DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
between
LEXINGTON EMERGING MARKETS FUND, INC.
and
LEXINGTON FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
THIS AGREEMENT made this 25th day of January, 1994 by and between
LEXINGTON EMERGING MARKETS FUND, INC., a Maryland Corporation (hereinafter
referred to as the "Fund"), and LEXINGTON FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC., a
Delaware Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the "Distributor").
W I T N E S S E T H:
In consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained and other
good and valuable consideration, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged,
the parties hereto agree as follows:
FIRST: The Fund hereby appoints the Distributor as its exclusive
underwriter to promote the sale and to arrange for the sale of shares of
common stock of the Fund in jurisdictions wherein shares may legally be
offered for sale.
The Fund agrees to sell and deliver its unissued shares, as from time
to time shall be effectively registered under the Securities Act of 1933,
upon the terms hereinafter set forth.
SECOND: The Fund hereby authorizes the Distributor, subject to law
and the Articles of Incorporation of the Fund, to accept, for the account
of the Fund, orders for the purchase of its shares, satisfactory to the
Distributor, as of the time of receipt of such orders or as otherwise
described in the then current prospectus of the Fund.
THIRD: The public offering price of such shares shall be based on the
net asset value per share (as determined by the Fund) of the outstanding
shares of the Fund. The net asset value shall be regularly determined on
every business day as of the time of closing of the New York Stock Exchange.
It is expected that the New York Stock Exchange will be closed on Saturdays
and Sundays and on New Year's Day, President's Day, Good Friday, Memorial
Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas. The
public offering price shall become effective as set forth from time to time
in the Fund's current prospectus; such net asset value shall also be
regularly determined, and the public offering price based thereon shall
become effective, as of such other times for the regular determination of
net asset value as may be required or permitted by rules of the National
Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. or of the Securities and Exchange
Commission. The Fund shall furnish the Distributor, with all possible
promptness, a statement of each computation of net asset value, and of the
details entering into such computation.
The Distributor may, and when requested by the Fund shall, suspend its
efforts to effectuate sales of the shares of common stock at any time when
in the opinion of the Distributor or of the Fund no sales should be made
because of market or other economic considerations or abnormal circumstances
of any kind.
The Fund may withdraw the offering of its common stock (i) at any time
with the consent of the Distributor, or (ii) without such consent when so
required by the provisions of any statute or of any order, rule or
regulation of any governmental body or securities exchange having
jurisdiction. It is mutually understood and agreed that the Distributor
does not undertake to sell all or any specific portion of the shares of
common stock of the Fund.
FOURTH: The Distributor agrees that it will use its best efforts with
reasonable promptness to promote and sell shares of the Fund; but so long
as it does so, nothing herein contained shall prevent the Distributor from
entering into similar arrangements with other funds and to engage in other
activities. The Fund reserves the right to issue shares in connection with
any merger or consolidation of the Fund with any other investment company
or any personal holding company or in connection with offers of exchange
exempted from Section 11(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
FIFTH: Upon a receipt by the Fund at its principal place of business
or other place designated by the Fund of an order from the Distributor,
together with delivery instructions, the Fund shall, as promptly as
practicable, cause the shareholder's account or certificates for the shares
called for in such order to be credited or delivered in such amount and in
such names as shall be specified by the Distributor, against payment
therefor in such manner as may be acceptable to the Fund.
SIXTH: All sales literature and advertisements used by the
Distributor in connection with sales of the shares of the Fund shall be
subject to the approval of the Fund. The Fund authorizes the Distributor
in connection with the sale or arranging for the sales of its shares to give
only such information and to make only such statements or representations
as are contained in the current prospectus and statement of additional
information or in sales literature or advertisements approved by the Fund
or in such financial statements and reports as are furnished to the
Distributor pursuant to this Agreement. The Fund shall not be responsible
in any way for any information, statements or representatives given or made
by the Distributor or its representatives or agents other than such
information, statements or representations contained in the then current
prospectus and statement of additional information or other financial
statements of the Fund.
SEVENTH: The Distributor as agent of the Fund is authorized, subject
to the direction of the Fund, to accept shares for redemption at their net
asset value, determined as prescribed in the then current prospectus of the
Fund. The Fund shall reimburse the Distributor monthly for its out-of-
pocket expenses reasonably incurred for carrying out the foregoing
authorization, but the Distributor shall not be entitled to any commissions
or other compensation in respect to such redemptions.
EIGHTH: The Fund shall bear:
(A) the expenses of qualification of the shares for sale in connection
with such public offerings in such states as shall be selected by the
Distributor and of continuing the qualification continued; and
(B) all legal expenses in connection with the foregoing.
NINTH: The Distributor shall bear:
(A) the expenses of printing and distributing prospectuses and
statements of additional information (other than those prospectuses and
statements of additional information required by applicable laws and
regulations to be distributed to the Fund's shareholders by the Fund) and
any other promotional or sales literature which are used by the Distributor
or furnished by the Distributor to purchasers or dealers in connection with
the Distributor's activities pursuant to this Agreement;
(B) expenses of any advertising used by the Distributor in connection
with such public offering; and
(C) all legal expenses in connection with the foregoing.
TENTH: The Distributor will accept orders for shares of the Fund only
to the extent of purchase orders actually received and not in excess of such
orders, and it will not avail itself of any opportunity of making a profit
by expediting or withholding orders.
