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.
Expenses of Escrow Agent Except as set forth in Section 11 the Company shall reimburse Escrow Agent for all of its reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, including attorneys' fees, travel expenses, telephone and facsimile transmission costs, postage (including express mail and overnight delivery charges), copying charges and the like. All of the compensation and reimbursement obligations set forth in this Section shall be payable by the Company, upon demand by Escrow Agent. The obligations of the Company under this Section shall survive any termination of this Agreement and the resignation or removal of Escrow Agent.
Release of Escrow Funds The Escrow Funds shall be paid by the Escrow Agent in accordance with the following:
(a) In the event that the Company advises the Escrow Agent in writing that the Offering has been terminated (the “Termination Notice”), the Escrow Agent shall promptly return the funds paid by each Investor to such Investor without interest or offset.
(b) At each Closing, the Company and the Placement Agent shall provide the Escrow Agent with written instructions regarding the disbursement of the Escrow Funds in accordance with Exhibit A attached hereto and made a part hereof and signed by the Company and the Placement Agent (the “Disbursement Instructions”).
(c) If by 5:00 P.M. Eastern time on the Final Termination Date, the Escrow Agent has not received written Disbursement Instructions from the Company and Placement Agent regarding the disbursement of the Escrow Funds in the Escrow Account, if any, then the Escrow Agent shall promptly return such Escrow Funds, if any, to the Investors without interest or offset. The Escrow Funds returned to the Investors shall be free and clear of any and all claims of the Escrow Agent.
(d) The Escrow Agent shall not be required to pay any uncollected funds or any funds that are not available for withdrawal.
(e) The Placement Agent or the Company will provide the Escrow Agent with the payment instructions for each Investor, to whom the funds should be returned in accordance with this section.
(f) In the event that Escrow Agent makes any payment to any other party pursuant to this Escrow Agreement and for any reason such payment (or any portion thereof) is required to be returned to the Escrow Account or another party or is subsequently invalidated, declared to be fraudulent or preferential, set aside and/or required to be repaid to a receiver, trustee or other party under any bankruptcy or insolvency law, other federal or state law, common law or equitable doctrine, then the recipient party shall repay to the Escrow Agent upon written request the amount so paid to it.
(g) The Escrow Agent shall, in its sole discretion, comply with judgments or orders issued or process entered by any court with respect to the Escrow Amount, including without limitation any attachment, levy or garnishment, without any obligation to determine such court's jurisdiction in the matter and in accordance with its normal business practices. If the Escrow Agent complies with any such judgment, order or process, then it shall not be liable to any of the Parties or any other person by reason of such compliance, regardless of the final disposition of any such judgment, order or process.
(h) Each Party understands and agrees that Escrow Agent shall have no obligation or duty to act upon a written direction delivered to Escrow Agent for the disbursement of all or part of the Escrow Amount under this Agreement (a “Written Direction”) if such Written Direction is not
(i) in writing,
(ii) signed by representatives of both Parties listed in Schedule II to this Agreement, in each case, each such individual an “Authorized Representative” of such Party), and
(iii) delivered to, and able to be authenticated by, Escrow Agent in accordance with Section 1.4 below.
(i) Upon request by any Party, the Escrow Agent set up each Party with on-line access to the account(s) established pursuant to this Agreement, which each Party can use to view and verify transaction on such account(s).
(j) A Party may specify in a Written Direction whether such Escrow Amount shall be disbursed by way of wire transfer or check. If the written notice for the disbursement of funds does not so specify the disbursement means, Escrow Agent may disburse the Escrow Amount by wire transfer.
Release of Escrow Subject to the provisions of Section 4.2, the Escrow Agent shall release the Company Documents and Subscriber Documents as follows:
(a) On the Closing Date, the Escrow Agent will simultaneously release the Company Documents to the Subscriber and release the Subscriber Documents to the Company except that the Due Diligence Fee will be released to the Due Diligence Fee Recipient and the Legal Fees will be released to the Subscriber’s attorneys.
(b) All funds to be delivered to the Company shall be delivered on the Closing Date pursuant to the wire instructions to be provided in writing by the Company to the Escrow Agent.
(c) Notwithstanding the above, upon receipt by the Escrow Agent of joint written instructions ("Joint Instructions") signed by the Company and the Subscriber, it shall deliver the Company Documents and Subscriber Documents in accordance with the terms of the Joint Instructions.
