CERTIFICATION REGARDING CERTAIN FOREIGN OWNED COMPANIES IN CONNECTION WITH CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree, when it is applicable, to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: If (a) company is not a sole proprietorship; (b) company has at least ten (10) full-time employees; (c) this contract has a value of at least $100,000 that is paid wholly or partly from public funds; (d) the contract is not excepted under Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.003 of SB 19 (87th leg.); and (e) governmental entity has determined that company is not a sole-source provider or governmental entity has not received any bids from a company that is able to provide this written verification, the following certification shall apply; otherwise, this certification is not required. Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2274 of SB 19 (87th session), the company hereby certifies and verifies that the company, or association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company, including a wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary parent company, or affiliate of these entities or associations, that exists to make a profit, does not have a practice, policy, guidance, or directive that discriminates against a firearm entity or firearm trade association and will not discriminate during the term of this contract against a firearm entity or firearm trade association. For purposes of this contract, “discriminate against a firearm entity or firearm trade association” shall mean, with respect to the entity or association, to: “
(1) refuse to engage in the trade of any goods or services with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association; (2) refrain from continuing an existing business relationship with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association; or (3) terminate an existing business relationship with the entity or association based solely on its status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association. See Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.001(3) of SB 19. “Discrimination against a firearm entity or firearm trade association” does not include: “
(1) the established policies of a merchant, retail seller, or platform that restrict or prohibit the listing or selling of ammunition, firearms, or firearm accessories; and (2) a company’s refusal to engage in the trade of any goods or services, decision to refrain from continuing an existing business relationship, or decision to terminate an existing business relationship to comply with federal, state, or local law, policy, or regulations or a directive by a regulatory agency, or for any traditional business reason that is specific to the customer or potential customer and not based solely on an entity’s or association’s status as a firearm entity or firearm trade association.” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.001(3) of SB 19.
CERTIFICATION REGARDING CERTAIN FOREIGN-OWNED COMPANIES IN CONNECTION WITH CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: Proposing Company is prohibited from entering into a contract or other agreement relating to critical infrastructure that would grant to the company direct or remote access to or control of critical infrastructure in this state, excluding access specifically allowed by the Proposing Company for product warranty and support purposes. Company, certifies that neither it nor its parent company nor any affiliate of company or its parent company, is (1) owned by or the majority of stock or other ownership interest of the company is held or controlled by individuals who are citizens of China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or a designated country; (2) a company or other entity, including governmental entity, that is owned or controlled by citizens of or is directly controlled by the government of China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or a designated country; or (3) headquartered in China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or a designated country. For purposes of this contract, “critical infrastructure” means “a communication infrastructure system, cybersecurity system, electric grid, hazardous waste treatment system, or water treatment facility.” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 2274.0101(2) of SB 1226 (87th leg.). The company verifies and certifies that company will not grant direct or remote access to or control of critical infrastructure, except for product warranty and support purposes, to prohibited individuals, companies, or entities, including governmental entities, owned, controlled, or headquartered in China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, or a designated country, as determined by the Governor.
CERTIFICATION REGARDING BOYCOTTING CERTAIN ENERGY COMPANIES (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree, when it is applicable, to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: If (a) company is not a sole proprietorship; (b) company has ten (10) or more full-time employees; and (c) this contract has a value of $100,000 or more that is to be paid wholly or partly from public funds, the following certification shall apply; otherwise, this certification is not required. Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2274 of SB 13 (87th session), the company hereby certifies and verifies that the company, or any wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company, or affiliate of these entities or business associations, if any, does not boycott energy companies and will not boycott energy companies during the term of the contract. For purposes of this contract, the term “company” shall mean an organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company, that exists to make a profit. The term “boycott energy company” shall mean “without an ordinary business purpose, refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a company because the company (a) engages in the exploration, production, utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of fossil fuel-based energy and does not commit or pledge to meet environmental standards beyond applicable federal and state law, or (b) does business with a company described by paragraph (a).” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 809.001(1).
