Separate Existence Each of the Seller and the Servicer hereby acknowledges that the Purchasers, the Purchaser Agents and the Administrator are entering into the transactions contemplated by this Agreement and the other Transaction Documents in reliance upon the Seller’s identity as a legal entity separate from the Servicer, each Originator, Vistra and their respective other Affiliates. Therefore, from and after the date hereof, each of the Seller and the Servicer shall take all steps specifically required by this Agreement to continue the Seller’s identity as a separate legal entity and to make it apparent to third Persons that the Seller is an entity with assets and liabilities distinct from those of Vistra, the Servicer, each Originator, and any other Person, and is not a division of Vistra, the Servicer, the Originators, its or their respective other Affiliates or any other Person. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing and in addition to and consistent with the other covenants set forth herein, each of the Seller and the Servicer shall take such actions as shall be required in order to ensure each of the following until the Final Termination Date:
(a) The Seller will be a limited liability company whose primary activities are restricted in its limited liability company agreement to (i) purchasing or otherwise acquiring from any Originator, owning, holding, granting security interests or selling interests in Pool Assets; (ii) entering into agreements for the selling and servicing of the Receivables Pool; and (iii) conducting such other activities as it deems necessary or appropriate to carry out its primary activities.
(b) The Seller shall not engage in any business or activity, or incur any indebtedness or liability, other than as expressly permitted by the Transaction Documents.
(c) Not less than one independent manager (the “Independent Manager”) shall be an individual who (i) is not, and has not at any time during the five-year period prior to his or her appointment as Independent Manager been, a direct, indirect or beneficial owner, officer, director, employee, affiliate, associate or supplier of Vistra, the Servicer or any of its or their Affiliates (other than his or her service as an independent manager or in a similar capacity of any such Person); and (ii) has at least three years of employment experience with one or more entities that provide, in the ordinary course of its businesses, advisory, management or placement services to issuers of securitization or structured finance instruments, agreements or securities. The limited liability company agreement of the Seller shall at all times provide that (i) the Seller’s Manager (as defined in its limited liability company agreement) shall not approve, or take any other action to cause the filing of, a voluntary bankruptcy petition with respect to the Seller unless the Manager and the Independent Manager shall approve the taking of such action in writing before the taking of such action; and (ii) such provision cannot be amended without the prior written consent of the Independent Manager.
(d) The Independent Manager shall not at any time serve as a trustee in bankruptcy for the Seller, Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates.
(e) Any employee, consultant or agent of the Seller will be compensated from the Seller’s funds for services provided to the Seller. The Seller will not engage any agents other than its attorneys, auditors, other professionals, a servicer and any other agent contemplated by the Transaction Documents for the Receivables Pool.
(f) The Seller will contract with the Servicer, to perform for the Seller all operations required on a daily basis to service the Receivables Pool. The Seller will pay the Servicer the Servicing Fee pursuant to the Transaction Documents. Except as otherwise permitted by this Agreement, the Seller will not incur any material indirect or overhead expenses for items shared with Vistra or the Servicer (or any other Affiliate thereof) that are not reflected in the Servicing Fee. To the extent, if any, that the Seller (or any Affiliate thereof) shares items of expenses not reflected in the Servicing Fee or the manager’s fee, such as legal, auditing and other professional services, such expenses will be allocated to the extent practical on the basis of actual use or the value of services rendered, and otherwise on a basis reasonably related to the actual use or the value of services rendered; provided, that the Servicer may pay all (or any portion of) the expenses relating to the preparation, negotiation, execution and delivery of the Transaction Documents, including legal, agency and other fees.
(g) The Seller’s operating expenses will not be paid by Vistra, the Servicer, any Originator or any other Affiliate thereof.
(h) The Seller’s books and records will be maintained separately from those of Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates.
(i) The Seller’s assets shall not be included in the consolidated financial statements of Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates unless required in accordance with GAAP and any such consolidated financial statements shall contain detailed notes clearly stating that (i) such Affiliates are separate legal entities and the Seller’s assets and credit are not available to satisfy the debts and obligations of such Affiliates or any other Person and (ii) the Seller’s assets shall be listed on the Seller’s own separate balance sheet.
(j) The Seller’s assets will be maintained in a manner that facilitates their identification and segregation from those of Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates.
(k) The Seller will strictly observe corporate formalities in its dealings with Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates, and ensure that funds or other assets of the Seller are not commingled with those of Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates except as permitted by this Agreement. The Seller shall not maintain joint bank accounts or other depository accounts to which Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator or any of their respective other Affiliates has independent access.
