New or Successor Letter of Credit Issuer (a) The Letter of Credit Issuer may resign as a Letter of Credit Issuer upon 60 days’ prior written notice to the Administrative Agent, the Lenders and the Borrower. The Borrower may replace a Letter of Credit Issuer for any reason upon written notice to the Administrative Agent and the Letter of Credit Issuer. The Borrower may add Letter of Credit Issuers at any time upon notice to the Administrative Agent. If the Letter of Credit Issuer shall resign or be replaced, or if the Borrower shall decide to add a new Letter of Credit Issuer under this Agreement, then the Borrower may appoint from among the Lenders a successor issuer of Letters of Credit or a new Letter of Credit Issuer, as the case may be, or, with the consent of the Administrative Agent (such consent not to be unreasonably withheld), another successor or new issuer of Letters of Credit, whereupon such successor issuer shall succeed to the rights, powers and duties of the replaced or resigning Letter of Credit Issuer under this Agreement and the other Credit Documents, or such new issuer of Letters of Credit shall be granted the rights, powers and duties of a Letter of Credit Issuer hereunder, and the term “Letter of Credit Issuer” shall mean such successor or such new issuer of Letters of Credit effective upon such appointment. At the time such resignation or replacement shall become effective, the Borrower shall pay to the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer all accrued and unpaid fees pursuant to Sections 4.1(c) and 4.1(d). The acceptance of any appointment as a Letter of Credit Issuer hereunder whether as a successor issuer or new issuer of Letters of Credit in accordance with this Agreement, shall be evidenced by an agreement entered into by such new or successor issuer of Letters of Credit, in a form satisfactory to the Borrower and the Administrative Agent and, from and after the effective date of such agreement, such new or successor issuer of Letters of Credit shall become a “Letter of Credit Issuer” hereunder. After the resignation or replacement of a Letter of Credit Issuer hereunder, the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer shall remain a party hereto and shall continue to have all the rights and obligations of a Letter of Credit Issuer under this Agreement and the other Credit Documents with respect to Letters of Credit issued by it prior to such resignation or replacement, but shall not be required to issue additional Letters of Credit. In connection with any resignation or replacement pursuant to this clause (a) (but, in case of any such resignation, only to the extent that a successor issuer of Letters of Credit shall have been appointed), either (i) the Borrower, the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer and the successor issuer of Letters of Credit shall arrange to have any outstanding Letters of Credit issued by the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer replaced with Letters of Credit issued by the successor issuer of Letters of Credit or (ii) the Borrower shall cause the successor issuer of Letters of Credit, if such successor issuer is reasonably satisfactory to the replaced or resigning Letter of Credit Issuer, to issue “back-stop” Letters of Credit naming the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer as beneficiary for each outstanding Letter of Credit issued by the resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer, which new Letters of Credit shall be denominated in the same currency as, and shall have a face amount equal to, the Letters of Credit being back-stopped and the sole requirement for drawing on such new Letters of Credit shall be a drawing on the corresponding back-stopped Letters of Credit. After any resigning or replaced Letter of Credit Issuer’s resignation or replacement as Letter of Credit Issuer, the provisions of this Agreement relating to a Letter of Credit Issuer shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it (A) while it was a Letter of Credit Issuer under this Agreement or (B) at any time with respect to Letters of Credit issued by such Letter of Credit Issuer.
Role of Letter of Credit Issuer Each Lender and the Borrower agree that, in paying any drawing under a Letter of Credit, the Letter of Credit Issuer shall not have any responsibility to obtain any document (other than any sight draft, certificates and documents expressly required by the Letter of Credit) or to ascertain or inquire as to the validity or accuracy of any such document or the authority of the Person executing or delivering any such document. None of the Letter of Credit Issuer, the Administrative Agent, any of their respective Affiliates nor any correspondent, participant or assignee of the Letter of Credit Issuer shall be liable to any Lender for (i) any action taken or omitted in connection herewith at the request or with the approval of the Required Revolving Credit Lenders; (ii) any action taken or omitted in the absence of gross negligence or willful misconduct; or (iii) the due execution, effectiveness, validity or enforceability of any document or instrument related to any Letter of Credit or Issuer Document. The Borrower hereby assumes all risks of the acts or omissions of any beneficiary or transferee with respect to its use of any Letter of Credit; provided that this assumption is not intended to, and shall not, preclude the Borrower’s pursuing such rights and remedies as it may have against the beneficiary or transferee at law or under any other agreement. None of the Letter of Credit Issuer, the Administrative Agent, any of their respective Affiliates nor any correspondent, participant or assignee of the Letter of Credit Issuer shall be liable or responsible for any of the matters described in Section 3.3(e); provided that anything in such Section to the contrary notwithstanding, the Borrower may have a claim against the Letter of Credit Issuer, and the Letter of Credit Issuer may be liable to the Borrower, to the extent, but only to the extent, of any direct, as opposed to consequential or exemplary, damages suffered by the Borrower which the Borrower proves were caused by the Letter of Credit Issuer’s willful misconduct or gross negligence or the Letter of Credit Issuer’s willful failure to pay under any Letter of Credit after the presentation to it by the beneficiary of a sight draft and certificate(s) strictly complying with the terms and conditions of a Letter of Credit. In furtherance and not in limitation of the foregoing, the Letter of Credit Issuer may accept documents that appear on their face to be in order, without responsibility for further investigation, regardless of any notice or information to the contrary, and the Letter of Credit Issuer shall not be responsible for the validity or sufficiency of any instrument transferring or assigning or purporting to transfer or assign a Letter of Credit or the rights or benefits thereunder or proceeds thereof, in whole or in part, which may prove to be invalid or ineffective for any reason.
