AMENDMENT TO PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT
AMENDMENT TO PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY (“the Company”) on behalf of itself and certain of its separate accounts (the “Accounts”); X. XXXX PRICE INTERNATIONAL SERIES, INC., X. XXXX PRICE EQUITY SERIES, INC., and X. XXXX PRICE FIXED INCOME SERIES, INC. (collectively the “Fund”); and X. XXXX PRICE INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. (the “Underwriter”) entered into a participation agreement dated August 1, 1996, as amended, (the “Agreement”). This Amendment (the “Amendment”) to the Agreement is entered into as of May 17, 2021, by and among The Company on its own behalf and on behalf of each Account of The Company as set forth in the Agreement, the Fund and the Underwriter (“the Parties”). All capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined shall have the meaning ascribed to such terms in the Agreement.
RECITALS
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Agreement, the Accounts invest in shares of certain of the series (“Portfolios”) that constitute separate portfolios of the Fund and that serve as funding vehicles for the Accounts offered under variable annuity and/or life insurance contracts issued by the Company (the “Variable Insurance Products”) to persons that are registered owners of such Variable Insurance Products on the books and records of the Company (the “Contract Owners”); and
WHEREAS, the Fund maintains on its books and records one or more account(s) that hold and record ownership of shares of the Fund; and
WHEREAS, the Accounts are registered as unit investment trusts under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”); and
WHEREAS, Rule 30e-1 under the 1940 (“Rule 30e-1”) Act requires the Fund to deliver copies of its shareholder reports to the Accounts as the record owners of shares of such Portfolios; and
WHEREAS, Rule 30e-2 under the 1940 Act (“Rule 30e-2”) requires the Accounts to deliver such Fund shareholder reports to Contract Owners, and
WHEREAS, Section 5(b)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”) may require that a Statutory Prospectus (as defined in Rule 498A under the 1933 Act; “Rule 498A”) for the Portfolios be delivered to Contract Owners under certain circumstances; and
WHEREAS, the Company intends to meet any such Portfolio Statutory Prospectus delivery requirement by relying on (and complying with the requirements, terms and conditions of) paragraph (j) of Rule 498A for “on-line” delivery;
WHEREAS, paragraph (j) of Rule 498A requires, that some of the Fund Documents (defined below) be posted and maintained on a website specified on the cover page of the Summary Prospectus for the Variable Insurance Products, and the Company intends to host said website; and
WHEREAS, the Parties desire to amend the Agreement to reflect and implement the requirements, terms and conditions of Rule 30e-3 under the 1940 Act (“Rule 30e-3”) and Rule 498A, as amended from time to time (the “Rules”), to permit (i) the Fund to no longer deliver copies of Fund shareholder reports to the Accounts as would otherwise be required by Rule 30e-1, and (ii) the Accounts to deliver Fund shareholder reports to Contract Owners using the “notice and access” provisions of Rule 30e-3 including
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the website hosting of certain Fund materials required by Rule 30e-3 rather than the delivery methods that would otherwise be required by Rule 30e-2; and (iii) to permit the Parties to meet any Portfolio Statutory Prospectus delivery to Contract Owner requirements under Section 5(b)(2) of the 1933 Act by using the provisions of Rule 498A including website hosting of certain Fund Documents (defined below) required by Rule 498A rather than the delivery methods that would otherwise be required by Section 5(b)(2); and
WHEREAS, the Company cannot host such website in compliance with Rule 30e-3 and Rule 498A unless the Fund prepares and provides certain Fund documents and materials that are specified in the Rules;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, which consideration is full and complete, the Parties hereby agree to amend the Agreement by supplementing it as follows:
1. | Provision of Fund Documents Maintaining Website and Website Posting |
a. | Fund Documents. The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) are responsible for preparing and providing the following “Fund Documents” as specified in paragraph (b)(1) of Rule 30e-3 and Paragraph (j)(1)(iii) of Rule 498A: (i) Summary Prospectus for the Portfolios; (ii) Statutory Prospectus for the Portfolios; (iii) Statement of Additional Information (“SAI”) for the Portfolios; (iv) Most Recent Annual and Semi-Annual Reports to Shareholders (under Rule 30e-1 under the 0000 Xxx) for the Portfolios (together, the “Shareholder Reports”) (referred to in Rule 30e-3 as the “Current” and “Prior” Report to Shareholders); (v) Complete Portfolio Holdings From Shareholder Reports Containing a Summary Schedule of Investments; and (vi) Portfolio Holdings For Most Recent First and Third Fiscal Quarters (together with the complete portfolio holdings specified in (v) above, the “Portfolio Holdings”). |
b. | Deadline for Providing and Keeping Current Fund Documents. |
(i) | The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall provide the Summary Prospectus, Statutory Prospects and SAI for the Portfolios to the Company or its designee on a timely basis to facilitate the required website posting and provide updated versions as necessary, in order to facilitate a continuous offering of the Fund’s securities and the Variable Insurance Products. |
(ii) | The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall provide the Shareholder Reports and Portfolio Holdings on a timely basis each time that these materials are required to be posted by Rule 30e-3. |
c. | Format of Fund Documents. The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall provide the Fund Documents to the Company or its designee in an electronic format that is suitable for website posting that: |
(i) | are both human-readable and capable of being printed on paper in human-readable format (in accordance with paragraph (b)(3) of Rule 30e-3 and paragraph (h)(2)(i) of Rule 498A); and |
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(ii) | permit persons accessing the Statutory Prospectus and SAI to move directly back and forth between each section heading in a table of contents of such document and the section of the document referenced in that section heading (that is, these documents must include linking, in accordance with paragraph (h)(2)(ii) of Rule 498A); and |
(iii) | permit persons accessing the Fund Documents to permanently retain, free of charge, an electronic version of such materials that meet the requirements of subparagraphs (h)(2)(i) and (ii) of Rule 498A (in accordance with paragraph (h)(3) of Rule 498A). |
(d). Website Hosting. The Company shall host and maintain the website specified in paragraph (j)(1)(iii) of Rule 498A, so that the Fund Documents are publicly accessible, free of charge, at that website, in accordance with the conditions set forth in that paragraph, provided that the Fund or its affiliates fulfill their obligations under this Amendment (“Specified Website”). The Specified Website shall be publicly available, is as identified in Schedule B hereto and may be changed by the Company from time to time in its sole discretion.
