Creation of the Trust The Trust was created pursuant to the Original Trust Agreement and is hereby continued. As set forth in the Original Trust Agreement, the Trust shall be known as “WaMu Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates Series 2005-AR15 Trust”. The purpose of the Trust is, and the Trust shall have the power and authority, to engage in the following activities, all as provided by and subject to the terms of this Agreement:
(i) to acquire, hold, lease, manage, administer, control, invest, reinvest, operate and/or transfer the Mortgage Pool Assets, the REMIC II Assets, the REMIC II Regular Interests and the Yield Maintenance Agreement;
(ii) to issue the REMIC I Regular Interests, the REMIC II Regular Interests, the Class R-1 and Class R-2 Residual Interests and the Certificates;
(iii) to make distributions to the REMIC I Regular Interests, the REMIC II Regular Interests and the Certificates; and
(iv) to engage in such other activities, including entering into agreements, as are described in or required by the terms of this Agreement or as are necessary, suitable or convenient to accomplish the foregoing or incidental thereto. LaSalle Bank National Association is hereby appointed as the trustee of the Trust, to have all the rights, duties and obligations of the Trustee with respect to the Trust expressly set forth hereunder, and LaSalle Bank National Association hereby accepts such appointment and the trust created hereby. Christiana Bank & Trust Company is hereby appointed as the Delaware trustee of the Trust, to have all the rights, duties and obligations of the Delaware Trustee with respect to the Trust hereunder, and Christiana Bank & Trust Company hereby accepts such appointment and the trust created hereby. It is the intention of the Company, the Servicer, the Trustee and the Delaware Trustee that the Trust constitute a statutory trust under the Statutory Trust Statute, that this Agreement constitute the governing instrument of the Trust, and that this Agreement amend and restate the Original Trust Agreement. The parties hereto acknowledge and agree that, prior to the execution and delivery hereof, the Delaware Trustee has filed the Certificate of Trust. The assets of the Trust shall remain in the custody of the Trustee or the Custodian, on behalf of the Trust, and shall be owned by the Trust. Moneys to the credit of the Trust shall be held by the Trustee and invested as provided herein. All assets received and held by the Trust will not be subject to any right, charge, security interest, lien or claim of any kind in favor of either of the institution acting as Trustee or the institution acting as Delaware Trustee in its own right, or any Person claiming through either. Neither the Trustee nor the Delaware Trustee shall have the power or authority to transfer, assign, hypothecate, pledge or otherwise dispose of any of the assets of the Trust to any Person, except as permitted herein. No creditor of a beneficiary of the Trust, of the Trustee, of the Delaware Trustee, of the Servicer or of the Company shall have any right to obtain possession of, or otherwise exercise legal or equitable remedies with respect to, the property of the Trust, except in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.
Election of Trustees The members of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company are its policyholders of insurance policies and deferred annuity contracts. The members exercise control through a Board of Trustees. Elections to the Board are held each year at the annual meeting of members. Members are entitled to vote in person or by proxy.
Administration of the Trust Fund The administration of the Fund shall be the responsibility of the Trustees. The Board of Trustees are responsible for the operational and financial sustainability of the Trust, and they shall administer the Fund in accordance with the express powers given to them pursuant to this Trust Agreement and the Plans. The terms of this Trust Agreement and the Plans shall be construed and administered so as to comply with the requirements to be an employee life and health trust under subsection 144.1(2) of the Income Tax Act (Canada). Any term of this Trust Agreement or the Plans that would otherwise be inconsistent with the requirements of such provisions shall be modified to the extent necessary to comply with such requirements.
Administration of the Trust (a) The Trustee shall administer the Trust Property for the benefit of the Unitholders. In engaging in such activities, the Trustee shall follow or cause to be followed collection procedures in accordance with the terms of the Trust Agreement, the Underlying Securities, the Swap Agreement, the indemnification offered by the Depositor pursuant to Section 10.05(b) and the Guarantee. The duties of the Trustee shall be performed in accordance with applicable local, State and Federal law.
