EXHIBIT 6(a)
GENERAL DISTRIBUTOR'S AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
ROCHESTER FUND SERIES
THE BOND FUND FOR GROWTH
AND
XXXXXXXXXXX FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
Date: January 4, 1996
XXXXXXXXXXX FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
Xxx Xxxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000-0000
Dear Sirs:
ROCHESTER FUND SERIES, a Massachusetts business trust (the "Fund"), is
registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940
(the "1940 Act"), consisting of one portfolio, The Bond Fund For Growth, and an
indefinite number of one or more classes of its shares of beneficial interest
("Shares") have been registered under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933
Act") to be offered for sale to the public in a continuous public offering in
accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the Prospectus and
Statement of Additional Information ("SAI") included in the Fund's Registration
Statement as it may be amended from time to time (the "current Prospectus and/or
SAI").
In this connection, the Fund desires that your firm (the "General
Distributor") act in a principal capacity as General Distributor for the sale
and distribution of Shares which have been registered as described above and of
any additional Shares which may become registered during the term of this
Agreement. You have advised the Fund that you are willing to act as such General
Distributor, and it is accordingly agreed by and between us as follows:
1. APPOINTMENT OF THE DISTRIBUTOR. The Fund hereby appoints you as the sole
General Distributor, pursuant to the aforesaid continuous public offering of its
Shares, and the Fund further agrees from and after the date of this Agreement,
that it will not, without your consent, sell or agree to sell any Shares
otherwise than through you, except (a) the Fund may itself sell Shares without
sales charge as an investment to the officers, trustees or directors and bona
fide present and former full-time employees of the Fund, the Fund's Investment
Adviser and affiliates thereof, and to other investors who are identified in the
current Prospectus and/or SAI as having the privilege to buy Shares at net asset
value; (b) the Fund may issue Shares in connection with a merger,
consolidation or acquisition of assets on such basis as may be authorized or
permitted under the 1940 Act; (c) the Fund may issue Shares for the reinvestment
of dividends and other distributions of the Fund or of any other Fund if
permitted by the current Prospectus and/or SAI; and (d) the Fund may issue
Shares as underlying securities of a unit investment trust if such unit
investment trust has elected to use Shares as an underlying investment; provided
that in no event as to any of the foregoing exceptions shall Shares be issued
and sold at less than the then-existing net asset value.
2. SALE OF SHARES. You hereby accept such appointment and agree to use your
best efforts to sell Shares, provided, however, that when requested by the Fund
at any time because of market or other economic considerations or abnormal
circumstances of any kind, or when agreed to by mutual consent of the Fund and
the General Distributor, you will suspend such efforts. The Fund may also
withdraw the offering of Shares at any time when required by the provisions of
any statute, order, rule or regulation of any governmental body having
jurisdiction. It is understood that you do not undertake to sell all or any
specific number of Shares.
3. SALES CHARGE. Shares shall be sold by you at net asset value plus a
front-end sales charge not in excess of 8.5% of the offering price, but which
front-end sales charge shall be proportionately reduced or eliminated for larger
sales and under other circumstances, in each case on the basis set forth in the
Fund's current Prospectus and/or SAI. The redemption proceeds of shares offered
and sold at net asset value with or without a front-end sales charge may be
subject to a contingent deferred sales charge ("CDSC") under the circumstances
described in the current Prospectus and/or SAI. You may reallow such portion of
the front-end sales charge to dealers or cause payment (which may exceed the
front-end sales charge, if any) of commissions to brokers through which sales
are made, as you may determine, and you may pay such amounts to dealers and
brokers on sales of shares from your own resources (such dealers and brokers
shall collectively include all domestic or foreign institutions eligible to
offer and sell the Shares), and in the event the Fund has more than one class of
Shares outstanding, then you may impose a front-end sales charge and/or a CDSC
on Shares of one class that is different from the charges imposed on Shares of
the Fund's other class(es), in each case as set forth in the current Prospectus
and/or SAI, provided the front-end sales charge and CDSC to the ultimate
purchaser do not exceed the respective levels set forth for such category of
purchaser in the Fund's current Prospectus and/or SAI.
