(PORTIONS OF AGREEMENT AND DECLARATION OF TRUST OF
XXXXXX NEW YORK TAX EXEMPT INCOME FUND
RELATING TO SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS)
(c) "Shares" means the equal proportionate transferable
units of interest into which the beneficial interest in
the Trust shall be divided from time to time or, if
more than one series or class of Shares is authorized
by the Trustees, the equal proportionate transferable
units into which each series or class of Shares shall
be divided from time to time;
(d) "Shareholder" means a record owner of Shares;
ARTICLE III
SHARES
DIVISION OF BENEFICIAL INTEREST
Section 1. The Shares of the Trust shall be issued in one
or more series as the Trustees may, without shareholder approval,
authorize. Each series shall be preferred over all other series
in respect of the assets allocated to that series. The
beneficial interest in each series shall at all times be divided
into Shares, without par value, each of which shall, except as
provided in the following sentence, represent an equal
proportionate interest in the series with each other Share of the
same series, none having priority or preference over another.
The Trustees may, without shareholder approval, divide the Shares
of any series into two or more classes, Shares of each such class
having such preferences and special or relative rights and
privileges (including conversion rights, if any) as the Trustees
may determine and as shall be set forth in the Bylaws. The
number of Shares authorized shall be unlimited. The Trustees may
from time to time divide or combine the Shares of any series or
class into a greater or lesser number without thereby changing
the proportionate beneficial interest in the series or class.
OWNERSHIP OF SHARES
Section 2. The ownership of Shares shall be recorded on the
books of the Trust or a transfer or similar agent. No
certificates certifying the ownership of Shares shall be issued
except as the Trustees may otherwise determine from time to time.
The Trustees may make such rules as they consider appropriate for
the issuance of Share Certificates, the transfer of Shares and
similar matters. The record books of the Trust as kept by the
Trust or any transfer or similar agent, as the case may be, shall
be conclusive as to who are the Shareholders of each series and
class and as to the number of Shares of each series and class
held from time to time by each Shareholder.
NO PREEMPTIVE RIGHTS
Section 4. Shareholders shall have no preemptive or other
right to subscribe to any additional Shares or other securities
issued by the Trust.
STATUS OF SHARES AND LIMITATION OF PERSONAL LIABILITY
Section 5. Shares shall be deemed to be personal property
giving only the rights provided in this Declaration of Trust or
the Bylaws. Every Shareholder by virtue of having become a
Shareholder shall be held to have expressly assented and agreed
to the terms of this Declaration of Trust and the Bylaws and to
have become a party hereto. The death of a Shareholder during
the continuance of the Trust shall not operate to terminate the
same nor entitle the representative of any deceased Shareholder
to an accounting or to take any action in court or elsewhere
against the Trust or the Trustees, but only to the rights of said
decedent under this Trust. Ownership of Shares shall not entitle
the Shareholder to any title in or to the whole or any part of
the Trust property or right to call for a partition or division
of the same or for an accounting, nor shall the ownership of
Shares constitute the Shareholders partners. Neither the Trust
nor the Trustees, nor any officer, employee or agent of the Trust
shall have any power to bind personally any Shareholder, nor
except as specifically provided herein to call upon any
shareholder for the payment of any sum of money or assessment
whatsoever other than such as the Shareholder may at any time
personally agree to pay.
