Alternate Directors (a) Subject to the remainder of this Section 8.12, each Class A Member entitled to nominate one or more Directors shall be entitled to nominate an alternate for each such Director that such Class A Member is entitled to nominate (each such alternate, an “Alternate Director”), who shall be deemed elected as such and shall have the right to serve, act and vote as a Director in the absence of the principal Director from time to time. Such Alternate Director shall be permitted to attend all meetings of the Board even if the principal Director is present at such meetings. If a principal Director is present at a meeting, the Alternate Director for such Director shall attend as an observer, shall not be counted towards the quorum at such meeting, and shall not have the right to act or vote as a Director at such meeting. If a principal Director is not present at a meeting, the Alternate Director for such Director shall attend as a full Director and be entitled to vote and act as a Director at such meeting and shall be counted toward the quorum at such meeting. If a principal Director attends a meeting, is counted toward the quorum, and, thereafter (i) recuses himself or herself from a vote on any particular matter, the Alternate Director for such Director, if present at such meeting, shall be allowed to vote as a Director on such matter, or (ii) leaves such meeting, the Alternate Director for such Director, if present at such meeting, shall sit as a Director for the remainder of such meeting, subject, in each case, to the provisions of Section 8.16 which would prohibit such Alternate Director from voting on a particular matter.
(b) If a Class A Member ceases to have the right to nominate a Director as provided in this Agreement, any Alternate Director nominated by such Class A Member shall immediately cease to be an Alternate Director.
(c) The Company shall provide to each Alternate Director copies of all notices, board materials, reports, minutes and consents at the time and in the manner as they are provided to the Directors; provided that each Alternate Director shall be subject to the confidentiality obligations set forth in Section 11.1.
(d) The provisions of Section 8.4(c), Section 8.4(d) and Section 8.8 shall apply to Alternate Directors, mutatis mutandis, as if the references to Directors therein were references to Alternate Directors.
(e) The initial Alternate Directors for the initial principal Directors shall be as set forth on Exhibit B.
Board Observer (a) Priceline shall have the right, exercisable by delivering notice to the Company, to designate one observer to attend any meetings of the Board and each committee thereof (the “Board Observer”) for so long as (i) Priceline and its Subsidiaries beneficially own at least the Board Observer Threshold Shareholding in the Company, (ii) Priceline and its Subsidiaries comply in all material respects with the provisions of Section 2.1, (iii) Priceline and its Subsidiaries comply in all material respects with the provisions of Section 3.1(a) and (iv) the Marketing Agreement is in full force and effect and Xxxxxxx.xxx B.V. complies in all material respects with the provisions thereof (the “Board Observer Right”).
(b) The Board Observer shall be entitled (i) to receive notice of each meeting (including telephonic meetings) of the Board and any committee thereof in the same form and manner as is given to the members of the Board and the same materials as and when provided to such members (both before or after a meeting, including copies of minutes thereof), including materials provided other than in connection with a meeting, and neither the Board nor any committee thereof shall conduct any business by written consent without giving such prior notice to the Board Observer and a copy of the proposed consent, any exhibits, annexes or schedules thereto and any related materials and (ii) at the Board Observer’s discretion, to attend each Board meeting or meeting of any committee thereof, either in person or by telephonic conference, and to participate fully in all discussions among directors of the Board at such meetings, and the Company covenants to take reasonable measures to facilitate such attendance and discussion; provided that, notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 3.2, (A) the Board Observer shall agree to hold in confidence all information provided (provided that the Board Observer shall not be restricted in any confidential communications or discussions with or the confidential provision of information to Priceline and its Subsidiaries and their respective directors, officers, employees, accountants, agents, counsel and other representatives), (B) such Board Observer and Priceline shall be subject to the Company’s xxxxxxx xxxxxxx policies and procedures and shall sign an acknowledgement form stating that he or she and it agree to comply with such policies and procedures (it being understood that such xxxxxxx xxxxxxx policies and procedures shall not restrict Priceline or its Affiliates from purchasing ADSs or Ordinary Shares during any “blackout” or similar non-trading period if such purchases are made pursuant to a purchase plan established in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Exchange Act) and (C) the Board Observer may be excluded from all or a portion of any meeting or from receiving all or a portion of any materials provided to the member of the Board (x) to the extent that the presence of the Board Observer at such meeting or any portion thereof or the receipt by the Board Observer of such materials or any