4. PURCHASE OF SHARES.
(a) As General Distributor, you shall have the right to accept or reject
orders for the purchase of Shares at your discretion. Any
consideration which you may receive in connection with a rejected
purchase order will be returned promptly.
(b) You agree promptly to issue or to cause the duly appointed transfer
or shareholder servicing agent of the Fund to issue as your agent
confirmations of all accepted purchase orders and to transmit a copy
of such confirmations to the Fund. The net asset value of all Shares
which are the
2
subject of such confirmations, computed in accordance with the
applicable rules under the 1940 Act, shall be a liability of the
General Distributor to the Fund to be paid promptly after receipt of
payment from the originating dealer or broker (or investor, in the
case of direct purchases) and not later than eleven business days
after such confirmation even if you have not actually received
payment from the originating dealer or broker or investor. In no
event shall the General Distributor make payment to the Fund later
than permitted by applicable rules of the National Association of
Securities Dealers, Inc.
(c) If the originating dealer or broker shall fail to make timely
settlement of its purchase order in accordance with applicable rules
of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or if a
direct purchaser shall fail to make good payment for shares in a
timely manner, you shall have the right to cancel such purchase
order and, at your account and risk, to hold responsible the
originating dealer or broker, or investor. You agree promptly to
reimburse the Fund for losses suffered by it that are attributable
to any such cancellation, or to errors on your part in relation to
the effective date of accepted purchase orders, limited to the
amount that such losses exceed contemporaneous gains realized by the
Fund for either of such reasons with respect to other purchase
orders.
(d) In the case of a canceled purchase for the account of a directly
purchasing shareholder, the Fund agrees that if such investor fails
to make you whole for any loss you pay to the Fund on such canceled
purchase order, the Fund will reimburse you for such loss to the
extent of the aggregate redemption proceeds of any other shares of
the Fund owned by such investor, on your demand that the Fund
exercise its right to claim such redemption proceeds. The Fund shall
register or cause to be registered all Shares sold to you pursuant
to the provisions hereof in such names and amounts as you may
request from time to time and the Fund shall issue or cause to be
issued certificates evidencing such Shares for delivery to you or
pursuant to your direction if and to the extent that the shareholder
account in question contemplates the issuance of such certificates.
All Shares when so issued and paid for, shall be fully paid and
non-assessable by the Fund (which shall not prevent the imposition
of any CDSC that may apply) to the extent set forth in the current
Prospectus and/or SAI.
5. REPURCHASE OF SHARES.
(a) In connection with the repurchase of Shares, you are appointed and
shall act as Agent of the Fund. You are authorized, for so long as
you act as General Distributor of the Fund, to repurchase, from
authorized dealers, certificated or uncertificated shares of the
Fund ("Shares") on the basis of orders received from each dealer
("authorized dealer") with which you have
3
a dealer agreement for the sale of Shares and permitting resales of
Shares to you, provided that such authorized dealer, at the time of
placing such resale order, shall represent (i) if such Shares are
represented by certificate(s), that certificate(s) for the Shares to
be repurchased have been delivered to it by the registered owner
with a request for the redemption of such Shares executed in the
manner and with the signature guarantee required by the
then-currently effective Prospectus of the Fund, or (ii) if such
Shares are uncertificated, that the registered owner(s) has
delivered to the dealer a request for the redemption of such Shares
executed in the manner and with the signature guarantee required by
the then-currently effective Prospectus of the Fund.
(b) You shall (a) have the right in your discretion to accept or reject
orders for the repurchase of Shares; (b) promptly transmit
confirmations of all accepted repurchase orders; and (c) transmit a
copy of such confirmation to the Fund, or, if so directed, to any
duly appointed transfer or shareholder servicing agent of the Fund.
