Prior Contracts This Contract supersedes and terminates, as of the date hereof, all prior contracts between the Fund and the Custodian relating to the custody of the Fund's assets.
General Contract Provisions Any and all Schedules to this Agreement form a part hereof. No amendment, waiver, discharge or release of this Agreement shall be binding or enforceable unless made in writing signed by all of the parties hereto. Time is and shall remain of the essence under and pursuant to this Agreement; provided that the time for performing or completing any matter under or pursuant to this Agreement may be extended or abridged by an agreement in writing by the parties or their respective solicitors. Failure by any party to strictly enforce any provisions hereof shall not operate as a waiver or limitation of such party's rights hereunder in respect of any subsequent default. If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is to any extent held or rendered invalid, unenforceable or illegal, same shall be considered separate and severable herefrom and all other provisions of this Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and be binding upon the parties hereof. The headings set forth in this Agreement are inserted for convenience and reference only and shall in no way define or limit the intent or interpretation of any of the provisions hereof. Wherever in this Agreement any subject matter is described as including specifically described persons, things, events or other items, unless expressly stated to the contrary, the word “including” or any other derivation or variation of that word means, as the case may be, “including, without limitation,” or “including, without limiting the generality of the foregoing,” or such derivation or variation thereof as required by the context. This Agreement shall be read and construed with all changes of gender and number of the party or parties referred to in each case as required by the context, and the covenants and agreements of each party shall be deemed to be joint and several where such party is more than one person, firm or corporation. With respect to each party which is a partnership, each person who is presently a partner of such partnership and each person who becomes a partner of such partnership shall be and continue to be jointly and severally liable for all covenants and agreements of such party notwithstanding that any such person subsequently ceases to be a partner of such partnership, subject to and only to the extent of the limited liability of any such person that is a limited partner of such partnership.