Field Audits and Examination Reports; Confidentiality; Disclaimers by Lenders; Other Reports and Information By becoming a party to this Agreement, each Lender:
(a) is deemed to have requested that Agent furnish such Lender, promptly after it becomes available, a copy of each field audit or examination report (each a "Report" and collectively, "Reports") prepared by Agent, and Agent shall so furnish each Lender with such Reports,
(b) expressly agrees and acknowledges that Agent does not (i) make any representation or warranty as to the accuracy of any Report, and (ii) shall not be liable for any information contained in any Report,
(c) expressly agrees and acknowledges that the Reports are not comprehensive audits or examinations, that Agent or other party performing any audit or examination will inspect only specific information regarding Borrowers and will rely significantly upon the Books, as well as on representations of Borrowers' personnel,
(d) agrees to keep all Reports and other material, non-public information regarding Borrowers and their Subsidiaries and their operations, assets, and existing and contemplated business plans in a confidential manner; it being understood and agreed by Borrowers that in any event such Lender may make disclosures (a) to counsel for and other advisors, accountants, and auditors to such Lender, (b) reasonably required by any bona fide potential or actual Assignee or Participant in connection with any contemplated or actual assignment or transfer by such Lender of an interest herein or any participation interest in such Lender's rights hereunder, (c) of information that has become public by disclosures made by Persons other than such Lender, its Affiliates, assignees, transferees, or Participants, or (d) as required or requested by any court, governmental or administrative agency, pursuant to any subpoena or other legal process, or by any law, statute, regulation, or court order; provided, however, that, unless prohibited by applicable law, statute, regulation, or court order, such Lender shall notify Administrative Borrower of any request by any court, governmental or administrative agency, or pursuant to any subpoena or other legal process for disclosure of any such non-public material information concurrent with, or where practicable, prior to the disclosure thereof, and
(e) without limiting the generality of any other indemnification provision contained in this Agreement, agrees: (i) to hold Agent and any such other Lender preparing a Report harmless from any action the indemnifying Lender may take or conclusion the indemnifying Lender may reach or draw from any Report in connection with any loans or other credit accommodations that the indemnifying Lender has made or may make to Borrowers, or the indemnifying Lender's participation in, or the indemnifying Lender's purchase of, a loan or loans of Borrowers; and (ii) to pay and protect, and indemnify, defend and hold Agent, and any such other Lender preparing a Report harmless from and against, the claims, actions, proceedings, damages, costs, expenses, and other amounts (including, attorneys fees and costs) incurred by Agent and any such other Lender preparing a Report as the direct or indirect result of any third parties who might obtain all or part of any Report through the indemnifying Lender. In addition to the foregoing: (x) any Lender may from time to time request of Agent in writing that Agent provide to such Lender a copy of any report or document provided by Borrowers to Agent that has not been contemporaneously provided by Borrowers to such Lender, and, upon receipt of such request, Agent shall provide a copy of same to such Lender, (y) to the extent that Agent is entitled, under any provision of the Loan Documents, to request additional reports or information from Borrowers, any Lender may, from time to time, reasonably request Agent to exercise such right as specified in such Lender's notice to Agent, whereupon Agent promptly shall request of Administrative Borrower the additional reports or information reasonably specified by such Lender, and, upon receipt thereof from Administrative Borrower, Agent promptly shall provide a copy of same to such Lender, and (z) any time that Agent renders to Administrative Borrower a statement regarding the Loan Account, Agent shall send a copy of such statement to each Lender.
Certain Actions Each of the Lenders covenants and agrees that only a Majority in Interest shall have the right, but not the obligation, to undertake the following actions (it being expressly understood that less than a Majority in Interest hereby expressly waive the following rights that they may otherwise have under the Borrower Documents):
CERTIFICATION REGARDING BOYCOTTING CERTAIN ENERGY COMPANIES (Texas law as of September 1, 2021) By submitting a proposal to this Solicitation, you certify that you agree, when it is applicable, to the following required by Texas law as of September 1, 2021: If (a) company is not a sole proprietorship; (b) company has ten (10) or more full-time employees; and (c) this contract has a value of $100,000 or more that is to be paid wholly or partly from public funds, the following certification shall apply; otherwise, this certification is not required. Pursuant to Tex. Gov’t Code Ch. 2274 of SB 13 (87th session), the company hereby certifies and verifies that the company, or any wholly owned subsidiary, majority-owned subsidiary, parent company, or affiliate of these entities or business associations, if any, does not boycott energy companies and will not boycott energy companies during the term of the contract. For purposes of this contract, the term “company” shall mean an organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, or limited liability company, that exists to make a profit. The term “boycott energy company” shall mean “without an ordinary business purpose, refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action intended to penalize, inflict economic harm on, or limit commercial relations with a company because the company (a) engages in the exploration, production, utilization, transportation, sale, or manufacturing of fossil fuel-based energy and does not commit or pledge to meet environmental standards beyond applicable federal and state law, or (b) does business with a company described by paragraph (a).” See Tex. Gov’t Code § 809.001(1).
