TRANSFER AGENCY AND SERVICE AGREEMENT
between
JPM SERIES TRUST II
and
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
1C-Domestic Trust/Series
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. Terms of Appointment; Duties of the Bank...................1
2. Fees and Expenses..........................................3
3. Representations and Warranties of the Bank.................4
4. Representations and Warranties of the Fund.................4
5. Data Access and Proprietary Information....................4
6. Indemnification............................................6
7. Standard of Care...........................................7
8. Covenants of the Fund and the Bank.........................8
9. Termination of Agreement...................................9
10. Additional Funds...........................................9
11. Assignment.................................................9
12. Amendment..................................................9
13. Massachusetts Law to Apply.................................10
14. Force Majeure..............................................10
15. Consequential Damages......................................10
16. Merger of Agreement........................................10
17. Limitations of Liability of the Trustees
or Shareholders............................................10
18. Counterparts...............................................10
19. Reproduction of Documents..................................11
TRANSFER AGENCY AND SERVICE AGREEMENT
AGREEMENT made as of the17th day of December , 1996, by and between JPM SERIES
TRUST II (formerly Chubb Series Trust), a Delaware business trust, having its
principal office and place of business at 00 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000, Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000 (the "Fund"), and STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, a
Massachusetts trust company having its principal office and place of business at
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000 (the "Bank").
WHEREAS, the Fund is authorized to issue shares in separate series, with each
such series representing interests in a separate portfolio of securities and
other assets; and
WHEREAS, the Fund offers shares of beneficial interest ("Shares") of the Fund
representing interest in five series, the JPM Treasury Money Market Portfolio,
JPM Bond Portfolio, JPM Equity Portfolio, JPM Small Company Portfolio and JPM
International Equity Portfolio (each such series, together with all other series
subsequently established by the Fund and made subject to this Agreement in
accordance with Article 10, being herein referred to as a "Portfolio", and
collectively as the "Portfolios");
WHEREAS, the Fund on behalf of the Portfolios desires to appoint the Bank as its
transfer agent, dividend disbursing agent, custodian of certain retirement plans
and agent in connection with certain other activities, and the Bank desires to
accept such appointment;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the
parties hereto agree as follows:
l. Terms of Appointment; Duties of the Bank
1.1 Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the
Fund, on behalf of the Portfolios, hereby employs and appoints the
Bank to act as, and the Bank agrees to act as its transfer agent for
the Fund's authorized and issued Shares and dividend disbursing agent
for variable annuity and variable life insurance separate accounts
established by insurance companies to fund variable annuity contracts
and variable life insurance policies and qualified pension and
retirement plans outside the separate account context
("Shareholders") as set forth in the currently effective prospectus
and statement of additional information ("prospectus") of the Fund on
behalf of the applicable Portfolio, including without limitation any
periodic investment plan or periodic withdrawal program.
1.2 The Bank agrees that it will perform the following services:
(a) In accordance with procedures established from time to time
by agreement between the Fund on behalf of each of the
Portfolios, as applicable and the Bank, the Bank shall:
(i) Receive for acceptance, orders for the purchase of
Shares, and promptly deliver payment and
appropriate documentation thereof to the Custodian
of the Fund authorized pursuant to the Declaration
of Trust of the Fund (the "Custodian");
(ii) Pursuant to purchase orders, issue the appropriate number of
Shares and hold such Shares in the appropriate Shareholder
account;
(iii) Receive for acceptance redemption requests and redemption
directions and deliver the appropriate documentation thereof
to the Custodian;
(iv) In respect to the transactions in items (i), (ii)
and (iii) above, the Bank shall execute
transactions directly with broker-dealers
authorized by the Fund who shall thereby be deemed
to be acting on behalf of the Fund;
(v) At the appropriate time as and when it receives
monies paid to it by the Custodian with respect to
any redemption, pay over or cause to be paid over
in the appropriate manner such monies as instructed
by the redeeming Shareholders;
(vi) If applicable, effect transfers of Shares by the registered
owners thereof upon receipt of appropriate instructions;
(vii) Prepare and transmit payments for dividends and distributions
declared by the Fund on behalf of the applicable Portfolio;
(viii) Maintain records of account for and advise the Fund and
its Shareholders as to the foregoing; and
(ix) Record the issuance of Shares of the Fund and maintain
pursuant to SEC Rule 17Ad-10(e) a record of the total number
of Shares of the Fund which are authorized, based upon data
provided to it by the Fund, and issued and outstanding. The
Bank shall also provide the Fund on a regular basis with the
total number of Shares which are authorized and issued and
outstanding and shall have no obligation, when recording the
issuance of Shares, to monitor the issuance of such Shares
or to take cognizance of any laws relating to the issue or
sale of such Shares, which functions shall be the sole
responsibility of the Fund.
