Issuing Bank’s Duties Regarding Letters of Credit; Unconditional Nature of Reimbursement Obligations In examining documents presented in connection with drawings under Letters of Credit and making payments under such Letters of Credit against such documents, the Issuing Bank shall only be required to use the same standard of care as it uses in connection with examining documents presented in connection with drawings under letters of credit in which it has not sold participations and making payments under such letters of credit. The Borrower assumes all risks of the acts and omissions of, or misuse of the Letters of Credit by, the respective beneficiaries of such Letters of Credit. In furtherance and not in limitation of the foregoing, none of the Issuing Bank, Administrative Agent or any of the Lenders shall be responsible for, and the Borrower’s obligations in respect of Letters of Credit shall not be affected in any manner by, (i) the form, validity, sufficiency, accuracy, genuineness or legal effects of any document submitted by any party in connection with the application for and issuance of or any drawing honored under any Letter of Credit even if such document should in fact prove to be in any or all respects invalid, insufficient, inaccurate, fraudulent or forged; (ii) the validity or sufficiency of any instrument transferring or assigning or purporting to transfer or assign any Letter of Credit, or the rights or benefits thereunder or proceeds thereof, in whole or in part, which may prove to be invalid or ineffective for any reason; (iii) failure of the beneficiary of any Letter of Credit to comply fully with conditions required in order to draw upon such Letter of Credit; (iv) errors, omissions, interruptions or delays in transmission or delivery of any messages, by mail, cable, facsimile, electronic mail, telecopy or otherwise, whether or not they be in cipher; (v) errors in interpretation of technical terms; (vi) any loss or delay in the transmission or otherwise of any document required in order to make a drawing under any Letter of Credit, or of the proceeds thereof; (vii) the misapplication by the beneficiary of any Letter of Credit, or of the proceeds of any drawing under any Letter of Credit; or (viii) any consequences arising from causes beyond the control of the Issuing Bank, Administrative Agent or the Lenders. None of the above shall affect, impair or prevent the vesting of any of the Issuing Bank’s or Administrative Agent’s rights or powers hereunder. Any action taken or omitted to be taken by the Issuing Bank under or in connection with any Letter of Credit, if taken or omitted in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct (as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final, non-appealable judgment), shall not create against the Issuing Bank any liability to the Borrower, the Administrative Agent or any Lender. In this connection, the obligation of the Borrower to reimburse the Issuing Bank for any drawing made under any Letter of Credit, and to repay any Revolving Loan made pursuant to the second sentence of the immediately preceding subsection (e), shall be absolute, unconditional and irrevocable and shall be paid strictly in accordance with the terms of this Agreement and any other applicable Letter of Credit Document under all circumstances whatsoever, including without limitation, the following circumstances: (A) any lack of validity or enforceability of any Letter of Credit Document or any term or provisions therein; (B) any amendment or waiver of or any consent to departure from all or any of the Letter of Credit Documents; (C) the existence of any claim, setoff, defense or other right which the Borrower may have at any time against the Issuing Bank, the Administrative Agent or any Lender, any beneficiary of a Letter of Credit or any other Person, whether in connection with this Agreement, the transactions contemplated hereby or in the Letter of Credit Documents or any unrelated transaction; (D) any breach of contract or dispute between the Borrower, the Issuing Bank, the Administrative Agent, any Lender or any other Person; (E) any demand, statement or any other document presented under a Letter of Credit proving to be forged, fraudulent, invalid or insufficient in any respect or any statement therein or made in connection therewith being untrue or inaccurate in any respect whatsoever; (F) any non-application or misapplication by the beneficiary of a Letter of Credit or of the proceeds of any drawing under such Letter of Credit; (G) payment by the Issuing Bank under any Letter of Credit against presentation of a draft or certificate which does not strictly comply with the terms of such Letter of Credit; and (H) any other act, omission to act, delay or circumstance whatsoever that might, but for the provisions of this Section, constitute a legal or equitable defense to or discharge of the Borrower’s Reimbursement Obligations. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section or Section 12.10., but not in limitation of the Borrower’s unconditional obligation to reimburse the Issuing Bank for any drawing made under a Letter of Credit as provided in this Section and to repay any Revolving Loan made pursuant to the second sentence of the immediately preceding subsection (e), the Borrower shall have no obligation to indemnify the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender in respect of any liability incurred by the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or such Lender arising solely out of the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or such Lender in respect of a Letter of Credit as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction in a final, non-appealable judgment. Except as otherwise provided in this Section, nothing in this Section shall affect any rights the Borrower may have with respect to the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Administrative Agent, the Issuing Bank or any Lender with respect to any Letter of Credit.
