TRANSFER AGENCY AND SERVICE AGREEMENT
TRANSFER AGENCY AND SERVICE AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made as of the 18th day of January, 2019, by and between each Trust (hereinafter each a “Trust”, and collectively the “Trusts” as applicable) listed on Appendix A hereto (as such Appendix be amended from time to time) on behalf of itself and each of its Series (as defined herein), as applicable, severally and not jointly, and THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, a New York corporation authorized to do a banking business having its principal office and place of business at 000 Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000 (the “Bank”). “Series” shall mean the various portfolios, if any, of the Trusts listed on Schedule II hereto, as amended from time to time, and if none are listed references to Series shall be references to the Trust.
WHEREAS, the Trust will ordinarily issue for purchase and redeem shares of the Trust (the “Shares) only in aggregations of Shares known as “Creation Units” (currently 50,000 shares) (each a “Creation Unit”) principally in kind;
WHEREAS, The Depository Trust Company, a limited purpose trust company organized under the laws of the State of New York (“DTC”), or its nominee (Cede & Co.), will be the registered owner (the “Shareholder”) of all Shares; and
WHEREAS, the Trust desires to appoint the Bank as its transfer agent, dividend disbursing agent, and agent in connection with certain other activities, and the Bank desires to accept such appointment;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants herein contained, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Terms of Appointment; Duties of the Bank
1.1 Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, the Trust hereby employs and appoints the Bank to act as, and the Bank agrees to act as, its transfer agent for the authorized and issued Shares, and as the Trust’s dividend disbursing agent.
1.2 Pursuant to such appointment, the Bank agrees that it will perform the following services:
(a) In accordance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and Participant Agreements prepared by the Trust’s distributor (“Distributor”), a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, the Bank shall:
(i) Perform and facilitate the performance of purchases and redemption of Creation Units;
(ii) Prepare and transmit by means of DTC’s book-entry system payments for dividends and distributions on or with respect to the Shares declared by the Trust on behalf of the applicable Trust;
(iii) Maintain the record of the name and address of the Shareholder and the number of Shares issued by the Trust and held by the Shareholder;
(iv) Record the issuance of Shares of the Trust and maintain a record of the total number of Shares of the Trust which are outstanding, and, based upon data provided to it by the Trust, the total number of authorized Shares. The Bank shall have no obligation, when recording the issuance of Shares, to monitor the issuance of such Shares or to take cognizance of any laws relating to the issue or sale of such Shares, which functions shall be the sole responsibility of the Trust.
(v) Prepare and transmit to the Trust and the Trust’s administrator and to any applicable securities exchange (as specified to the Bank by the Trust or its administrator) information with respect to purchases and redemptions of Shares;
(vi) On days that the Trust may accept orders for purchases or redemptions, calculate and transmit to the Distributor and the Trust’s administrator the number of outstanding Shares;
(vii) On days that the Trust may accept orders for purchases or redemptions (pursuant to the Participant Agreement), transmit to the Bank, the Trust and DTC the amount of Shares purchased on such day;
(viii) Confirm to DTC the number of Shares issued to the Shareholder, as DTC may reasonably request;
(ix) Prepare and deliver other reports, information and documents to DTC as DTC may reasonably request;
(x) Extend the voting rights to the Shareholder for extension by DTC to DTC participants and the beneficial owners of Shares in accordance with policies and procedures of DTC for book-entry only securities;
(xi) Distribute or maintain, as directed by the Trust, amounts related to purchases and redemptions of Creation Units, dividends and distributions, variation margin on derivative securities and collateral;
(xii) Maintain those books and records of the Trust specified by the Trust in Schedule A attached hereto;
(xiii) Prepare a monthly report of all purchases and redemptions of Shares during such month on a gross transaction basis, and identify on a daily basis the net number of Shares either redeemed or purchased on such Business Day and with respect to each Authorized Participant purchasing or redeeming Shares, the amount of Shares purchased or redeemed;
(xiv) Receive from the Distributor (as defined in the Participant Agreement) or from its agent purchase orders from Authorized Participants (as defined in the Participant Agreement) for Creation Unit Aggregations of Shares received in good form and accepted by or on behalf of the Trust by the Distributor, transmit appropriate trade instructions to the National Securities Clearance Corporation, if applicable, and pursuant to such orders issue the appropriate number of Shares of the Trust and hold such Shares in the account of the Shareholder for each of the respective Trusts;
(xv) Receive from the Authorized Participants redemption requests, deliver the appropriate documentation thereof to The Bank of New York Mellon as custodian for the Trust, generate and transmit or cause to be generated and transmitted confirmation of receipt of such redemption requests to the Authorized Participants submitting the same; transmit appropriate trade instructions to the National Securities Clearance Corporation, if applicable, and redeem the appropriate number of Creation Unit Aggregations of Shares held in the account of the Shareholder; and
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(xvi) Confirm the name, U.S taxpayer identification number and principle place of business of each Authorized Participant.
(xvii) The Bank may execute transactions directly with Authorized Participants to the extent necessary or appropriate to enable the Bank to carry out any of the duties set forth in items (i) through (xvi) above.
(xviii) Except as otherwise instructed by the Trust, the Bank shall process all transactions in each Series in accordance with the policies and procedures mutually agreed upon between the Trust and the Bank with respect to the proper net asset value to be applied to purchases received in good order by the Bank or from an Authorized Participant before any cut-offs established by the Trust, and such other matters set forth in items (i) through (xvi) above as these policies and procedures are intended to address.
(b) The Bank may maintain and manage, as agent for the Trust, such accounts as the Bank shall deem necessary for the performance of its duties under this Agreement, including, but not limited to, the processing of Creation Unit purchases and redemptions; and the payment of dividends and distributions. The Bank may maintain such accounts at financial institutions deemed appropriate by the Bank in accordance with applicable law.
(c) In addition to the services set forth in the above sub-section 1.2(a), the Bank shall: perform the customary services of a transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent including, but not limited to, maintaining the account of the Shareholder, maintaining the items set forth on Schedule A attached hereto, and performing such services identified in each Participant Agreement.
(d) The following shall be delivered to DTC participants as identified by DTC as the Shareholder for book-entry only securities:
(i) Annual and semi-annual reports of the Trust;
(ii) Trust proxies, proxy statements and other proxy soliciting materials;
(iii) Trust prospectus and amendments and supplements thereto, including stickers; and
(iv) Other communications as the Trust may from time to time identify as required by law or as the Trust may reasonably request
(v) The Bank shall provide additional services, if any, as may be agreed upon in writing by the Trust and the Bank.
(e) The Bank shall keep records relating to the services to be performed hereunder, in the form and manner required by applicable laws, rules, and regulations under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”) and to the extent required by Section 31 of the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder (the “Rules”), all such books and records shall be the property of the Trust, will be preserved, maintained and made available in accordance with such Rules, and will be surrendered promptly to the Trust on and in accordance with its request.
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2. Fees and Expenses
2.1 The Bank shall receive from the Trust such compensation for the Transfer Agent’s services provided pursuant to this Agreement as may be agreed to from time to time in a written fee schedule approved by the parties. The fees are accrued daily and billed monthly and shall be due and payable upon receipt of the invoice. Upon the termination of this Agreement before the end of any month, the fee for the part of the month before such termination shall be prorated according to the proportion which such part bears to the full monthly period and shall be payable upon the date of termination of this Agreement.
2.2 In addition to the fee paid under Section 2.1 above, the Trust agrees to reimburse the Bank for reasonable out-of-pocket expenses, including but not limited to confirmation production, postage, forms, telephone, microfilm, microfiche, tabulating proxies, records storage, or advances incurred by the Bank for the items set out in the fee schedule or relating to dividend distributions and reports (whereas all expenses related to creations and redemptions of Trust securities shall be borne by the relevant Authorized Participant in such creations and redemptions). In addition, any other expenses incurred by the Bank at the request or with the consent of the Trust, will be reimbursed by the Trust.