(l) The Seller will maintain arm’s-length relationships with each of Vistra, the Servicer or any Originator (and any of their other Affiliates). Any Person that renders or otherwise furnishes services to the Seller will be compensated by the Seller at market rates for such services it renders or otherwise furnishes to the Seller. Neither the Seller, on the one hand, nor the Servicer or any Originator, on the other, will be or will hold itself out to be responsible for the debts of the other or the decisions or actions respecting the daily business and affairs of the other. The Seller and the Servicer will immediately correct any known misunderstanding with respect to the foregoing, and they will not operate or purport to operate as an integrated economic unit with respect to each other or in their dealing with any other entity.
(m) None of Vistra, the Servicer or other Originator shall pay the salaries of Seller’s employees, if any.
(n) No Affiliate of the Seller shall advance funds to, or guaranty debts of, the Seller, except as otherwise provided herein or in the other Transaction Documents; provided, that an Affiliate of the Seller may provide funds to the Seller in connection with its capitalization.
(o) The Seller shall not guarantee, and shall not otherwise be liable, with respect to any obligation of any of its Affiliates.
(p) The Seller shall be, at all times, adequately capitalized to engage in the transactions contemplated in its limited liability company agreement.
(q) Each of the Seller and the Servicer will take such other actions as are necessary on its part to ensure that the facts and assumptions set forth in the opinion issued by Sidley Austin LLP, as counsel for the Seller, in connection with this Agreement relating to substantive consolidation issues, and in the certificates accompanying such opinion, remain true and correct in all material respects at all times.
Maintenance of Corporate Existence The Company, at its own cost and expense, will do or cause to be done all things necessary to preserve and keep in full force and effect its corporate existence, rights and franchises, except as otherwise specifically permitted in Section 5.02; provided, however, that the Company shall not be required to preserve any right or franchise if the Company shall determine that the preservation thereof is no longer desirable in the conduct of the business of the Company.
Maintenance of Separate Existence With respect to each Unrestricted Subsidiary and Class II Restricted Subsidiary, cause such Subsidiary to do all things necessary to continue to be readily distinguishable from the Parent, the Borrower and the Class I Restricted Subsidiaries and maintain its existence separate and apart from that of the Parent, the Borrower and the Class I Restricted Subsidiaries including, without limitation:
(a) practicing and adhering to organizational formalities, such as maintaining appropriate books and records;
(b) observing all organizational formalities in connection with all dealings between itself and the Parent, the Borrower and the Class I Restricted Subsidiaries;
(c) observing all procedures required by its organizational documents and the laws of the jurisdiction of its organization;
(d) acting solely in its name and through its duly authorized officers or agents in the conduct of its businesses;
(e) maintaining its deposit and other bank accounts and all of its assets separate from those of any other Person;
(f) maintaining its financial records separate and apart from those of any other Person;
(g) not suggesting in any way, within its financial statements, that its assets are available to pay the claims of creditors of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary;
(h) ensuring that the responsible officers of the Unrestricted Subsidiary or Class II Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, duly authorized in accordance with its organizational documents, duly authorize all of its actions;
(i) ensuring the receipt of proper authorization, when necessary, in accordance with the terms of its organizational documents for its actions;
(j) not (A) having or incurring any Indebtedness to the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary (except for any such Indebtedness permitted by Section 7.2(k) or (l)); (B) guaranteeing or otherwise becoming liable for any obligations of the Parent, the Borrower (other than Peso Subfacility Loans and Third-Party Peso Loans, if any) or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary; (C) having obligations guaranteed by the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary except to the extent of any guarantee permitted by Section 7.8; (D) making any loans or advances to the Parent, the Borrower or any Subsidiary Guarantor except for any such Indebtedness that is (i) permitted by Section 7.2, (ii) unsecured, and (iii) subordinated to the Obligations on terms and conditions reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent; (E) holding itself out as responsible for debts of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary or for decisions or actions with respect to the affairs of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary; (F) operating or purporting to operate as an integrated, single economic unit with respect to the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary; (G) seeking to obtain credit or incur any obligation to any third party based upon the assets of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary (except to the extent of any guarantee permitted by Section 7.8); and (H) inducing any such third party to reasonably rely on the creditworthiness of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary (except to the extent of any guarantee permitted by Section 7.8);
(k) causing the Unrestricted Subsidiaries and the Class II Restricted Subsidiaries to reimburse the Borrower and its other Subsidiaries for the respective shares (determined on a commercially reasonable basis) of the Unrestricted Subsidiaries and Class II Restricted Subsidiaries of the costs of all shared corporate operating services, leases and expenses, including, without limitation, those associated with the services of shared executive officers, employees, consultants and agents, shared computer and other office equipment and software and shared telephone numbers; and otherwise refraining from engaging in any transaction with any of the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary unless such transaction is consummated (x) on terms and conditions no less favorable to the Unrestricted Subsidiary or Class II Restricted Subsidiary, as the case may be, than transactions consummated on an arms-length basis with unaffiliated Persons and (y) only with the proper approval and authorization in accordance with such Unrestricted Subsidiary’s or Class II Restricted Subsidiary’s organizational documents, as applicable;
(l) refraining from filing or otherwise initiating or supporting the filing of a motion in any bankruptcy or other insolvency proceeding involving the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary to substantively consolidate the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary with such Unrestricted Subsidiary or Class II Restricted Subsidiary;
(m) remaining Solvent;
(n) conducting all of its business (whether written or oral) solely in its own name (other than using servicemarks, trademarks, slogans or similar Intellectual Property which are in common with those used by the Borrower and its Restricted Subsidiaries) so as not to mislead others as to the identity of each of the Unrestricted Subsidiary, Class II Restricted Subsidiary, the Parent, the Borrower and any Class I Restricted Subsidiary; and
(o) maintaining a record with respect to any material asset purchased from the Parent, the Borrower or any Class I Restricted Subsidiary, including bills of sale (or any similar instrument of assignment) and, if appropriate, filings under the Uniform Commercial Code.