Issuance of Letters of Credit (a) Subject to and upon the terms and conditions herein set forth, at any time and from time to time on and after the Closing Date and prior to the date that is 15 days prior to the Revolving Credit Maturity Date, each Letter of Credit Issuer agrees to issue (or cause its Affiliates or other financial institution with which the Letter of Credit Issuer shall have entered into an agreement regarding the issuance of letters of credit hereunder, to issue on its behalf), upon the request of and for the account of the Borrower or any Restricted Subsidiary, letters of credit (each, a “Letter of Credit”) in such form as may be approved by such Letter of Credit Issuer in its reasonable discretion; provided that the Borrower shall be a co-applicant, and be jointly and severally liable, with respect to each Letter of Credit issued for the account of a Restricted Subsidiary.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing, (i) no Letter of Credit shall be issued the Stated Amount of which, when added to the Letter of Credit Obligations at such time, would exceed the Letter of Credit Sub-Commitment then in effect, (ii) no Letter of Credit shall be issued the Stated Amount of which, when added to the Letter of Credit Obligations and the Revolving Credit Loans and Swingline Loans outstanding at such time, would exceed the Total Revolving Credit Commitment then in effect, (iii) no Letter of Credit shall be required to be issued by a Letter of Credit Issuer the Stated Amount of which, when added to such Letter of Credit Issuer’s Revolving Credit Exposure (whether held directly or through its Affiliates), would exceed the Revolving Credit Commitment of such Letter of Credit Issuer (or its Affiliates), (iv) each Letter of Credit shall have an expiration date occurring no later than the earlier of (x) one year after the date of issuance thereof, unless otherwise agreed upon by the Administrative Agent and the applicable Letter of Credit Issuer or as provided under Section 3.2(e), and (y) the Letter of Credit Maturity Date, (v) each Letter of Credit shall be denominated in Dollars, (vi) no Letter of Credit shall be issued if it would be illegal under any Applicable Law for the beneficiary of the Letter of Credit to have a Letter of Credit issued in its favor, (vii) no Letter of Credit shall be issued after the applicable Letter of Credit Issuer has received a written notice from the Borrower or the Administrative Agent stating that a Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing until such time as the Letter of Credit Issuer shall have received a written notice of (x) rescission of such notice from the party or parties originally delivering such notice or (y) the waiver of such Default or Event of Default in accordance with the provisions of Section 13.1 or that such Default or Event of Default is no longer continuing, (viii) no Letter of Credit shall be issued by the applicable Letter of Credit Issuer if such issuance would cause the Letter of Credit Obligations of such Letter of Credit Issuer to exceed the Letter of Credit Sub-Commitment Obligation of such Letter of Credit Issuer, (ix) UBS AG, Stamford Branch shall only be required to issue standby letters of credit and (x) in no event shall SunTrust Bank be required to issue commercial or trade letters of credit.
(c) In connection with the establishment of any Extended Revolving Credit Commitments or Additional/Replacement Revolving Credit Commitments and subject to the availability of unused Commitments with respect to such newly established Class and the satisfaction of the Conditions set forth in Section 7, the Borrower may, with the written consent of the Letter of Credit Issuer, designate any outstanding Letter of Credit to be a Letter of Credit issued pursuant to such Class of Extended Revolving Credit Commitments or Additional/Replacement Revolving Credit Commitments, as applicable. Upon such designation such Letter of Credit shall no longer be deemed to be issued and outstanding under such prior Class and shall instead be deemed to be issued and outstanding under such newly established Class of Extended Revolving Credit Commitments or Additional/Replacement Revolving Credit Commitments, as applicable.
