taken into account under a qualified plan pursuant to Section 401(a)(17) of the Code for the year in which Executive’s employment is terminated.
Section 409A Matters Notwithstanding any provision in this Agreement to the contrary, if Executive is a specified employee (within the meaning of Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and applicable administrative guidance thereunder and determined in accordance with any method selected by Company that is permitted under the regulations issued under Section 409A of the Code), and the payment of any amount or benefit under this Agreement to or on behalf of Executive would be subject to additional taxes and interest under Section 409A of the Code because the timing of such payment is not delayed as provided in Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code and the regulations thereunder, then any such payment or benefit that Executive would otherwise be entitled to during the first six months following the date of Executive’s separation from service (within the meaning of Section 409A(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Code and applicable administrative guidance thereunder) shall be accumulated and paid or provided, as applicable, on the date that is six months after Executive’s separation from service (or if such date does not fall on a business day of Company, the next following business day of Company), or such earlier date upon which such amount can be paid or provided under Section 409A of the Code without being subject to such additional taxes and interest; provided, however, that Executive shall be entitled to receive the maximum amount permissible under Section 409A of the Code and the applicable administrative guidance thereunder during the six-month period following his separation from service that will not result in the imposition of any additional tax or penalties on such amount. For all purposes of this Agreement, Executive shall be considered to have terminated employment with Company when Executive incurs a “separation from service” with Company within the meaning of Section 409A(a)(2)(A)(i) of the Code and the applicable administrative guidance issued thereunder. To the extent that Section 409A of the Code is applicable to this Agreement, the provisions of this Agreement shall be interpreted as necessary to comply with such section and the applicable administrative guidance issued thereunder.
Section 280G Payments Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, if the Executive is a “disqualified individual” (as defined in Section 280G(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”)), and the payments and benefits provided for in this Agreement, together with any other payments and benefits which the Executive has the right to receive from the Company or any other person, would constitute a “parachute payment” (as defined in Section 280G(b)(2) of the Code), then the payments and benefits provided for in this Agreement shall be either (a) reduced (but not below zero) so that the present value of such total amounts and benefits received by the Executive from the Company and/or such person(s) will be $1.00 less than three (3) times the Executive’s “base amount” (as defined in Section 280G(b)(3) of the Code) and so that no portion of such amounts and benefits received by the Executive shall be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code or (b) paid in full, whichever produces the better “net after-tax position” to the Executive (taking into account any applicable excise tax under Section 4999 of the Code and any other applicable taxes). The reduction of payments and benefits hereunder, if applicable, shall be made by reducing, first, payments or benefits to be paid in cash hereunder in the order in which such payment or benefit would be paid or provided (beginning with such payment or benefit that would be made last in time and continuing, to the extent necessary, through to such payment or benefit that would be made first in time) and, then, reducing any benefit to be provided in-kind hereunder in a similar order. The determination as to whether any such reduction in the amount of the payments and benefits provided hereunder is necessary shall be made applying principles, assumptions and procedures consistent with Section 280G of the Code by an accounting firm or law firm of national reputation that is selected for this purpose by the Company (the “280G Firm”). In order to assess whether payments under this Agreement or otherwise qualify as reasonable compensation that is exempt from being a parachute payment under Section 280G of the Code, the 280G Firm or the Company may retain the services of an independent valuation expert. If a reduced payment or benefit is made or provided and through error or otherwise that payment or benefit, when aggregated with other payments and benefits from the Company (or its affiliates) used in determining if a “parachute payment” exists, exceeds $1.00 less than three (3) times the Executive’s base amount, then the Executive shall immediately repay such excess to the Company upon notification that an overpayment has been made. Nothing in this Section 6 shall require the Company to be responsible for, or have any liability or obligation with respect to, the Executive’s excise tax liabilities under Section 4999 of the Code.
Section 409A Compliance (a) It is intended that any benefits under this Agreement satisfy, to the greatest extent possible, the exemptions from the application of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (“Section 409A”), provided under Treasury Regulations Sections 1.409A-1(b)(4), and 1.409A-1(b)(9), and this Agreement will be construed to the greatest extent possible as consistent with those provisions, and to the extent not so exempt, this Agreement (and any definitions hereunder) will be construed in a manner that complies with Section 409A. For purposes of Section 409A (including, without limitation, for purposes of Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-2(b)(2)(iii)), the Executive’s right to receive any installment payments under this Agreement (whether severance payments, if any, or otherwise) shall be treated as a right to receive a series of separate payments and, accordingly, each installment payment hereunder shall at all times be considered a separate and distinct payment. A termination of employment shall not be deemed to have occurred for purposes of any provision of this Agreement providing for the payment of any amounts or benefits upon or following a termination of employment unless such termination is also a “separation from service” within the meaning of Section 409A and, for purposes of any such provision of this Agreement, references to a “resignation,” “termination,” “termination of employment” or like terms shall mean separation from service. In no event may Executive, directly or indirectly, designate the calendar year of a payment. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, in no event shall the timing of the Executive’s execution of the Release, directly or indirectly, result in the Executive designating the calendar year of payment of any amounts of deferred compensation subject to Section 409A, and if a payment that is subject to execution of the Release could be made in more than one taxable year, payment shall be made in the later taxable year. The Company makes no representation or warranty and shall have no liability to the Executive or any other person if any compensation under this Agreement constitutes deferred compensation subject to Code Section 409A but does not satisfy an exemption from, or the conditions of, Code Section 409A.
