Appointment of Escrow Agent The Company and the Initial Stockholders hereby appoint the Escrow Agent to act in accordance with and subject to the terms of this Agreement and the Escrow Agent hereby accepts such appointment and agrees to act in accordance with and subject to such terms.
Establishment of Escrow Contemporaneously with the execution and delivery of this Agreement, Buyer will deposit (and the Shareholders consent to the deposit of) (i) the cash portion of the Escrow Deposit with Escrow Agent, and Escrow Agent will deposit such funds in an interest bearing deposit account, to be held in trust by Escrow Agent for the benefit of Buyer and the Shareholders (the “Escrow Account”), and (ii) stock certificates (accompanied by ten (10) sets of appropriate stock powers executed by the Shareholders in blank with signature guaranteed by a national banking institution or New York Stock Exchange member firm) representing an aggregate of 333,333 shares of Buyer Common Stock registered in the name of the Shareholders (the “Escrowed Shares”) in such individual amounts as set forth on Attachment 1 hereto. Upon its receipt of the Escrow Deposit, Escrow Agent shall provide to Buyer and the Shareholders a written receipt therefor. Unless and until the Escrowed Shares are delivered to Buyer as its absolute property pursuant to this Agreement, the Shareholders shall be entitled to vote the Escrowed Shares and to all dividends thereon, which shall be delivered to the Escrow Agent, with all cash dividends being held as part of the Escrow Account and all stock dividends being held as part of the Escrowed Shares. Any common stock or other securities distributed with respect to the Escrowed Shares as a result of a dividend, stock split, recapitalization, reclassification or similar transaction shall be delivered to the Escrow Agent and held as part of the Escrowed Shares. The cash held in the Escrow Account, including any interest or earnings received in respect thereof, and the Escrowed Shares, less amounts of cash and Escrowed Shares distributed from time to time in accordance with Section 5 hereof, shall be referred to herein collectively as the “Escrow Fund.” The Escrow Agent shall execute and deliver to each Shareholder all Proxy Statements, form of proxies or other instruments which it receives in order to give effect to the foregoing voting rights. Escrow Agent agrees to administer the disposition of the Escrow Fund strictly in accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement. At the Buyer’s option, the Buyer may deposit (and the Shareholders consent to the deposit of) the Earnout Payment with the Escrow Agent (and Escrow Agent will further deposit the cash portion of such deposit in the Escrow Account and the stock portion of such deposit as part of the Escrowed Shares) to be held in trust by the Escrow Agent for the benefit of Buyer and the Shareholders, at any time (1) it maintains an obligation under the Merger Agreement to pay such Earnout Payment to the Shareholders, (2) the Buyer has previously made an Escrow Claim (as defined in Section 5(a)) prior to the Expiration Date (as defined in Section 7.3(a) of the Merger Agreement) and (3) the Claimed Amount (as hereinafter defined) of such claims is greater than the amount or value of the remaining Escrow Fund. To the extent the Claimed Amount equals or exceeds the amount of the Earnout Payment, the Buyer shall be permitted to deposit the entire Earnout Payment with the Escrow Agent. If, however, the Claimed Amount is less than the Earnout Payment, the Buyer shall be permitted to deposit the amount of the Earnout Payment equal to the Claimed Amount with the Escrow Agent and the difference shall be paid directly by the Buyer to the Shareholders as provided in the Merger Agreement. Buyer agrees to deliver an Escrow Claim (as hereinafter defined) to the Shareholders and Escrow Agent at the same time it delivers the Earnout Payment (or any portion thereof) to the Escrow Agent hereunder, to the extent that an Escrow Claim has not previously been submitted in connection therewith. Each such Escrow Claim shall contain all of the same information specified in Section 5(a) below. Upon its receipt of the Earnout Payment (or any portion thereof), Escrow Agent shall provide to Buyer and the Shareholders a written receipt therefor. Once deposited by the Escrow Agent in the Escrow Account and/or the Escrowed Shares, as the case may be, the Earnout Payment (or any portion thereof) shall be, and shall be treated as part of, the Escrow Fund for all purposes hereunder and this Agreement shall apply in the same manner and to the same extent as if the Earnout Payment were part of the original Escrow Deposit.
Establishment of Escrow Account Prior to the Issuer initiating the Offering, and prior to the receipt of the first Subscriber funds, Escrow Agent shall establish an account for the Issuer (the “Escrow Account”). All parties agree to maintain the Escrow Account and Escrow Amount (as defined below) in a manner that is compliant with applicable banking and securities regulations. Escrow Agent shall be the sole administrator of the Escrow Account.