(d) On the Closing Date, without further action by any party hereto (including the delivery of a Letter of Credit Request or any consent of, or confirmation by or to, the Administrative Agent), subject to the terms of this Section 3, (i) each Existing Letter of Credit set forth on Schedule 1.1(b) hereto issued by a Letter of Credit Issuer hereunder shall become a Letter of Credit outstanding under this Agreement, shall be deemed to be a Letter of Credit issued under this Agreement and shall be subject to the terms and conditions hereof (including Section 4.1) as if each such Letter of Credit was issued by the applicable Letter of Credit Issuer pursuant to this Agreement and (ii) each Letter of Credit Issuer that has issued an Existing Letter of Credit shall be deemed to have granted each Letter of Credit Participant in respect thereof and each Letter of Credit Participant in respect thereof shall be deemed to have acquired from such Letter of Credit Issuer, on the terms and conditions of Section 3.3 hereof, for such Letter of Credit Participant’s own account and risk, an undivided participation interest in such Letter of Credit Issuer’s obligations and rights under each such Existing Letter of Credit equal to such Letter of Credit Participant’s Revolving Credit Commitment Percentage, as applicable, of (A) the outstanding amount available to be drawn under such Existing Letter of Credit and (B) the aggregate amount of any outstanding reimbursement obligations in respect thereof.
Collateral for Undrawn Letters of Credit (a) If the prepayment of the amount available for drawing under any or all outstanding Letters of Credit is required under Section 1.8(b), Section 1.14, Section 9.2 or Section 9.3 above, the Borrower shall forthwith pay the amount required to be so prepaid, to be held by the Administrative Agent as provided in subsection (b) below.
(b) All amounts prepaid pursuant to subsection (a) above shall be held by the Administrative Agent in one or more separate collateral accounts (each such account, and the credit balances, properties, and any investments from time to time held therein, and any substitutions for such account, any certificate of deposit or other instrument evidencing any of the foregoing and all proceeds of and earnings on any of the foregoing being collectively called the “Collateral Account”) as security for, and for application by the Administrative Agent (to the extent available) to, the reimbursement of any payment under any Letter of Credit then or thereafter made by the L/C Issuer, and to the payment of the unpaid balance of all other Obligations (and to all Hedging Liability and Bank Product Obligations). The Collateral Account shall be held in the name of and subject to the exclusive dominion and control of the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the Administrative Agent, the Lenders, and the L/C Issuer. If and when requested by the Borrower, the Administrative Agent shall invest funds held in the Collateral Account from time to time in direct obligations of, or obligations the principal of and interest on which are unconditionally guaranteed by, the United States of America with a remaining maturity of one year or less, provided that the Administrative Agent is irrevocably authorized to sell investments held in the Collateral Account when and as required to make payments out of the Collateral Account for application to amounts then due and owing from the Borrower to the L/C Issuer, the Administrative Agent or the Lenders. If the Borrower shall have made payment of all obligations referred to in subsection (a) above required under Section 1.8(b) hereof, if any, at the request of the Borrower the Administrative Agent shall release to the Borrower amounts held in the Collateral Account so long as at the time of the release and after giving effect thereto no Default or Event of Default is then continuing. If the Borrower shall have made payment of all obligations referred to in subsection (a) above required under Section 9.2 or 9.3 hereof, so long as no Letters of Credit, Commitments, Loans or other Obligations, Hedging Liability, or Bank Product Obligations remain outstanding, at the request of the Borrower the Administrative Agent shall release to the Borrower any remaining amounts held in the Collateral Account.
(c) At any time that there shall exist a Defaulting Lender, within one Business Day following the written request of the Administrative Agent or any L/C Issuer (with a copy to the Administrative Agent), the Borrower shall Cash Collateralize the L/C Issuers’ Fronting Exposure with respect to such Defaulting Lender (determined after giving effect to Section 1.14(a)(iv) and any Cash Collateral provided by such Defaulting Lender) in an amount not less than the Minimum Collateral Amount.