2.3 The Trust agrees to pay all fees and reimbursable expenses within thirty (30) business days following the receipt of the respective billing notice accompanied by supporting documentation, as appropriate. Postage for mailing of dividends, proxies, Trust reports and other mailings to all shareholder accounts shall be advanced to the Bank by the Trust at least seven (7) days prior to the mailing date of such materials.
2.4 The Trust hereby represents and warrants to the Bank that (i) the terms of this Agreement, (ii) the fees and expenses associated with this Agreement, and (iii) any benefits accruing to the Bank or to the adviser to, or sponsor of, the Trust in connection with this Agreement, including, but not limited to, any fee waivers, reimbursements, or payments made, or to be made, by the Bank to such adviser or sponsor or to any affiliate of the Trust relating to this Agreement have been fully disclosed to the Board of Trustees of the Trust and that, if required by applicable law, such Board of Trustees has approved or will approve the terms of this Agreement, and any such fees, expenses, and benefits.
3. Representations and Warranties of the Bank
The Bank represents and warrants to the Trust that:
3.1 It is a banking company duly organized and existing and in good standing under the laws of the State of New York.
3.2 It is duly qualified to carry on its business in the State of New York.
3.3 It is empowered under applicable laws and by its Charter and By-Laws to act as transfer agent and dividend disbursing agent and to enter into, and perform its obligations under, this Agreement.
3.4 All requisite corporate proceedings have been taken to authorize it to enter into and perform this Agreement.
3.5 It has and will continue to have access to the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel to perform its duties and obligations under this Agreement.
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3.6 It is registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a transfer agent under Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or is exempt from registration thereunder in accordance with the terms thereof.
3.7 It is conducting its business in substantial compliance with all applicable laws and requirements, both state and federal, and has obtained all regulatory licenses, approvals and consents necessary to carry on its business as now conducted; and
3.8 It has adopted and implements policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violation of applicable laws and regulations.
4. Representations and Warranties of the Trust
The Trust represents and warrants to the Bank that:
4.1 It is duly organized and existing and in good standing under the laws of its place of organization.
4.2 It is empowered under applicable laws and by its Declaration of Trust and By-Laws to enter into and perform this Agreement.
4.3 It is an open-end management investment company registered under the 0000 Xxx.
4.4 A registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, on behalf of each of the Trusts has become effective, will remain effective, and appropriate state securities law filings have been made and will continue to be made, with respect to all Shares of the Trust being offered for sale.
5. Indemnification
5.1 The Bank shall not be responsible for, and the Trust shall indemnify and hold the Bank and its directors, officers, employees and agents harmless from and against, any and all losses, damages, costs, charges, counsel fees, including, without limitation, those incurred by the Bank in a successful defense of any claims by the Trust, payments, expenses and liability (“Losses”) which may be sustained or incurred by or which may be asserted against the Bank in connection with or relating to this Agreement or the Bank’s actions or omissions with respect to this Agreement, or as a result of acting upon any instructions reasonably believed by the Bank to have been duly authorized by the Trust or upon reasonable reliance of information or records given or made by the Trust; except for any Losses directly caused by the Bank’s failure to satisfy its standard of care hereunder.
5.2 This indemnification provision shall apply to actions taken or omissions pursuant to this Agreement or a Participant Agreement.
5.3 To the extent the Trust asserts and is successful in a claim against the Bank in which it is determined by a court or an arbiter of competent jurisdiction that the Bank failed to discharge its duties in accordance with the standard of care set forth under Article 6 of this Agreement, then the Bank shall reimburse the Trust for all reasonable out-of-pocket attorneys’ fees incurred as a result of such claim.
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6. Standard of Care and Limitation of Liability
The Bank agrees that it shall perform its duties hereunder in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements applicable to the services provided hereunder. The Bank shall have no responsibility and shall not be liable for any Losses, except that the Bank shall be liable to the Trust for damages caused by its own negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct or reckless disregard of its obligations hereunder, including but not limited to adherence to the obligations in the preceding sentence in this Section 6, or that of its employees. The parties agree that any encoding or payment processing errors shall be governed by this standard of care, and not Section 4-209 of the Uniform Commercial Code which shall be superseded by this Article. In no event shall the Bank be liable for special, indirect or consequential damages, regardless of the form of action and even if the same were foreseeable. For purposes of this Agreement, none of the following shall be or be deemed a breach of the Bank’s standard or care:
(a) The conclusive reliance on or use by the Bank or its agents or subcontractors of information, records, documents or services which (i) are received by the Bank or its agents or subcontractors, and (ii) have been prepared, maintained or performed by the Trust or any other person or firm on behalf of the Trust including but not limited to any previous transfer agent or registrar.
(b) The conclusive reliance on, or the carrying out by the Bank or its agents or subcontractors of, any instructions or requests of the Trust or instructions or requests on behalf of the Trust.
(c) The offer or sale of Shares by or for the Trust in violation of any requirement under the federal securities laws or regulations, or the securities laws or regulations of any state that such Shares be registered in such state, or any violation of any stop order or other determination or ruling by any federal agency, or by any state with respect to the offer or sale of Shares in such state.
7. Concerning the Bank
7.1
(a) The Bank may employ agents or attorneys-in-fact which are not affiliates of the Bank with the prior written consent of the Trust (which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld), and shall not be liable for any loss or expense arising out of, or in connection with, the actions or omissions to act of such agents or attorneys-in-fact, provided that the Bank acts in good faith and with reasonable care in the selection and retention of such agents or attorneys-in-fact.
(b) The Bank may, without the prior consent of the Trust, enter into subcontracts, agreements and understandings with any Bank affiliate, whenever and on such terms and conditions as it deems necessary or appropriate to perform its services hereunder. No such subcontract, agreement or understanding shall discharge Bank from its obligations hereunder.
7.2 The Bank shall be entitled to conclusively rely upon any written or oral instruction actually received by the Bank and reasonably believed by the Bank to be duly authorized and delivered. The Trust agrees to forward to the Bank written instructions confirming oral instructions by the close of business of the same day that such oral instructions are given to the Bank. The Trust agrees that the fact that such confirming written instructions are not received or that contrary written instructions are received by the Bank shall in no way affect the validity or enforceability of transactions authorized by such oral instructions and effected by the Bank. If the Trust elects to transmit written instructions through an on-line communication system offered by the Bank, Trust’s use thereof shall be subject to the terms and conditions attached to the Custody Agreement between the Bank and the each Trust listed on Appendix A.
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7.3 The Bank shall establish and maintain a disaster recovery plan and back-up system satisfying the requirements of its regulators (the “Disaster Recovery Plan and Back-Up System”). The Bank shall not be responsible or liable, where it has otherwise used reasonable care, for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations under this Agreement arising out of or caused, directly or indirectly, by circumstances beyond its control, including without limitation, acts of God; earthquakes; fires; floods; wars; civil or military disturbances; sabotage; epidemics; riots; interruption, loss or malfunctions of transportation, computer (hardware or software) or communication services; labor disputes; acts of civil or military authority; governmental actions; or inability to obtain labor, material, equipment or transportation, provided that the Bank has established and is maintaining the Disaster Recovery Plan and Back-Up System, or if not, that such delay or failure would have occurred even if the Bank had established and was maintaining the Disaster Recovery Plan and Back-Up System. Upon the occurrence of any such delay or failure the Bank shall use commercially reasonable best efforts to resume performance as soon as practicable under the circumstances.
7.4 The Bank shall have no duties or responsibilities whatsoever except such duties and responsibilities as are specifically set forth in this Agreement and the Participation Agreement, and no covenant or obligation shall be implied against the Bank in connection with this Agreement, except as set forth in this Agreement and the Participation Agreement.