Certain Accounting Matters (a) At all times during the existence of the Trust, the Administrative Trustees shall keep, or cause to be kept at the principal office of the Trust in the United States, as defined for purposes of Treasury Regulations section 301.7701-7, full books of account, records and supporting documents, which shall reflect in reasonable detail each transaction of the Trust. The books of account shall be maintained on the accrual method of accounting, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, consistently applied.
(b) The Administrative Trustees shall either (i), if the Depositor is then subject to such reporting requirements, cause each Form 10-K and Form 10-Q prepared by the Depositor and filed with the Commission in accordance with the Exchange Act to be delivered to each Holder, with a copy to the Property Trustee, within thirty (30) days after the filing thereof or (ii) cause to be prepared at the principal office of the Trust in the United States, as defined for purposes of Treasury Regulations section 301.7701-7, and delivered to each of the Holders, with a copy to the Property Trustee, within ninety (90) days after the end of each Fiscal Year, annual financial statements of the Trust, including a balance sheet of the Trust as of the end of such Fiscal Year, and the related statements of income or loss.
(c) The Trust shall maintain one or more bank accounts in the United States, as defined for purposes of Treasury Regulations section 301.7701-7, in the name and for the sole benefit of the Trust; provided, however, that all payments of funds in respect of the Notes held by the Property Trustee shall be made directly to the Payment Account and no other funds of the Trust shall be deposited in the Payment Account. The sole signatories for such accounts (including the Payment Account) shall be designated by the Property Trustee.
Certain Activities The Company has not, directly or indirectly, engaged in or been a party to any of the following activities:
2.23.1 Bribes, kickbacks or gratuities to any person or entity, including domestic or foreign government officials or any other payments to any such persons or entity, whether legal or not legal, to obtain or retain business or to receive favorable treatment of any nature with regard to business (excluding commissions or gratuities paid or given in full compliance with applicable law and constituting ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in carrying on its business in the ordinary course);
2.23.2 Contributions (including gifts), whether legal or not legal, made to any domestic or foreign political party, political candidate or holder of political office;
2.23.3 Holding of or participation in bank accounts, funds or pools of funds created or maintained in the United States or any foreign country, without being reflected on the corporate books of account, or as to which receipts or disbursements therefrom have not been reflected on such books, the purpose of which is to obtain or retain business or to receive favorable treatment with regard to business;
2.23.4 Receiving or disbursing monies, the actual nature of which has been improperly disguised or intentionally misrecorded on or improperly omitted from the corporate books of account;
2.23.5 Paying fees to domestic or foreign consultants or commercial agents which exceed the reasonable value of the ordinary and customary consulting and agency services purported to have been rendered;
2.23.6 Paying or reimbursing (including gifts) personnel of the Company for the purpose of enabling them to expend time or to make contributions or payments of the kind or for the purposes referred to in Subparagraphs 2.23.1 through 2.23.5 above;
2.23.7 Participating in any manner in any activity which is illegal under the international boycott provisions of the Export Administration Act, as amended, or the international boycott provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, or guidelines or regulations thereunder; and
2.23.8 Making or permitting unlawful charges, mischarges or defective or fraudulent pricing under any contract or subcontract under a contract with any department, agency or subdivision thereof, of the United States government, state or municipal government or foreign government.