In your discretion, you may accept repurchase requests made by a
financially responsible dealer which provides you with
indemnification in form satisfactory to you in consideration of your
acceptance of such dealer's request in lieu of the written
redemption request of the owner of the account; you agree that the
Fund shall be a third party beneficiary of such indemnification.
(c) Upon receipt by the Fund or its duly appointed transfer or
shareholder servicing agent of any certificate(s) (if any has been
issued) for repurchased Shares and a written redemption request of
the registered owner(s) of such Shares executed in the manner and
bearing the signature guarantee required by the then-currently
effective Prospectus or SAI of the Fund, the Fund will pay or cause
its duly appointed transfer or shareholder servicing agent promptly
to pay to the originating authorized dealer the redemption price of
the repurchased Shares (other than repurchased Shares subject to the
provisions of part (d) of Section 5 of this Agreement) next
determined after your receipt of the dealer's repurchase order.
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of part (c) of Section 5 of this
Agreement, repurchase orders received from an authorized dealer
after the determination of the Fund's redemption price on a regular
business day will receive that day's redemption price if the request
to the dealer by its customer to arrange such repurchase prior to
the determination of the Fund's redemption price that day complies
with the requirements governing such requests as stated in the
current Prospectus and/or SAI of the Fund.
(e) You will make every reasonable effort and take all reasonably
available measures to assure the accurate performance of all
services to be performed by you hereunder within the requirements of
any statute, rule or
4
regulation pertaining to the redemption of shares of a regulated
investment company and any requirements set forth in the
then-current Prospectus and/or SAI of the Fund. You shall correct
any error or omission made by you in the performance of your duties
hereunder of which you shall have received notice in writing and any
necessary substantiating data; and you shall hold the Fund harmless
from the effect of any errors or omissions which might cause an
over- or under-redemption of the Fund's Shares and/or an excess or
non-payment of dividends, capital gains distributions, or other
distributions.
(f) In the event an authorized dealer initiating a repurchase order
shall fail to make delivery or otherwise settle such order in
accordance with the rules of the National Association of Securities
Dealers, Inc., you shall have the right to cancel such repurchase
order and, at your account and risk, to hold responsible the
originating dealer. In the event that any cancellation of a Share
repurchase order or any error in the timing of the acceptance of a
Share repurchase order shall result in a gain or loss to the Fund,
you agree promptly to reimburse the Fund for any amount by which any
loss shall exceed then-existing gains so arising.
6. 1933 ACT REGISTRATION. The Fund has delivered to you a copy of its
current Prospectus and SAI. The Fund agrees that it will use its best efforts to
continue the effectiveness of the Registration Statement under the 1933 Act. The
Fund further agrees to prepare and file any amendments to its Registration
Statement as may be necessary and any supplemental data in order to comply with
the 1933 Act. The Fund will furnish you at your expense with a reasonable number
of copies of the Prospectus and SAI and any amendments thereto for use in
connection with the sale of Shares.
7. 1940 ACT REGISTRATION. The Fund has already registered under the 1940
Act as an investment company, and it will use its best efforts to maintain such
registration and to comply with the requirements of the 1940 Act.
8. STATE BLUE SKY QUALIFICATION. At your request, the Fund will take such
steps and pay such fees and expenses as may be necessary and feasible to qualify
Shares for sale in states, territories or dependencies of the United States, the
District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and in foreign countries,
in accordance with the laws thereof, and to renew or extend any such
qualification; provided, however, that the Fund shall not be required to qualify
shares or to maintain the qualification of shares in any jurisdiction where it
shall deem such qualification disadvantageous to the Fund.