7.5 At any time the Bank may apply to an officer of the Trust, but is not obligated to do so, for written instructions with respect to any matter arising in connection with the Bank’s duties and obligations under this Agreement, and the Bank, its agents, and subcontractors shall not be liable for any action taken or omitted to be taken in good faith in accordance with such instructions. Such application by the Bank for instructions from an officer of the Trust may, at the option of the Bank, set forth in writing any action proposed to be taken or omitted to be taken by the Bank with respect to its duties or obligations under this Agreement and the date on and/or after which such action shall be taken, and the Bank shall not be liable for any action taken or omitted to be taken in accordance with a proposal included in any such application on or after the date specified therein unless, prior to taking or omitting to take any such action, the Bank has received written or oral instructions in response to such application specifying the action to be taken or omitted. In connection with the foregoing, the Bank may consult with legal counsel of its own choosing, but is not obligated to do so, and advise the Trust if any instructions provided by the Trust at the request of the Bank pursuant to this Article or otherwise would, to the Bank’s knowledge, cause the Bank to take any action or omit to take any action contrary to any law, rule, regulation or commercially reasonable practice for similarly situated service providers. In the event a situation or circumstance arises whereby the Bank adopts a course of conduct in reliance upon written legal advice it has received (which need not be a formal opinion of counsel) and the course of conduct is not identical to the course of conduct contained in the instructions received from the Trust, the Bank may rely upon and follow the written legal advice without liability hereunder provided it otherwise acts in compliance with this Agreement and notifies the Trust of its determination.
7.6 The Bank, its agents and subcontractors may act upon any paper or document, reasonably believed to be genuine and to have been signed by the proper person or persons, or upon any instruction, information, data, records or documents provided to the Bank or its agents or subcontractors by or on behalf of the Trust by machine readable input, telex, CRT data entry or other similar means authorized by the Trust, and shall not be held to have notice of any change of authority of any person, until receipt of written notice thereof from the Trust.
7.7 The Bank shall retain title to and ownership of any and all data bases, computer programs, screen formats, report formats, interactive design techniques, derivative works, inventions, discoveries, patentable or copyrightable matters, concepts, expertise, patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and other related legal rights utilized by the Bank in connection with the services provided by the Bank hereunder.
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Notwithstanding the foregoing, the parties hereto acknowledge that the Trust shall retain all ownership rights in Trust data maintained or prepared by the Bank in connection with the services provided by the Bank hereunder. The Bank agrees that all records prepared or maintained by the Bank relating to the services to be performed by the Bank hereunder are the property of the Trust and will be preserved, maintained and made available upon reasonable request to the Trust.
7.8 Notwithstanding any provisions of this Agreement to the contrary, the Bank shall be under no duty or obligation to inquire into, and shall not be liable for:
(a) The legality of the issue, sale or transfer of any Shares, the sufficiency of the amount to be received in connection therewith, or the authority of the Trust to request such issuance, sale or transfer;
(b) The legality of the purchase of any Shares, the sufficiency of the amount to be paid in connection therewith, or the authority of the Trust to request such purchase;
(c) The legality of the declaration of any dividend by the Trust, or the legality of the issue of any Shares in payment of any stock dividend; or
(d) The legality of any recapitalization or readjustment of the Shares.
8. Providing of Documents by the Trust and Transfers of Shares
8.1 The Trust shall promptly furnish to the Bank with a copy of its Declaration of Trust and all amendments thereto.
8.2 In the event that DTC ceases to be the Shareholder, the Bank shall re-register the Shares in the name of the successor to DTC as Shareholder upon receipt by the Bank of such documentation and assurances as it may reasonably require.
8.3 The Bank shall have no responsibility whatsoever with respect to of any beneficial interest in any of the Shares owned by the Shareholder.
8.4 The Trust shall deliver to the Bank the following documents on or before the effective date of any increase, decrease or other change in the total number of Shares authorized to be issued:
(a) A certified copy of the amendment to the Trust’s Declaration of Trust with respect to such increase, decrease or change; and
(b) An opinion of counsel for the Trust, in a form satisfactory to the Bank, with respect to (i) the validity of the Shares, the obtaining of all necessary governmental consents, whether such Shares are fully paid and non-assessable and the status of such Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any other applicable federal law or regulations (i.e., if subject to registration, that they have been registered and that the Registration Statement has become effective or, if exempt, the specific grounds therefore), (ii) the status of the Trust with regard to the 1940 Act, and (iii) the due and proper listing of the Shares on all applicable securities exchanges.
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8.5 Prior to the issuance of any additional Shares pursuant to stock dividends, stock splits or otherwise, and prior to any reduction in the number of Shares outstanding, the Trust shall deliver to the Bank:
(a) A certified copy of the order or consent of each governmental or regulatory authority required by law as a prerequisite to the issuance or reduction of such Shares, as the case may be, and an opinion of counsel for the Trust that no other order or consent is required; and
(b) An opinion of counsel for the Trust, in a form satisfactory to the Bank, with respect to (i) the validity of the Shares, the obtaining of all necessary governmental consents, whether such Shares are fully paid and non-assessable and the status of such Shares under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any other applicable federal law or regulations (i.e., if subject to registration, that they have been registered and that the Registration Statement has become effective or, if exempt, the specific grounds therefore), (ii) the status of the Trust with regard to the 1940 Act, and (iii) the due and proper listing of the Shares on all applicable securities exchanges.
8.6 The Bank and the Trust agree that all books, records, confidential, non-public, or proprietary information and data pertaining to the business of the other party which are exchanged or received pursuant to the negotiation or the carrying out of this Agreement shall remain confidential, and shall not be voluntarily disclosed to any person other than its auditors, accountants, regulators, employees, agents, attorneys-in-fact or counsel, except as may be, or may become required by law, by administrative or judicial order or by rule. The foregoing confidentiality obligation shall not apply to any information to the extent: (i) it is already known to the receiving party at the time it is obtained; (ii) it is or becomes publicly known or available through no wrongful act of the receiving party: (iii) it is rightfully received from a third party who, to the receiving party’s knowledge, is not under a duty of confidentiality; (iv) it is released by the protected party to a third party without restriction; or (v) it has been or is independently developed or obtained by the receiving party without reference to the information provided by the protected party.
8.7 In case of any requests or demands for the inspection of the Shareholder records of the Trust, the Bank will promptly employ reasonable commercial efforts to notify the Trust and secure instructions from an authorized officer of the Trust as to such inspection. The Bank reserves the right, however, to exhibit the Shareholder records to any person whenever it is advised by its counsel that it may be held liable for the failure to exhibit the Shareholder records to such person.
9. Termination of Agreement
9.1 The term of this Agreement shall be one year commencing upon the date hereof (the “Initial Term”) and shall automatically renew for additional one-year terms (each a “Subsequent Term”) unless either party provides written notice of termination at least ninety (90) days prior to the end of the Initial Term or any Subsequent Term or, unless earlier terminated as provided below:
(a) Either party hereto may terminate this Agreement prior to the expiration of the Initial Term in the event the other party breaches any material provision of this Agreement, including, without limitation in the case of the Trust, its obligations under Section 2.1, provided that the non-breaching party gives written notice of such breach to the breaching party and the breaching party does not cure such violation within 90 days of receipt of such notice.
(b) Either party
hereto may terminate this Agreement immediately by sending notice thereof to the other party upon a party: (i) commencing as debtor any case or proceeding under any bankruptcy, insolvency or similar law, or there is commenced against such party
any such case or proceeding; (ii) commencing as debtor any case or proceeding seeking the appointment of a receiver, conservator, trustee, custodian or similar official for such party or any substantial part of its property or there
is commenced against the party any such case or proceeding; (iii) making a general assignment for the benefit of creditors; or (iv) stating in any medium, written, electronic or otherwise, any public communication or in any other public
manner its inability to pay debts as they come due. Either party
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hereto may exercise its termination right under this Section 9.1(b) at any time after the occurrence of any of the foregoing events notwithstanding that such event may cease to be continuing prior to such exercise, and any delay in exercising this right shall not be construed as a waiver or other extinguishment of that right.
9.2 Should the Trust exercise its right to terminate, all out-of-pocket expenses associated with the movement of records and material will be borne by the Trust.