Disbursement of Escrow Funds (a) Subject to Section 3(b) and Section 10, NCPS shall promptly disburse in accordance with the Instruction Letter the liquidated value of the Escrow Funds from the Escrow Account to Issuer by wire transfer no later than one Business Day following receipt of the following documents:
(i) Minimum Offering Notice;
(ii) Subscription Accounting substantiating the fulfillment of the Minimum Offering;
(iii) Instruction Letter; and
(iv) such other certificates, notices or other documents as NCPS may reasonably require; provided that NCPS shall not be obligated to disburse the liquidated value of the Escrow Funds to Issuer if NCPS has reason to believe that (A) Cash Investment Instruments in full payment for that number of Securities equal to or greater than the Minimum Offering have not been received, deposited with and collected by NCPS, or (B) any of the information or the certifications, representations, warranties or opinions set forth in the Minimum Offering Notice, Subscription Accounting, Instruction Letter or other certificates, notices or other documents are incorrect or incomplete. After the initial disbursement of Escrow Funds to Issuer pursuant to this Section 4(a), NCPS shall promptly disburse any additional funds received with respect to the Securities to Issuer by wire transfer no later than one Business Day after NCPS receives from or on behalf of Issuer (1) Issuer’s request for closing via NCPS’s online portal and (2) Issuer’s written verification that the subscriptions therefor are in good order. Any ACH transaction must comply with all applicable laws, rules, regulations, codes and orders of applicable governmental, regulatory, judicial and law enforcement authorities and self-regulatory authorities (collectively, “Law”), including, without limitation, NACHA’s operating rules that apply to the ACH network as in effect from time to time. NCPS is not responsible for errors in the completion, accuracy or timeliness of any transfer properly initiated by NCPS in accordance with joint written instructions occasioned by the acts or omissions of any third party financial institution or a party to the transaction, or the insufficiency or lack of availability of funds on deposit in any account.
(b) No later than three Business Days after receipt from Subscriber of any required payment instructions and receipt by NCPS of written notice: (i) from Issuer Party that Issuer Party intends to reject a Subscriber’s subscription; (ii) from Issuer Party that there will be no closing of the sale of Securities to Subscribers; (iii) from any federal or state regulatory authority that any application by Issuer to conduct a banking business has been denied; or (iv) from the SEC or any other federal or state regulatory authority that a stop or similar order has been issued with respect to the Offering Document and has remained in effect for at least 20 days, NCPS shall pay to each Subscriber by the same method the amount of the Cash Investment received by NCPS from such Subscriber or promptly return to Subscriber such Subscriber’s Cash Investment Instrument; provided that amounts in excess of $25,000 will be returned via wire transfer upon confirmation by NCPS of Subscriber’s account information.
(c) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, if NCPS shall not have received an Instruction Letter on or before the Expiration Date or the Termination Date (as defined below), subject to Section 5, NCPS shall, within three Business Days after such Expiration Date or Termination Date and receipt from Subscriber of any required payment instructions, and without any further instruction or direction from Issuer Party, pay to each Subscriber by the same method the amount of the Cash Investment received by NCPS from such Subscriber or promptly return to Subscriber such Subscriber’s Cash Investment Instrument; provided that amounts in excess of $25,000 will be returned via wire transfer upon confirmation by NCPS of Subscriber’s account information.
(d) Issuer Party shall, or cause Subscriber to, provide NCPS with information sufficient to effect such payment or return to Subscriber as outlined in this Section 4, including, without limitation, updated payment information in the event a payment or return to Subscriber for any reason cannot be made by the same method as received by NCPS.
Investment of Escrow Funds The Escrow Agent shall deposit the Escrow Funds in a non-interest bearing money market account. If Escrow Agent has not received a Joint Written Direction at any time that an investment decision must be made, Escrow Agent may retain the Escrow Fund, or such portion thereof, as to which no Joint Written Direction has been received, in a non-interest bearing money market account.
Duties of Escrow Agent Acceptance by the Escrow Agent of its duties under this Escrow Agreement is subject to the following terms and conditions, which all parties to this Escrow Agreement agree shall govern and control with respect to the rights, duties, liabilities and immunities of the Escrow Agent.
(a) The duties and responsibilities of the Escrow Agent shall be limited to those expressly set forth in this Escrow Agreement and the Escrow Agent shall not be subject to, nor obligated to recognize, any other agreements between the Corporation, Underwriter and any Subscriber.