ARTICLE V
SHAREHOLDERS' VOTING POWERS AND MEETINGS
VOTING POWERS
Section 1. Subject to the voting powers of one or more
series or classes of Shares as set forth in this Declaration of
Trust or in the Bylaws, the Shareholders shall have power to vote
only (i) for the election of Trustees as provided in Article IV,
Section 1, (ii) for the removal of Trustees as provided in
Article IV, Section 1, (iii) with respect to any Manager as
provided in Article IV, Section 6, (iv) with respect to any
termination of this Trust to the extent and as provided in
Article IX, Section 4, (v) with respect to any amendment of this
Declaration of Trust to the extent and as provided in Article IX,
Section 7, (vi) to the same extent as the shareholders of a
Massachusetts business corporation as to whether or not a court
action, proceeding or claim should or should not be brought or
maintained derivatively or as a class action on behalf of the
Trust or the Shareholders, and (vii) with respect to such
additional matters relating to the Trust as may be required by
this Declaration of Trust, the Bylaws or any registration of the
Trust with the Securities and Exchange Commission (or any
successor agency) or any state, or as the Trustees may consider
necessary or desirable. Each whole Share shall be entitled to
one vote as to any matter on which it is entitled to vote and
each fractional Share shall be entitled to a proportionate
fractional vote. Notwithstanding any other provision of this
Declaration of Trust, on any matter submitted to a vote of
Shareholders, all Shares of the Trust then entitled to vote shall
be voted in the aggregate as a single class without regard to
series or classes of shares, except (1) when required by the 1940
Act or when the Trustees shall have determined that the matter
affects one or more series or classes of Shares materially
differently, Shares shall be voted by individual series or class;
and (2) when the Trustees have determined that the matter affects
only the interests of one or more series or classes, then only
Shareholders of such series or classes shall be entitled to vote
thereon. There shall be no cumulative voting in the election of
Trustees. Shares may be voted in person or by proxy. A proxy
with respect to Xxxxxx held in the name of two or more persons
shall be valid if executed by any one of them unless at or prior
to exercise of the proxy the Trust receives a specific written
notice to the contrary from any one of them. A proxy purporting
to be executed by or on behalf of a Shareholder shall be deemed
valid unless challenged at or prior to its exercise and the
burden of proving invalidity shall rest on the challenger. Until
Shares of any series or class are issued, the Trustees may
exercise all rights of Shareholders and may take any action
required by law, this Declaration of Trust or the Bylaws to be
taken by Shareholders as to such series or class.
VOTING POWER AND MEETINGS
Section 2. Meetings of Shareholders of any or all series
or classes may be called by the Trustees from time to time for
the purpose of taking action upon any matter requiring the vote
or authority of the Shareholders of such series or classes as
herein provided or upon any other matter deemed by the Trustees
to be necessary or desirable. Written notice of any meeting of
Shareholders shall be given or caused to be given by the Trustees
by mailing such notice at least seven days before such meeting,
postage prepaid, stating the time, place and purpose of the
meeting, to each Shareholder entitled to vote at such meeting at
the Shareholder's address as it appears on the records of the
Trust. If the Trustees shall fail to call or give notice of any
meeting of Shareholders for a period of 30 days after written
application by Shareholders holding at least 10% of the then
outstanding Shares of all series and classes entitled to vote at
such meeting requesting that a meeting be called for a purpose
requiring action by the Shareholders as provided herein or in the
Bylaws, then Shareholders holding at least 10% of the then
outstanding Shares of all series and classes entitled to vote at
such meeting may call and give notice of such meeting, and
thereupon the meeting shall be held in the manner provided for
herein in case of call thereof by the Trustees.
QUORUM AND REQUIRED VOTE
Section 3. Thirty percent of Shares entitled to vote on a
particular matter shall be a quorum for the transaction of
business on that matter at a Shareholders' meeting, except that
where any provision of law or of this Declaration of Trust
permits or requires that holders of any series or class shall
vote as an individual series or class, then thirty percent of the
aggregate number of Shares of that series or class entitled to
vote shall be necessary to constitute a quorum for the
transaction of business by that series or class. Any lesser
number shall be sufficient for adjournments. Any adjourned
session or sessions may be held, within a reasonable time after
the date set for the original meeting, without the necessity of
further notice. Except when a larger vote is required by any
provision of this Declaration of Trust or the Bylaws, or by the
1940 Act, a majority of the Shares voted shall decide any
questions and a plurality shall elect a Trustee, provided that
where any provision of law or of this Declaration of Trust
permits or requires that the holders of any series or class shall
vote as an individual series or class, then a majority of the
Shares of that series or class voted on the matter shall decide
that matter insofar as that series or class is concerned.
ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT
Section 4. Any action taken by Shareholders may be taken
without a meeting if a majority of Shareholders entitled to vote
on the matter (or such larger proportion thereof as shall be
required by any express provision of this Declaration of Trust or
the Bylaws) consent to the action in writing and such written
consents are filed with the records of the meetings of
Shareholders. Such consent shall be treated for all purposes as
a vote taken at a meeting of Shareholders.
ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS
Section 5. The Bylaws may include further provisions not
inconsistent with this Declaration of Trust, regarding
Shareholders' voting powers, the conduct of meetings and related
matters.