portion thereof, as the case may be, could reasonably be expected to result in, based on the advice of the Company’s external counsel, the loss of attorney-client privilege in relation to the Company, its Subsidiaries or its Affiliates, or (y) to the extent the subject matter to be discussed at the meeting concerns (1) the Company’s rights under agreements with Priceline or its Subsidiaries or (2) matters related to business competition between the Company or its Subsidiaries, on the one hand, and Priceline or its Subsidiaries, on the other hand, in the People’s Republic of China); it being understood that the Board Observer shall not constitute a member of the Board and shall not be entitled to vote on, or consent to, any matters presented to the Board. For the avoidance of doubt, subject to the first sentence of this Section 3.2(b), in the event that any regular or special meeting of the Board is convened, the Company shall be deemed to be in full compliance with the provisions of this Section 3.2(b), provided that the Board Observer is given the notice in the same form and manner as, and copies of the same materials as and when provided to, the members of the Board and the Company takes reasonable measures to facilitate the Board Observer’s attendance at any such meeting in accordance with this Section 3.2(b).
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.
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.
Board Observers At any time during which there is an outstanding balance on the Tranche A Term Loan (as such capitalized term is defined in that certain Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated October 15, 2009 (the “Credit Agreement”), among Xxxxxx Communications Company, LLC, Xxxxxx Publishing Group, LLC, the Lenders party thereto, and Tranche Manager, LLC, as Administrative Agent), Tranche Holdings, LLC, or its designee, shall be entitled to designate one (1) nonvoting observer (the “Observer”) to the Company’s Board of Directors and to all committees thereof. Such Observer shall be entitled to attend all Board meetings (which meetings shall generally be held telephonically) but will not be entitled to vote at any Board meeting. Such Observer shall be entitled to receive all consents, proposed consents or Board actions, documents, materials, information and notices (whether or not in writing) provided to the Board; provided, however, that the Company reserves the right to exclude such Observer from access to any material or meeting or portion thereof (only if the Observer is notified of such withholding) if the Board votes in good faith after advice of counsel, that such exclusion is necessary (taking into account any confidentiality agreements that such Observer has executed or is willing to execute): (a) to preserve the attorney-client privilege; (b) to prevent a breach by the Board of Directors of its fiduciary duties; or (c) to avoid the impairment of the Company’s ability to enforce its rights under this Agreement in any bona fide dispute with the Observer. Such Observer may be removed from office only by Tranche Holdings, LLC, except that the Observer may be removed for cause by the Board of Directors in the event of willful misconduct or material breach of any confidentiality agreement with the Company or its affiliates; provided such Observer shall not be removed for cause until after Tranche Holdings, LLC has been notified of the Board’s intent to remove such person for cause and is given Tranche Holdings, LLC a reasonable amount of time to appoint another person as an Observer. Upon the payment and satisfaction in full of Tranche A Term Loan, Tranche Holdings, LLC shall cease to possess the right to designate an Observer, and any Observer so designated will automatically and without further action be removed from the Board. At any time during which there is an outstanding balance on the Tranche A Term Loan (as defined in the Credit Agreement), all travel and other reasonable expenses incurred by Tranche Holdings, LLC or its designee in connection with its rights in this Section 3.1.8 shall be reimbursed by the Company.
Board Observer Rights (a) The Company agrees that it will invite Observer to attend, in a non-voting observer capacity, all meetings of the Board and any and all Committees for the purposes of permitting Observer to have current information with respect to the affairs of the Company and the actions taken by the Board and Observer to provide input and advice with respect thereto (the “Approved Purposes”). Observer shall have the right to be heard at any such meeting, but in no event shall Observer: (i) be deemed to be a member of the Board or such Committees; (ii) have the right to vote on any matter under consideration by the Board or such Committees or otherwise have any power to cause the Company to take, or not to take, any action; or (iii) except as expressly set forth in this Agreement, have or be deemed to have, or otherwise be subject to, any duties (fiduciary or otherwise) to the Company or its stockholders or any duties (fiduciary or otherwise) otherwise applicable to the directors of the Company. As a non-voting observer, Observer will also be provided (concurrently with delivery to the directors of the Company and in the same manner delivery is made to them) copies of all notices, minutes, consents, and all other materials or information (financial or otherwise) that are provided to the directors with respect to a meeting or any written consent in lieu of meeting (except to the extent Observer has been excluded therefrom pursuant to clause (c) below).