(b) In addition to and neither in lieu nor in contravention of the
services set forth in the above paragraph (a), the Bank shall: (i)
perform the customary services of a transfer agent and dividend
disbursing agent for Shareholders, including but not limited to:
maintaining all Shareholder accounts, preparing Shareholder meeting
lists, mailing proxies, mailing Shareholder reports and
prospectuses to current Shareholders, withholding taxes on U.S.
resident and non-resident alien accounts, preparing and filing U.S.
Treasury Department Forms 1099 and other appropriate forms required
with respect to dividends and distributions by federal authorities
for all Shareholders, preparing and mailing confirmation forms and
statements of account to Shareholders for all purchases and
redemptions of Shares and other confirmable transactions in
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Shareholder accounts, preparing and mailing activity
statements for Shareholders, and providing Shareholder
account information.
(c) Procedures as to who shall provide certain of these services
in Section 1 may be established from time to time by
agreement between the Fund on behalf of each Portfolio and
the Bank per the attached service responsibility schedule.
The Bank may at times perform only a portion of these
services and the Fund or its agent may perform these
services on the Fund's behalf.
(d) The Bank shall provide additional services on behalf of the
Fund (e.g., escheatment services) which may be agreed upon
in writing between the Fund and the Bank.
2. Fees and Expenses
2.1 For the performance by the Bank pursuant to this Agreement, the Fund
agrees on behalf of each of the Portfolios to pay the Bank an annual
maintenance fee for each Shareholder account as set out in the
initial fee schedule attached hereto. Such fees and out-of-pocket
expenses and advances identified under Section 2.2 below may be
changed from time to time subject to mutual written agreement between
the Fund and the Bank.
2.2 In addition to the fee paid under Section 2.1 above, the Fund agrees
on behalf of each of the Portfolios to reimburse the Bank for
out-of-pocket expenses, including but not limited to confirmation
production, postage, forms, telephone, microfilm, microfiche,
tabulating proxies, records storage, or advances incurred by the Bank
for the items set out in the fee schedule attached hereto. In
addition, any other expenses incurred by the Bank at the request or
with the consent of the Fund, will be reimbursed by the Fund on
behalf of the applicable Portfolio.
2.3 The Fund agrees on behalf of each of the Portfolios to pay all fees
and reimbursable expenses within five days following the receipt of
the respective billing notice. Postage for mailing of dividends,
proxies, Fund reports and other mailings to all Shareholder accounts
shall be advanced to the Bank by the Fund at least seven (7) days
prior to the mailing date of such materials.
3. Representations and Warranties of the Bank
The Bank represents and warrants to the Fund that:
3.1 It is a trust company duly organized and existing and in good
standing under the laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
3.2 It is duly qualified to carry on its business in The Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
3.3 It is empowered under applicable laws and by its Charter and By-Laws
to enter into and perform this Agreement.
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3.4 All requisite corporate proceedings have been taken to authorize it
to enter into and perform this Agreement.
3.5 It has and will continue to have access to the necessary facilities,
equipment and personnel to perform its duties and obligations under
this Agreement.
4. Representations and Warranties of the Fund
The Fund represents and warrants to the Bank that:
4.1 It is a business trust duly organized and existing and in good standing
under the laws of the State of Delaware.
4.2 It is empowered under applicable laws and by its Agreement and
Declaration of Trust and By-Laws to enter into and perform this
Agreement.
4.3 All corporate proceedings required by said Declaration of Trust and
By-Laws have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform
this Agreement.
4.4 It is an open-end and diversified management investment company
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
4.5 A registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended
on behalf of each of the Portfolios is currently effective and will
remain effective.