Issuing Lender For purposes of this Section 5.9, the term “Lender” includes the Issuing Lender and the term “applicable Law” includes FATCA.
Issuing Bank For purposes of Section 2.17(e) and (f), the term “Lender” includes the Issuing Bank.
Issuing Bank Agreements Each Issuing Bank agrees that, unless otherwise requested by the Administrative Agent, such Issuing Bank shall report in writing to the Administrative Agent (i) on the first Business Day of each week, the daily activity (set forth by day) in respect of Letters of Credit during the immediately preceding week, including all issuances, extensions, amendments and renewals, all expirations and cancellations and all disbursements and reimbursements, (ii) on or prior to each Business Day on which such Issuing Bank expects to issue, amend, renew or extend any Letter of Credit, the date of such issuance, amendment, renewal or extension, and the aggregate face amount of the Letters of Credit to be issued, amended, renewed or extended by it and outstanding after giving effect to such issuance, amendment, renewal or extension occurred (and whether the amount thereof changed), it being understood that such Issuing Bank shall not permit any issuance, renewal, extension or amendment resulting in an increase in the amount of any Letter of Credit to occur without first obtaining written confirmation from the Administrative Agent that it is then permitted under this Agreement, (iii) on each Business Day on which such Issuing Bank makes any LC Disbursement, the date of such LC Disbursement and the amount of such LC Disbursement, (iv) on any Business Day on which any Borrower fails to reimburse an LC Disbursement required to be reimbursed to such Issuing Bank on such day, the date of such failure and the amount and currency of such LC Disbursement and (v) on any other Business Day, such other information as the Administrative Agent shall reasonably request.
Successor Administrative Agent The Administrative Agent may resign as Administrative Agent upon 10 days’ notice to the Lenders and the Borrower. If the Administrative Agent shall resign as Administrative Agent under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents, then the Required Lenders shall appoint from among the Lenders a successor agent for the Lenders, which successor agent shall (unless an Event of Default under Section 8(a) or Section 8(f) with respect to the Borrower shall have occurred and be continuing) be subject to approval by the Borrower (which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed), whereupon such successor agent shall succeed to the rights, powers and duties of the Administrative Agent, and the term “Administrative Agent” shall mean such successor agent effective upon such appointment and approval, and the former Administrative Agent’s rights, powers and duties as Administrative Agent shall be terminated, without any other or further act or deed on the part of such former Administrative Agent or any of the parties to this Agreement or any holders of the Revolving Loans. If no successor agent has accepted appointment as Administrative Agent by the date that is 10 days following a retiring Administrative Agent’s notice of resignation, the retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation shall nevertheless thereupon become effective, and the Lenders shall assume and perform all of the duties of the Administrative Agent hereunder until such time, if any, as the Required Lenders appoint a successor agent as provided for above. After any retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation as Administrative Agent, the provisions of this Section 9 shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it while it was Administrative Agent under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents.
