EXHIBIT 10.27
FUND ADMINISTRATION AGREEMENT BETWEEN
TEMPLETON GROWTH FUND, INC.
AND
FRANKLIN XXXXXXXXX SERVICES, INC.
AGREEMENT dated as of October 1, 1996, between Templeton Growth
Fund, Inc. (the "Fund"), an investment company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 ("1940 Act"), and Franklin Xxxxxxxxx Services, Inc. ("FTS"
or "Administrator").
In consideration of the mutual promises herein made, the parties
hereby agree as follows:
(1) The Administrator agrees, during the life of this Agreement, to
provide the following services to the Fund:
(a) providing office space, telephone, office equipment and supplies
for the Fund;
(b) providing trading desk facilities for the Fund, unless these
facilities are provided by the Fund's investment adviser;
(c) authorizing expenditures and approving bills for payment on
behalf of the Fund;
(d) supervising preparation of periodic reports to shareholders,
notices of dividends, capital gains distributions and tax credits; and attending
to routine correspondence and other communications with individual shareholders
when asked to do so by the Fund's shareholder servicing agent or other agents of
the Fund;
(e) coordinating the daily pricing of the Fund's investment
portfolio, including collecting quotations from pricing services engaged by the
Fund; providing fund accounting services, including preparing and supervising
publication of daily net asset value quotations, periodic earnings reports and
other financial data; and coordinating trade settlements;
(f) monitoring relationships with organizations serving the Fund,
including custodians, transfer agents, public accounting firms, law firms,
printers and other third party service providers;
(g) supervising compliance by the Fund with recordkeeping
requirements under the federal securities laws, including the 1940 Act and the
rules and regulations thereunder, and under other applicable state and federal
laws; and maintaining books and records for the Fund (other than those
maintained by the custodian and transfer agent);
(h) preparing and filing of tax reports including the Fund's income
tax returns, and monitoring the Fund's compliance with subchapter M of the
Internal Revenue Code, as amended, and other applicable tax laws and
regulations;
(i) monitoring the Fund's compliance with: 1940 Act and other
federal securities laws, and rules and regulations thereunder; state and foreign
laws and regulations applicable to the operation of investment companies; the
Fund's investment objectives, policies and restrictions; and the Code of Ethics
and other policies adopted by the Fund's Board of Directors ("Board") or by the
Fund's investment adviser and applicable to the Fund;
(j) providing executive, clerical and secretarial personnel needed
to carry out the above responsibilities;
(k) preparing and filing regulatory reports, including without
limitation Forms N-1A and N-SAR, proxy statements, information statements and
U.S. and foreign ownership reports; and
(l) providing support services incidental to carrying out these
duties.
Nothing in this Agreement shall obligate the Fund to pay any compensation to the
officers of the Fund. Nothing in this Agreement shall obligate FTS to pay for
the services of third parties, including attorneys, auditors, printers, pricing
services or others, engaged directly by the Fund to perform services on behalf
of the Fund.
(2) The Fund agrees, during the life of this Agreement, to pay to FTS as
compensation for the foregoing a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.15%
of the first $200 million of the average daily net assets of the Fund during the
month preceding each payment, reduced as follows: on such net assets in excess
of $200 million up to $700 million, a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to
0.135%; on such net assets in excess of $700 million up to $1.2 billion, a
monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.1%; and on such net assets in excess
of $1.2 billion, a monthly fee equal on an annual basis to 0.075%.
From time to time, FTS may waive all or a portion of its fees provided for
hereunder and such waiver shall be treated as a reduction in the purchase price
of its services. FTS shall be contractually bound hereunder by the terms of any
publicly announced waiver of its fee, or any limitation of each affected Fund's
expenses, as if such waiver or limitation were fully set forth herein.
(3) This Agreement shall remain in full force and effect through for one
year after its execution and thereafter from year to year to the extent
continuance is approved annually by the Board of the Fund.
(4) This Agreement may be terminated by the Fund at any time on sixty
(60) days' written notice without payment of penalty, provided that such
termination by the Fund shall be directed or approved by the vote of a majority
of the Board of the Fund in office at the time or by the vote of a majority of
the outstanding voting securities of the Fund (as defined by the 1940 Act); and
shall automatically and immediately terminate in the event of its assignment (as
defined by the 1940 Act).
(5) In the absence of willful misfeasance, bad faith or gross negligence
on the part of FTS, or of reckless disregard of its duties and obligations
hereunder, FTS shall not be subject to liability for any act or omission in the
course of, or connected with, rendering services hereunder.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement
to be duly executed by their duly authorized officers.
FRANKLIN XXXXXXXXX SERVICES, INC.
By:
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxxx
President
XXXXXXXXX GROWTH FUND, INC.
By:
Xxxx X. Xxx
Vice President