9.3 The terms of Article 2 (with respect to fees and expenses incurred prior to termination), Article 5 and Article 6 shall survive any termination of this Agreement.
10. Additional Series
In the event that the Trust establishes one or more additional series of Shares with respect to which it desires to have the Bank render services as transfer agent under the terms hereof, it shall so notify the Bank in writing, and if the Bank agrees in writing to provide such services, such additional issuance shall become Shares hereunder.
11. Assignment
11.1 Neither this Agreement nor any rights or obligations hereunder may be assigned by either party without the written consent of the other party; provided, however, either party may assign this Agreement to a party controlling, controlled by or under common control with it.
11.2 This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the parties and their respective permitted successors and assigns.
12. Severability and Beneficiaries
12.1 In case any provision in or obligation under this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction, the validity, the legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected thereby provided the obligation to pay is conditioned upon provision of services to the Trust.
12.2 This Agreement is solely for the benefit of the Bank and the Trust, and none of any Participant (as defined in the Participation Agreement), the Distributor, any Shareholder or beneficial owner of any Shares shall be or be deemed a third party beneficiary of this Agreement.
13. Amendment
This Agreement may be amended or modified by a written agreement executed by both parties.
14. New York Law to Apply
This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflicts of laws principles thereof. The parties hereby consent to the jurisdiction of a state or federal court situated in New York City, New York in connection with any dispute arising hereunder. Each party hereby irrevocably waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, any objection which it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any such proceeding brought in such a court and any claim that such proceeding brought in such a court has been brought in an inconvenient forum. Each party hereby irrevocably waives any and all rights to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement.
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15. Merger of Agreement
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto and supersedes any prior agreement with respect to the subject matter hereof whether oral or written.
16. Notices
All notices and other communications as required or permitted hereunder shall be in writing and sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed as follows or to such other address or addresses of which the respective party shall have notified the other.
If to the Bank:
The Bank of New York Mellon
0 Xxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxx, XX 00000
Attention: ETF Operations
with a copy to:
The Bank of New York Mellon
000 Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
Attention: Legal Dept. – Asset Servicing
If to the Trust:
Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
Attention:Xxxx Xxxxxx
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17. Information Sharing
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial organization that provides services to clients through its affiliates and subsidiaries in multiple jurisdictions (the “BNY Mellon Group”). The BNY Mellon Group may centralize functions including audit, accounting, risk, legal, compliance, sales, administration, product communication, relationship management, storage, compilation and analysis of customer-related data, and other functions (the “Centralized Functions”) in one or more affiliates, subsidiaries and third-party service providers. Solely in connection with the Centralized Functions, (i) the Trust consents to the disclosure of and authorizes the Bank to disclose information regarding the Trust (“Customer-Related Data”) to the BNY Mellon Group and to its third-party service providers who are subject to substantially similar confidentiality obligations with respect to such information provided in Section 8.6 hereunder, as applicable, and (ii) the Bank may store the names and business contact information of the Trust’s employees and representatives on the systems or in the records of the BNY Mellon Group or its service providers. The BNY Mellon Group may aggregate Customer-Related Data with other data collected and/or calculated by the BNY Mellon Group, and notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary the BNY Mellon Group will own all such aggregated data, provided that the BNY Mellon Group shall not distribute the aggregated data in a format that identifies Customer-Related Data with a particular customer. The Trust confirms that it is authorized to consent to the foregoing.
18. Counterparts
This Agreement may be executed by the parties hereto in any number of counterparts, and all of said counterparts taken together shall be deemed to constitute one and the same instrument.
[Signature page follows.]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed in their names and on their behalf by and through their duly authorized officers, as of the latest date set forth below.
COLUMBIA ETF TRUST I | ||
By: | /s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx | |
Name: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx | ||
Title: Senior Vice President | ||
Date: January 18, 2019 |
COLUMBIA ETF TRUST II | ||
By: | /s/ Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx | |
Name: Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx | ||
Title: Senior Vice President | ||
Date: January 18, 0000 |
XXX XXXX XX XXX XXXX MELLON | ||
By: | /s/ Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx | |
Name: Xxxxxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxx | ||
Title: Relationship Executive | ||
Date: January 18, 2019 |
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APPENDIX A
Columbia Diversified Fixed Income Allocation ETF: DIAL
Columbia Multi-Sector Municipal Income ETF: MUST
Columbia Sustainable Global Equity Income ETF: ESGW
Columbia Sustainable International Equity Income ETF: ESGN
Columbia Sustainable U.S. Equity Income ETF: ESGS
Columbia Beyond BRICs ETF: BBRC
Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF: XCEM
Columbia EM Quality Dividend ETF: HILO
Columbia Emerging Markets Consumer ETF: ECON
Columbia India Consumer ETF: INCO
Columbia India Infrastructure ETF: INXX
Columbia India Small Cap ETF: SCIN
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SCHEDULE A
Books And Records To Be Maintained By The Bank
Source Documents requesting Creations and Redemptions
Correspondence/AP Inquiries
Reconciliations, bank statements, copies of canceled checks, cash proofs
Daily/Monthly reconciliation of outstanding Shares between the Trust and DTC
Dividend Records
Year-end Statements and Tax Forms
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EXHIBIT A
Form of Authorized Participant Agreements
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AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
FOR
This Authorized Participant Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into by and between ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”) and ________________________________ (the “Authorized Participant” or the “AP”) and is subject to acceptance by The Bank of New York Mellon (the “BNYM ETF Administrator” or the “Transfer Agent”). The Transfer Agent serves as the transfer agent for the Columbia ETF Trust I (the “Trust”) and is a Receipt Agent as that term is defined in the rules of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”). The Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Authorized Participant acknowledge and agree that the Trust shall be a third-party beneficiary of this Agreement and shall receive the benefits contemplated by this Agreement, to the extent specified herein. The Distributor has been retained to provide services as principal underwriter of the Trust acting on an agency basis in connection with the sale and distribution of shares of beneficial interest, no par value (sometimes referred to as “Shares”), of each of the separate investment portfolios of the Trust (each such portfolio a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) named on Annex I to this Agreement, as it may be amended from time to time.
As specified in the Trust’s prospectus and statement of additional information (“SAI”) incorporated therein (collectively, the “Prospectus”) included as part of the Trust’s registration statement, as amended, on Form N-1A (“Registration Statement”), the Shares of any Fund offered thereby may be purchased or redeemed only in aggregations of a specified number of Shares referred to therein and herein as a “Creation Unit.” All references to “cash” shall refer to U.S. Dollars (“USD”). The number of Shares constituting a Creation Unit of each Fund is set forth in the Prospectus. Creation Units of Shares may be purchased only by or through an Authorized Participant that has entered into an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Distributor. The Prospectus provides that Creation Units generally will be sold in exchange for an in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of equity and/or fixed-income securities, as the case may be (the “Deposit Securities”) and/or an amount of cash computed as described in the Prospectus (the “Cash Component”), plus a purchase “Transaction Fee” as described in the Prospectus, delivered to the Trust by the Authorized Participant for its own account or acting on behalf of another party. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Component constitute the “Fund Deposit.” References to the Prospectus are to the then-current Prospectus as it may be supplemented or amended from time to time Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein are used herein as defined in the Prospectus.
This Agreement is intended to set forth certain premises and the procedures by which the Authorized Participant may purchase and/or redeem Creation Units of Shares (i) through the Continuous Net Settlement (“CNS”) clearing processes of NSCC as such processes have been enhanced to effect purchases and redemptions of Creation Units, such processes being referred to herein as the “CNS Clearing Process,” or (ii) outside the CNS Clearing Process (i.e., through the manual process of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) (the “DTC Process”). The procedures for processing an order to purchase Shares (each a “Purchase Order”) and an order to redeem Shares (each a “Redemption Order”) are described in Annex II to this Agreement. All Purchase and Redemption Orders must be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in Annex II hereto, as it may be amended by the Trust from time to time as set forth in Section 17 herein. An Authorized Participant may not cancel a Purchase Order or a Redemption Order after an order is placed by the Authorized Participant in accordance with Annex II hereto.