Corporate Existence, Etc Subject to Section 10.2, the Company will at all times preserve and keep its corporate existence in full force and effect. Subject to Section 10.2, the Company will at all times preserve and keep in full force and effect the corporate existence of each of its Subsidiaries (unless merged into the Company or a Wholly-Owned Subsidiary) and all rights and franchises of the Company and its Subsidiaries unless, in the good faith judgment of the Company, the termination of or failure to preserve and keep in full force and effect such corporate existence, right or franchise would not, individually or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.
Corporate Existence; Maintenance of Properties (a) The Borrower will do or cause to be done all things necessary to preserve and keep in full force and effect its corporate existence, rights and franchises and those of its Subsidiaries and will not, and will not cause or permit any of its Subsidiaries to, convert to any other entity.
(b) The Borrower (i) will cause all of its properties and those of its Subsidiaries used or useful in the conduct of its business or the business of its Subsidiaries to be maintained and kept in good condition, repair and working order and supplied with all necessary equipment, (ii) will cause to be made all necessary repairs, renewals, replacements, betterments and improvements thereof, all as in the judgment of the Borrower may be necessary so that the business carried on in connection therewith may be properly and advantageously conducted at all times, and (iii) will, and will cause each of its Subsidiaries to, continue to engage primarily in the businesses now conducted by them; provided that nothing in this Section 8.6 shall prevent the Borrower from discontinuing the operation and maintenance of any of its properties or any of those of its Subsidiaries if such discontinuance is, in the judgment of the Borrower, desirable in the conduct of its or their business and that do not in the aggregate materially adversely affect the business of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.
Corporate Existence So long as the Buyer beneficially owns any Note, the Company shall maintain its corporate existence and shall not sell all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, except in the event of a merger or consolidation or sale of all or substantially all of the Company’s assets, where the surviving or successor entity in such transaction (i) assumes the Company’s obligations hereunder and under the agreements and instruments entered into in connection herewith and (ii) is a publicly traded corporation whose Common Stock is listed for trading on the OTCBB, Nasdaq, Nasdaq SmallCap, NYSE or AMEX.
Separate Corporate Existence Each Transferor that is a securitization special purpose entity shall:
(i) Maintain in full effect its existence, rights and franchises as a limited liability company under the laws of the state of its formation or as a corporation under the laws of the state of its incorporation and will obtain and preserve its qualification to do business in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is or shall be necessary to protect the validity and enforceability of this Agreement and the applicable Receivables Purchase Agreement and each other instrument or agreement necessary or appropriate to proper administration hereof and to permit and effectuate the transactions contemplated hereby.
(ii) Except as provided in this Agreement, maintain its own deposit, securities and other account or accounts, separate from those of any Affiliate of such Transferor, with financial institutions. The funds of such Transferor will not be diverted to any other Person or for other than the company use of such Transferor, and, except as may be expressly permitted by this Agreement or the applicable Receivables Purchase Agreement, the funds of such Transferor shall not be commingled with those of any other Person.
(iii) Ensure that, to the extent that it shares the same officers or other employees as any of its members or other Affiliates, the salaries of and the expenses related to providing benefits to such officers and other employees shall be fairly allocated among such entities, and each such entity shall bear its fair share of the salary and benefit costs associated with all such common officers and employees.