New Letters of Credit So long as any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, no Issuing Bank shall be required to issue, extend, renew or increase any Letter of Credit unless it is satisfied that it will have no Fronting Exposure after giving effect thereto.
New Swingline Loans/Letters of Credit So long as any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, (i) the Swingline Lender shall not be required to fund any Swingline Loans unless it is satisfied that it will have no Fronting Exposure after giving effect to such Swingline Loan and (ii) no Issuing Lender shall be required to issue, extend, renew or increase any Letter of Credit unless it is satisfied that it will have no Fronting Exposure after giving effect thereto.
The Letters of Credit Each Issuing Bank severally agrees, on the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, to issue (or cause its Affiliate that is a commercial bank to issue on its behalf) letters of credit (together with the Existing Letters of Credit referred to in Section 2.03(f), the “Letters of Credit”) in U.S. dollars for the account of the Borrower (but in connection with the business of the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries) from time to time on any Business Day during the period from the Effective Date until 30 days before the Termination Date in an aggregate Available Amount (i) for all Letters of Credit not to exceed at any time the Letter of Credit Facility at such time and (ii) for all Letters of Credit issued by such Issuing Bank not to exceed at any time such Issuing Bank’s Letter of Credit Commitment at such time and (iii) for each such Letter of Credit not to exceed the Unused Revolving Credit Commitments of the Lenders at such time. No Letter of Credit shall have an expiration date (including all rights of the Borrower or the beneficiary to require renewal) later than the earlier of 30 days before the Termination Date and (A) in the case of a Standby Letter of Credit, one year after the date of issuance thereof, but may by its terms be renewable annually upon notice (a “Notice of Renewal”) given to the Issuing Bank that issued such Standby Letter of Credit and the Paying Agent on or prior to any date for notice of renewal set forth in such Letter of Credit but in any event at least three Business Days prior to the date of the proposed renewal of such Standby Letter of Credit and upon fulfillment of the applicable conditions set forth in Article III unless such Issuing Bank has notified the Borrower (with a copy to the Paying Agent) on or prior to the date for notice of termination set forth in such Letter of Credit but in any event at least 45 Business Days prior to the date of automatic renewal of its election not to renew such Standby Letter of Credit (a “Notice of Termination”) and (B) in the case of a Trade Letter of Credit, 30 days after the date of issuance thereof; provided that the terms of each Standby Letter of Credit that is automatically renewable annually shall (x) require the Issuing Bank that issued such Standby Letter of Credit to give the beneficiary named in such Standby Letter of Credit notice of any Notice of Termination, (y) permit such beneficiary, upon receipt of such notice, to draw under such Standby Letter of Credit prior to the date such Standby Letter of Credit otherwise would have been automatically renewed and (z) not permit the expiration date (after giving effect to any renewal) of such Standby Letter of Credit in any event to be extended to a date later than 30 days before the Termination Date. If either a Notice of Renewal is not given by the Borrower or a Notice of Termination is given by the relevant Issuing Bank pursuant to the immediately preceding sentence, such Standby Letter of Credit shall expire on the date on which it otherwise would have been automatically renewed; provided, however, that even in the absence of receipt of a Notice of Renewal the relevant Issuing Bank may in its discretion, unless instructed to the contrary by the Paying Agent or the Borrower, deem that a Notice of Renewal had been timely delivered and in such case, a Notice of Renewal shall be deemed to have been so delivered for all purposes under this Agreement. Within the limits of the Letter of Credit Facility, and subject to the limits referred to above, the Borrower may request the issuance of Letters of Credit under this Section 2.01(c), repay any Letter of Credit Advances resulting from drawings thereunder pursuant to Section 2.03(c) and request the issuance of additional Letters of Credit under this Section 2.01(c).