9. DUTIES OF DISTRIBUTOR. You agree that:
(a) Neither you nor any of your officers will take any long or short
position in the Shares, but this provision shall not prevent you or
your officers from acquiring Shares for investment purposes only;
and
5
(b) You shall furnish to the Fund any pertinent information required to
be inserted with respect to you as General Distributor within the
purview of the Securities Act of 1933 in any reports or
registrations required to be filed with any governmental authority;
and
(c) You will not make any representations inconsistent with the
information contained in the current Prospectus and/or SAI; and
(d) You shall maintain such records as may be reasonably required for
the Fund or its transfer or shareholder servicing agent to respond
to shareholder requests or complaints, and to permit the Fund to
maintain proper accounting records, and you shall make such records
available to the Fund and its transfer agent or shareholder
servicing agent upon request; and
(e) In performing under this Agreement, you shall comply with all
requirements of the Fund's current Prospectus and/or SAI and all
applicable laws, rules and regulations with respect to the purchase,
sale and distribution of Shares.
10. ALLOCATION OF COSTS. The Fund shall pay the cost of composition and
printing of sufficient copies of its Prospectus and SAI as shall be required for
periodic distribution to its shareholders and the expense of registering Shares
for sale under federal securities laws. You shall pay the expenses normally
attributable to the sale of Shares, other than as paid under the Fund's
distribution plans under Rule 12b-1 of the 1940 Act, including the cost of
printing and mailing of the Prospectus (other than those furnished to existing
shareholders) and any sales literature used by you in the public sale of the
Shares.
11. DURATION. This Agreement shall take effect on the date first written
above, and shall supersede any and all prior General Distributor's Agreements by
and among the Fund and you. Unless earlier terminated pursuant to paragraph 12
hereof, this Agreement shall remain in effect until September 30, 1997. This
Agreement shall continue in effect from year to year thereafter, provided that
such continuance shall be specifically approved at least annually: (a) by the
Fund's Board of Trustees or by vote of a majority of the voting securities of
the Fund; and (b) by the vote of a majority of the Trustees, who are not parties
to this Agreement or "interested persons" (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) of any
such person, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on
such approval.
12. TERMINATION. This Agreement may be terminated (a) by the General
Distributor at any time without penalty by giving sixty days' written notice
(which notice may be waived by the Fund); (b) by the Fund at any time without
penalty upon sixty days' written notice to the General Distributor (which notice
may be waived by the General Distributor); or (c) by mutual consent of the Fund
and the General Distributor, provided that such termination by the Fund pursuant
to part (b) of this Section 12 shall be directed or approved by the Board of
Trustees of the Fund or by the vote of the holders of a "majority" of the
outstanding voting securities of the Fund. In the event this Agreement is
terminated, the General Distributor shall be entitled to be paid the CDSC under
6
paragraph 3 hereof on the redemption proceeds of Shares sold prior to the
effective date of such termination.
13. ASSIGNMENT. This Agreement may not be amended or changed except in
writing and shall be binding upon and shall enure to the benefit of the parties
hereto and their respective successors; however, this Agreement shall not be
assigned by either party and shall automatically terminate upon assignment.
14. DISCLAIMER OF SHAREHOLDER LIABILITY. The General Distributor
understands and agrees that the obligations of the Fund under this Agreement are
not binding upon any Trustee or shareholder of the Fund personally, but bind
only the Fund and the Fund's property; the General Distributor represents that
it has notice of the provisions of the Declaration of Trust of the Fund
disclaiming Trustee and shareholder liability for acts or obligations of the
Fund.
15. SECTION HEADINGS. The heading of each section is for descriptive
purposes only, and such headings are not to be construed or interpreted as part
of this Agreement.
If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, so indicate by
signing in the space provided below.
ROCHESTER FUND SERIES, on behalf of
THE BOND FUND FOR GROWTH
By: /s/ XXXXXXX X. XXXXX
---------------------------------------
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, Vice President
Accepted:
XXXXXXXXXXX FUNDS DISTRIBUTOR, INC.
By /s/ XXXXXX X. XXXXXXX
------------------------------------
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
Executive Vice President
7