Letter of Credit Facility (a) Subject to and upon the terms and conditions herein set forth, each L/C Account Party, or Interface on behalf of any L/C Account Party, may request, in accordance with the provisions of this Article IIA, that, on and after the Restatement Date, the Domestic L/C Issuer issue one or more Domestic Letters of Credit for the account of such L/C Account Party; provided, however, that any Letter of Credit to be so issued shall conform to the following conditions and requirements:
(i) The Letter of Credit shall be in a form customarily used by the L/C Issuer or in any other form requested by the L/C Account Party and approved by the L/C Issuer;
(ii) No Letter of Credit shall have an expiration date later than one year from the date of issuance thereof, and no Letter of Credit shall have an expiration date later than the fifth (5th) Business Day prior to the Maturity Date, regardless of its date of issuance;
(iii) [Intentionally omitted];
(iv) No Letter of Credit shall be requested or issued having a stated amount less than $250,000;
(v) No Letter of Credit shall be requested or issued if, after giving effect to such issuance, the aggregate outstanding principal amount of all Extensions of Credit would exceed the aggregate amount of all Lenders’ Domestic Syndicated Loan Commitments;
(vi) No Domestic Letter of Credit shall be requested or issued if, after giving effect to such issuance the Aggregate Domestic L/C Outstandings would exceed the lesser of (A) the Domestic Borrowing Limit, minus the amount of all outstanding Domestic Revolving Loans and (B) the aggregate Domestic L/C Subcommitments;
(vii) [Intentionally Omitted];
(viii) [Intentionally Omitted]; and
(ix) Any such Letter of Credit shall be subject to the Uniform Customs and/or ISP98 (or any other customary set of rules, regulations, or standards adopted and employed by the L/C Issuer in its customary practices), as set forth in the application for such Letter of Credit or other applicable law as determined by the L/C Issuer. Upon expiration or termination of the Domestic Syndicated Loan Commitments, the foregoing Domestic Letter of Credit facility shall automatically expire or terminate, as the case may be, without further action or notice hereunder.
(b) Each Letter of Credit may provide that the L/C Issuer may (but shall not be required to), upon the occurrence of an Event of Default and the acceleration of the maturity of the Loans, or the exercise of any remedies set forth in Article IX, pay the beneficiary thereof or, if payment is not then due to the beneficiary, provide for the deposit of funds in an account to secure payment to the beneficiary and that any funds so deposited shall be paid to the beneficiary of the Letter of Credit if conditions to such payment are satisfied, or returned to the L/C Issuer for distribution to the Domestic Agent (or, if all Obligations shall have been indefeasibly paid in full, to the applicable L/C Account Party) if no payment to the beneficiary has been made and the final date available for drawings under the Letter of Credit has passed. Each payment or deposit of funds as provided in this Section 2A.01(b) shall be treated for all purposes of this Agreement as a drawing duly honored by the L/C Issuer under the related Letter of Credit.
Successor Administrative Agents An Administrative Agent may resign at any time by giving written notice thereof to the Lenders and Altria and may be removed at any time with or without cause by the Required Lenders. Upon the resignation or removal of JPMCB, as Administrative Agent, Citibank, as Administrative Agent, shall succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, discretion, privileges and duties of JPMCB, as Administrative Agent, and JPMCB, as Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement. Upon any other such resignation or removal which results in there being no Administrative Agent hereunder, the Required Lenders shall have the right to appoint a successor Administrative Agent. If no successor Administrative Agent shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders, and shall have accepted such appointment, within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent’s giving of notice of resignation or the Required Lenders’ removal of the retiring Administrative Agent, then the retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent, which shall be a commercial bank organized under the laws of the United States of America or of any State thereof and having a combined capital and surplus of at least $500,000,000. Upon the acceptance of any appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor Administrative Agent, such successor Administrative Agent shall thereupon succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, discretion, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement. After any retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation or removal hereunder as Administrative Agent, the provisions of this Article VII shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it while it was Administrative Agent under this Agreement.
The Letter of Credit Facility (i) Subject to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth (A) Issuing Bank agrees, in reliance on the Agreements of the Lenders set forth in this Section (1) to issue Letters of Credit for the account of any Borrower from time to time on any Business Day during the period from the Effective Date hereof until 10 days before the Termination Date in an aggregate Available Amount for all Letters of Credit not to exceed at any time the lesser of (x) the Letter of Credit Facility at such time and (y) the Unused Revolving Credit Commitments of the Lenders at such time (provided that in no event shall the Issuing Bank be required to issue a Letter of Credit if, after giving effect to such issuance, the aggregate amount of the Revolving Credit Exposures of all Lenders shall exceed the Revolving Credit Availability at such time) and to amend or extend Letters of Credit previously issued by it in accordance with the terms of this Section 2.16, and (2) to honor drawings under the Letters of Credit, and (B) the Lenders severally agree to participate in Letters of Credit issued for the account of any Borrower and any drawings thereunder. Each request by a Borrower for the issuance or amendment of a Letter of Credit shall be deemed to be a representation by the Borrowers that the issuance, extension or amendment of the Letter of Credit so requested complies with the conditions set forth in the preceding sentence. Within the foregoing limits, and subject to the terms and conditions hereof, each Borrower’s ability to obtain Letters of Credit shall be fully revolving, and accordingly such Borrower may, during the foregoing period, obtain Letters of Credit to replace Letters of Credit that have expired or that have been drawn upon and reimbursed.