Compliance Matters (a) The Sub-Adviser understands and agrees that it is a “service provider” to the Trust as contemplated by Rule 38a-1 under the 1940 Act. As such, the Sub-Adviser agrees to cooperate fully with the Adviser and the Trust and its Trustees and officers, including the Fund’s CCO, with respect to (i) any and all compliance-related matters, and (ii) the Trust’s efforts to assure that each of its service providers adopts and maintains policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to prevent violation of the “federal securities laws” (as that term is defined by Rule 38a-1) by the Trust, the Adviser and the Sub-Adviser. In this regard, the Sub-Adviser shall:
(1) submit to the Board for its consideration and approval, prior to the effective date of this Agreement, the Sub-Adviser’s compliance program, it being understood that the Sub-Adviser’s obligation under Section 2(e) of this Agreement to vote all proxies solicited by or with respect to the issuers of securities in which the assets of the Portfolio may be invested shall be subject to the fulfillment of the condition that the Board approve the Sub-Adviser’s proxy voting policies and procedures;
(2) submit annually (and at such other times as the Trust may reasonably request) to the Fund’s CCO and the Adviser for consideration by the Board, a report discussing the adequacy and effectiveness of the Sub-Adviser’s compliance program, and fully describing any material amendments to such compliance program since the most recent such report;
(3) provide periodic reports, certifications and information concerning the Sub-Adviser’s compliance program including, but not limited to, the following;
(i) Quarterly Compliance Certifications, including any required attachments, no later than the tenth (10th) business day after each calendar quarter; and
(ii) Annual Report on Code of Ethics Matters, including any required attachments, no later than the fifteenth (15th) business day of October each year.
(4) provide the Adviser and the Trust and its Trustees and officers with reasonable access to information regarding the Sub-Adviser’s compliance program, which access shall include on-site visits with the Sub-Adviser as may be reasonably requested from time to time;
(5) permit the Adviser and the Trust and its Trustees and officers to maintain an active working relationship with the Sub-Adviser’s compliance personnel by, among other things, providing the Adviser and the Fund’s CCO and other officers with a specified individual within the Sub-Adviser’s organization to discuss and address compliance-related matters;
(6) provide the Adviser and its chief compliance officer and the Trust and its Trustees and officers, including the Fund’s CCO, with such certifications as may be reasonably requested; and
(7) reasonably cooperate with any independent registered public accounting firm engaged by the Trust, ensure that all reasonably necessary information and the appropriate personnel are made available to such independent registered public accounting firm, to support the expression of the independent registered public accounting firm’s opinion, and each year provide the Adviser and such independent registered public accounting firm with a copy of the most recent SSAE 16 Report prepared by the Sub-Adviser’s independent auditors regarding the Sub-Adviser’s internal controls.
(b) The Sub-Adviser represents, warrants and covenants that it has implemented and shall maintain a compliance program in accordance with the requirements of Rule 206(4)-7 under the Advisers Act.
Certain Additional Matters (a) Any arbitration award shall be a bare award limited to a holding for or against a party and shall be without findings as to facts, issues or conclusions of law (including with respect to any matters relating to the validity or infringement of patents or patent applications) and shall be without a statement of the reasoning on which the award rests, but must be in adequate form so that a judgment of a court may be entered thereupon. Judgment upon any arbitration award hereunder may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.
(b) Prior to the time at which an arbitrator is appointed pursuant to Section 8.4, any party may seek one or more temporary restraining orders in a court of competent jurisdiction if necessary in order to preserve and protect the status quo. Neither the request for, or grant or denial of, any such temporary restraining order shall be deemed a waiver of the obligation to arbitrate as set forth herein and the arbitrator may dissolve, continue or modify any such order. Any such temporary restraining order shall remain in effect until the first to occur of the expiration of the order in accordance with its terms or the dissolution thereof by the arbitrator.
(c) Except as required by law, the parties shall hold, and shall cause their respective officers, directors, employees, agents and other representatives to hold, the existence, content and result of mediation or arbitration in confidence in accordance with the provisions of Article VIII and except as may be required in order to enforce any award. Each of the parties shall request that any mediator or arbitrator comply with such confidentiality requirement.
(d) If at any time the sole arbitrator shall fail to serve as an arbitrator for any reason, the parties shall select a new arbitrator who shall be disinterested as to the parties and the matter in accordance with the procedures set forth herein for the selection of the initial arbitrator. The extent, if any, to which testimony previously given shall be repeated or as to which the replacement arbitrator elects to rely on the stenographic record (if there is one) of such testimony shall be determined by the replacement arbitrator.