(b) Subject to Article X, the Trustee is hereby authorized to perform, and from time to time hereafter, shall perform only those acts which are described in the Trust Agreement as obligations of the Trustee. Notwithstanding the generality of the foregoing, the Trustee is hereby specifically authorized to do the following on behalf of the Trust: to issue the Certificates evidencing Units; to execute and deliver and perform its obligations and exercise its rights under the Swap Agreement; to establish and maintain the Unit Account hereunder; to accept delivery of the Underlying Securities and the Swap Agreement; to pledge the assets of the Trust (including the Underlying Securities) to secure the obligations of the Trust including obligations under the Swap Agreement; to sell the Underlying Securities through the Selling Agent in accordance with Section 9.05; to make Permitted Investments pursuant to Section 3.06; to liquidate the Trust pursuant to Article IX and to make distributions pursuant to Article IV.
(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the Trust shall not engage in any business or activities other than receiving the Underlying Securities and any Credit Support or other Trust Property and entering into the Swap Agreement as provided herein, holding the Underlying Securities, the Swap Agreement and any Credit Support (or other Trust Property), issuing Certificates evidencing Units, making Permitted Investments in accordance with Section 3.06 and performing its obligations hereunder and under the Swap Agreement; provided, however, that during its existence the Trust shall not engage in any business or activity which will cause it to be or become an open-end investment company, unit investment trust or face-amount certificate company that is or is required to be registered under Section 8 of the Investment Company Act, or to be or become a closed-end investment company required to be registered, but not registered, under the Investment Company Act.
(d) The Trustee shall not sell, assign, pledge or otherwise transfer the Underlying Securities, the Swap Agreement, any Credit Support or other Trust Property, or any interest of the Trust therein, to any Person or Persons, except to a successor trustee as provided in Section 10.07, through the Selling Agent in accordance with Section 9.05, in accordance with Section 10.02(a)(x), as required under any Swap Agreement or as otherwise expressly permitted hereunder. This section shall not be construed to prohibit transfers of the Units.
(e) The Trustee shall have the legal power to exercise all of the rights, powers and privileges of holders of the Underlying Securities in which the Units evidence an interest; provided, however, that the exercise of such powers shall be subject to the provisions of this Section 3.02, Article X and the other provisions hereof. However, neither the Trustee (except as specifically provided herein or in the TIA) nor the Depositor shall be under any obligation whatsoever to appear in, prosecute or defend any action, suit or other proceeding in respect of Underlying Securities or Units.
(f) Except for actions expressly authorized by the Trust Agreement, the Trustee shall not take actions reasonably likely to (nor fail to take actions, if such failure would be reasonably likely to) (i) impair the interests of the Trust in any Underlying Security, any Credit Support, the Swap Agreement or the Guarantee (or any other Trust Property); (ii) impair the value of any Underlying Security, any Credit Support, the Swap Agreement or the Guarantee (or any other Trust Property); or (iii) alter the classification of a Trust for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
(g) Except as expressly provided in the Trust Agreement, the Trustee shall have no power to vary the corpus of the Trust Property including by (i) accepting any substitute obligation or asset for a Underlying Security or any Credit Support, (ii) entering into any amendment or modification of the Swap Agreement or the Underlying Securities, (iii) accepting any substitute guarantee for the Guarantee, (iv) adding any other investment, obligation or security to the Trust Property, (v) withdrawing from the Trust Property any Underlying Securities or Credit Support, (vi) terminating the Swap Agreement except in accordance with its terms or (vii) rejecting or otherwise failing to accept the continuing benefits of the Guarantee.