ELEVENTH: The Fund shall keep the Distributor fully informed with
regard to its affairs, shall furnish the Distributor with a certified copy
of all financial statements, and a signed copy of each report, prepared by
independent public accountants, and with such reasonable number of printed
copies of each semi-annual and annual report of the Fund as the Distributor
may request, and shall cooperate fully in the efforts of the Distributor to
sell and arrange for the sale of its shares and in the performance by the
Distributor of all its duties under the Agreement.
TWELFTH: The Fund agrees to register, from time to time as necessary,
additional shares with the Securities and Exchange Commission, state and
other regulatory bodies and to pay the related filing fees therefor and to
file such amendments, reports and other documents as may be necessary in
order that there may be no untrue statement of a material fact in the
Registration Statement or prospectus or necessary in order that there may
be no omission to state a material fact therein necessary in order to make
the statements therein, in light of the circumstances under which they were
made, not misleading. As used in this Agreement, the term "Registration
Statement" shall mean from time to time the Registration Statement most
recently filed by the Fund with the Securities and Exchange Commission and
effective under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, as such Registration
Statement is amended at such time, and the terms "Prospectus" shall mean for
the purposes of this Agreement from time to time the form of prospectus and
statement of additional information authorized by the Fund for use by
Distributor and by dealers.
THIRTEENTH:
(A) The Fund and Distributor shall each comply with all applicable
provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Act of
1933, and the rules and regulations of the National Association of
Securities Dealers, Inc. and of all other Federal and State laws, rules and
regulations governing the issuance and sale of shares of the Fund.
(B) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence
or reckless disregard of obligations or duties hereunder on the part of the
Distributor, the Fund agrees to indemnify the Distributor and any
controlling person of the Distributor against any and all claims, demands,
liabilities and expenses including reasonable costs of any alleged
litigation which the Distributor may incur under the Securities Act of 1933,
or common law on otherwise, arising out of or based upon any alleged untrue
statement of a material fact contained in any registration statement,
statement of additional information or prospectus of the Fund, or any
omission to state a material fact therein, the omission of which makes any
statement contained therein misleading, unless such statement or omission
was made in reliance upon, and in conformity with written information
furnished to the Fund in connection with written information furnished to
the Fund in connection therewith by or on behalf of the Distributor. The
Distributor agrees to indemnify the Fund against any and all claims,
demands, liabilities and expenses which the Fund may incur arising out of
or based upon any act or deed of sales representatives of the Distributor
which is outside the scope of their authority under this Agreement.
(C) The Distributor agrees to indemnify the Fund against any and all
claims, demands, liabilities and expenses which the Fund may incur under the
Securities Act of 1933, or common law or otherwise, arising out of or based
upon any alleged untrue statement of material fact contained in any
registration statement, statement of additional information or prospectus
of the Fund, relating to the Fund, or any omission to state a material fact
therein if such statement or omission was made in reliance upon, and in
conformity with, written information furnished to the Fund in connection
therewith by or on behalf of the Distributor.
FOURTEENTH: Nothing herein contained shall require the Fund to take
any action contrary to any provision of its Declaration of Trust or to any
applicable statute or regulation.
FIFTEENTH: This Agreement has been approved by the Directors of the
Fund and shall become effective at the close of business on the date hereof.
This Agreement shall continue in force and effect for successive annual
periods, provided that such continuance is specifically approved at least
annually (a) (i) by the Board of Directors of the Fund, or (ii) by vote of
a majority of the Fund's outstanding voting securities (as defined in
Section 2 (a) (42) of the Investment Company Act of 1940), and (b) by vote
of majority of the Fund's Directors who are not interested persons (as
defined in Section 2 (a) (19) of the Investment Company Act of 1940) of the
Distributor by votes cast in person at a meeting called for such purposes.
SIXTEENTH: The Distributor, as the owner of the registered service
xxxx "Lexington" (registration number 836-088), hereby sublicenses and
authorizes the Fund to include the word "Lexington" as part of its corporate
name, subject, however, to revocation by the Distributor in the event that
the Fund ceases to engage the Distributor or affiliates of the Distributor
as investment advisor or distributor. The Fund agrees upon demand of the
Distributor to change its corporate name to delete the word "Lexington"
therefrom.
SEVENTEENTH
(A) This Agreement may be terminated at any time, without the payment
of any penalty, by vote of the Board of Directors of the Fund or by vote of
a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund, or by the
Distributor, on sixty (60) days written notice of the other party.
(B) This Agreement shall automatically terminate in the event of its
assignment, the term "assignment" for this purpose having the meaning
defined in Section 2(a)(4) of the Investment Company Act of 1940.
EIGHTEENTH: Any notice under this Agreement shall be in writing,
addressed and delivered, or mailed, postage paid, to the other party at such
address as such other party may designate for the receipt of such notices.
Until further notice to the other party, it is agreed that the address of
the Fund shall be Park 00 Xxxx, Xxxxx Xxx, Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx Xxxxxx and
Distributor shall be Park 00 Xxxx, Xxxxx Xxx, Xxxxxx Xxxxx, Xxx Xxxxxx.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be
executed in duplicate on the day and year first above written.
LEXINGTON EMERGING MARKETS FUND, INC.
Attest: By:
__________________________________
LEXINGTON FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
Attest: By:
___________________________________
