NON-COMPETITION CLAUSE The parties agree that during the term of employment and for a period of up to 12 months after the expiry of the agreed notice period (such 12-month period referred to as the "Restricted Period"), the Executive shall not be entitled to be employed by, directly or indirectly offer services to, start up, lead, be a board member in, have an ownership interest in, participate in or otherwise in any way engage in any business that directly or indirectly competes with the Company or the Group (the "Non-Competition Clause"). In case of summary dismissal, the Restricted Period commences on the date of the summary dismissal. The Company may at the request of the Executive, or at any other time, decide if and to what extent the Non-Competition Clause shall be invoked. The procedure in connection with such a decision shall comply with the mandatory provisions of Chapter 14 A in the WEA including the Company's obligation to provide the Executive with a written statement in this regards. If the Restricted Period is invoked for a shorter period of time, the Compensation to the Executive (see below) is reduced correspondingly. Should the Employer decide not to invoke the Non-Competition Clause, the Executive will not be entitled to such Compensation. If the Non-Competition Clause is invoked, the Executive shall receive compensation during the Restrictive Period equivalent to 100% of the Executive's annual remuneration up to 8 G ("G" means the Basic Amount in the National Insurance Scheme), and then, if applicable, 70% of the annual remuneration exceeding 8G ("Compensation"). The term "remuneration" is to be understood in line with Chapter 14 A in the WEA. The total amount of Compensation will not exceed 12 G. The Compensation is based on the Executive's remuneration the last 12 months preceding the time of the notice and is paid monthly on the Company's payroll date. The Compensation is not included in the basis for holiday pay or pension, and the Executive is not entitled to any bonus or other supplementary benefits from the Company during the period for payment of the Compensation. The Employer will carry out tax deduction and any other mandatory deductions in accordance with applicable law. The Compensation is paid monthly on the Company's payroll date. Deductions shall be made in the Compensation for any income or other remuneration (or similar) that the Executive receives from the Company or accrues from others in the Restricted Period limited to 50% of the Compensation. The Executive shall provide adequate information about the salary from any new employer during the application of the obligations set out herein. If the Executive does not comply with this requirement, the Company may withhold the Compensation until such information is received.
Non-Competition a. Executive acknowledges and recognizes the highly competitive nature of the businesses of the Company and its affiliates and accordingly agrees as follows: (1) During the Employment Term and for a period of nine months following the date Executive ceases to be employed by the Company for any reason (the “Restricted Period”), Executive will not, whether on Executive’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any person, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation or other business organization, entity or enterprise whatsoever (“Person”), directly or indirectly solicit or assist in soliciting in competition with the Company, the business of any customer of the Company or prospective customer of the Company: (i) with whom Executive had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one year period preceding Executive’s termination of employment; (ii) with whom employees reporting to Executive have had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one year immediately preceding Executive’s termination of employment; or (iii) for whom Executive had direct or indirect responsibility during the one year immediately preceding Executive’s termination of employment. (2) During the Restricted Period, Executive will not directly or indirectly: (i) engage in any coal-related business that competes with the business of the Company or its affiliates (including, without limitation, businesses which the Company or its affiliates have specific plans to conduct in the future and as to which Executive is aware of such planning) in the United States (a “Competitive Business”); (ii) enter the employ of, or render any services to, any Person (or any division or controlled or controlling affiliate of any Person) who or which engages in a Competitive Business; (iii) acquire a financial interest in, or otherwise become actively involved with, any Competitive Business, directly or indirectly, as an individual, partner, shareholder, officer, director, principal, agent, trustee or consultant; (iv) interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, business relationships (whether formed before, on or after the date of this Agreement) between the Company or any of its affiliates and customers, clients, suppliers partners, members or investors of the Company or its affiliates, or (v) disparage the Company or any of its stockholders, directors, officers, employees or agents. (3) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, Executive may, directly or indirectly own, solely as an investment, securities of any Person engaged in the business of the Company or its affiliates which are publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market if Executive (i) is not a controlling person of, or a member of a group which controls, such person and (ii) does not, directly or indirectly, own 5% or more of any class of securities of such Person. (4) During the Employment Term and, for a period of two years following the date Executive ceases to be employed by the Company, Executive will not, whether on Executive’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any Person, directly or indirectly: (i) solicit or encourage any employee of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates; or (ii) hire any such employee who was employed by the Company or its affiliates as of the date of Executive’s termination of employment with the Company or who left the employment of the Company or its affiliates coincident with, or within one year prior to or after, the termination of Executive’s employment with the Company. (5) During the Restricted Period, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit or encourage to cease to work with the Company or its affiliates any consultant then under contract with the Company or its affiliates. b. It is expressly understood and agreed that although Executive and the Company consider the restrictions contained in this Section 8 to be reasonable, if a final judicial determination is made by a court of competent jurisdiction that the time or territory or any other restriction contained in this Agreement is an unenforceable restriction against Executive, the provisions of this Agreement shall not be rendered void but shall be deemed amended to apply as to such maximum time and territory and to such maximum extent as such court may judicially determine or indicate to be enforceable. Alternatively, if any court of competent jurisdiction finds that any restriction contained in this Agreement is unenforceable, and such restriction cannot be amended so as to make it enforceable, such finding shall not affect the enforceability of any of the other restrictions contained herein.