(b) The duties of the Escrow Agent are only such as are herein specifically provided and such duties are purely ministerial in nature. The Escrow Agent's primary duty shall be to keep custody of and safeguard the Escrow Fund during the period of the escrow, to invest monies held in the Escrow Fund in accordance with Section 2 hereof and to make disbursements from the Escrow Fund in accordance with Section 4 hereof.
(c) The Escrow Agent shall be under no obligations in respect of the Escrow Fund other than to faithfully follow the instructions herein contained or delivered to the Escrow Agent in accordance with this Escrow Agreement. The Escrow Agent may rely and act upon any written notice, instruction, direction, request, waiver, consent, receipt or other paper or document which it in good faith believes to be genuine and what it purports to be and the Escrow Agent shall be subject to no liability with respect to the form, execution or validity thereof. If, in the opinion of the Escrow Agent, the instructions it receives are ambiguous, uncertain or in conflict with any previous instructions or this Escrow Agreement, then the Escrow Agent is authorized to hold and preserve intact the Escrow Fund pending the settlement of any such controversy by final adjudication of a court or courts of proper jurisdiction.
(d) The Escrow Agent shall not be liable for any error of judgment or for any act done or step taken or omitted by it, in good faith, or for any mistake of fact or law, or for anything which it may in good faith do or refrain from doing in connection herewith, unless caused by its willful misconduct or gross negligence. The Corporation shall indemnify and hold the Escrow Agent harmless from and against any and all claims, losses, damages, liabilities and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, which may be imposed upon the Escrow Agent or incurred by the Escrow Agent in connection with its acceptance of the appointment as Escrow Agent hereunder or the performance of its duties hereunder, unless the Escrow Agent is determined to have committed an intentional wrongful act or to have been grossly negligent with respect to its duties under this Escrow Agreement.
(e) The Escrow Agent shall return to the Corporation any sums delivered to the Escrow Agent pursuant to this Escrow Agreement for which the Escrow Agent has not received release instructions pursuant to Section 4 hereof, and as to which four years have passed since delivery.
(f) The Escrow Agent may consult with, and obtain advice from, legal counsel (which may not be counsel to the Corporation) in the event of any dispute or questions as to the construction of any of the provisions hereof or its duties hereunder, and it shall incur no liability in acting in good faith in accordance with the written opinion and instructions of such counsel. The fees for consultation with such counsel shall be paid by the Corporation.
(g) Reference in this Escrow Agreement to the Registration Statement is for identification purposes only, and its terms and conditions are not thereby incorporated herein.
Investment of Escrow Fund During the term of this Escrow Agreement, the Escrow Fund shall be invested and reinvested by the Escrow Agent in the investment indicated on Schedule 1 or such other investments as shall be directed in writing by the Issuer and the Depositor and as shall be acceptable to the Escrow Agent. All investment orders involving U.S. Treasury obligations, commercial paper and other direct investments may be executed through broker-dealers selected by the Escrow Agent. Periodic statements will be provided to the Issuer and the Depositor reflecting transactions executed on behalf of the Escrow Fund. The Issuer and the Depositor, upon written request, will receive a statement of transaction details upon completion of any securities transaction in the Escrow Fund without any additional cost. The Escrow Agent shall have the right to liquidate any investments held in order to provide funds necessary to make required payments under this Escrow Agreement. The Escrow Agent shall have no liability for any loss sustained as a result of any investment in an investment indicated on Schedule 1 or any investment made pursuant to the instructions of the parties hereto or as a result of any liquidation of any investment prior to its maturity or for the failure of the parties to give the Escrow Agent instructions to invest or reinvest the Escrow Fund. The Escrow Agent may earn compensation in the form of short-term interest (“float”) on items like uncashed distribution checks (from the date issued until the date cashed), funds that the Escrow Agent is directed not to invest, deposits awaiting investment direction or received too late to be invested overnight in previously directed investments.
Investment of Escrowed Funds (a) Until released in accordance with this Agreement, the Escrowed Funds shall be kept segregated in the records of the Subscription Receipt Agent and shall be deposited in one or more segregated interest-bearing bank accounts to be maintained by the Subscription Receipt Agent in the name of the Subscription Receipt Agent at one or more Schedule I Canadian chartered banks, including the banks set forth in Section 7.2(c) (each such bank, an “Approved Bank”). Interest will be credited by the fifth Business Day of the following month.