(ii) No Letter of Credit shall have an expiration date (including all rights of the applicable Borrower or the beneficiary to require renewal) later than the earlier of (A) 10 days before the Termination Date and (B) one year after the date of issuance thereof (but such Letter of Credit may by its terms be automatically renewable (each, an “Auto-Extension Letter of Credit”); provided that any such Auto-Extension Letter of Credit must permit the Issuing Bank to prevent any such extension at least once in each twelve (12) month period (commencing with the date of issuance of such Letter of Credit) by giving prior notice to the beneficiary thereof not later than a day (the “Non-Extension Notice Date”) in each such twelve (12) month period to be agreed upon at the time such Letter of Credit is issued. Unless otherwise directed by the Issuing Bank, the applicable Borrower shall not be required to make a specific request to the Issuing Bank for any such extension. Once an Auto-Extension Letter of Credit has been issued, the Lenders shall be deemed to have authorized (but may not require) the Issuing Bank to permit the extension of such Letter of Credit at any time to an expiry date not later than the date 10 days before the Termination Date; provided that the Issuing Bank shall not permit any such extension if (A) the Issuing Bank has determined that it would not be permitted, or would have no obligation at such time to issue such Letter of Credit in its revised form (as extended) under the terms hereof (by reason of the provisions of this Section 2.16 or otherwise), or (B) it has received notice (which may be by telephone or in writing) on or before the day that is seven (7) Business Days before the Non-Extension Notice Date (1) from the Agent that the Required Lenders have elected not to permit such extension or (2) from the Agent, any Lender or a Borrower that one or more of the applicable conditions specified in Section 3.02 is not then satisfied, and in each such case directing the Issuing Bank not to permit such extension.
(iii) The Issuing Bank shall not be under any obligation to issue any Letter of Credit if:
(A) any order, judgment or decree of any Governmental Authority or arbitrator shall by its terms purport to enjoin or restrain the Issuing Bank from issuing the Letter of Credit, or any law applicable to the Issuing Bank or any request or directive (whether or not having the force of law) from any Governmental Authority with jurisdiction over the Issuing Bank shall prohibit, or request that the Issuing Bank refrain from, the issuance of letters of credit generally or the Letter of Credit in particular or shall impose upon the Issuing Bank with respect to the Letter of Credit any restriction, reserve or capital requirement (for which the Issuing Bank is not otherwise compensated hereunder) not in effect on the Effective Date, or shall impose upon the Issuing Bank any unreimbursed loss, cost or expense which was not applicable on the Effective Date and which the Issuing Bank in good xxxxx xxxxx material to it;
(B) the issuance of the Letter of Credit would violate one or more policies of the Issuing Bank applicable to letters of credit generally;
(C) except as otherwise agreed by the Agent and the Issuing Bank, the Letter of Credit is in an initial stated amount of less than $100,000;
(D) the Letter of Credit is to be denominated in a currency other than Dollars;
(E) any Lender is at that time a Defaulting Lender, unless the Issuing Bank has entered into arrangements, including the delivery of Cash Collateral, satisfactory to the Issuing Bank (in its sole discretion) with the Borrowers or such Lender to eliminate the Issuing Bank’s actual or potential Fronting Exposure (after giving effect to Section 2.23(a)(iv)) with respect to the Defaulting Lender arising from either the Letter of Credit then proposed to be issued or that Letter of Credit and all other L/C Exposure as to which the Issuing Bank has actual or potential Fronting Exposure, as it may elect in its sole discretion; or
(F) the Letter of Credit contains any provisions for automatic reinstatement of the stated amount after any drawing thereunder.
(iv) The Issuing Bank shall not amend any Letter of Credit if the Issuing Bank would not be permitted at such time to issue the Letter of Credit in its amended form under the terms hereof.
(v) The Issuing Bank shall be under no obligation to amend any Letter of Credit if (A) the Issuing Bank would have no obligation at such time to issue such Letter of Credit in its amended form under the terms hereof, or (B) the beneficiary of such Letter of Credit does not accept the proposed amendment to the Letter of Credit.
(vi) The Issuing Bank shall act on behalf of the Lenders with respect to any Letters of Credit issued by it and the documents associated therewith, and the Issuing Bank shall have all of the benefits and immunities (A) provided to the Agent in Article VII with respect to any acts taken or omissions suffered by the Issuing Bank in connection with Letters of Credit issued by it or proposed to be issued by it and L/C Related Documents pertaining to such Letters of Credit as fully as if the term “Agent” as used in Article VII included the Issuing Bank with respect to such acts or omissions, and (B) as additionally provided herein with respect to the Issuing Bank.
Successor Borrower Representative Upon the prior written consent of the Administrative Agent, the Borrower Representative may resign at any time, such resignation to be effective upon the appointment of a successor Borrower Representative. The Administrative Agent shall give prompt written notice of such resignation to the Lenders.
