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.
Limitation of Liability of Trustees and Shareholders The Adviser acknowledges the following limitation of liability:
Selection and Nomination of Trustees While this Plan is in effect, the selection and nomination of persons to be Trustees of the Fund who are not "interested persons" of the Fund ("Disinterested Trustees") shall be committed to the discretion of the incumbent Disinterested Trustees. Nothing herein shall prevent the incumbent Disinterested Trustees from soliciting the views or the involvement of others in such selection or nomination as long as the final decision on any such selection and nomination is approved by a majority of the incumbent Disinterested Trustees.
Compensation of Trustees The Trustees as such shall be entitled to reasonable compensation from the Trust, and they may fix the amount of such compensation from time to time. Nothing herein shall in any way prevent the employment of any Trustee to provide advisory, management, legal, accounting, investment banking or other services to the Trust and to be specially compensated for such services by the Trust.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY OF THE TRUSTEES AND SHAREHOLDERS A copy of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust of the Trust is on file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and notice is hereby given that this instrument is executed on behalf of the Trustees of the Trust as Trustees and not individually and that the obligations of this instrument are not binding upon any of the Trustees or shareholders individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Fund.
Non-Liability of Trustees and Shareholders Any obligation of Trust hereunder shall be binding only upon the assets of Trust (or the applicable Fund thereof) and shall not be binding upon any Trustee, officer, employee, agent or Shareholder of Trust. Neither the authorization of any action by the Trustees or Shareholders of Trust nor the execution of this Agreement on behalf of Trust shall impose any liability upon any Trustee or any Shareholder.
Indemnification of Trustees, Officers, etc Subject to the limitations, if applicable, hereinafter set forth in this Section 4, the Trust shall indemnify (from the assets of one or more Series to which the conduct in question relates) each of its Trustees, officers, employees and agents (including Persons who serve at the Trust's request as directors, officers or trustees of another organization in which the Trust has any interest as a shareholder, creditor or otherwise (hereinafter, together with such Person's heirs, executors, administrators or personal representative, referred to as a "Covered Person")) against all liabilities, including but not limited to amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines and penalties, and expenses, including reasonable accountants' and counsel fees, incurred by any Covered Person in connection with the defense or disposition of any action, suit or other proceeding, whether civil or criminal, before any court or administrative or legislative body, in which such Covered Person may be or may have been involved as a party or otherwise or with which such Covered Person may be or may have been threatened, while in office or thereafter, by reason of being or having been such a Trustee or officer, director or trustee, except with respect to any matter as to which it has been determined that such Covered Person (i) did not act in good faith in the reasonable belief that such Covered Person's action was in or not opposed to the best interests of the Trust; or (ii) had acted with willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of such Covered Person's office; and (iii) for a criminal proceeding, had reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful (the conduct described in (i), (ii) and (iii) being referred to hereafter as "Disabling Conduct"). A determination that the Covered Person is entitled to indemnification may be made by (i) a final decision on the merits by a court or other body before whom the proceeding was brought that the Covered Person to be indemnified was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct, (ii) dismissal of a court action or an administrative proceeding against a Covered Person for insufficiency of evidence of Disabling Conduct, or (iii) a reasonable determination, based upon a review of the facts, that the indemnitee was not liable by reason of Disabling Conduct by (a) a vote of a majority of a quorum of the Trustees who are neither "interested persons" of the Trust as defined in the 1940 Act nor parties to the proceeding (the "Disinterested Trustees"), or (b) an independent legal counsel in a written opinion. Expenses, including accountants' and counsel fees so incurred by any such Covered Person (but excluding amounts paid in satisfaction of judgments, in compromise or as fines or penalties), may be paid from time to time by one or more Series to which the conduct in question related in advance of the final disposition of any such action, suit or proceeding; provided that the Covered Person shall have undertaken to repay the amounts so paid to such Series if it is ultimately determined that indemnification of such expenses is not authorized under this Article VII and (i) the Covered Person shall have provided security for such undertaking, (ii) the Trust shall be insured against losses arising by reason of any lawful advances, or (iii) a majority of a quorum of the Disinterested Trustees, or an independent legal counsel in a written opinion, shall have determined, based on a review of readily available facts (as opposed to a full trial type inquiry), that there is reason to believe that the Covered Person ultimately will be found entitled to indemnification.
