No Liability for Election of Recommended Directors No Stockholder, nor any Affiliate of any Stockholder, shall have any liability as a result of designating a person for election as a director for any act or omission by such designated person in his or her capacity as a director of the Company, nor shall any Stockholder have any liability as a result of voting for any such designee in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.
Nomination of Directors Except as otherwise fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors pursuant to the Articles of Incorporation relating to the authorization of the Board of Directors to provide by resolution for the issuance of Preferred Stock and to determine the rights of the holders of such Preferred Stock to elect directors, nominations for the election of directors may be made by the Board of Directors, by a committee appointed by the board of directors, or by any stockholder of record at the time of giving of notice provided for herein. However, any stockholder entitled to vote in the election of directors as provided herein may nominate one or more persons for election as directors at a meeting only if written notice of such stockholder's intent to make such nomination or nominations has been delivered to or mailed and received by the secretary of the corporation not later than, (a) with respect to an election to be held at an annual meeting of stockholders, 120 calendar days in advance of the first anniversary of the date the corporation's proxy statement was released to security holders in connection with the preceding year's annual meeting; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that in the event that the date of the annual meeting is changed by more than thirty (30) days from such anniversary date, notice by the stockholder to be timely must be received not later than the close of business on the tenth (10th) day following the earlier of the day on which notice of the date of the meeting was mailed or public disclosure was made, and (b) with respect to an election to be held at a special meeting of stockholders for the election of directors, not earlier than the close of business on the 90th day prior to such special meeting and not later than the close of business on the later of the 60th day prior to such special meeting or the tenth (10th) day following the day on which public disclosure is first made of the date of the special meeting and the nominees proposed by the board of directors to be elected at such a meeting. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing to the contrary, in the event that the number of directors to be elected by the Board of Directors of the corporation is increased and there is no public disclosure by the corporation naming the nominees for director or specifying the size of the increased Board of Directors at least seventy (70) days prior to the first anniversary of the date of the preceding year's annual meeting, a
Independent Director As long as any Obligation is outstanding, the Member shall cause the Company at all times to have at least two Independent Directors who will be appointed by the Member. To the fullest extent permitted by law, including Section 18-1101(c) of the Act, the Independent Directors shall consider only the interests of the Company, including its respective creditors, in acting or otherwise voting on the matters referred to in Section 9(j)(iii). No resignation or removal of an Independent Director, and no appointment of a successor Independent Director, shall be effective until such successor (i) shall have accepted his or her appointment as an Independent Director by a written instrument, which may be a counterpart signature page to the Management Agreement, and (ii) shall have executed a counterpart to this Agreement as required by Section 5(c). In the event of a vacancy in the position of Independent Director, the Member shall, as soon as practicable, appoint a successor Independent Director. All right, power and authority of the Independent Directors shall be limited to the extent necessary to exercise those rights and perform those duties specifically set forth in this Agreement. Except as provided in the second sentence of this Section 10, in exercising their rights and performing their duties under this Agreement, any Independent Director shall have a fiduciary duty of loyalty and care similar to that of a director of a business corporation organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware. No Independent Director shall at any time serve as trustee in bankruptcy for any Affiliate of the Company.
Nominating Committee Subject to the provisions of Article X, the Nominating Committee shall consist of such number of Directors (none of whom shall be an employee of the Corporation) as may be determined from time to time by the Board. Subject to the provisions of Article X, the Committee shall review the qualifications of potential candidates for the Equity Directors and shall propose nominees for the Equity Directors who are nominated by the Board. Subject to the provisions of Article X, in making their nominations, the Nominating Committee and the Board of Directors shall take into consideration that (i) the Board of Directors shall have meaningful representation of a diversity of interests, including floor brokers, floor traders, futures commission merchants, producers, consumers, processors, distributors and merchandisers of commodities traded on Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (the “Exchange”) or Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. (the “CBOT”), participants in a variety of pits or principal groups of commodities traded on the Exchange or the CBOT and other market users or participants; (ii) at least 10% of the members of Board of Directors shall be composed of persons representing farmers, producers, merchants or exporters of principal commodities traded on the Exchange or the CBOT; and (iii) at least 20% of the members of the Board of Directors shall be composed of persons who do not possess trading privileges on either the Exchange or the CBOT, are not salaried employees of the Corporation and are not officers, principals or employees who are involved in operating the futures exchange related business of a firm entitled to members’ rates on either the Exchange or the CBOT. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Nominating Committee shall include the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation as a nominee for an Equity Director at any annual meeting of shareholders at which his or her term is scheduled to expire; provided, that if such term expiration occurs during the Transition Period, the Chief Executive Officer shall be nominated as a CME Director. Subject to the provisions of Article X, a majority of the Nominating Committee shall constitute a quorum necessary to transact business.
Referral to the Committee a) Prior to referral to the Committee, the matter must be brought to the attention of the other local party.
b) A central party shall refer the grievance forthwith to the CDRC by written notice to the other central party, with a copy to the Crown, but in no case later than 40 days after becoming aware of the dispute.
c) The Committee shall complete its review within 10 days of the grievance being filed.
d) If the grievance is not settled, withdrawn, or referred to the local grievance procedure by the Committee, the central party who has filed the grievance may, within a further 10 days, refer the grievance to arbitration.
e) All timelines may be extended by mutual consent of the parties.
