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.
Duties of the Escrow Agent The Escrow Agent shall have no duties or responsibilities other than those expressly set forth in this Agreement, and no implied duties or obligations shall be read into this Agreement against the Escrow Agent. The Escrow Agent is not a party to, or bound by, any other agreement among the other parties hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof, and the Escrow Agent’s duties shall be determined solely by reference to this Agreement. The Escrow Agent shall have no duty to enforce any obligation of any person, other than as provided herein. The Escrow Agent shall be under no liability to anyone by reason of any failure on the part of any party hereto or any maker, endorser or other signatory of any document or any other person to perform such person’s obligations under any such document.
Nature of Duties of Agent The Agent shall have no duties or responsibilities except those expressly set forth in this Credit Agreement. Neither the Agent nor any of its officers, directors, employees or agents shall be liable for any action taken or omitted by it as such hereunder or in connection herewith, unless caused by its or their gross negligence or willful misconduct. The duties of the Agent shall be mechanical and administrative in nature; the Agent shall not have by reason of this Credit Agreement a fiduciary relationship in respect of any Lender; and nothing in this Credit Agreement, expressed or implied, is intended to or shall be so construed as to impose upon the Agent any obligations in respect of this Credit Agreement except as expressly set forth herein.
Exclusive Nature of Duties The Distributor shall be each Fund's exclusive representative to act as principal underwriter and distributor of its Shares, except that:
(a) Each Fund may, upon written notice to the Distributor, from time to time designate other principal underwriters and distributors of Shares with respect to areas other than the United States as to which the Distributor may have expressly waived in writing its right to act as such. If such designation is deemed exclusive, the right of the Distributor under this Agreement to sell Shares in the areas so designated shall terminate, but this Agreement shall remain otherwise in full effect until terminated in accordance with the other provisions hereof.
(b) The exclusive rights granted to the Distributor to purchase Shares from each Fund shall not apply to Shares issued in connection with the merger or consolidation of any other investment company or personal holding company with a Fund or a Fund's acquisition by purchase or otherwise of all (or substantially all) the assets or the outstanding Shares of any such company.
(c) Such exclusive rights also shall not apply to Shares issued by a Fund pursuant to reinvestment of dividends or capital gains distributions.
(d) Such exclusive rights also shall not apply to Shares of any class issued by a Fund pursuant to any conversion, exchange or reinstatement privilege afforded redeeming shareholders or to any other Shares as shall be agreed between the Fund and the Distributor from time to time.
Limit of Duties Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the Custodian shall be under no duty or obligation to inquire into, and shall not be liable for:
1. The validity of the issue of any Securities purchased by any Portfolio, the legality of the purchase thereof, or the propriety of the amount specified by the Fund or its designee for payment therefor;
2. The legality of the sale of any Securities by any Portfolio or the propriety of the amount of consideration for which the same are sold;
3. The legality of the issue or sale of any Shares, or the sufficiency of the amount to be received therefor;
4. The legality of the redemption of any Shares, or the propriety of the amount to be paid therefor;
5. The legality of the declaration or payment of any dividend or distribution by the Fund; or
6. The legality of any borrowing.
Extent of Duties Each Agent shall only be obliged to perform the duties set out herein and such other duties as are necessarily incidental thereto. No Agent shall:
Nature of Duties of Administrative Agent The Administrative Agent shall not have any duties or obligations except those expressly set forth in this Agreement and the other Loan Documents. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, (a) the Administrative Agent shall not be subject to any fiduciary or other implied duties, regardless of whether a Default or an Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, (b) the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to take any discretionary action or exercise any discretionary powers, except those discretionary rights and powers expressly contemplated by the Loan Documents that the Administrative Agent is required to exercise in writing by the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2), and (c) except as expressly set forth in the Loan Documents, the Administrative Agent shall not have any duty to disclose, and shall not be liable for the failure to disclose, any information relating to the Borrower or any of its Subsidiaries that is communicated to or obtained by the Administrative Agent or any of its Affiliates in any capacity. The Administrative Agent shall not be liable for any action taken or not taken by it, its sub-agents or attorneys-in-fact with the consent or at the request of the Required Lenders (or such other number or percentage of the Lenders as shall be necessary under the circumstances as provided in Section 10.2) or in the absence of its own gross negligence or willful misconduct. The Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for the negligence or misconduct of any sub-agents or attorneys-in-fact selected by it with reasonable care. The Administrative Agent shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any Default or Event of Default unless and until written notice thereof (which notice shall include an express reference to such event being a “Default” or “Event of Default” hereunder) is given to the Administrative Agent by the Borrower or any Lender, and the Administrative Agent shall not be responsible for or have any duty to ascertain or inquire into (i) any statement, warranty or representation made in or in connection with any Loan Document, (ii) the contents of any certificate, report or other document delivered hereunder or thereunder or in connection herewith or therewith, (iii) the performance or observance of any of the covenants, agreements, or other terms and conditions set forth in any Loan Document, (iv) the validity, enforceability, effectiveness or genuineness of any Loan Document or any other agreement, instrument or document, or (v) the satisfaction of any condition set forth in Article III or elsewhere in any Loan Document, other than to confirm receipt of items expressly required to be delivered to the Administrative Agent. The Administrative Agent may consult with legal counsel (including counsel for the Borrower) concerning all matters pertaining to such duties.
