Services Agreement
This Agreement is made by and between Bankers Finance
Advisors, LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company
having its principal place of business in Arlington, Virginia
("BFA"), and GIT Tax-Free Trust, a Massachusetts business
trust created pursuant to a Declaration of Trust filed with the
Clerk of the City of Boston, Massachusetts (the "Trust").
The parties hereto, intending so to be legally bound, agree
with each other as follows:
1. Provision of Services. BFA hereby undertakes to provide
the Trust with such operational support services as it may
require in the conduct of its business, to extent which BFA
(or any other person), acting as the Trust's investment
adviser, has not undertaken to provide such services. Such
services may include the functions of shareholder servicing
agent and transfer agent, bookkeeping and portfolio
accounting services, the handling of telephone inquires,
cash withdrawals and other customer service functions
(including processing and monitoring wire transfers), and
providing to the Trust appropriate supplies, equipment and
ancillary services necessary to the conduct of its affairs.
Such services may also include providing or arranging for
and making reimbursable expenditures with respect to any
activities intended to be financed by the Trust pursuant to
its Plan of Distribution. The Trust hereby engages BFA to
provide it with such services.
2. Scope of Authority. BFA shall be at all times, in the
performance of its functions hereunder, subject to any
direction and control of the Trustees of the Trust and of
its officers, and to the terms of its Declaration of Trust
and By-Laws, except only that it shall have no obligation to
provide to the Trust any services that are clearly outside
the scope of those contemplated in this Agreement. In the
performance of its duties hereunder, BFA shall be authorized
to take such action not inconsistent with the express
provisions hereof as it deems advisable. It may contract
with other persons to provide to the Trust any of the
services contemplated herein under such terms as it deems
reasonable and shall have the authority to direct the
activities of such other persons in the manner it deems
appropriate.
3 Other Activities of BFA. BFA and any of its affiliates
shall be free to engage in any other lawful activity,
including the rendering to others services similar to those
to be rendered to the Trust hereunder; and BFA or any
interested person thereof shall be free to invest in the
Trust as a shareholder, to become an officer or Trustee
thereof if properly elected, or to enter into any other
relationship with the Trust approved by the Trustee and in
accordance with law.
BFA agrees that it will not deal with the Trust in any
transaction in which BFA acts as a principal, except to the
extent as may be permitted by the terms of this Agreement.
The records BFA maintains on behalf of the Trust are the
sole property of the Trust and will be surrendered promptly
to the Trust upon its request pursuant to Rule 31a-3 of the
Investment Company Act of 1940.
4. Compensation to BFA. BFA shall have no responsibility
hereunder to bear at its own expense any costs or expenses
of the Trust. The Trust shall reimburse to BFA monthly all
of BFA's costs involved in the provision of services to the
Trust hereunder, as the term "cost" is more fully described
herein. The "cost" of services provided to the Trust
hereunder shall be deemed to include both the relevant
direct expenditures by BFA (including the cost of goods and
services obtained from others) and the related overhead
costs, such as depreciation, interest, employee supervision,
rent and like cost. Where only a portion of a specific
expenditure by BFA is related to services provided to the
Trust hereunder, then BFA may allocate such amount between
the Trust and the other activities of BFA on a reasonable
basis, which may involve the use of assumptions and
approximations not subject to precise verification without
undue cost, provided that a majority of the Trustees,
including a majority of the Trustees who are not interested
persons of the Trust approve the basis upon which such
allocations are made. BFA may, in its discretion, defer
billing to and payment by the Trust of any costs which are
reimbursable to it hereunder, and no such deferment shall
affect the right of BFA to receive reimbursement from the
Trust when the cost are billed.
5. Relationship to Investment Adviser. It is understood by
the parties hereto that concurrently with the execution of
this Agreement, the Trust has entered into an Investment
Advisory Agreement with Bankers Finance Advisors, LLC,
in its separate capacity as the investment
adviser to the Trust (the "Adviser") pursuant to which the
Adviser will provide management services to the Trust and
administer its affairs. BFA has entered into this Agreement
to perform certain services at its cost in consideration of
the Trust's employment of it as the Adviser as aforesaid.