Nothing in this Agreement shall obligate the Authorized Participant to create or redeem one or more Creation Units of Shares or to sell, offer or promote the Shares.
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The parties hereto in consideration of the premises and of the mutual
agreements contained herein agree as follows:
1. STATUS OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AND DISTRIBUTOR.
(a) The Authorized Participant hereby represents, covenants and warrants that with respect to Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders of Creation Units of Shares of any Fund (i) through the CNS Clearing Process, it is a member of NSCC and an authorized participant in the CNS System of NSCC (as defined in each Fund’s Prospectus, a “Participating Party”), and/or (ii) outside the CNS Clearing Process, it is a DTC Participant (as defined in the Fund’s Prospectus, a “DTC Participant”). Any change in the foregoing status of the Authorized Participant shall automatically terminate this Agreement, and the Authorized Participant shall give prompt written notice to the Distributor or the Transfer Agent of such change. The Authorized Participant may place Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders for Creation Units either through the CNS Clearing Process or outside the CNS Clearing Process, subject to the procedures for purchase and redemption set forth in this Agreement, including Annex II hereto (“Execution of Orders”).
(b) The Authorized Participant and the Distributor each represent and warrant that it (i) is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“the “1934 Act”); (ii) is qualified to act as a broker or dealer in the states or other jurisdictions where it transacts business with respect to this Agreement; and (iii) is a member in good standing of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), and the Authorized Participant agrees that it will maintain such registrations, qualifications and membership in good standing and in full force and effect throughout the term of this Agreement. The Authorized Participant and the Distributor each agrees to comply in all material respects with all applicable U.S. federal securities laws, the laws of the states or other jurisdictions concerned, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and to comply in all material respects with the Constitution, By-Laws and Conduct Rules of the FINRA, to the extent such law, rules and regulations relate to each party’s obligations under this Agreement. Each of the Participant and the Distributor further represent and warrant that it will not offer or sell or promote Shares of any Fund of the Trust in any state or jurisdiction where they may not lawfully be offered and/or sold. In the case of a non-U.S. Authorized Participant, such Authorized Participant must meet the criteria set forth in 1(b)(i) through (iii) above in order to be authorized to enter into this Agreement.
(c) If the Authorized Participant is offering or selling Shares of any Fund of the Trust in jurisdictions outside the several states, territories and possessions of the United States and is not otherwise required to be registered, qualified, or a member of FINRA as set forth above, the Authorized Participant nevertheless agrees (i) to observe the applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which such offer and/or sale is made; (ii) to comply with applicable disclosure requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder; and (iii) to conduct its business in accordance with the spirit of NASD Conduct Rules (or of comparable FINRA Conduct Rules, if such NASD Conduct Rules are subsequently repealed, rescinded or otherwise replaced by FINRA Conduct Rules).
(d) The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that it has implemented, and agrees to maintain an anti-money laundering program(the “AML Program”) reasonably designed to comply with all applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including but not limited to the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 and the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 (the “USA PATRIOT Act”), each as amended from time to time, and any rules adopted thereunder and/or any applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations of other jurisdictions where the Authorized Participant conducts business, and any rules adopted thereunder or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by any governmental agency. The Authorized Participant further represents and warrants that its AML Program includes, at a minimum, written policies, procedures and internal controls reasonably designed to (i) prevent, detect and report money laundering, and (ii) identify and verify through appropriate due diligence each of its clients that purchases Creation Units or Shares. The Authorized Participant further represents and warrants that its AML Program includes written policies, a designated compliance officer, ongoing training for employees, procedures for detecting and reporting suspicious transactions, and an independent audit to test the implementation of the program.
(e) The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that it and/or its affiliates, or any party hired by it will not offer or distribute any Creation Units or any Shares to a client, including any government, entity or individual, where such an offer or distribution would be prohibited under the laws, rules, regulations, edicts, orders or resolutions of the United Nations, the European Union, the United
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Xxxxxxx, xxx Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, or any other jurisdiction in which it is located, including but not limited to an offer or distribution of Creation Units or Shares to any government, entity or individual within Iran, Cuba, Sudan, North Korea, Syria, the Crimea region of Ukraine, or any other jurisdiction that becomes subject to a comprehensive trade embargo by the United Nations, EU, UK, or the United States, or to any person or entity listed on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List or the Foreign Sanctions Evaders List administered by the United States Department of the Treasury, as such programs and lists may be amended from time to time, or other blacklist administered by an agency of an applicable jurisdiction including an agency of the United States, the United Kingdom, or the United Nations.
(f) The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that it has implemented and shall maintain policies, procedures and internal controls reasonably designed to prevent and detect violations by those acting on its behalf of any applicable anti-corruption laws or regulations including self-regulatory organization regulations; giving money or anything of value to obtain or retain business or favorable treatment; and making any bribe, rebate, payoff, influence payment, kickback or other unlawful payment to any person, including but not limited to domestic or foreign government officials or employees, customers and commercial counterparties.
(g) The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that neither it nor anyone acting on its behalf will, in connection with this agreement, make or authorize, directly or indirectly: (i) any improper payment or promise to pay, or (ii) any gift or promise to give any money or anything of value to any governmental official, customer, or commercial counterparty for the purpose of improperly influencing any official act or decision of such official, customer, or commercial counterparty or inducing him or her to use his or her influence improperly.
(h) The Authorized Participant represents and warrants that it has not received notice of, and is not otherwise aware of, any claim, action, suit, proceedings, or investigation involving it with respect to laws or regulations regarding anti-money laundering, sanctions, or anti-corruption.
(i) The Authorized Participant understands and acknowledges that the method by which Creation Units will be created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. For example, because new Creation Units may be issued and sold by the Trust on an ongoing basis, depending upon the facts and circumstances, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be deemed to have occurred at any point. The Authorized Participant understands and acknowledges that some activities on its part, depending on the circumstances and under certain possible interpretations of applicable law, may result in its being deemed a participant in a distribution in a manner which could subject it to the prospectus delivery and related provisions of the 1933 Act that normally would be applicable to a statutory underwriter. The Authorized Participant should review the “Continuous Offering” section of the SAI and consult with its own counsel in connection with entering into this Agreement and placing an Order (defined below). The Authorized Participant also understands and acknowledges that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, may be required to deliver a prospectus.
(j) The Authorized Participant has the capability to send and receive authenticated communications to and from (i) the Distributor, (ii) the Custodian (as defined below in Section 5 hereof), (iii) the Subcustodian (as defined below in Section 5 hereof) in the case of International Funds (see Section 7(b) below), and (iv) the Authorized Participant’s custodian. The Authorized Participant shall confirm such capability to the satisfaction of the Distributor, the Custodian and the Subcustodian prior to placing its first order with the BNYM ETF Administrator (whether it is a Purchase Order or a Redemption Order).
2. EXECUTION OF PURCHASE ORDERS AND REDEMPTION ORDERS.
(a) All Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders shall be made in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus and, where applicable, the procedures described in Annex II hereto. Each party hereto agrees to comply with the provisions of such documents to the extent applicable to it. In the event of a conflict
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between the Prospectus and this Agreement, the Prospectus shall control. It is contemplated that the telephone lines used by the BNYM ETF Administrator or the Transfer Agent will be recorded, and the Authorized Participant hereby consents to the recording of all calls with the BNYM ETF Administrator and the Distributor in connection with the purchase and redemption of Creation Units, provided that the Transfer Agent and the Distributor, as applicable, shall promptly provide copies of recordings of any such calls to the Authorized Participant upon the request of the Authorized Participant, unless such recordings have been erased or destroyed prior to receipt of such request in the normal course of business in accordance with the recording party’s general record keeping policies and procedures. The parties agree that either party may use such recordings in connection with any dispute or proceeding relating to this Agreement. The Trust reserves the right to issue additional or other procedures relating to the manner of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units and the Authorized Participant agrees to comply with such procedures as may be issued from time to time, upon reasonable notice thereof, including but not limited to the Cash Collateral Settlement Procedures that are referenced in Annex II hereto.