(iv) Ensure that, to the extent that it jointly contracts with any of its members or other Affiliates to do business with vendors or service providers or to share overhead expenses, the costs incurred in so doing shall be allocated fairly among such entities, and each such entity shall bear its fair share of such costs. To the extent that such Transferor contracts or does business with vendors or service providers where the goods and services provided are partially for the benefit of any other Person, the costs incurred in so doing shall be fairly allocated to or among such entities for whose benefit the goods and services are provided, and each such entity shall bear its fair share of such costs.
(v) Ensure that all material transactions between such Transferor and any of its Affiliates shall be only on an arm’s-length basis and shall not be on terms more favorable to either party than the terms that would be found in a similar transaction involving unrelated third parties.
(vi) Maintain a principal executive and administrative office through which its business is conducted and a telephone number separate from those of its members and other Affiliates. To the extent that such Transferor and any of its members or other Affiliates have offices in contiguous space, there shall be fair and appropriate allocation of overhead costs (including rent) among them, and each such entity shall bear its fair share of such expenses.
(vii) Conduct its affairs strictly in accordance with its certificate of formation and limited liability company agreement or its certificate of incorporation and bylaws and observe all necessary, appropriate and customary company formalities, including, but not limited to, holding all regular and special members’ and directors’ meetings appropriate to authorize all action, keeping separate and accurate minutes of such meetings, passing all resolutions or consents necessary to authorize actions taken or to be taken, and maintaining accurate and separate books, records and accounts, including, but not limited to, intercompany transaction accounts. Regular members’ and directors’ meetings shall be held at least annually.
(viii) Ensure that its board of directors shall at all times include at least one Independent Director (for purposes hereof, “Independent Director” shall mean any member of the board of directors of such Transferor that is not and has not at any time been (x) an officer, agent, advisor, consultant, attorney, accountant, employee, member or shareholder of any Affiliate of such Transferor which is not a special purpose entity, (y) a director of any Affiliate of such Transferor other than an independent director of any Affiliate which is a special purpose entity or (z) a member of the immediate family of any of the foregoing).
(ix) Ensure that decisions with respect to its business and daily operations shall be independently made by such Transferor (although the officer making any particular decision may also be an officer or director of an Affiliate of such Transferor) and shall not be dictated by an Affiliate of such Transferor.
(x) Act solely in its own company name and through its own authorized officers and agents, and no Affiliate of such Transferor shall be appointed to act as agent of such Transferor. Such Transferor shall at all times use its own stationery and business forms and describe itself as a separate legal entity.
(xi) Other than as provided in the relevant Revolving Credit Agreement, ensure that no Affiliate of such Transferor shall advance funds or loan money to such Transferor, and no Affiliate of such Transferor will otherwise guaranty debts of such Transferor.
(xii) Other than organizational expenses and as expressly provided herein, pay all expenses, indebtedness and other obligations incurred by it using its own funds.
(xiii) Not enter into any guaranty, or otherwise become liable, with respect to or hold its assets or creditworthiness out as being available for the payment of any obligation of any Affiliate of such Transferor nor shall such Transferor make any loans to any Person.
(xiv) Ensure that any financial reports required of such Transferor shall comply with generally accepted accounting principles and shall be issued separately from, but may be consolidated with, any reports prepared for any of its Affiliates so long as such consolidated reports contain footnotes describing the effect of the transactions between such Transferor and such Affiliate and also state that the assets of such Transferor are not available to pay creditors of the Affiliate.
(xv) Ensure that at all times it is adequately capitalized to engage in the transactions contemplated in its certificate of formation and its limited liability company agreement or in its certificate of incorporation and bylaws.
Corporate Existence and Standing Each of the Borrower and its Subsidiaries is a corporation duly incorporated, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of its jurisdiction of incorporation and has all requisite authority to conduct its business in each jurisdiction in which its business is conducted.
Preservation of Corporate Existence, Etc Preserve and maintain, and cause each of its Subsidiaries to preserve and maintain, its corporate existence, rights (charter and statutory) and franchises; provided, however, that the Borrower and its Subsidiaries may consummate any merger or consolidation permitted under Section 5.02(b) and provided further that neither the Borrower nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to preserve any right or franchise if the Board of Directors of the Borrower or such Subsidiary shall determine that the preservation thereof is no longer desirable in the conduct of the business of the Borrower or such Subsidiary, as the case may be, and that the loss thereof is not disadvantageous in any material respect to the Borrower, such Subsidiary or the Lenders.
Corporate Existence and Power It is a company or corporation duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is incorporated, and has full corporate power and authority and the legal right to own and operate its property and assets and to carry on its business as it is now being conducted and as contemplated in this Agreement, including the right to grant the licenses granted by it hereunder.
