Payment of Deferred Compensation Any compensation that has been earned by the Executive but is unpaid as of the Termination Date, including any compensation that has been earned but deferred pursuant to the Company's Deferred Compensation Plan or otherwise, shall be paid in full to the Executive on the Termination Date.
No Excess Parachute Payments Any amount that could be received (whether in cash or property or the vesting of property) as a result of any of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement by any employee, officer or director of the Company or any of its affiliates who is a "disqualified individual" (as such term is defined in proposed Treasury Regulation Section 1.280G-1) under any employment, severance or termination agreement, other compensation arrangement or Company Benefit Plan currently in effect would not be characterized as an "excess parachute payment" (as such term is defined in Section 280G(b)(1) of the Code).
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation (a) It is intended that any payment or benefit which is provided pursuant to or in connection with this Agreement which is considered to be deferred compensation subject to Section 409A of the Code shall be paid and provided in a manner, and at such time and form, as complies with the applicable requirements of Section 409A of the Code to avoid the unfavorable tax consequences provided therein for non-compliance.
Severability; Maximum Payment Amounts If any provision of this Agreement is prohibited by law or otherwise determined to be invalid or unenforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction, the provision that would otherwise be prohibited, invalid or unenforceable shall be deemed amended to apply to the broadest extent that it would be valid and enforceable, and the invalidity or unenforceability of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement so long as this Agreement as so modified continues to express, without material change, the original intentions of the parties as to the subject matter hereof and the prohibited nature, invalidity or unenforceability of the provision(s) in question does not substantially impair the respective expectations or reciprocal obligations of the parties or the practical realization of the benefits that would otherwise be conferred upon the parties. The parties will endeavor in good faith negotiations to replace the prohibited, invalid or unenforceable provision(s) with a valid provision(s), the effect of which comes as close as possible to that of the prohibited, invalid or unenforceable provision(s). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Agreement or any other Transaction Document (and without implication that the following is required or applicable), it is the intention of the parties that in no event shall amounts and value paid by the Company and/or any of its Subsidiaries (as the case may be), or payable to or received by any of the Buyers, under the Transaction Documents (including without limitation, any amounts that would be characterized as “interest” under applicable law) exceed amounts permitted under any applicable law. Accordingly, if any obligation to pay, payment made to any Buyer, or collection by any Buyer pursuant the Transaction Documents is finally judicially determined to be contrary to any such applicable law, such obligation to pay, payment or collection shall be deemed to have been made by mutual mistake of such Buyer, the Company and its Subsidiaries and such amount shall be deemed to have been adjusted with retroactive effect to the maximum amount or rate of interest, as the case may be, as would not be so prohibited by the applicable law. Such adjustment shall be effected, to the extent necessary, by reducing or refunding, at the option of such Buyer, the amount of interest or any other amounts which would constitute unlawful amounts required to be paid or actually paid to such Buyer under the Transaction Documents. For greater certainty, to the extent that any interest, charges, fees, expenses or other amounts required to be paid to or received by such Buyer under any of the Transaction Documents or related thereto are held to be within the meaning of “interest” or another applicable term to otherwise be violative of applicable law, such amounts shall be pro-rated over the period of time to which they relate.
Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans Effective on or before the Distribution Date, Columbia shall adopt, establish and maintain nonqualified deferred compensation plans for the benefit of employees of the Columbia Parties (the “Columbia Deferred Compensation Plans”) and shall establish one or more grantor trusts to be a source of providing benefits thereunder (the “Columbia Rabbi Trusts”) that in each case shall be substantially similar to the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans and the grantor trusts maintained by NiSource with respect to the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans (the “NiSource Rabbi Trusts”). As of the Distribution Date, the Columbia Parties shall assume and thereafter be solely responsible for all existing and future liabilities relating to Business Employees’ (and Deceased Business Employee survivors’ and beneficiaries’) (a) benefits accrued under the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans prior to the Distribution Date and (b) benefits that accrue under the Columbia Deferred Compensation Plans on and after the Distribution Date. All beneficiary designations made by Business Employees and by survivors and beneficiaries of Deceased Business Employees under the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans shall, to the extent applicable, be transferred to, and be in full force and effect under, the Columbia Deferred Compensation Plans until such beneficiary designations are replaced or revoked by the Business Employee (or the survivor or beneficiary of the Deceased Business Employee) who made the beneficiary designation. Following the Distribution Date, the NiSource Parties shall have no liability or obligation with respect to the benefits accrued by such Business Employees or by such survivors or beneficiaries of Deceased Business Employees under any of the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans or with respect to any benefits accrued under the Columbia Deferred Compensation Plans. As soon as administratively practicable after the Distribution Date, NiSource shall cause the NiSource Rabbi Trusts to transfer to the Columbia Rabbi Trusts cash, life insurance policies or other assets having an aggregate fair market value equal to (i) the aggregate fair market value of all assets held in the NiSource Rabbi Trusts as of the Distribution Date multiplied by (ii) a percentage, the numerator of which shall be the lump sum present value of the benefits assumed by the Columbia Deferred Compensation Plans pursuant to this Section 3.03 and the denominator of which shall be the lump sum present value of all benefits accrued under the NiSource Deferred Compensation Plans immediately prior to the Distribution Date.