(d) Notwithstanding the above, upon receipt by the Escrow Agent of a final and non-appealable judgment, order, decree or award of a court of competent jurisdiction (a "Court Order"), the Escrow Agent shall deliver the Company Documents and Subscriber Documents in accordance with the Court Order. Any Court Order shall be accompanied by an opinion of counsel for the party presenting the Court Order to the Escrow Agent (which opinion shall be satisfactory to the Escrow Agent) to the effect that the court issuing the Court Order has competent jurisdiction and that the Court Order is final and non-appealable.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Resignation and Removal of Escrow Agent Escrow Agent may resign from the performance of its duties hereunder at any time by giving thirty (30) days' prior written notice to the parties or may be removed, with or without cause, by the parties, acting jointly, by furnishing a Joint Written Direction to Escrow Agent, at any time by the giving of ten (10) days' prior written notice to Escrow Agent as provided herein below. Upon any such notice of resignation or removal, the representatives of the Investor(s) and the Company identified in Sections 13a.(iv) and 13b.(iv), below, jointly shall appoint a successor Escrow Agent hereunder, which shall be a commercial bank, trust company or other financial institution with a combined capital and surplus in excess of $10,000,000.00. Upon the acceptance in writing of any appointment of Escrow Agent hereunder by a successor Escrow Agent, such successor Escrow Agent shall thereupon succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, privileges and duties of the retiring Escrow Agent, and the retiring Escrow Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Escrow Agreement, but shall not be discharged from any liability for actions taken as Escrow Agent hereunder prior to such succession. After any retiring Escrow Agent's resignation or removal, the provisions of this Escrow Agreement shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it while it was Escrow Agent under this Escrow Agreement. The retiring Escrow Agent shall transmit all records pertaining to the Escrow Funds and shall pay all funds held by it in the Escrow Funds to the successor Escrow Agent, after making copies of such records as the retiring Escrow Agent deems advisable and after deduction and payment to the retiring Escrow Agent of all fees and expenses (including court costs and attorneys' fees) payable to, incurred by, or expected to be incurred by the retiring Escrow Agent in connection with the performance of its duties and the exercise of its rights hereunder.
Resignation of Escrow Agent (1) If the Escrow Agent wishes to resign as escrow agent, the Escrow Agent will give written notice to the Issuer.
(2) If the Issuer wishes to terminate the Escrow Agent as escrow agent, the Issuer will give written notice to the Escrow Agent.
(3) If the Escrow Agent resigns or is terminated, the Issuer will be responsible for ensuring that the Escrow Agent is replaced not later than the resignation or termination date by another escrow agent that is acceptable to the securities regulators having jurisdiction in the matter and that has accepted such appointment, which appointment will be binding on the Issuer and the Securityholders.
(4) The resignation or termination of the Escrow Agent will be effective, and the Escrow Agent will cease to be bound by this Agreement, on the date that is 60 days after the date of receipt of the notices referred to above by the Escrow Agent or Issuer, as applicable, or on such other date as the Escrow Agent and the Issuer may agree upon (the “resignation or termination date”), provided that the resignation or termination date will not be less than 10 business days before a release date.
(5) If the Issuer has not appointed a successor escrow agent within 60 days of the resignation or termination date, the Escrow Agent will apply, at the Issuer’s expense, to a court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor escrow agent, and the duties and responsibilities of the Escrow Agent will cease immediately upon such appointment.
(6) On any new appointment under this section, the successor Xxxxxx Agent will be vested with the same powers, rights, duties and obligations as if it had been originally named herein as Escrow Agent, without any further assurance, conveyance, act or deed. The predecessor Escrow Agent, upon receipt of payment for any outstanding account for its services and expenses then unpaid, will transfer, deliver and pay over to the successor Escrow Agent, who will be entitled to receive, all securities, records or other property on deposit with the predecessor Escrow Agent in relation to this Agreement and the predecessor Escrow Agent will thereupon be discharged as Escrow Agent.
(7) If any changes are made to Part 8 of this Agreement as a result of the appointment of the successor Escrow Agent, those changes must not be inconsistent with the Policy and the terms of this Agreement and the Issuer to this Agreement will file a copy of the new Agreement with the securities regulators with jurisdiction over this Agreement and the escrow securities.