Administrative Duties of the Custodian The Custodian shall perform the following administrative duties with respect to Investments of the Fund.
Assignment or Delegation of Duties by Master Servicer The Master Servicer shall not assign or transfer any of its rights, benefits or privileges under this Agreement to any other Person, or delegate to or subcontract with, or authorize or appoint any other Person to perform any of the duties, covenants or obligations to be performed by the Master Servicer without the prior written consent of the Trustee, and any agreement, instrument or act purporting to effect any such assignment, transfer, delegation or appointment shall be void. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Master Servicer shall have the right without the prior written consent of the Trustee (i) to assign its rights and delegate its duties and obligations hereunder; provided, however, that (a) the purchaser or transferee accepting such assignment or delegation is qualified to service mortgage loans for FNMA or FHLMC, is satisfactory to the Trustee, in the exercise of its reasonable judgment, and executes and delivers to the Trustee an agreement, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee, which contains an assumption by such purchaser or transferee of the due and punctual performance and observance of each covenant and condition to be performed or observed by the Master Servicer hereunder from and after the date of such agreement; and (b) each applicable Rating Agency's rating of any Certificates in effect immediately prior to such assignment, sale or transfer is not reasonably likely to be qualified, downgraded or withdrawn as a result of such assignment, sale or transfer and the Certificates are not reasonably likely to be placed on credit review status by any such Rating Agency; and (ii) to delegate to, subcontract with, authorize, or appoint an affiliate of the Master Servicer to perform and carry out any duties, covenants or obligations to be performed and carried out by the Master Servicer under this Agreement and hereby agrees so to delegate, subcontract, authorize or appoint to an affiliate of the Master Servicer any duties, covenants or obligations to be performed and carried out by the Master Servicer to the extent that such duties, covenants or obligations are to be performed in any state or states in which the Master Servicer is not authorized to do business as a foreign corporation but in which the affiliate is so authorized. In no case, however, shall any permitted assignment and delegation relieve the Master Servicer of any liability to the Trustee or the Seller under this Agreement, incurred by it prior to the time that the conditions contained in clause (i) above are met.
Limitation of Duties The Custodian in its capacity as such:
(a) in the course of its review of the Mortgage Files, shall not be required to make determinations (1) of a legal nature or (2) as to the authority of any officer or agent of the Master Servicer, Trustee or other entity who has executed (or certified with respect to) any document which is part of the Mortgage File;
(b) shall have no duties or obligations other than those specifically set forth herein or as may subsequently be agreed upon in writing by the parties hereto and shall use the same degree of care and skill as is reasonably expected of financial institutions acting in comparable capacities;
(c) will be regarded as making no representations and having no responsibilities as to the validity, sufficiency, value, genuineness, ownership or transferability of any Mortgage Loans and will not be required to and will not make any representations as to the validity, value or genuineness of the Mortgage Loans;
(d) shall not be obligated to take any legal action hereunder which might in its judgment involve any expense or liability unless it has been furnished with reasonable indemnity;
(e) may rely on and shall be protected in acting upon any certificate, instrument, opinion, notice, letter, telegram or other document, or any security, delivered to it and reasonably believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed by the Master Servicer or the Trustee;
(f) may rely on and shall be protected in acting upon the written instructions of the Master Servicer or the Trustee and such employees and representatives of the Master Servicer and the Trustee, as applicable, may hereinafter designate in writing;
(g) may consult counsel satisfactory to it (including counsel for the Trustee or the Master Servicer) and the opinion of such counsel shall be full and complete authorization and protection in respect of any action taken, suffered, or omitted by it hereunder in good faith and in accordance with the opinion of such counsel (provided that the fees of such counsel in connection with such consultation and opinion shall be paid by the Custodian); and
(h) 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 do or refrain from doing in connection therewith, except in the case of a breach of any of the Custodian’s obligations hereunder, negligence or willful misconduct. The Custodian shall be held to the same standard of conduct, and shall be entitled to the same protections, privileges and immunities as other custodians acting in a custodial capacity are generally afforded. No covenant or agreement contained herein shall be deemed to be the covenant or agreement of any member of the Board of Directors, or any director, officer, agent, employee or representative of the Trustee, Master Servicer or the Custodian in his or her individual capacity and none of such persons shall be subject to any personal liability or accountability by reason of the execution of this Agreement, whether by virtue of any constitution, statute or rule of law or by the enforcement of any assessment or penalty, or otherwise.