Section 280G; Parachute Payments (a) If any payment or benefit you will or may receive from the Company or otherwise (a “280G Payment”) would (i) constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and (ii) but for this sentence, be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then any such 280G Payment provided pursuant to this Agreement (a “Payment”) shall be equal to the Reduced Amount. The “Reduced Amount” shall be either (x) the largest portion of the Payment that would result in no portion of the Payment (after reduction) being subject to the Excise Tax or (y) the largest portion, up to and including the total, of the Payment, whichever amount (i.e., the amount determined by clause (x) or by clause (y)), after taking into account all applicable federal, state and local employment taxes, income taxes, and the Excise Tax (all computed at the highest applicable marginal rate), results in your receipt, on an after-tax basis, of the greater economic benefit notwithstanding that all or some portion of the Payment may be subject to the Excise Tax. If a reduction in a Payment is required pursuant to the preceding sentence and the Reduced Amount is determined pursuant to clause (x) of the preceding sentence, the reduction shall occur in the manner (the “Reduction Method”) that results in the greatest economic benefit for you. If more than one method of reduction will result in the same economic benefit, the items so reduced will be reduced pro rata (the “Pro Rata Reduction Method”).
Section 409A Provisions The payment of Shares under this Agreement is intended to be exempt from the application of Section 409A of the Code by reason of the short-term deferral exemption set forth in Treasury Regulation §1.409A-1(b)(4). Notwithstanding anything in the Plan or this Agreement to the contrary, to the extent that any amount or benefit hereunder that constitutes “deferred compensation” to the Participant under Section 409A is otherwise payable or distributable to the Participant under the Plan or this Agreement solely by reason of the occurrence of a Change in Control or due to the Participant’s Disability or separation from service, such amount or benefit will not be payable or distributable to the Participant by reason of such circumstance unless the Committee determines in good faith that (i) the circumstances giving rise to such Change in Control, Disability or separation from service meet the definition of a change in ownership or control, disability, or separation from service, as the case may be, in Section 409A(a)(2)(A) of the Code and applicable final regulations, or (ii) the payment or distribution of such amount or benefit would be exempt from the application of Section 409A by reason of the short-term deferral exemption or otherwise (including, but not limited to, a payment made pursuant to an involuntary separation arrangement that is exempt from Section 409A under the “short-term deferral” exception). Any payment or distribution that constitutes deferred compensation subject to Code Section 409A and that otherwise would be made to a Participant who is a specified employee as defined in Section 409A(a)(2)(B) of the Code on account of separation from service instead shall be made on the earlier of the date that is six months and one day after the date of the specified employee’s separation from service and the specified employee’s death.
Plan Terminations Under Section 409A Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in Section 7.2, if this Agreement terminates in the following circumstances:
Section 280G Limitation In the event that any payments to which Executive becomes entitled in accordance with the provisions hereof, or in connection with any plans or programs referred to in Exhibit A or Section 2.2 hereof, would otherwise be deemed to constitute “parachute payments” (each one, a “Parachute Payment”) within the meaning of Section 280G of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended and the regulations and administrative guidance thereunder (the “Code”), then such payments will be subject to reduction to the extent necessary to assure that Executive receives only the greater benefit of receiving (a) the amount of those payments which would constitute such a Parachute Payment or (b) the amount which yields Executive the greatest after-tax amount of benefits after taking into account any excise tax imposed on the payments provided to Executive pursuant to this Agreement (or on any other benefits to which Executive may be entitled in connection with the Change in Control or the subsequent termination of service) under Section 4999 of the Code.
Section 409A of the Code Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, if at the time of the Executive’s termination of employment with the Company, the Company has determined that the Executive is a “specified employee” as defined in Section 409A of the Code and any severance payments and benefits to Executive are considered a “deferral of compensation” under Section 409A of the Code (the “Deferred Payments”), such Deferred Payments that are otherwise payable within the first six months following the Termination Date will become payable on the first business day of the seventh month following the Executive’s Termination Date, or if earlier the date of the Executive’s death. In the event that payments under this Agreement are deferred pursuant to this Section 14(h), then such payments shall be paid at the time specified in this Section 14(h) without interest. The Company shall consult with the Executive in good faith regarding the implementation of the provisions of this Section 14(h) provided, that neither the Company nor any of its employees or representatives shall have any liability to the Executive with respect thereto. Any amount under this Agreement that satisfies the requirements of the “short-term deferral” rule set forth in Section 1.409A-1(b)(4) of the Treasury Regulations will not constitute Deferred Payments for purposes of this Agreement. Any amounts scheduled for payment hereunder when they are ordinarily paid out or when they are made to other executive officers, will nonetheless be paid to Executive on or before March 15th of the year following the year when the payment is no longer subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. For purposes of Section 409A of the Code, the right to a series of installment payments under this Agreement shall be treated as a right to a series of separate payments, and references herein to the Executive’s termination of employment shall refer to Executive’s separation of services with the Company within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, except to the extent any expense, reimbursement or in-kind benefit provided pursuant to this Agreement does not constitute a “deferral of compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code: (x) the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement or in-kind benefits provided to the Executive during any calendar year will not affect the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement or in-kind benefits provided to the Executive in any other calendar year, (y) the reimbursements for expenses for which the Executive is entitled to be reimbursed shall be made on or before the last day of the calendar year following the calendar year in which the applicable expense is incurred, and (z) the right to payment or reimbursement or in-kind benefits hereunder may not be liquidated or exchanged for any other benefit.