(b) All amounts held by the Subscription Receipt Agent pursuant to this Agreement shall be held by the Subscription Receipt Agent for the benefit of the Subscription Receiptholders and the delivery of the Escrowed Proceeds to the Subscription Receipt Agent shall not give rise to a debtor-creditor or other similar relationship between the Subscription Receipt Agent and the Subscription Receiptholders. The amounts held by the Subscription Receipt Agent pursuant to this Agreement are the sole risk of the Subscription Receiptholders and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Subscription Receipt Agent shall have no responsibility or liability for any diminution of the Escrowed Funds which may result from any deposit made with an Approved Bank pursuant to this Section 7.2, including any losses resulting from a default by the Approved Bank or other credit losses (whether or not resulting from such a default) and any credit or other losses on any deposits liquidated or sold prior to maturity. The Company and the Lead Underwriter acknowledge and agree that the Subscription Receipt Agent acts prudently in depositing the Escrowed Proceeds at any Approved Bank, and that the Subscription Receipt Agent is not required to make any further inquiries in respect of any such bank.
(c) The Approved Banks include the Bank of Montreal and The Toronto-Dominion Bank.
Establishment of Escrow Account; Deposits in Escrow Account With respect to those Mortgage Loans on which the Servicer or any Sub-Servicer collects Escrow Payments, if any, the Servicer shall, and shall cause the Sub-Servicer to, segregate and hold all funds collected and received pursuant to each such Mortgage Loan which constitute Escrow Payments separate and apart from any of its own funds and general assets and shall establish and maintain one or more Escrow Accounts, in the form of trust accounts. Such Escrow Accounts shall be established with a commercial bank, a mutual savings bank or a savings and loan association the deposits of which are insured by the FDIC in a manner which shall provide maximum available insurance thereunder, and which may be drawn on by the Servicer. The Servicer shall give notice to the Trustee of the location of any Escrow Account, and of any change thereof, prior to the use thereof. Nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to require the Servicer to collect Escrow Payments in the absence of a provision in the related Mortgage requiring such collection. The Servicer shall deposit, or cause to be deposited, in any Escrow Account or Accounts on a daily basis, and retain therein, (i) all Escrow Payments collected on account of any Mortgage Loans, for the purpose of effecting timely payment of any such items as required under the terms of this Agreement and (ii) all amounts representing proceeds of any hazard insurance policy which are to be applied to the restoration or repair of any Mortgaged Property. The Servicer shall make withdrawals therefrom only to effect such payments as are required under this Agreement, and for such other purposes as are set forth in Section 5.11. The Servicer shall be entitled to retain any interest paid on funds deposited in the Escrow Account by the depository institution other than interest on escrowed funds required by law to be paid to the related Mortgagor and, to the extent required by law, the Servicer shall pay interest on escrowed funds to the related Mortgagor notwithstanding that the Escrow Account is non-interest-bearing or that interest paid thereon is insufficient for such purposes.
Establishment of Escrow Accounts; Deposits in Escrow Accounts The Company shall segregate and hold all funds collected and received pursuant to each Mortgage Loan which constitute Escrow Payments separate and apart from any of its own funds and general assets and shall establish and maintain one or more Escrow Accounts. The Escrow Account shall be an Eligible Account. Funds deposited in each Escrow Account shall at all times be insured in a manner to provide maximum insurance under the insurance limitations of the FDIC, or must be invested in Permitted Investments. Funds deposited in the Escrow Account may be drawn on by the Company in accordance with Section 4.07. The creation of any Escrow Account shall be evidenced by a letter agreement in the form shown in Exhibit C. The original of such letter agreement shall be furnished to the Purchaser on the Closing Date, and upon request to any subsequent purchaser. The Company shall deposit in the Escrow Account or Accounts on a daily basis, and retain therein:
(i) all Escrow Payments collected on account of the Mortgage Loans, for the purpose of effecting timely payment of any such items as required under the terms of this Agreement;
(ii) all Insurance Proceeds which are to be applied to the restoration or repair of any Mortgaged Property; and
(iii) all Servicing Advances for Mortgagors whose Escrow Payments are insufficient to cover escrow disbursements. The Company shall make withdrawals from the Escrow Account only to effect such payments as are required under this Agreement, and for such other purposes as shall be as set forth or in accordance with Section 4.07. The Company shall be entitled to retain any interest paid on funds deposited in the Escrow Account by the depository institution other than interest on escrowed funds required by law to be paid to the Mortgagor and, to the extent required by law, the Company shall pay interest on escrowed funds to the Mortgagor notwithstanding that the Escrow Account is non-interest bearing or that interest paid thereon is insufficient for such purposes. The Purchaser shall not be responsible for any losses suffered with respect to investment of funds in the Escrow Account.