Termination of the Trust The respective obligations and responsibilities of the Company, the Guarantor and the Trustee with respect to the Trust shall terminate upon the distribution to all Holders of the Certificates and the Trustee of all amounts required to be distributed to them pursuant to this Agreement and the disposition of all property held as part of the Trust Property; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that in no event shall the Trust continue beyond one hundred ten (110) years following the date of the earliest execution of this Agreement. Notice of any termination, specifying the Regular Distribution Date (or Special Distribution Date, as the case may be) upon which the Certificateholders may surrender their Certificates to the Trustee for payment of the final distribution and cancellation, shall be mailed promptly by the Trustee to Certificateholders not earlier than the 60th day and not later than the 20th day next preceding such final distribution specifying (A) the Regular Distribution Date (or Special Distribution Date, as the case may be) upon which the proposed final payment of the Certificates will be made upon presentation and surrender of Certificates at the office or agency of the Trustee therein specified, (B) the amount of any such proposed final payment, and (C) that the Record Date otherwise applicable to such Regular Distribution Date (or Special Distribution Date, as the case may be) is not applicable, payments being made only upon presentation and surrender of the Certificates at the office or agency of the Trustee therein specified. The Trustee shall give such notice to the Registrar at the time such notice is given to Certificateholders. Upon presentation and surrender of the Certificates, the Trustee shall cause to be distributed to Certificateholders amounts distributable on such Regular Distribution Date (or Special Distribution Date, as the case may be) pursuant to Section 4.02. In the event that all of the Certificateholders shall not surrender their Certificates for cancellation within six months after the date specified in the above-mentioned written notice, the Trustee shall give a second written notice to the remaining Certificateholders to surrender their Certificates for cancellation and receive the final distribution with respect thereto. No additional interest shall accrue on the Certificates after the Regular Distribution Date (or Special Distribution Date, as the case may be). In the event that any money held by the Trustee for the payment of distributions on the Certificates shall remain unclaimed for two years (or such lesser time as the Trustee shall be satisfied, after sixty days' notice from the Company, is one month prior to the escheat period provided under applicable law) after the final distribution date with respect thereto, the Trustee shall pay to each Loan Trustee the appropriate amount of money relating to such Loan Trustee and shall give written notice thereof to the related Owner Trustees and the Company.
Creation of Trust Each Purchaser hereby irrevocably transfers and assigns to the Trustee, and the Trustee hereby accepts the transfer and assignment of, the right to vote and consent for each Purchaser in connection with all of such Purchaser’s voting and consent rights and responsibilities as a Beneficial Owner of the Subject Shares with respect to the following matters (collectively, the “Voting Matters”):
(a) the election of the two members of the Board of Trustees for which holders of VMTP Shares are exclusively entitled to vote under Section 18(a)(2)(C) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and all other rights given to holders of VMTP Shares with respect to the election of the Board of Trustees of the Fund;
(b) the conversion of the Fund from a closed-end management company to an open-end management company, or to change the Fund’s classification from diversified to non-diversified, each pursuant to Section 13(a)(1) of the 1940 Act (any of the foregoing, a “Conversion”), together with any additional voting or consent right under the Statement and the Purchase Agreement that relates solely to any action or amendment to the Statement that is so closely related to the Conversion that it would be impossible to give effect to the Conversion without implicating such additional voting or consent right; provided that any such additional voting or consent right shall not include any voting or consent right related to satisfying any additional term, condition or agreement which the Conversion is conditioned upon or subject to;
(c) the deviation from a policy in respect of concentration of investments in any particular industry or group of industries as recited in the Fund’s registration statement, pursuant to Section 13(a)(3) of the 1940 Act (a “Deviation”), together with any additional voting or consent right under the Statement and the Purchase Agreement that relates solely to any action or amendment to the Statement that is so closely related to the Deviation that it would be impossible to give effect to the Deviation without implicating such additional voting or consent right; provided that any such additional voting or consent right shall not include any voting or consent right related to satisfying any additional term, condition or agreement which the Deviation is conditioned upon or subject to;
(d) borrowing money, issuing senior securities, underwriting securities issued by other Persons, purchasing or selling real estate or commodities or making loans to other Persons other than in accordance with the recitals of policy with respect thereto in the Fund’s registration statement, pursuant to Section 13(a)(2) of the 1940 Act (any of the foregoing, a “Policy Change”), together with any additional voting or consent right under the Statement and the Purchase Agreement that relates solely to any action or amendment to the Statement that is so closely related to the Policy Change that it would be impossible to give effect to the Policy Change without implicating such additional voting or consent right; provided that any such additional voting or consent right shall not include any voting or consent right related to satisfying any additional term, condition or agreement which the Policy Change is conditioned upon or subject to;