Commitment to Issue Letters of Credit Subject to the terms and conditions hereof and the execution and delivery by the Borrowers of a letter of credit application on the Administrative Agent's customary form (a "Letter of Credit Application"), the Administrative Agent on behalf of the Lenders and in reliance upon the agreement of the Lenders set forth in §5.1(d) and upon the representations and warranties of the Borrowers contained herein, agrees, in its individual capacity, to issue, extend and renew for the account of the Borrowers one or more standby letters of credit (individually, a "Letter of Credit"), in such form as may be requested from time to time by the Borrowers and agreed to by the Administrative Agent; provided, however, that, at all times, after giving effect to such request, (a) the sum of the aggregate Maximum Drawing Amount and all Unpaid Reimbursement Obligations shall not exceed $15,000,000 at any one time, and (b) the sum of (i) all L/C Obligations, and (ii) the amount of all Revolving Credit Loans outstanding shall not exceed the Total Revolving Credit Commitment at any time. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Administrative Agent shall have no obligation to issue any Letter of Credit to support or secure any Indebtedness of the Borrowers or any of their Subsidiaries to the extent that such Indebtedness was incurred prior to the proposed issuance date of such Letter of Credit, unless in any such case the Borrowers demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Administrative Agent that (x) such prior incurred Indebtedness was then fully secured by a prior perfected and unavoidable security interest in collateral provided by the Borrowers or such Subsidiary to the proposed beneficiary of such Letter of Credit or (y) such prior incurred Indebtedness was then secured or supported by a letter of credit issued for the account of the Borrowers or such Subsidiary and the reimbursement obligation with respect to such letter of credit was fully secured by a prior perfected and unavoidable security interest in collateral provided to the issuer of such letter of credit by the Borrowers or such Subsidiary.
Terms of Letters of Credit At the time of issuance, the amount, form, terms and conditions of each Letter of Credit, and of any drafts or acceptances thereunder, shall be subject to approval by the applicable Issuing Bank and the Borrower. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event may (i) the expiration date of any Letter of Credit extend beyond the Revolving Termination Date, or (ii) any Letter of Credit have an initial duration in excess of one year; provided, however, a Letter of Credit may contain a provision providing for the automatic extension of the expiration date in the absence of a notice of non-renewal from the applicable Issuing Bank but in no event shall any such provision permit the extension of the expiration date of such Letter of Credit beyond the Revolving Termination Date. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Letter of Credit may, as a result of its express terms or as the result of the effect of an automatic extension provision, have an expiration date of not more than one year beyond the Revolving Termination Date (any such Letter of Credit being referred to as an “Extended Letter of Credit”) so long as the Borrower delivers to the Administrative Agent for the benefit of the applicable Issuing Bank and the Revolving Lenders no later than 30 days prior to the Revolving Termination Date, Cash Collateral for such Letter of Credit for deposit into the Letter of Credit Collateral Account in an amount equal to the Stated Amount of such Letter of Credit; provided, that the obligations of the Borrower under this Section in respect of Extended Letters of Credit shall survive the termination of this Agreement and shall remain in effect until no Extended Letters of Credit remain outstanding. If the Borrower fails to provide Cash Collateral with respect to any Extended Letter of Credit by the date 30 days prior to the Revolving Termination Date, such failure shall be treated as a drawing under such Extended Letter of Credit (in an amount equal to the maximum Stated Amount of such Letter of Credit), which shall be reimbursed (or participations therein funded) by the Revolving Lenders in accordance with the immediately following subsections (i) and (j), with the proceeds being utilized to provide Cash Collateral for such Letter of Credit. The initial Stated Amount of each Letter of Credit shall be at least $500,000 (or such lesser amount as may be acceptable to the applicable Issuing Bank, the Administrative Agent and the Borrower).
CONDITIONS OF LENDING AND ISSUANCE OF LETTERS OF CREDIT The obligation of each Lender to make Loans and of the Issuing Lender to issue Letters of Credit hereunder is subject to the performance by each of the Loan Parties of its Obligations to be performed hereunder at or prior to the making of any such Loans or issuance of such Letters of Credit and to the satisfaction of the following further conditions:
New Swing Line Loans/Letters of Credit Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, so long as any Lender is a Defaulting Lender, (i) the Swing Line Lender shall not be required to fund any Swing Line Loans unless it is satisfied that it will have no Fronting Exposure after giving effect to such Swing Line Loan and (ii) no L/C Issuer shall be required to issue, extend, renew or increase any Letter of Credit unless it is satisfied that it will have no Fronting Exposure after giving effect thereto.