NON-COMPETITION AND NON-DISCLOSURE (a) Upon any termination of Executive's employment hereunder pursuant to Section 4 hereof, Executive agrees not to compete with the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries for a period of one (1) year following such termination in any city, town or county in which the Executive's normal business office is located and the Holding Company or any of its Subsidiaries has an office or has filed an application for regulatory approval to establish an office, determined as of the effective date of such termination, except as agreed to pursuant to a resolution duly adopted by the Board. Executive agrees that during such period and within said cities, towns and counties, Executive shall not work for or advise, consult or otherwise serve with, directly or indirectly, any entity whose business materially competes with the depository, lending or other business activities of the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries. The parties hereto, recognizing that irreparable injury will result to the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries, its business and property in the event of Executive's breach of this Subsection 10(a) agree that in the event of any such breach by Executive, the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries, will be entitled, in addition to any other remedies and damages available, to an injunction to restrain the violation hereof by Executive, Executive's partners, agents, servants, employees and all persons acting for or under the direction of Executive. Executive represents and admits that in the event of the termination of his employment pursuant to Section 7 hereof, Executive's experience and capabilities are such that Executive can obtain employment in a business engaged in other lines and/or of a different nature than the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries, and that the enforcement of a remedy by way of injunction will not prevent Executive from earning a livelihood. Nothing herein will be construed as prohibiting the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries from pursuing any other remedies available to the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries for such breach or threatened breach, including the recovery of damages from Executive. (b) Executive recognizes and acknowledges that the knowledge of the business activities and plans for business activities of the Holding Company and its Subsidiaries as it may exist from time to time, is a valuable, special and unique asset of the business of the Holding Company and its Subsidiaries. Executive will not, during or after the term of his employment, disclose any knowledge of the past, present, planned or considered business activities of the Holding Company and its Subsidiaries thereof to any person, firm, corporation, or other entity for any reason or purpose whatsoever unless expressly authorized by the Board of Directors or required by law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Executive may disclose any knowledge of banking, financial and/or economic principles, concepts or ideas which are not solely and exclusively derived from the business plans and activities of the Holding Company. In the event of a breach or threatened breach by the Executive of the provisions of this Section, the Holding Company will be entitled to an injunction restraining Executive from disclosing, in whole or in part, the knowledge of the past, present, planned or considered business activities of the Holding Company or its Subsidiaries or from rendering any services to any person, firm, corporation, other entity to whom such knowledge, in whole or in part, has been disclosed or is threatened to be disclosed. Nothing herein will be construed as prohibiting the Holding Company from pursuing any other remedies available to the Holding Company for such breach or threatened breach, including the recovery of damages from Executive.
Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disparagement (a) During the Term, the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board or (2) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(a) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then-outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests). (b) If this Agreement is terminated by the Company for Cause (as defined in Section 6(c)) or if the Executive terminates this Agreement other than in accordance with Section 7 or 8 hereof, or if the Executive is receiving Severance Payments in accordance with Section 9(c) or payments under Section 9(d), then for a period of one (1) year following the date of termination the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity in the Company’s Field of Interest (as defined in Section 12), (2) solicit any customers or suppliers of the Company, (3) attempt to persuade or encourage customers or suppliers of the Company not to do business with the Company and/or to do business with a competitor of the Company, (4) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity engaged primarily in the Company’s Field of Interest, or (5) directly or indirectly employ, or seek to employ or secure the services in any capacity of, any person employed at that time by the Company or any of its Affiliates, or otherwise encourage or entice any such person to leave such employment; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(b) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) in the Company’s Field of Interest not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests). This Section 5(b) shall be subject to written waivers, which may be obtained by the Executive from the Company. (c) At no time during the Term of this Agreement or thereafter will the Executive knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Company or its Affiliates or will the Company knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Executive. (d) If the Executive commits a breach, or threatens to commit a breach, of any of the provisions of this Section 5, the Company shall have the right and remedy to have the provisions of this Agreement, as the case may be, specifically enforced by any court having equity jurisdiction, it being acknowledged and agreed that any such breach or threatened breach will cause irreparable injury to the Company and that money damages will not provide an adequate remedy to the Company. (e) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5 or any part hereof or thereof, is hereafter construed to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court or regulatory agency or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such court, agency or tribunal shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to substitute for or limit such provision(s) in order as closely as possible to effectuate the original intent of the parties with respect to such invalid, illegal or unenforceable covenant(s) generally and so to enforce such substituted covenant(s). Subject to the foregoing, the invalidity, illegality or unenforceability of any one or more of the covenants contained in this Section 5 shall not affect the validity of any other provision hereof, which shall be given full effect without regard to the invalid portions. (f) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5, or any part hereof or thereof, is held to be unenforceable because of the duration of such provision, the area covered thereby or the extent thereof, the parties agree that the tribunal making such determination shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to reduce the duration, area and/or extent of such provision and, in its reduced form, such provision shall then be enforceable. (g) Anything else contained in this Agreement to the contrary notwithstanding, the parties hereto intend to and hereby do confer jurisdiction to enforce the covenants contained in this Section 5 A upon the courts of any state within the geographical scope of such covenants. In the event that the courts of any one or more of such states shall hold any such covenant wholly unenforceable by reason of the breadth of such scope or otherwise, it is the intention of the parties hereto that such determination not bar or in any way affect the Company’s right to the relief provided above in the courts of any other state within the geographical scope of such other covenants, as to breaches of such covenants in such other jurisdictions, the above covenants as they relate to each state being, for this purpose, severable into diverse and independent covenants.
Non Competition Non Solicitation and Confidentiality As a condition to the receipt of this Award, you must agree to the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Confidentiality Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A by executing that Agreement. Failure to execute and return the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Confidentiality Agreement within 120 days of the Grant Date shall constitute your decision to decline to accept this Award.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation; Non-Disparagement (a) The Company shall provide Employee access to Confidential Information for use only during the Employment Period, and Employee acknowledges and agrees that the Company Group will be entrusting Employee, in Employee’s unique and special capacity, with developing the goodwill of the Company Group, and as an express incentive for the Company to enter into this Agreement and employ Employee hereunder, Employee has voluntarily agreed to the covenants set forth in this Section 10. Employee agrees and acknowledges that the limitations and restrictions set forth herein, including geographical and temporal restrictions on certain competitive activities, are reasonable in scope and purpose in all respects, do not interfere with public interests, will not cause Employee undue hardship, and are material and substantial parts of this Agreement intended and necessary to prevent unfair competition and to protect the Company Group’s Confidential Information, goodwill and legitimate business interests. (b) During the Prohibited Period, Employee shall not, without the prior written approval