5. Data Access and Proprietary Information
5.1 The Fund acknowledges that the data bases, computer programs, screen
formats, report formats, interactive design techniques, and
documentation manuals furnished to the Fund by the Bank as part of
the Fund's ability to access certain Fund-related data ("Customer
Data") maintained by the Bank on data bases under the control and
ownership of the Bank or other third party ("Data Access Services")
constitute copyrighted, trade secret, or other proprietary
information (collectively, "Proprietary Information") of substantial
value to the Bank or other third party. In no event shall Proprietary
Information be deemed Customer Data. The Fund agrees to treat all
Proprietary Information as proprietary to the Bank and further agrees
that it shall not divulge any Proprietary Information to any person
or organization except as may be provided hereunder. Without limiting
the foregoing, the Fund agrees for itself and its employees and
agents:
(a) to access Customer Data solely from locations as may be designated
in writing by the Bank and solely in accordance with the Bank's
applicable user documentation;
(b) to refrain from copying or duplicating in any way the Proprietary
Information;
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(c) to refrain from obtaining unauthorized access to any portion
of the Proprietary Information, and if such access is
inadvertently obtained, to inform in a timely manner of such
fact and dispose of such information in accordance with the
Bank's instructions;
(d) to refrain from causing or allowing the data acquired
hereunder from being retransmitted to any other computer
facility or other location, except with the prior written
consent of the Bank;
(e) that the Fund shall have access only to those authorized
transactions agreed upon by the parties;
(f) to honor all reasonable written requests made by the Bank to
protect at the Bank's expense the rights of the Bank in
Proprietary Information at common law, under federal
copyright law and under other federal or state law.
Each party shall take reasonable efforts to advise its employees of their
obligations pursuant to this Section 5. The obligations of this Section shall
survive any earlier termination of this Agreement.
5.2 If the Fund notifies the Bank that any of the Data Access Services do
not operate in material compliance with the most recently issued user
documentation for such services, the Bank shall endeavor in a timely
manner to correct such failure. Organizations from which the Bank may
obtain certain data included in the Data Access Services are solely
responsible for the contents of such data and the Fund agrees to make
no claim against the Bank arising out of the contents of such
third-party data, including, but not limited to, the accuracy
thereof. DATA ACCESS SERVICES AND ALL COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND SOFTWARE
SPECIFICATIONS USED IN CONNECTION THEREWITH ARE PROVIDED ON AN AS IS,
AS AVAILABLE BASIS. THE BANK EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES
EXCEPT THOSE EXPRESSLY STATED HEREIN INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A
PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
5.3 If the transactions available to the Fund include the ability to
originate electronic instructions to the Bank in order to (i) effect
the transfer or movement of cash or Shares or (ii) transmit
Shareholder information or other information, then in such event the
Bank shall be entitled to rely on the validity and authenticity of
such instruction without undertaking any further inquiry as long as
such instruction is undertaken in conformity with security procedures
established by the Bank from time to time.
6. Indemnification
6.1 The Bank shall not be responsible for, and the Fund shall on behalf
of the applicable Portfolio indemnify and hold the Bank harmless from
and against, any and all losses, damages, costs, charges, counsel
fees, payments, expenses and liability arising out of or attributable
to any claim, demand, action or suit in connection with:
(a) All actions of the Bank or its agents or subcontractors required
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to be taken pursuant to this Agreement, provided that such
actions are taken in good faith and without negligence or
willful misconduct.
(b) The Fund's lack of good faith, negligence or willful
misconduct which arise out of the breach of any
representation or warranty of the Fund hereunder.
(c) The reliance on or use by the Bank or its agents or
subcontractors of information, records, documents or
services which (i) are received by the Bank or its agents or
subcontractors, and (ii) have been prepared, maintained or
performed by the Fund or any other person or firm on behalf
of the Fund including but not limited to any previous
transfer agent or registrar.
(d) The reliance on, or the carrying out by the Bank or its agents or
subcontractors of any instructions or requests of the Fund on
behalf of the applicable Portfolio.
(e) The offer or sale of Shares in violation of any requirement
under the federal securities laws or regulations or in
violation of any stop order or other determination or ruling
by any federal agency with respect to the offer or sale of
such Shares.
(f) The negotiation and processing by the Bank of checks not
made payable to the order of the Bank, the Fund, the Fund's
management company, transfer agent or distributor, which
checks are tendered to the Bank for the purchase of Shares
(i.e., checks made payable to prospective or existing
Shareholders, such checks are commonly known as "third party
checks").
6.2 The Bank shall indemnify and hold the Fund harmless from and against
any and all losses, damages, costs, charges, reasonable counsel fees,
payments, expenses and liability arising out of or attributable to
any action or failure or omission to act by the Bank as a result of
the Bank's lack of good faith, negligence or willful misconduct.
6.3 At any time the Bank may apply to any officer of the Fund for
instructions, and may consult with legal counsel with respect to any
matter arising in connection with the services to be performed by the
Bank under this Agreement, and the Bank and its agents or
subcontractors shall not be liable and shall be indemnified by the
Fund on behalf of the applicable Portfolio for any action taken or
omitted by it in reliance upon such instructions or upon the opinion
of such counsel. The Bank, its agents and subcontractors shall be
protected and indemnified in acting upon any paper or document
furnished by or on behalf of the Fund, reasonably believed to be
genuine and to have been signed by the proper person or persons, or
upon any instruction, information, data, records or documents
provided the Bank or its agents or subcontractors by machine readable
input, telex, CRT data entry or other similar means authorized by the
Fund, and shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority
of any person, until receipt of written notice thereof from the Fund.