(b) If a meeting of the Board or any of the Committees is conducted via telephone or other electronic medium (e.g., videoconference), Observer may attend such meeting via the same medium; provided, however, that it shall be a material breach of this Agreement by Observer to provide any other person access to such meeting without the Company’s express prior written consent (which consent may be by e-mail).
(c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company may exclude Observer from access to any material or meeting or portion thereof if: (i) the Board concludes in good faith, upon advice of the Company’s counsel, that such exclusion is reasonably necessary to preserve the attorney-client privilege between the Company and such counsel; provided, however, that any such exclusion shall apply only to such portion of the material or such portion of the meeting which would be required to preserve such privilege and not to any other portion thereof; or (ii) such portion of a meeting is an executive session limited solely to independent director members of the Board, independent auditors and/or legal counsel, as the Board may designate, and Observer (assuming Observer were a member of the Board) would not meet the then-applicable standards for independence adopted by the New York Stock Exchange, or such other exchange on which the Company’s securities are then traded.
(d) The Company shall compensate Observer in the same amount of all cash retainers, meeting fees and any other cash fees as if Observer were an independent director member of the Board and a member of each of the committees thereof, as such cash compensation may be modified from time to time. Further, the Company shall reimburse Observer for all reasonable out-of-pocket expenses incurred by Observer in connection with attendance at Board and Committee meetings. All compensation and reimbursements payable by the Company pursuant to this Section 1(d) shall be paid to Observer in accordance with the Company’s policies and practices with respect to director compensation and expense reimbursement then in effect; provided, however, that any such compensation or reimbursement shall be paid to Observer no later than comparable compensation or reimbursement is paid to the members of the Board.
(e) The rights described in this Section 1 shall terminate upon: (i) the end of the Observer Period, as described in the Merger Agreement; (ii) any material violation of the terms of this Agreement by Observer which (A) remains uncured within ten business days after receipt of notice thereof, or (B) if such violation is not subject to cure, directly causes harm to the Company in the Board’s sole and absolute discretion; or (iii) the death or disability of Observer.
Committees of the Board of Directors (a) The Board of Directors, by resolution adopted by a majority of the full Board of Directors, may designate from among its members one or more committees (in addition to those listed below), each of which shall be comprised of one or more of its members, and may designate one or more of its members as alternate members of any committee, who may, subject to any limitations by the Board of Directors, replace absent or disqualified members at any meeting of that committee. Any such committee, to the extent provided in such resolution or in the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws, shall have and may exercise all of the authority of the Board of Directors to the extent permitted by the NRS, including, without limitation, the power and authority to declare a dividend, to authorize the issuance of stock or to adopt a plan of merger pursuant to Section 78.125 of the NRS. Any such committee may authorize the seal of the Company to be affixed to all papers which may require it. In addition to the above, such committee or committees shall have such other powers and limitations of authority as may be determined from time to time by resolution adopted by the Board of Directors.
(b) The Board of Directors shall have the power at any time to change the membership of any such committee and to fill vacancies in it. A majority of the number of members of any such committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business unless a greater number is required by a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors. The act of the majority of the members of a committee present at any meeting at which a quorum is present shall be the act of such committee, unless the act of a greater number is required by a resolution adopted by the Board of Directors. Each such committee may elect a chairman and appoint such subcommittees and assistants as it may deem necessary. Except as otherwise provided by the Board of Directors, meetings of any committee shall be conducted in accordance with Paragraphs 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8, 3.9 and 7.3 hereof. In the absence or disqualification of a member of a committee, the member or members present at any meeting and not disqualified from voting, whether or not constituting a quorum, may unanimously appoint another member of the Board of Directors to act at the meeting in the place of the absent or disqualified member. Any member of any such committee elected or appointed by the Board of Directors may be removed by the Board of Directors whenever in its judgment the best interests of the Company will be served thereby, but such removal shall be without prejudice to the contract rights, if any, of the person so removed. Election or appointment of a member of a committee shall not of itself create contract rights.