Separate Trustees and Co-Trustees The Trustee shall have the power from time to time to appoint one or more persons or corporations to act either as co-trustees jointly with the Trustee, or as separate trustees, for the purpose of holding title to, foreclosing or otherwise taking action with respect to any Mortgage Loan outside the state where the Trustee has its principal place of business, where such separate trustee or co-trustee is necessary or advisable (or the Trustee is advised by the Master Servicer that such separate trustee or co-trustee is necessary or advisable) under the laws of any state in which a Mortgaged Property is located or for the purpose of otherwise conforming to any legal requirement, restriction or condition in any state in which a Mortgaged Property is located or in any state in which any portion of the Trust Estate is located. The Master Servicer shall advise the Trustee when, in its good faith opinion, a separate trustee or co-trustee is necessary or advisable as aforesaid. The separate trustees or co-trustees so appointed shall be trustees for the benefit of all of the Certificateholders and shall have such powers, rights and remedies as shall be specified in the instrument of appointment; provided, however, that no such appointment shall, or shall be deemed to, constitute the appointee an agent of the Trustee. The Seller and the Master Servicer shall join in any such appointment, but such joining shall not be necessary for the effectiveness of such appointment. Every separate trustee and co-trustee shall, to the extent permitted by law, be appointed and act subject to the following provisions and conditions:
(i) all powers, duties, obligations and rights conferred upon the Trustee, in respect of the receipt, custody and payment of moneys shall be exercised solely by the Trustee;
(ii) all other rights, powers, duties and obligations conferred or imposed upon the Trustee shall be conferred or imposed upon and exercised or performed by the Trustee and such separate trustee or co-trustee jointly, except to the extent that under any law of any jurisdiction in which any particular act or acts are to be performed (whether as Trustee hereunder or as successor to the Master Servicer hereunder) the Trustee shall be incompetent or unqualified to perform such act or acts, in which event such rights, powers, duties and obligations (including the holding of title to the Trust Estate or any portion thereof in any such jurisdiction) shall be exercised and performed by such separate trustee or co-trustee;
(iii) no separate trustee or co-trustee hereunder shall be personally liable by reason of any act or omission of any other separate trustee or co-trustee hereunder; and
(iv) the Trustee may at any time accept the resignation of or remove any separate trustee or co-trustee so appointed by it, if such resignation or removal does not violate the other terms of this Agreement. Any notice, request or other writing given to the Trustee shall be deemed to have been given to each of the then separate trustees and co-trustees, as effectively as if given to each of them. Every instrument appointing any separate trustee, co-trustee, or custodian shall refer to this Agreement and the conditions of this Article. Each separate trustee and co-trustee, upon its acceptance of the trusts conferred, shall be vested with the estates or property specified in its instrument of appointment, either jointly with the Trustee, or separately, as may be provided therein, subject to all the provisions of this Agreement, specifically including every provision of this Agreement relating to the conduct of, affecting the liability of, or affording protection to, the Trustee. Every such instrument shall be furnished to the Trustee. Any separate trustee, co-trustee, or custodian may, at any time, constitute the Trustee, its agent or attorney-in-fact, with full power and authority, to the extent not prohibited by law, to do any lawful act under or in respect of this Agreement on its behalf and in its name. If any separate trustee or co-trustee shall die, become incapable of acting, resign or be removed, all of its estates, properties, rights, remedies and trusts shall vest in and be exercised by the Trustee to the extent permitted by law, without the appointment of a new or successor trustee. No separate trustee or co-trustee hereunder shall be required to meet the terms of eligibility as a successor trustee under Section 8.07 hereunder and no notice to Certificateholders of the appointment thereof shall be required under Section 8.09 hereof. The Trustee agrees to instruct its co-trustees, if any, to the extent necessary to fulfill such entity's obligations hereunder. The Master Servicer shall pay the reasonable compensation of the co-trustees to the extent, and in accordance with the standards, specified in Section 8.06 hereof.
Indemnification of Trustee The Trustee and its respective directors, officers, employees and agents shall be entitled to indemnification from the Trust Fund for any loss, liability or expense incurred in connection with any legal proceeding or incurred without negligence or willful misconduct on their part (it being understood that the negligence or willful misconduct of any Custodian shall not constitute negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the Trustee or its directors, officers, employees or agents for such purpose), arising out of, or in connection with, the acceptance or administration of the trusts created hereunder or in connection with the performance of the Trustee’s duties hereunder or under any Servicing Agreement or Custodial Agreement, including any applicable fees and expenses payable pursuant to Section 6.12 and the costs and expenses of defending themselves against any claim in connection with the exercise or performance of any of their powers or duties hereunder, provided that:
(i) with respect to any such claim, the Trustee shall have given the Depositor, the Master Servicer and the Holders written notice thereof promptly after the Trustee shall have knowledge thereof; provided that failure to so notify shall not relieve the Trust Fund of the obligation to indemnify the Trustee;
(ii) while maintaining control over its own defense, the Trustee shall cooperate and consult fully with the Depositor in preparing such defense; and
(iii) notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 6.11, the Trust Fund shall not be liable for settlement of any such claim by the Trustee entered into without the prior consent of the Depositor, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. The provisions of this Section 6.11 shall survive any termination of this Agreement and the resignation or removal of the Trustee and shall be construed to include, but not be limited to any loss, liability or expense under any environmental law.
SUCCESSOR OWNER TRUSTEES AND ADDITIONAL OWNER TRUSTEES