2. | Use of Summary Prospectuses. |
(i). The Company shall ensure that an Initial Summary Prospectus is used for each currently offered Variable Contract described under the related registration statement, in accordance with paragraph (j)(1)(i) of Rule 498A.
(ii) The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall ensure that a summary prospectus is used for the Portfolios, in accordance with paragraph (j)(1)(ii) of Rule 498A.
3. | Website Hosting and Notice Fee. |
(a) | The Underwriter shall bear the costs of managing, formatting, hosting and maintaining the Fund Documents on the website hosted by the Company. The Underwriter shall also bear the cost of managing, formatting, hosting and distributing the Fund Documents for electronic delivery. The Fund shall bear the reasonably proportionate costs of preparing and mailing the Notices of the availability of the Fund’s Shareholder Reports to Contract Owners (the Notices required by paragraph (c) of Rule 30e-3). |
(b) | In order for the Company to ensure that the Fund Documents are kept current and posted for the duration or period required by Rule 30e-3 and paragraph (h) of Rule 498A, the Fund (or its affiliates on its behalf) shall promptly provide to the Company any amendments to the Fund Documents; |
(c) | the Company shall make reasonable efforts to comply with the “safe harbor” provisions, terms and conditions of paragraph (b)(5) of Rule 30e-3, which shall constitute compliance |
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with subsections (a) through (c) of Section 1 of this Amendment (for the avoidance of doubt, for this purpose, the “Company” referred to in said paragraph (b)(5) of Rule 30e-3 means the Company on behalf of the Accounts). |
4. | Provision of Fund Documents for Paper Delivery. |
a. | The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall, if requested by the Company provide such electronic or other documentation (including “camera ready” copies of the current Fund Documents as set in type, or at the request of the Company, a diskette in a form suitable to be sent to a financial printer), and such other assistance as is reasonably necessary to have the then current Fund Documents printed for distribution (pursuant to requests from Contract Owners; see paragraphs (e) and (f) of Rule 30e-3 and paragraphs (i)(1) and (j)(3) of Rule 498A); the reasonable cost of providing the electronic documentation and of such printing to be borne by the Fund and/or Underwriter in accordance with the Agreement. |
b. | The Fund and/or Underwriter shall reimburse the Company for the reasonable costs of mailing (including postage) the Fund’s Fund Documents to Contract Owners. This reimbursement is in addition to, and not part of or in lieu of, the Website Hosting and Notice Fee specified above. |
5. | Paper Notice to Contract Owners. The Company shall be responsible for providing the paper Notice to its Contract Owners in accordance with paragraphs (c) and (d) of Rule 30e-3. |
6. | Delivery of Paper Copy Upon “Ad Hoc” Request. The Company shall be responsible for fulfilling ad hoc requests from Contract Owners for a paper copy of any of the Fund Documents, in accordance with paragraph (e) of Rule 30e-3 paragraphs (i)(1) and (j)(3) of Rule 498A. The reasonable cost of providing the paper copy of Fund Documents, including printing and mailing (including postage) Fund Documents, will be borne by the Fund and/or Underwriter. |
7. | Investor Elections to Receive Future Fund Reports in Paper. The Company shall be responsible for fulfilling Contract Owner elections to receive future Fund shareholder reports in paper, in accordance with paragraph (f) of Rule 30e-3. The reasonable cost of providing the paper copy of Shareholder Reports, including printing and mailing (including postage) of Shareholder Reports, will be borne by the Fund and/or Underwriter. |
8. | Portfolio Expense and Performance Data. The Fund shall provide such data regarding each Portfolio’s expense ratios and investment performance as the Company shall reasonably request, to facilitate the registration and sale of the Variable Contracts. Without limiting the generality of the forgoing, the Fund shall provide the following Portfolio expense and performance data on a timely basis to facilitate the Company’s preparation of its annually updated registration statement for the Variable Contracts (and as otherwise reasonably requested by the Company), but in no event later than 75 calendar days after the close of each Portfolio’s fiscal year. |
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a. | the gross “Annual Portfolio Company Expenses” for each Portfolio calculated in accordance with Item 3 of Form N-1A, before any expense reimbursements or fee waiver arrangements (and in accordance with (i) Instruction 16 to Item 4 of Form N-4, and (ii) Instruction 4(a) to Item 4 of Form N-6) ; and |
b. | the net “Annual Portfolio Company Expenses” (aka “Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses”) for each Portfolio calculated in accordance with Item 3 of Form N-1A, that include any expense reimbursements or fee waiver arrangements (and in accordance with (i) Instruction 17 to Item 4 of Form N-4, and (ii) Instruction 4 to Item 17 of Form N-4 and (iii) Instruction 4(b) to Item 4 of Form N-6, and (iv) Instruction 4 to Item 18 of Form N-6), and the period for which the expense reimbursements or fee waiver arrangement is expected to continue and whether it can be terminated by the Portfolio (or Fund); and |