of the Board, directly or indirectly, for Employee or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person or entity of any nature: (i) engage in or participate within the Market Area in competition with any member of the Company Group in any aspect of the Business, including by directly or indirectly: (A) owning, managing, operating, or being an officer or director of, any business that competes with any member of the Company Group in the Market Area, or (B) joining, becoming an employee or consultant of, or otherwise being affiliated with, any person or entity engaged in, or planning to engage in, the Business in the Market Area in competition, or anticipated competition, with any member of the Company Group in any capacity (with respect to this clause (B)) in which Employee’s duties or responsibilities are the same as or similar to the duties or responsibilities that Employee had on behalf of any member of the Company Group; (ii) appropriate any Business Opportunity of, or relating to, any member of the Company Group located in the Market Area; (iii) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any customer or supplier of any member of the Company Group to cease or lessen such customer’s or supplier’s business with any member of the Company Group; or (iv) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any employee or contractor of any member of the Company Group to terminate his, her or its employment or engagement with any member of the Company Group. (c) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company Group as a result of a breach or threatened breach of the covenants set forth in Section 9 and in this Section 10, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that would be caused to the members of the Company Group for which they would have no other adequate remedy, the Company and each other member of the Company Group shall be entitled to enforce the foregoing covenants, in the event of a breach or threatened breach, by injunctions and restraining orders from any court of competent jurisdiction, without the necessity of showing any actual damages or that money damages would not afford an adequate remedy, and without the necessity of posting any bond or other security. The aforementioned equitable relief shall not be the Company’s or any other member of the Company Group’s exclusive remedy for a breach but instead shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies available to the Company and each other member of the Company Group at law and equity. (d) The covenants in this Section 10, and each provision and portion hereof, are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant (or portion thereof) shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant (or portion thereof). Moreover, in the event any arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which such arbitrator or court deems reasonable, and this Agreement shall thereby be reformed. (e) The following terms shall have the following meanings:
Termination by Buyer This Agreement may be terminated by Buyer and the purchase and sale of the Station abandoned, if Buyer is not then in material default, upon written notice to Seller, upon the occurrence of any of the following:
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation; Confidentiality (a) For a period from the Closing Date until the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall, directly or indirectly, own, manage, operate, control or participate in the ownership, management, operation or control of any business, whether in corporate, proprietorship or partnership form or otherwise, engaged in the Business or that otherwise competes with the Business (a “Restricted Business”). The parties hereto specifically acknowledge and agree that the remedy at law for any breach of the foregoing will be inadequate and that Newco, in addition to any other relief available to it, shall be entitled to temporary and permanent injunctive relief without the necessity of proving actual damage or posting any bond whatsoever. (b) For a period from the Closing Date to the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall: (i) cause, solicit, induce or encourage any Employees of the Company to leave such employment or hire, employ or otherwise engage any such individual; or (ii) cause, induce or encourage any material actual or prospective client, customer, supplier or licensor of the Business (including any existing or former customer of the Company and any Person that becomes a client or customer of the Business after the Closing) or any other Person who has a material business relationship with the Business, to terminate or modify any such actual or prospective relationship. (c) The covenants and undertakings contained in this Section 6.7 relate to matters which are of a special, unique and extraordinary character and a violation of any of the terms of this Section 6.7 will cause irreparable injury to Newco, the amount of which will be impossible to estimate or determine and which cannot be adequately compensated. Accordingly, the remedy at law for any breach of this Section 6.7 will be inadequate. Therefore, Newco will be entitled to an injunction, restraining order or other equitable relief from any court of competent jurisdiction in the event of any breach of this Section 6.7. The rights and remedies provided by this Section 6.7 are cumulative and in addition to any other rights and remedies which Newco may have hereunder or at law or in equity. (d) The parties hereto agree that, if any court of competent jurisdiction in a final nonappealable judgment determines that a specified time period, a specified geographical area, a specified business limitation or any other relevant feature of this Section 6.7 is unreasonable, arbitrary or against public policy, then a lesser time period, geographical area, business limitation or other relevant feature which is determined by such court to be reasonable, not arbitrary and not against public policy may be enforced against the applicable party. (e) The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the agreement of the Subsidiaries of the Company to the provisions of this Section 6.7 in form and content reasonably satisfactory to Newco.