ARTICLE VI
DISTRIBUTIONS, REDEMPTIONS AND REPURCHASES
DISTRIBUTIONS
Section 1. The Trustees may each year, or more frequently
if they so determine, distribute to the Shareholders of each
series out of the assets of such series such amounts as the
Trustees may determine. Any such distribution to the
Shareholders of a particular series shall be made to said
Shareholders pro rata in proportion to the number of Shares of
such series held by each of them, except to the extent otherwise
required or permitted by the preferences and special or relative
rights and privileges of any classes of Shares of that series,
and any distribution to the Shareholders of a particular class of
Shares shall be made to such Shareholders pro rata in proportion
to the number of Shares of such class held by each of them. Such
distributions shall be made in cash or Shares or a combination
thereof as determined by the Trustees. Any such distribution
paid in Shares will be paid at the net asset value thereof as
determined in accordance with the Bylaws.
REDEMPTIONS AND REPURCHASES
Section 2. The Trust shall purchase such Shares as are
offered by any Shareholder for redemption, upon the presentation
of any certificate for the Shares to be purchased, a proper
instrument of transfer and a request directed to the Trust or a
person designated by the Trust that the Trust purchase such
Shares, or in accordance with such other procedures for
redemption as the Trustees may from time to time authorize; and
the Trust will pay therefor the net asset value thereof, as next
determined in accordance with the Bylaws. Payment for said
Shares shall be made by the Trust to the Shareholder within seven
days after the date on which the request is made. The obligation
set forth in this Section 2 is subject to the provision that in
the event that any time the New York Stock Exchange is closed for
other than customary weekends or holidays, or, if permitted by
rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, during periods
when trading on the Exchange is restricted or during any
emergency which makes it impractical for the Trust to dispose of
its investments or to determine fairly the value of its net
assets, or during any other period permitted by order of the
Securities and Exchange Commission for the protection of
investors, such obligation may be suspended or postponed by the
Trustees. The Trust may also purchase or repurchase Shares at a
price not exceeding the net asset value of such Shares in effect
when the purchase or repurchase or any contract to purchase or
repurchase is made.
REDEMPTIONS AT THE OPTION OF THE TRUST
Section 3. The Trust shall have the right at its option and
at any time to redeem Shares of any Shareholder at the net asset
value thereof as determined in accordance with the Bylaws: (i) if
at such time such Shareholder owns fewer Shares than, or Shares
having an aggregate net asset value of less than, an amount
determined from time to time by the Trustees; or (ii) to the
extent that such Shareholder owns Shares of a particular series
of Shares equal to or in excess of a percentage of the
outstanding Shares of that series determined from time to time by
the Trustees; or (iii) to the extent that such Shareholder owns
Shares of the Trust representing a percentage equal to or in
excess of such percentage of the aggregate number of outstanding
Shares of the Trust or the aggregate net asset value of the Trust
determined from time to time by the Trustees.
SHAREHOLDERS
Section 4. In case any Shareholder or former Shareholder
shall be held to be personally liable solely by reason of his or
her being or having been a Shareholder and not because of his or
her acts or omissions or for some other reason, the Shareholder
or former Shareholder (or his or her heirs, executors,
administrators or other legal representatives or in the case of a
corporation or other entity, its corporate or other general
successor) shall be entitled to be held harmless from and
indemnified against all loss and expense arising from such
liability, but only out of the assets of the particular series of
Shares of which he or she is or was a Shareholder.
ARTICLE IX
MISCELLANEOUS
TRUSTEES, SHAREHOLDERS, ETC. NOT PERSONALLY LIABLE; NOTICE
Section 1. All persons extending credit to, contracting
with or having any claim against the Trust or a particular series
of Shares shall look only to the assets of the Trust or the
assets of that particular series of Shares for payment under such
credit, contract or claim, and neither the Shareholders nor the
Trustees, nor any of the Trust's officers, employees or agents,
whether past, present or future, shall be personally liable
therefor. Nothing in this Declaration of Trust shall protect any
Trustee against any liability to which such Trustee would
otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith,
gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in
the conduct of the office of Trustee.
Every note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or
undertaking made or issued by the Trustees or by any officer or
officers shall give notice that this Declaration of Trust is on
file with the Secretary of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
shall recite that the same was executed or made by or on behalf
of the Trust or by them as Trustee or Trustees or as officer or
officers and not individually and that the obligations of such
instrument are not binding upon any of them or the Shareholders
individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of
the Trust, and may contain such further recital as he or she or
they may deem appropriate, but the omission thereof shall not
operate to bind any Trustee or Trustees or officer or officers or
Shareholder or Shareholders individually.