c. | the “Average Annual Total Returns” for each Portfolio (before taxes) as calculated pursuant to Item 4(b)(2)(iii) of Form N-1A (for the 1, 5, and 10 year periods, and in accordance with (i) Instruction 7 to Item 17 of Form N-4, and (ii) Instruction 7 to Item 18 of Form N-6). |
9. | Content of Fund Documents. The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) shall be responsible for the content of the Fund Documents provided for posting on the Specified Website, including, but not limited to, the accuracy and completeness of the Fund Documents. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing in any manner and without in any way changing the current obligations of the Fund under the Agreement, the Fund shall be responsible for ensuring that the Fund Documents provided for posting to the Specified Website: |
a. | Meet the applicable standards of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended; the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; the 1940 Act; and all rules and regulations under those Acts; and |
b. | Do not contain any untrue statement of material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which they are made, not misleading. |
10. | Construction of this Amendment; Agreement. |
a. | This Amendment shall be interpreted to be consistent with, and to facilitate compliance with and reliance on, Rule 30e-3 under the 1940 Act, and Rule 498A under the 1933 Act as they may be amended from time to time, and any interpretations of the Rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission, its staff, courts, or other appropriate legal authorities. |
b. | To the extent the terms of this Amendment conflict with the terms of the Agreement, the terms of this Amendment shall control; otherwise, and except as otherwise specifically set |
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forth in this Amendment, the terms of the Agreement shall continue to apply, and shall apply to the duties, responsibilities, rights and obligations of the Parties under and pursuant to this Amendment. |
11. | Indemnification. Each Party specifically agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the other Party and its officers, directors, employees and agents (“Indemnified Parties”) from any and all liability, claim, loss, demand, damages, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising from or in connection with any claim or action of any type whatsoever brought against any of the Indemnified Parties as a result of (i) any failure or alleged failure by a Party to perform its duties and obligations in a timely fashion as required by this Amendment, or (ii) any failure or alleged failure to fulfill any of their other and responsibilities under this Amendment. For the avoidance of doubt, this indemnification shall be in addition to and not in lieu of the indemnification provided for in the Agreement. The Parties hereto agree that all other provisions of the Agreement, as amended, shall apply to the terms of this Amendment as applicable. |
12. | Implementation. This Amendment is effective as of the date noted in the first paragraph of this Amendment. The Fund (or its affiliate on its behalf) will provide all Fund Documents as specified in this Amendment as they become available. |
13. | Counterparts and Delivery. This Amendment may be executed in two or more counterparts, each of which shall be an original and all of which together shall constitute one instrument. A signed copy of this Amendment delivered by facsimile or by emailing a copy in .pdf form shall be treated as an original and shall bind all Parties just as would the exchange of originally signed copies. |
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have caused this Amendment to be executed as of the date first above written.
METROPOLITAN LIFE INSURANCE Company (on behalf of itself and each Separate Account)
(“the Company”)
By: /s/ Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx |
Print Name: Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx |
Title: Senior Vice President |
X. XXXX PRICE INTERNATIONAL SERIES, INC (“Fund”)
By: /s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Print Name: Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Title: Vice President |
X. XXXX PRICE EQUITY SERIES, INC. (“Fund”)
By: /s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Print Name: Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Title: Vice President |
X. XXXX PRICE FIXED INCOME SERIES, INC. (“Fund”)
By: /s/ Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Print Name: Xxxx Xxxxxxx-Xxxx |
Title: Vice President |
X. XXXX PRICE INVESTMENT SERVICES, INC. (the “Underwriter”)
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx |
Print Name: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx |
Title: Vice President |
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SCHEDULE B
Specified Website:
xxx.xxxxxxxx.xxx/xxxxxxx/
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