If at any time the Adviser ceases to act as investment
adviser to the Trust under terms substantially those of the
Investment Advisory Agreement or if at any time the Adviser
ceases to be a subsidiary owned at least 50% (in terms of
voting rights) under common control with BFA, then this
Agreement shall immediately terminate as of a date 30 days
from the date of such event, unless within such 30-day
period BFA gives written notice to the Trust that it waives
such termination. The Trust specifically acknowledges and
accepts the relationship between separate capacities of BFA
hereunder and as the Adviser.
6. Limitation of BFA's Liability. BFA shall not be liable
for any loss incurred in connection with any of its services
hereunder, nor for any action taken, suffered or omitted and
believed by it to be advisable or within the scope of its
authority of discretion, except for acts or omissions
involving willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence
or reckless disregard of the duties assumed by it under this
Agreement.
7. Force Majeure. It is specifically agreed by the parties
that if BFA is delayed in the performance of any of the
services to be performed by it hereunder or prevented
entirely or in part from performing such services due to
causes or events beyond its control, then such delay or non-
performance may either be excused and the reasonable time
for performance thereby extended as necessary, or if such
delay or non-performance continues for 30 days then the
Trust may cancel this Agreement immediately thereafter or at
any time prior to the cessation of delay or resumption of
performance by BFA; but BFA shall not otherwise be liable
for and the Trust shall otherwise hold it harmless from any
such delay or non-performance. "Causes or events beyond
control" shall include, without limitation, the following:
Acts of God; interruption of power or other utility,
transportation or communications services; malfunction of
computer equipment; acts of civil or military authority;
sabotage national emergencies, war, explosion, flood,
accident, earthquake, fire, or other catastrophe; strike or
other labor problem; shortage of suitable parts, material,
labor or transportation; or present or future law,
governmental order, rule, regulations or official policy.
8. Limitation of Trust's Liability. BFA acknowledges that
it has received notice of and accepts the limitations upon
the Trust's liability set forth in its Declaration of Trust.
BFA agrees that the Trust's obligations hereunder in any
case shall be limited to the Trust and to its assets and
that BFA shall not seek satisfaction of any such obligation
from the shareholders of the Trust nor from any Trustee,
officer, employee or agent of the Trust.
9. Term of Agreement. This Agreement shall continue in
effect for two years from the date of its execution; and it
shall continue in force thereafter (but subject to the
termination provisions below), provided that it is
specifically approved at least annually by the Trustees of
the Trust or a majority vote of the outstanding securities
of each series and class of the Trust's shares with respect
to which it is to continue in effect, and in either case by
either case by the vote of a majority of the Trustees who
are not interested persons of the Trust, cast in person at a
meeting called for that purpose.
10. Termination by Notice. Notwithstanding any provision of
this Agreement, it may be terminated at any time without
penalty, by the Trustees of the Trust or, with respect to
any series or class of the Trust's shares, by the vote of
the majority of the outstanding voting securities of such
series or class, or by BFA, upon thirty days written notice
to the other party.
11. Termination upon Assignment. This Agreement may not be
assigned by BFA and shall automatically terminate upon any
such assignment; except that BFA may assign or transfer its
interest herein to a wholly-owned subsidiary of BFA, or to
another entity operated substantially under common control
with BFA, provided BFA represents to the Trust that
substantial continuity of management, personnel and services
previously available to the Trust will be maintained
following such assignment or transfer and that the Trustees
of the Trust (including a majority of the Trustees who are
not interested persons of the Trust) accept such
representation. Nothing herein shall limit the right of BFA
to obtain goods and services from other persons as described
in Section 2 above.
12. Use of Terms. The terms "affiliated person," "interested
persons," "assignment," and "majority of the outstanding
voting securities," as used herein, shall have the same
meanings as in the Investment Company Act of 1940 and any
applicable regulations thereunder. In Witness Whereof, the
parties have caused this Agreement to be signed in their
behalf by their respective officers duly authorized and
their respective seals to affixed hereto, this 31 day of July, 1996
Bankers Finance Advisors LLC
By: (signature) Xxxxxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Its President/Manager
GIT Tax-Free Trust
By (signature) Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Trustee
By (signature) Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xx.
Trustee
By (signature) Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx
Trustee
By (signature) Xxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Trustee