(b) The Distributor and the Transfer Agent on behalf of the Trust each agrees to undertake commercially reasonable efforts to accommodate requests by the Authorized Participant to cancel any Purchase Order or Redemption Order. Nonetheless, the Authorized Participant acknowledges and agrees that delivery of a Purchase Order or Redemption Order shall be irrevocable upon the Authorized Participant’s submission of such Order in accordance with Annex II hereto; provided that the Trust and the Distributor on behalf of the Trust reserves the right to reject any Purchase Order in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus and related documents until the trade is released as described in Annex II hereto and any Redemption Order that is not in “proper form” as defined in the Prospectus.
(c) With respect to any Redemption Order, the Authorized Participant also acknowledges and agrees to return to the Trust any dividend, interest, distribution or other corporate action paid to it in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Authorized Participant that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should, in accordance with the terms of the instrument or corporate action and industry custom in the applicable market, have been paid to the Trust. With respect to any Redemption Order, the Authorized Participant also acknowledges and agrees that, alternatively, the Trust is entitled to reduce the amount of money or other proceeds due to the Authorized Participant by an amount equal to any dividend, interest, distribution or other corporate action to be paid to it in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Authorized Participant that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should be paid to the Fund. With respect to any Purchase Order, the Transfer Agent, on behalf of the Trust, acknowledges and agrees to return to the Authorized Participant any dividend, interest, distribution or other corporate action paid to the Trust in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Trust that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, have been paid to the Authorized Participant. Likewise, with respect to any Purchase Order, the Authorized Participant acknowledges and agrees to return to the Trust any dividend, interest, distribution or other corporate action paid to it in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Authorized Participant that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should, in accordance with the terms of the instrument or corporate action and industry custom in the applicable market, have been paid to the Trust. With respect to any Purchase Order, the Transfer Agent, on behalf of the Trust, also acknowledges and agrees that the Authorized Participant is entitled to reduce the amount of money or other proceeds due to the Trust by an amount equal to any dividend, interest, distribution or other corporate action to be paid to it in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Trust that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should be paid to the Authorized Participant.
3. NSCC.
Solely with respect to Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders effected through the CNS Clearing Process, the Authorized Participant, as a Participating Party, hereby authorizes the Transfer Agent to transmit to the NSCC on behalf of the Authorized Participant such instructions, including amounts of the Deposit Securities and Cash Component as are necessary, consistent with the instructions issued by the
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Authorized Participant to the BNYM ETF Administrator. The Authorized Participant agrees to be bound by the terms of such instructions issued by the Transfer Agent and reported to NSCC as though such instructions were issued by the Authorized Participant directly to NSCC.
4. PROSPECTUS, MARKETING MATERIALS AND REPRESENTATIONS.
(a) The Distributor will provide to the Authorized Participant copies of the then-current Prospectus or summary prospectus, if applicable and any printed supplemental information in reasonable quantities upon request. The Distributor represents, warrants and agrees that it will promptly notify the Authorized Participant when a revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus for any Fund is available and deliver or otherwise make available to the Authorized Participant copies of such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus or summary prospectus at such time and in such numbers as the Authorized Participant may reasonably request so as to enable the Authorized Participant to comply with any obligation it may have to deliver such Prospectus and/or summary prospectus to customers. The Distributor will make such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus available to the Authorized Participant no later than its effective date. The Distributor shall be deemed to have complied with this Section 4 when the Authorized Participant has received such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus or summary prospectus by e-mail at [insert e-mail address], in printable form, with such number of hard copies as may be agreed from time to time by the parties promptly thereafter. The Authorized Participant represents, warrants and agrees that it shall deliver the then-current Prospectus or summary prospectus to its customers in connection with the purchase of Shares in accordance with 1933 Act prospectus delivery requirements. The Authorized Participant agrees, at the request of the Distributor, to deliver proxy material, annual and other reports of the Funds or other similar information that the Funds are obligated to deliver to their shareholders to the Authorized Participant’s customers that custody Shares with the Authorized Participant, after receipt from the Funds or the Distributor of sufficient quantities to allow mailing thereof to such customers.
(b) The Distributor represents that (i) the Registration Statement and the Prospectus contained therein each conforms in all material respects to the requirements of the 1933 Act, and the rules and regulations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) thereunder; (ii) the sale and distribution of the Shares as contemplated herein will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Trust, any Fund or the Distributor; and (iii) no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issuance and sale of the Shares, except the registration under the 1933 Act of the Shares, which has occurred and is in effect for the Shares and the Trust; (iv) the Registration Statement has been declared effective by the SEC under the 1933 Act and the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”), and the SEC has not issued any stop order or other order or notice preventing or suspending the use of the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, and no proceedings for such purpose have been instituted, are pending or, to the best of their knowledge, are being contemplated or threatened by the SEC; (v) prior to the launch of each Fund, such Fund’s Shares have been approved for listing on a U.S. national securities exchange; and (vi) all marketing and promotional materials prepared by the Trust, the Distributor, the Funds’ adviser or any of their agents on their behalf, or to be prepared by any of them in the future and provided to the Authorized Participant in connection with the offer and sale of Shares, comply with applicable law, including without limitation, as applicable, the provisions of the 1933 Act, FINRA’s marketing rules, and the rules and regulations of the SEC.
(c) The Authorized Participant represents, warrants and agrees that it will not make any representations concerning Shares other than those that are consistent with the Trust’s then-current Prospectus or in any promotional materials or sales literature furnished to the Authorized Participant by the Distributor. Subject to Section 4(d) below, the Authorized Participant agrees not to furnish or cause to be furnished to any person or display or publish any information or materials relating to Shares, including, without limitation, promotional materials and sales literature, advertisements, press releases, announcements, statements, posters, signs or other similar materials (“Marketing Materials), except such information and materials as may be furnished to the Authorized Participant by the Distributor and such
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other information and materials as may be approved in writing by the Distributor. The Authorized Participant understands that neither the Trust nor any of its Funds will be advertised or marketed as an open-end investment company (i.e., as a mutual fund), which offers redeemable securities, and that any advertising materials will prominently disclose that the Shares are not individually redeemable shares of the Trust. In addition, the Authorized Participant understands that any advertising material that addresses redemptions of Shares, including the Prospectus, will disclose that the owners of Shares may acquire Shares and tender Shares for redemption to the Trust in whole Creation Units only.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Authorized Participant may, without the written approval of the Distributor, prepare and circulate, in the regular course of its business, sales commentary and research reports that include information, opinions or recommendations relating to Shares (i) for public dissemination, provided that such sales commentary and research reports compare the relative merits and benefits of Shares with other products and are not used for purposes of marketing Shares and (ii) for internal use by the Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant may without the written approval of the Trust or the Distributor prepare and circulate in the regular course of its business or for internal use, research reports (as such term is defined in NYSE Communications Rule 472), institutional communications and correspondence (as such terms are defined in FINRA Rule 2210 or any successor rule) and other similar materials that include information, opinions or recommendations relating to Shares (the “Authorized Participant Institutional Communications”), provided that such Authorized Participant Institutional Communications comply with applicable FINRA Rules and any successor rules thereto. Neither the Distributor, the Trust nor the Transfer Agent shall have any liability or responsibility for such research reports and materials.
(e) The Distributor agrees to cooperate with the Authorized Participant in carrying out its reasonable due diligence with respect to this Agreement. For the avoidance of doubt, the Authorized Participant shall bear its own expenses incurred in connection with such due diligence investigation.
(f) Except as required by court order or requested by any regulatory or self-regulatory authority of competent jurisdiction, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent each agrees that it will not, without prior written consent of the Authorized Participant, use in advertising or publicity the name of the Authorized Participant or any affiliate of the Authorized Participant, any trade name, trademark, trade device, service xxxx, symbol or any abbreviation, contraction or simulation thereof owned by the Authorized Participant or any of its affiliates or represent, directly or indirectly, that any product or any service provided or distributed by the Trust or the Distributor has been approved or endorsed by the Authorized Participant or any of its affiliates or that the Authorized Participant acts as underwriter, distributor or selling group member with respect to the Shares. This provision shall survive termination or expiration of this Agreement.