The Bank, its agents and subcontractors shall also be protected
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and indemnified in recognizing stock certificates which are
reasonably believed to bear the proper manual or facsimile signatures
of the officers of the Fund, and the proper countersignature of any
former transfer agent or former registrar, or of a co-transfer agent
or co-registrar.
6.4 In order that the indemnification provisions contained in this
Section 6 shall apply, upon the assertion of a claim for which either
party may be required to indemnify the other, the party seeking
indemnification shall promptly notify the other party of such
assertion, and shall keep the other party advised with respect to all
developments concerning such claim. The party who may be required to
indemnify shall have the option to participate with the party in the
defense of such claim. The party seeking indemnification shall in no
case confess any claim or make any compromise in any case in which
the other party may be required to indemnify it except with the other
party's prior written consent.
7. Standard of Care
The Bank shall at all times act in good faith and agrees to use its
best efforts within reasonable limits to insure the accuracy of all
services performed under this Agreement, but assumes no
responsibility and shall not be liable for loss or damage due to
errors unless said errors are caused by its negligence, bad faith, or
willful misconduct or that of its employees.
8. Covenants of the Fund and the Bank
8.1 The Fund shall on behalf of each of the Portfolios promptly furnish to
the Bank the following:
(a) A certified copy of the resolution of the Board of Trustees of the
Fund authorizing the appointment of the Bank and the execution and
delivery of this Agreement.
(b) A copy of the Agreement and Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the
Fund and all amendments thereto.
8.2 The Bank hereby agrees to establish and maintain facilities and
procedures reasonably acceptable to the Fund for safekeeping of stock
certificates, check forms and facsimile signature imprinting devices,
if any; and for the preparation or use, and for keeping account of,
such certificates, forms and devices.
8.3 The Bank shall keep records relating to the services to be performed
hereunder, in the form and manner as it may deem advisable. To the
extent required by Section 31 of the Investment Company Act of 1940,
as amended, and the Rules thereunder, the Bank agrees that all such
records prepared or maintained by the Bank relating to the services
to be performed by the Bank hereunder are the property of the Fund
and will be
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preserved, maintained and made available in accordance with such
Section and Rules, and will be surrendered promptly to the Fund on
and in accordance with its request.
8.4 The Bank and the Fund agree that all books, records, information and
data pertaining to the business of the other party which are
exchanged or received pursuant to the negotiation or the carrying out
of this Agreement shall remain confidential, and shall not be
voluntarily disclosed to any other person, except as may be required
by law.
8.5 In case of any requests or demands for the inspection of the
Shareholder records of the Fund, the Bank will endeavor to notify the
Fund and to secure instructions from an authorized officer of the
Fund as to such inspection. The Fund will ,within two business days,
furnish instructions to the Bank. Pending receipt of such
instructions, the Bank will not disclose such Shareholder records and
upon receipt by the Bank will abide by such instructions.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, in the event
that (i) the Fund instructs the Bank not to disclose such Shareholder
records and the Bank has furnished the Fund with an opinion of
counsel that the Bank disclose such Shareholder records, the Fund
will indemnify the Bank for any such liability, or (ii) the Bank
discloses such Shareholder records without proper instructions from
the Fund, the Bank shall indemnify and hold the Fund harmless from
and against any and all losses, damages, costs, charges, reasonable
counsel fees, payments, expenses and liability arising out of or
attributable to such disclosure. The provision of Section 6.4 shall
govern such indemnification.
9. Termination of Agreement
9.1 This Agreement may be terminated by either party upon one hundred
twenty (120) days written notice to the other.
9.2 Should the Fund exercise its right to terminate, all out-of-pocket
expenses associated with the movement of records and material will be
borne by the Fund on behalf of the applicable Portfolio(s).
Additionally, the Bank reserves the right to charge for any other
reasonable expenses associated with such termination and/or a charge
equivalent to the average of three (3) months' fees.
10. Additional Funds
In the event that the Fund establishes one or more series of Shares
in addition to JPM Treasury Money Market Portfolio, JPM Bond
Portfolio, JPM Equity Portfolio, JPM Small Company Portfolio and JPM
International Equity Portfolio with respect to which it desires to
have the Bank render services as transfer agent under the terms
hereof, it shall so notify the Bank in writing, and if the Bank
agrees in writing to provide such services, such series of Shares
shall become a Portfolio hereunder.