Matters Requiring Investor Director Approval So long as either (x) the holders of Series A Preferred Stock are entitled to elect one or more Series A Directors or (y) the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to elect one or more Series B Directors, the Company hereby covenants and agrees with each of the Investors that it shall not, nor shall it permit any subsidiary of the Company to, without approval of the Board, which approval must include the affirmative vote of a majority of the Preferred Directors (which majority shall include a Series B Director), or the approval of the Requisite Holders:
(a) make, or permit any subsidiary to make, any loan or advance to, or own any stock or other securities of, any subsidiary or other corporation, partnership, or other entity unless it is wholly owned by the Company;
(b) make, or permit any subsidiary to make, any loan or advance to any Person, including, without limitation, any employee or director of the Company or any subsidiary, in excess of $100,000 (in the case of individuals) or $500,000 (in the case of Persons that are not individuals), except advances and similar expenditures in the ordinary course of business or under the terms of an employee stock or option plan approved by the Board;
(c) guarantee, directly or indirectly, or permit any subsidiary to guarantee, directly or indirectly, any indebtedness of any third party, except for trade accounts of the Company or any subsidiary arising in the ordinary course of business;
(d) make any investment inconsistent with any investment policy approved by the Board;
(e) incur any aggregate indebtedness in excess of $500,000 that is not already included in a budget approved by the Board, other than trade credit incurred in the ordinary course of business;
(f) enter into or be a party to any transaction with any stockholder, director or officer of the Company or any “associate” (as defined in Rule 12b-2 promulgated under the Exchange Act) of any such Person, except for transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the Purchase Agreement or transactions (including agreements related to the compensation of the Company’s executive officers) made in the ordinary course of business upon fair and reasonable terms that are approved by a majority of the disinterested members of the Board;
(g) increase the shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Company’s equity incentive plan or adopt any other equity incentive plan;
(h) hire or terminate the chief executive officer;
(i) enter into any corporate strategic relationship involving the payment, contribution, or assignment of money or assets which exceeds $5,000,000 in any single transaction or in the aggregate ten percent (10%) of the aggregate value of the Company’s net assets on a consolidated basis in any consecutive twelve-month period;
(j) sell, lease, transfer, exclusively license or otherwise dispose of material assets and/or intellectual property of the Company or its subsidiaries, in one or a series of related transactions, the aggregate value of which exceeds $5,000,000 in any single transaction or in the aggregate ten percent (10%) of the aggregate value of the Company’s net assets on a consolidated basis in any consecutive twelve-month period;
(k) acquire (by merger or stock or asset purchase or otherwise) any Person, business or asset in one or a series of related transactions, the aggregate value of which exceeds $5,000,0000 in any such one or series of related transactions or in the aggregate ten percent (10%) of the aggregate value of the Company’s net assets on a consolidated basis in any consecutive twelve-month period;
(l) make any material change in the business plan or business scope;
(m) settle any material litigation, arbitration or legal disputes;
(n) appoint or remove the Company’s auditor or change materially in accounting policies and standards, including financial year or tax year of the Company;
(o) effect any single capital expenditure, the value of which exceeds $5,000,000 in any single transaction or in the aggregate ten percent (10%) of the aggregate value of the Company’s net assets in any fiscal year; or
(p) enter into an agreement to do any of the foregoing. For purposes of this Section 5.4, the value of any net assets shall be the value as determined by the Company in good faith. Upon the request of any Investor, the Company shall provide such Investor with reasonable written documentation supporting the basis of such determination of value, and provide such Investor with reasonable access to the personnel, properties, books and records of the Company for the purpose of evaluating the foregoing determination. If such Investor raises any reasonable objections to the foregoing determination, the Company shall consider in good faith such objections and make such revisions to the final determination of value as may be mutually agreed between the Company and such Investor. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Section 5.4, such approval of the Board or the Requisite Holders shall not be required with respect to actions contemplated by any agreements entered into between the Company and its stockholder(s) on or prior to the date hereof.
Failure to Designate a Board Member In the absence of any designation from the Persons or groups with the right to designate a director as specified above, the director previously designated by them and then serving shall be reelected if still eligible to serve as provided herein.
Independent Directors Those Directors who are not “interested persons” of the Company as such term is defined in the 1940 Act.
Continuing Director A "Continuing Director" shall mean a Director of the Company who (i) is not an Acquiring Person, an Affiliate or Associate, a representative of an Acquiring Person or nominated for election by an Acquiring Person, and (ii) was either a member of the Board of Directors of the Company on the date of this Agreement or subsequently became a Director of the Company and whose initial election or initial nomination for election by the Company's stockholders was approved by at least two-thirds of the Continuing Directors then on the Board of Directors of the Company.
Associate Directors (A) Any person who has served as a director may be elected by the Board of Directors as an associate director, to serve during the pleasure of the Board.
(B) An associate director shall be entitled to attend all directors meetings and participate in the discussion of all matters brought to the Board, with the exception that he would have no right to vote. An associate director will be eligible for appointment to Committees of the Company, with the exception of the Executive Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee, which must be comprised solely of active directors.