(g) The Distributor, on its own behalf and on behalf of the Trust, agrees, for as long as this Agreement is effective, not to identify or name the Authorized Participant in the Registration Statement (except to the extent the Authorized Participant is named as a 5% beneficial owner in response to Item 18(b) of Form N-1A, if applicable), the Prospectus or in any Marketing Materials for any Series without the prior written consent of the Authorized Participant, which consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. If the Authorized Participant agrees to be identified in any of such documents, upon the termination of this Agreement, (i) the Distributor shall remove any reference to the Authorized Participant from such documents and (ii) the Distributor shall promptly update the Trust’s and the Distributors’ respective websites to remove any identification of the Authorized Participant as an authorized participant of the Trust.
5. SUBCUSTODIAN ACCOUNT.
The Authorized Participant understands and agrees that in the case of each International Fund, the Trust has caused The Bank of New York Mellon acting in its capacity as the Trust’s custodian (“Custodian”) to maintain with the applicable subcustodian (“Subcustodian”) for such Fund an account in the relevant foreign jurisdiction to which the Authorized Participant shall deliver or cause to be delivered in connection
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with the purchase of a Creation Unit the securities (see Annex IV) and any other cash amounts (or the cash value of all or a part of such securities, in the case of a permitted or required cash purchase or “cash in lieu” amount), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by such Fund, in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to such account in such jurisdiction.
6. TITLE TO SECURITIES; RESTRICTED SHARES.
The Authorized Participant represents that upon delivery of a portfolio of Deposit Securities to the Custodian and/or the relevant Subcustodian in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus, (i) the Trust will acquire good and unencumbered title to such securities, free and clear of all liens, restrictions, charges and encumbrances and not subject to any adverse claims, including, without limitation, any restriction upon the sale or transfer of such securities imposed by (a) any agreement or arrangement entered into by the Authorized Participant in connection with a Purchase Order (including, but not limited to, any repurchase agreement or securities lending or borrowing agreement) or (b) any provision of the 1933 Act, and any regulations thereunder (except that portfolio securities of issuers other than U.S. issuers shall not be required to have been registered under the 1933 Act if exempt from such registration), or of the applicable laws or regulations of any other applicable jurisdiction and (ii) no such securities are “restricted securities” as such term is used in Rule 144(a)(3)(i) promulgated under the 1933 Act in the hands of the Authorized Participant immediately prior to any such delivery. The representation provided in this Section 6 excludes restrictions due to the status of the Trust or any Fund as an “affiliate” of such issuer of the Deposit Securities under Rule 144 under the 1933 Act.
The Authorized Participant represents that it is a qualified institutional buyer as defined in Rule 144A(a) under the 1933 Act.
7. CASH COMPONENT AND FEES.
(a) For Funds that Invest in Securities traded on U.S. Exchanges (“Domestic Funds”): The Authorized Participant hereby agrees that in connection with a Purchase Order for any Domestic Fund, it will make available in same day funds for each purchase of Shares an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component and any other amounts of cash due to the Trust in connection with the purchase of any Creation Unit of Shares (including the purchase Transaction Fee for in-kind and cash purchases and the additional variable charge for cash purchases (when, in the sole discretion of the Trust, cash purchases are available or specified as described in the Prospectus)) (the “Cash Amount”) which shall be made through DTC to an account maintained by the Custodian and shall be provided in same day or immediately available funds on or before the settlement date in accordance with the Trust’s Prospectus (“Contractual Settlement Date”). The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to ensure that the Cash Amount will be received by the Trust on or before the Contractual Settlement Date, and in the event payment of such Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date, the Authorized Participant agrees, in connection with a Purchase Order, to pay the full cash amount, plus interest, computed at such reasonable rate as may be specified by the Trust from time to time. The Trust reserves the right to revoke acceptance of any Purchase Order in the event payment of the Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date.
(b) For Funds that Invest in Securities traded on Non-U.S. Exchanges (“International Funds”): The Authorized Participant hereby agrees that in connection with a Purchase Order for any International Fund, it will make available in same day funds for each purchase of Shares the Cash Amount as described in Section 7(a) above which shall be made via Fed Funds Wire to an account maintained by the Custodian and shall be provided in same day or immediately available funds at least one business day before the Contractual Settlement Date, unless otherwise agreed to by the parties. The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to ensure that the Cash Amount will be received by the Trust on or before the Contractual Settlement Date, and in the event payment of such Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date, the Authorized Participant agrees, in connection with a Purchase Order, to pay the full Cash Amount, plus interest, computed at such reasonable rate as may be specified by the Trust from time to time. The Trust reserves the right to revoke acceptance of any Purchase Order in the event payment of the Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date.
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8. ROLE OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT; PROXY.
(a) Each party acknowledges and agrees that for all purposes of this Agreement, the Authorized Participant will be deemed to be an independent contractor, and will have no authority to act as agent for the Trust, any Fund, the Distributor, the Custodian, the Subcustodian or the Transfer Agent in any matter or in any respect. The Authorized Participant agrees to make itself and its employees available, upon request, during normal business hours to consult with the Trust, the Distributor, the Custodian, the Subcustodian, the Transfer Agent or the Authorized Participant’s custodian or their designees concerning the performance of the Authorized Participant’s responsibilities under this Agreement.
(b) In executing this Agreement, the Authorized Participant agrees that it shall be bound by the applicable obligations of a DTC Participant in addition to any obligations that it undertakes hereunder or in accordance with the Prospectus.
(c) The Authorized Participant agrees, to the extent required by applicable law, to maintain records of all sales of Shares made by or through it and to furnish copies of such records to the Trust or the Distributor upon the reasonable written request of the Trust or the Distributor, subject to its applicable customer information protection rules, regulations, internal policies and undertakings to maintain such information in confidence.
(d) Agent for Proxy. The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that, from time to time, it may be a Beneficial Owner or legal owner of Shares (as that term is defined in Rule 16a-1(a)(2) of the 1934 Act). The Authorized Participant agrees to irrevocably appoint the Distributor as its agent and proxy with full authorization and power to vote (or abstain from voting) its beneficially or legally owned Shares which the Authorized Participant has not rehypothecated and which the Authorized Participant is or may be entitled to vote at any meeting of shareholders of a Fund held after the effective date of this Agreement, whether annual or special and whether or not an adjourned meeting, or, if applicable, to give written consent with respect thereto. The Distributor shall vote (or abstain from voting) such Shares in accordance with Distributor’s proxy voting policies and procedures, with complete independence from and without any regard to any views, statements or interests of the Authorized Participant, its affiliates or any other person. The Authorized Participant acknowledges that the Distributor will not exercise discretion or otherwise provide advice or guidance to the Authorized Participant or any other party in connection with any vote (or abstention thereof). The Distributor may carry out its responsibilities hereunder through an agent, nominee, attorney or such other third party as it deems necessary or appropriate, to the extent allowable pursuant to applicable law.
(e) For purposes of this Section 8, beneficially owned Shares shall not include those Shares for which the Authorized Participant is the record owner but which are held for the benefit of third parties or in customer or fiduciary accounts in the ordinary course of business, unless the Authorized Participant instructs the Distributor in writing otherwise. The Authorized Participant acknowledges that the Distributor will not exercise the voting rights applicable to such Shares unless the Authorized Participant instructs the Distributor in writing otherwise. For the avoidance of doubt, it shall be the responsibility of the Authorized Participant to instruct the Distributor in writing as to which Shares will/will not be voted by the agent and proxy pursuant to this Section. The Authorized Participant represents that it has all the necessary legal power and authority to vote, and to appoint an agent and proxy to vote, all such Shares as contemplated herein. The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Distributor from and against any loss, liability, cost or expense suffered or incurred by such Distributor resulting directly from losses, liabilities or expenses resulting from this Proxy other than those arising from the negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the Distributor.