(c) Any action taken by any committee of the Board of Directors shall promptly be recorded in the minutes and filed with the Secretary.
(d) Notwithstanding anything herein contained to the contrary, the composition and powers of any committee of the Board of Directors are expressly subject to the requirements of any stock exchange or quotation system on which the capital stock of the Company is traded or quoted, or the Exchange Act.
The Board (a) The Board may, subject to the provisions of paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section 2.6 with respect to the number of and vacancies in the position of Director and the provisions of Section 3.3 hereof with respect to the election of Directors by Members, designate any person who shall agree to be bound by all of the terms of this Agreement as a Director. The names and mailing addresses of the Directors shall be set forth in the books and records of the Company. The number of Directors shall be fixed from time to time by a written instrument signed by, or by resolution approved at a duly constituted meeting by vote of, a majority of the Board, provided however that the number of Directors shall at all times be at least one and no more than ten as determined, from time to time, by the Directors pursuant to this Agreement.
(b) Each Director shall serve as a Director for the duration of the term of the Company, unless his or her status as a Director shall be sooner terminated pursuant to Section 4.2 hereof. If any vacancy in the position of a Director occurs, the remaining Directors may appoint a person to serve in such capacity, provided that, at any time the Company is registered under the Company Act, such appointment is in accordance with the Company Act. The Directors may call a meeting of Members to fill any vacancy in the position of Director, and shall do so at any time the Company is registered under the Company Act and such meeting is required by the Company Act.
(c) In the event that no Director remains to continue the business of the Company, the Investment Manager shall promptly call a meeting of the Members, to be held within 60 days after the date on which the last Director ceased to act in that capacity, for the purpose of determining whether to continue the business of the Company and, if the business shall be continued, of electing the required number of Directors to the Board. If the Members shall determine at such meeting not to continue the business of the Company or if the required number of Directors is not elected within 60 days after the date on which the last Director ceased to act in that capacity, then the Company shall be dissolved pursuant to Section 6.1 hereof and the assets of the Company shall be liquidated and distributed pursuant to Section 6.2 hereof.
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.
Observer (a) For so long as RA Capital holds at least 529,474 Series A Preferred Shares (or Ordinary Shares issued upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Shares) as appropriately adjusted for share splits, share dividends, combinations, recapitalizations and similar events, RA Capital shall be entitled to nominate a representative board observer (the “RA Capital Observer”).
(b) For so long as Venrock holds at least 352,983 Series A Preferred Shares (or Ordinary Shares issued upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Shares) as appropriately adjusted for share splits, share dividends, combinations, recapitalizations and similar events, Venrock shall be entitled to nominate a representative board observer (the “Venrock Observer”).
(c) For so long as FIIF holds at least 352,983 Series A Preferred Shares (or the Ordinary Shares issued upon conversion of the Series A Preferred Shares) as appropriately adjusted for share splits, share dividends, combinations, recapitalizations and similar events, FIIF shall be entitled to nominate a representative board observer (together with the RA Capital Observer and Venrock Observer, the “Observers”).
(d) Each Observer shall be entitled to (i) attend and participate in all Board or committee meetings in a non-voting capacity and (ii) receive copies of all notices and materials provided to other members of the Board and the committees at the same time and in the same manner as provided to such other members of the Board; provided, however, that the Observer shall agree to hold in confidence and trust and to act in a fiduciary manner with respect to all information so provided; provided further, that the Company reserves the right to withhold any information and to exclude such Observer from any meeting or portion thereof based on the advice of counsel or if the Company reasonably believes that (x) access to such information or attendance at such meeting could reasonably result in an adverse effect to the attorney-client privilege between the Company and its counsel or (y) the Observer has a conflict of interest with respect to the subject matter.