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Because of the nature of the Company’s Business, and because, as a result of his employment with the Company, the Executive has been and will continue to be exposed to Confidential Information, the Executive acknowledges that the Company would sustain grievous harm in the event that he were to disclose Confidential Information, engage in business activities that compete with the Business, appropriate or divert business or customers of the Company or its affiliates and/or induce employees or consultants of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates. The Executive acknowledges that the Company has a legitimate business interest in protecting itself from the aforementioned harm and in the protection and maintenance of the Confidential Information and of the good will and customer relationships of the Company and its affiliates. Therefore, the Executive hereby agrees and covenants to be bound by the non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions set forth herein below, which restrictions the Executive agrees and acknowledges are reasonable and necessary and do not impose undue hardship or burdens on the Executive. a. The Executive agrees that, during his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he and his affiliates shall not directly or indirectly own, manage, operate, control, be employed by, consult for, be a shareholder of, be an officer of, participate in, contract with or be connected in any capacity or any manner with any person or entity whose business activities directly or indirectly (whether through related persons, entities or otherwise) compete with the Business anywhere in the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, PROVIDED HOWEVER, that the Executive shall not be prevented from owning an interest in a publicly traded company so long as the fair market value of such interest at the date of acquisition is less than US$100,000. b. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, for any reason, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly recruit, induce, divert, supervise, employ, manage, hire or entice, or cause to be recruited, induced, diverted, supervised, employed, managed, hired or enticed, any employee, consultant or independent contractor of the Company or its affiliates to leave or terminate the employment or other relationship thereof, for any reason. c. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit, or assist another to appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit any actual or potential business or customer away from the Company or its affiliates, or attempt to do any of the foregoing, or otherwise induce or attempt to induce any actual or potential business or customer of the Company or its affiliates, to terminate or adversely modify its relationship with the Company or its affiliates, or to enter into a relationship with or conduct business with the Company or its affiliates, which actual or potential business or customer the Executive was involved with or had a relationship with or whose identity became known to the Executive in connection with the Executive’s employment with the Company. d. If any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable (in whole or in part), such restrictive covenant shall be deemed modified to the extent, but only to the extent, of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability, and a court of competent jurisdiction shall have the power to modify, any such restrictive covenant to the extent necessary to render such provision enforceable, and the remaining restrictive covenant shall not be affected thereby. e. In the event of a violation of any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement, if the Executive is prevented by a court or arbitrator from committing any further violation, whether by a temporary restraining order, injunction or otherwise, the time periods set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement shall be computed by commencing the periods on the date of the applicable court or arbitrators’ order and continuing them from that date for the full period provided. f. The Executive shall have the right to request a waiver of all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement by providing the Company with a written request for such a waiver that contains all relevant details. The Company may, in its sole discretion, waive all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement on such terms and conditions, and to such extent, as it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such waiver must be in writing. g. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement would not have been entered into, that the benefits described in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 would not have been promised to the Executive by the Company, in the absence of the Executive’s covenants and promises set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation (a) In consideration of this Agreement, the Executive agrees that, for the period ending one year after the termination of the Executive's employment with the Company by the Company for Cause or by the Executive without Good Reason (the "Non-Competition Period"), the Executive will not, directly or indirectly (whether as a sole proprietor, partner or venturer, stockholder, director, officer, employee, consultant or in any other capacity as principal or agent or through any Person, subsidiary or employee acting as nominee or agent): (i) conduct or engage in or be interested in or associated with any Person which conducts or engages in the Triarco Business within the United States; (ii) take any action, directly or indirectly, to finance, guarantee or provide any other material assistance to any Person engaged in the Triarco Business; (iii) solicit, contact or accept business of any client or counterparty whom the Company served or conducted business with or whose name became known to the Executive as a potential client or counterparty while in the employ of the Company or during the Non-Competition Period; or (iv) influence or attempt to influence any Person that is a contracting party with the Company at any time during the Non-Competition Period to terminate any written or oral agreement with the Company. (b) The Executive shall neither, either on the Executive's own account or in conjunction with or on behalf of any other Person, solicit or entice away from the Company any officer, employee or customer of the Company during the term hereof or the Non-Competition Period nor engage, hire, employ, or induce the employment of any such Person whether or not such officer, employee or customer would commit a breach of contract by reason of leaving service or transferring business. (c) The restrictive provisions hereof shall not prohibit the Executive from (i) having an equity interest in the securities of any entity engaged in the Triarco Business or any business with respect to which the Executive obtained confidential or proprietary data or information, which entity's securities are listed on a nationally-recognized securities exchange or quotation system or traded in the over-the-counter market, to the extent that such interest does not exceed 5% of the outstanding equity interests of such entity, (ii) investing as a passive investor in an entity engaging in the Triarco Business that is not so listed or traded, so long as such interest does not exceed 5% of the outstanding equity interests of such entity or (iii) with the prior written consent of the Company, serving as a director or other advisor to any other Person. (d) The Executive agrees that the covenants contained in this Section 10 are reasonable covenants under the circumstances, and further agrees that if in the opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction, such restraint is not reasonable in any respect, such court shall have the right, power and authority to excise or modify such provision or provisions of these covenants which as to such court shall appear not reasonable and to enforce the remainder thereof as so amended.