Parachute Payment Limitation If any payment or benefit (including payments and benefits pursuant to this Agreement) Executive would receive in connection with a Change in Control from the Company or otherwise (“Payment”) would (i) constitute a “parachute payment” within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code, and (ii) but for this paragraph, be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (the “Excise Tax”), then the Company shall cause to be determined, before any amounts of the Payment are paid to Executive, which of the following two alternative forms of payment shall be paid to Executive: (A) payment in full of the entire amount of the Payment (a “Full Payment”), or (B) payment of only a part of the Payment so that Executive receives the largest payment possible without the imposition of the Excise Tax (a “Reduced Payment”). A Full Payment shall be made in the event that the amount received by the Executive on a net after-tax basis is greater than what would be received by the Executive on a net after-tax basis if the Reduced Payment were made, otherwise a Reduced Payment shall be made. If a Reduced Payment is made, (i) the Payment shall be paid only to the extent permitted under the Reduced Payment alternative, and Executive shall have no rights to any additional payments and/or benefits constituting the Payment, and (ii) reduction in payments and/or benefits shall occur in the following order: (A) reduction of cash payments; (B) cancellation of accelerated vesting of equity awards other than stock options; (C) cancellation of accelerated vesting of stock options; and (D) reduction of other benefits paid to Executive. In the event that acceleration of compensation from Executive’s equity awards is to be reduced, such acceleration of vesting shall be canceled in the reverse order of the date of grant.
ERISA Compliance; Excess Parachute Payments The Parent does not, and since its inception never has, maintained, or contributed to any “employee pension benefit plans” (as defined in Section 3(2) of ERISA), “employee welfare benefit plans” (as defined in Section 3(1) of ERISA) or any other Parent Benefit Plan for the benefit of any current or former employees, consultants, officers or directors of Parent.
Excess Parachute Payment Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company shall not pay any benefit under this Agreement to the extent the benefit would create an excise tax under the excess parachute rules of Section 280G of the Code.
Excess Parachute Payments If it is determined (as hereafter provided) that any payment or distribution by the Company or any Employer to or for the benefit of the Executive, whether paid or payable or distributed or distributable pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise pursuant to or by reason of any other agreement, policy, plan, program or arrangement, including without limitation any stock option, stock appreciation right or similar right, or the lapse or termination of any restriction on or the vesting or exercisability of any of the foregoing (a “Payment”) would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Code (or any successor provision thereto) by reason of being “contingent on a change in ownership or control” of the Company, within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code (or any successor provision thereto) or to any similar tax imposed by state or local law, or any interest or penalties with respect to such excise tax (such tax or taxes, together with any such interest or penalties, are hereafter collectively referred to as the “Excise Tax”), then, in the event that the after-tax value of all Payments to the Executive (such after-tax value to reflect the deduction of the Excise Tax and all income or other taxes on such Payments) would, in the aggregate, be less than the after-tax value to the Executive of the Safe Harbor Amount, (a) the cash portions of the Payments payable to the Executive under this Agreement shall be reduced, in the order in which they are due to be paid, until the Parachute Value of all Payments paid to the Executive, in the aggregate, equals the Safe Harbor Amount, and (b) if the reduction of the cash portions of the Payments, payable under this Agreement, to zero would not be sufficient to reduce the Parachute Value of all Payments to the Safe Harbor Amount, then any cash portions of the Payments payable to the Executive under any other agreements, policies, plans, programs or arrangements shall be reduced, in the order in which they are due to be paid, until the Parachute Value of all Payments paid to the Executive, in the aggregate, equals the Safe Harbor Amount, and (c) if the reduction of all cash portions of the Payments, payable pursuant to this Agreement or otherwise, to zero would not be sufficient to reduce the Parachute Value of all Payments to the Safe Harbor Amount, then non-cash portions of the Payments shall be reduced, in the order in which they are due to be paid, until the Parachute Value of all Payments paid to the Executive, in the aggregate, equals the Safe Harbor Amount. All calculations under this section shall be determined by the Company and the Company’s outside auditors.