11. Assignment
11.1 Except as provided in Section 11.3 below, neither this Agreement nor any
8
rights or obligations hereunder may be assigned by either party
without the written consent of the other party.
11.2 This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the
parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns.
11.3 The Bank may, without further consent on the part of the Fund,
subcontract for the performance hereof with (i) Boston Financial Data
Services, Inc., a Massachusetts corporation ("BFDS") which is duly
registered as a transfer agent pursuant to Section 17A(c)(2) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended ("Section 17A(c)(2)"),
(ii) a BFDS subsidiary duly registered as a transfer agent pursuant
to Section 17A(c)(2) or (iii) a BFDS affiliate; provided, however,
that the Bank shall be as fully responsible to the Fund for the acts
and omissions of any subcontractor as it is for its own acts and
omissions.
12. Amendment
This Agreement may be amended or modified by a written agreement
executed by both parties and authorized or approved by a resolution
of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.
13. Massachusetts Law to Apply
This Agreement shall be construed and the provisions thereof
interpreted under and in accordance with the laws of The Commonwealth
of Massachusetts.
14. Force Majeure
In the event either party is unable to perform its obligations under
the terms of this Agreement because of acts of God, strikes,
equipment or transmission failure or damage reasonably beyond its
control, or other causes reasonably beyond its control, such party
shall not be liable for damages to the other for any damages
resulting from such failure to perform or otherwise from such causes.
15. Consequential Damages
Neither party to this Agreement shall be liable to the other party
for consequential damages under any provision of this Agreement or
for any consequential damages arising out of any act or failure to
act hereunder.
16. Merger of Agreement
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties
hereto and supersedes any prior agreement with respect to the subject
matter hereof whether oral or written.
17. Limitations of Liability of the Trustees and Shareholders
A copy of the Certificate of Trust of the Fund is on file with the
Secretary of State of the State of Delaware, and notice is hereby
given
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that the Fund's Agreement and Declaration of Trust is executed on
behalf of the Trustees of the Fund as Trustees and not individually
and that the obligations of this instrument are not binding upon any
of the Trustees or Shareholders individually but are binding only
upon the assets and property of the Fund.
18. Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed by the parties hereto on any number of
counterparts, and all of said counterparts taken together shall be
deemed to constitute one and the same instrument.
19. Reproduction of Documents
This Agreement and all schedules, exhibits, attachments and
amendments hereto may be reproduced by any photographic, photostatic,
microfilm, micro-card, miniature photographic or other similar
process. The parties hereto all/each agree that any such reproduction
shall be admissible in evidence as the original itself in any
judicial or administrative proceeding, whether or not the original is
in existence and whether or not such reproduction was made by a party
in the regular course of business, and that any enlargement,
facsimile or further reproduction of such reproduction shall likewise
be admissible in evidence.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed
in their names and on their behalf by and through their duly authorized
officers, as of the day and year first above written.
JPM SERIES TRUST II
BY:Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
ATTEST:
Xxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
BY:Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Executive Vice President
ATTEST:
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx
00
XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX & TRUST COMPANY
FUND SERVICE RESPONSIBILITIES*
Service Performed Responsibility
Bank Fund
1. Receives orders for the purchase X
of Shares.
2. Record Share, issuance and hold Shares in
Shareholders accounts. X
3. Receive redemption requests. X
4. Effect transactions 1-3 above
directly with broker-dealers. X
5. Pay over monies to redeeming
Shareholders. X
6. Effect transfers of Shares. X
7. Prepare and transmit dividends
and distributions. X
8. Issue Replacement Certificates. X
9. Reporting of abandoned property. X
10. Maintain records of account. X
11. Maintain and keep a current and
accurate control book for each
issue of securities. X
12. Mail proxies. X
13. Mail Shareholder reports. X
14. Mail prospectuses to current
Shareholders. X
15. Withhold taxes on U.S. resident
and non-resident alien accounts. X
Service Performed Responsibility
Bank Fund
16. Prepare and file U.S. Treasury
Department forms. X
17. Prepare and mail account and
confirmation statements for
Shareholders. X
18. Provide Shareholder account
information. X
19. Blue sky reporting. N/A
* Such services are more fully described in Section 1.2 (a), (b) and (c)
of the Agreement.
JPM SERIES TRUST II
BY: Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
ATTEST:
Xxxx X. Xxxxxxxxx
STATE STREET BANK AND TRUST COMPANY
BY: Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Executive Vice President
ATTEST:
Xxxxxxxx Xxxxx