(e) any state law voting and consent rights granted to such Purchaser as a matter of state law unless such voting or consent rights relate to situations where the rights or seniority of the Beneficial Owners of the Subject Shares could be adversely affected (as determined by such Purchaser) (except, for the avoidance of doubt, this subsection (e) shall not allow such Purchaser to exercise those rights transferred specifically in Sections 1(a) through (d) of this Agreement); and
(f) all other voting and consent rights of such Purchaser as a Beneficial Owner of the Subject Shares unless such voting or consent rights relate to situations where the rights or seniority of the Beneficial Owners of the Subject Shares could be adversely affected (as determined by such Purchaser) (except, for the avoidance of doubt, this subsection (f) shall not allow such Purchaser to exercise those rights transferred specifically in Sections 1(a) through (e) of this Agreement). In order to effect the transfer of voting and consent rights with respect to the Voting Matters, each of the Purchasers hereby irrevocably appoints and constitutes, and will cause each of its Affiliates who are Beneficial Owners of any Subject Shares to irrevocably appoint and constitute, the Trustee as its attorney-in-fact and agrees, and agrees to cause each of such Affiliates, to grant the Trustee one or more irrevocable proxies with respect to the Voting Matters and further agrees to renew any such proxies that may lapse by their terms while the Subject Shares are still subject to this Voting Trust Agreement. WFC Holdings, WFMCS and EVEREN each will retain all other voting rights under the Related Documents and each of WFC Holdings (or its Affiliates or designee), WFMCS (or its Affiliates or designee), and EVEREN (or its Affiliates or designee) will also be the registered owner of its respective VMTP Shares. If any dividend or other distribution in respect of the Subject Shares is paid, such dividend or distribution will be paid directly to either WFC Holdings, WFMCS, or EVEREN, respectively (or to any such Affiliate or designee of WFC Holdings, WFMCS, or EVEREN then owning such Subject Shares); provided, that, any Additional Shares will become part of the Subject Shares covered by this Agreement.
Termination of Trust Section 9.01
Application of Trust Funds (a) On each Distribution Date, the Owner Trustee shall cause the Certificate Paying Agent to distribute amounts deposited in the Certificate Distribution Account pursuant to the Sale and Servicing Agreement with respect to such Distribution Date in the following order of priority:
(i) to make payments to the Certificateholder any remaining amount deposited therein; and
(ii) to clear and terminate the Certificate Distribution Account upon the termination of this Agreement.
(b) In the event that any withholding tax is imposed on the Trust’s payment (or allocations of income) to the Certificateholder, such tax shall reduce the amount otherwise distributable to the Certificateholder in accordance with this Section. The Owner Trustee or Certificate Paying Agent is hereby authorized and directed to retain from amounts otherwise distributable to the Certificateholder sufficient funds for the payment of any tax that is legally owed by the Trust (but such authorization shall not prevent the Owner Trustee or the Certificate Paying Agent from contesting any such tax in appropriate proceedings and withholding payment of such tax, if permitted by law, pending the outcome of such proceedings). The amount of any withholding tax imposed with respect to the Certificateholder shall be treated as cash distributed to the Certificateholder at the time it is withheld by the Trust and remitted to the appropriate taxing authority. If there is a possibility that withholding tax is payable with respect to a distribution (such as a distribution to a non-U.S. Certificateholder), the Owner Trustee or the Certificate Paying Agent may in its sole discretion withhold such amounts in accordance with this paragraph.
(c) Any Holder of the Certificate that is organized under the laws of a jurisdiction outside the United States shall, on or prior to the date such Holder becomes a Holder, (i) shall notify the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent and (ii)(A) provide the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent with Internal Revenue Service form X-0XXX, X-0XXX-X, X-0XXX or W-8EXP (or successor forms), as appropriate, or (B) notify the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent that it is not entitled to an exemption from United States withholding tax or a reduction in the rate thereof on payments of interest. Any such Holder agrees by its acceptance of the Certificate, on an ongoing basis, to provide like certification for each taxable year and to notify the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent should subsequent circumstances arise affecting the information provided the Owner Trustee or the Certificate Paying Agent in clauses (i) and (ii) above. The Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent shall be fully protected in relying upon, and each Holder by its acceptance of the Certificate hereunder agrees to indemnify and hold the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent harmless against all claims or liability of any kind arising in connection with or related to the Owner Trustee’s and the Certificate Paying Agent’s reliance upon any documents, forms or information provided by any Holder to the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Paying Agent.
Compensation of Trustee Any individual Trustee serving hereunder shall be entitled to: (Choose One) ☐ - No compensation whatsoever. ☐ - Be paid a reasonable fee from the Trust Estate based on the amount of time expended by such Trustee in carrying out his or her duties hereunder. Any corporate Trustee shall be entitled to be paid a fee based upon its fee schedule from time to time that is required to be published.
Duration of Trust Unless terminated as provided herein, the Trust shall have perpetual existence.