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(f) The Distributor, as proxy for the Authorized Participant hereunder: (i) is hereby given full power of substitution and revocation; (ii) may act through such agents, nominees, or attorneys as it may appoint from time to time; and (iii) may provide voting instructions to such agents, nominees, or substitute attorneys in any lawful manner deemed appropriate by it, including in writing, by telephone, facsimile, electronically (including through the internet) or otherwise. The powers of such agent and proxy shall include (without limiting its general powers hereunder) the power to receive and waive any notice of any meeting on behalf of the Authorized Participant. The Distributor may terminate this irrevocable proxy (i.e., Sections 8(d) through 8(f)) after sixty (60) days written notice to the Authorized Participant and termination of this irrevocable proxy by itself shall not serve to terminate the Agreement.
9. AUTHORIZED PERSONS OF THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT.
Concurrently with the execution of this Agreement and from time to time thereafter as may be requested by the Trust or the Distributor, the Authorized Participant shall deliver to the Distributor and the Trust, with copies to the Transfer Agent at the address specified below, duly certified as appropriate by its Secretary or other duly authorized official, a certificate substantially in the form attached hereto as Annex III to this Agreement, setting forth the names and signatures of all persons authorized to give instructions relating to any activity contemplated hereby or any other notice, request or instruction on behalf of the Authorized Participant (each such person an “Authorized Person”). Such certificate may be accepted and relied upon by the Distributor and the Transfer Agent as conclusive evidence of the facts set forth therein and shall be considered to be in full force and effect until delivery to the Distributor and the Transfer Agent of a superseding certificate bearing a subsequent date (or the termination of this Agreement, if earlier). Upon the termination or revocation of authority of such Authorized Person by the Authorized Participant, the Authorized Participant shall give prompt written notice of such fact to the Distributor and the Transfer Agent and such notice shall be effective upon receipt by the Distributor and Transfer Agent. The Transfer Agent shall issue to each Authorized Participant a unique personal identification number (“PIN”) by which such Authorized Participant shall be identified and instructions issued by the Authorized Participant hereunder shall be authenticated. The PIN shall be kept confidential and only provided to Authorized Persons. If after issuance, an Authorized Participant’s PIN is changed, the new PIN will become effective on a date mutually agreed upon by the Authorized Participant and the Transfer Agent. The Transfer Agent agrees promptly to cancel the PIN assigned to an Authorized Person upon receipt of notice from the Authorized Participant that an Authorized Person’s authority to act for it has been terminated.
10. REDEMPTION.
(a) The Authorized Participant understands and agrees that Redemption Orders may be submitted only on days that the U.S. stock exchange where the Shares are principally listed (as specified in the Prospectus) (the “Listing Exchange”) is open for trading or business.
(b) The Authorized Participant represents and warrants that it will not attempt to place a Redemption Order for the purpose of redeeming any Creation Unit of Shares of any Fund unless it first ascertains (i) that it owns outright or has full legal authority and legal and beneficial right to tender for redemption the requisite number of Creation Units of Shares of the relevant Fund to be redeemed and to the entire proceeds of the redemption and (ii) that such Shares have not been loaned or pledged to another party and are not the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or any other arrangement that would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Transfer Agent in accordance with the Prospectus or as otherwise required by the Trust. The Authorized Participant understands that Shares of any Fund may be redeemed only when one or more Creation Units of Shares of a Beneficial Owner are held in the account of a single Authorized Participant.
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11. BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP.
(a) The Authorized Participant represents and warrants to the Distributor and the Trust that (based upon the number of outstanding Shares of each such Fund made publicly available by the Trust) (i) it does not, and will not in the future, hold for the account of any single Beneficial Owner of Shares of the relevant Fund, eighty percent (80%) or more of the currently outstanding Shares of such relevant Fund, so as to cause the Fund to have a basis in the portfolio securities deposited with the Fund different from the fair market value of such portfolio securities on the date of such deposit, pursuant to section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and (ii) when carrying Deposit Securities as a dealer and as inventory in connection with its market making activities, the Deposit Securities will be subject to the xxxx to market requirements of Section 475 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and pursuant to Section 475 it will adjust the value of the Deposit Securities to their fair market value immediately prior to any purchase of Creation Units from a Fund(s).
(b) The Trust, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent shall have the right to reasonably require information from the Authorized Participant regarding Share ownership of each Fund (if the Authorized Participant does not provide the representation in Section 11(a)(ii) above) and to rely thereon to the extent necessary to make a determination regarding ownership of eighty percent (80%) or more of the currently outstanding Shares of any Fund by a Beneficial Owner as a condition to the acceptance of a deposit of Deposit Securities.
12. INDEMNIFICATION.
This Section 12 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
(a) The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Distributor, the Trust, the Transfer Agent and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents, and each person, if any, who controls such persons within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (each an “AP Indemnified Party”) from and against any loss, liability, damage and reasonable cost and expense (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) (“Losses”) incurred by such AP Indemnified Party in connection with, arising out of or as a result of (i) any material breach by the Authorized Participant of any provision of this Agreement that relates to such Authorized Participant; (ii) any representation provided by the Authorized Participant herein that is false or misleading or omits material information necessary to make the statement contained therein complete; (iii) any material failure on the part of the Authorized Participant to perform any of its obligations set forth in the Agreement; (iv) any material failure by the Authorized Participant to comply with applicable laws to the extent relating to its role as an authorized participant hereunder, including applicable rules and regulations of self-regulatory organizations (“SROs”), except the Authorized Participant shall not be required to indemnify an AP Indemnified Party to the extent that such failure was caused by the Authorized Participant’s strict adherence to instructions reasonably given or representations made by such AP Indemnified Party; (v) actions of such AP Indemnified Party taken in reasonable reliance upon any instructions issued in accordance with Annex II (including Parts A, B and C thereto) hereto (as each may be amended from time to time) reasonably believed by the AP Indemnified Party to be genuine and to have been given by the Authorized Participant, except to the extent that the Authorized Participant had previously revoked a PIN used in giving such instructions and such revocation was given by the Authorized Participant and received by the Transfer Agent in accordance with the terms of Section 9 hereto, or (vi)(1) any representation by the Authorized Participant about the Shares, any AP Indemnified Party, the Trust or any Fund that is not consistent with the Trust’s then-current Prospectus made in connection with the offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell Shares, or (2) any untrue statement of a material fact or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any research reports, Marketing Material or Communications described in Section 4 hereof or any omission of a material fact or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading to the extent that such statement or omission relates to the Shares, any AP Indemnified Party, the Trust or any Fund. The Authorized Participant and the Distributor understand and agree that the Trust as a third-party beneficiary to this Agreement is entitled and intends to proceed directly against the Authorized Participant in the event that the Authorized Participant fails to perform any of its obligations pursuant to this Agreement that benefit the Trust. The Authorized Participant shall not be liable to an AP Indemnified Party for any Losses arising out of (i) mistakes or errors in data provided to the Authorized Participant by an AP Indemnified Party, or (ii) mistakes or errors by, or out of interruptions or
26
delays of communications with an AP Indemnified Parties who is a service provider to the Trust. The Authorized Participant shall not be liable under the indemnity contained in this Section with respect to any claim made against an AP Indemnified Party unless the AP Indemnified Party shall have notified the Authorized Participant in writing of the claim within a reasonable time after the summons or other first written notification giving information of the nature of the claim shall have been served upon the AP Indemnified Party (or after the AP Indemnified Party shall have received notice of service on any designated agent). However, failure to notify the Authorized Participant of any claim shall not relieve the Authorized Participant from any liability that it may have to any AP Indemnified Party against whom such action is brought otherwise than on account of the indemnity agreement contained in this Section and shall only release it from such liability under this Section to the extent it has been materially prejudiced by such failure to receive notice.
(b) The Distributor hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Authorized Participant and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents, and each person, if any, who controls such persons within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (each a “Distributor Indemnified Party”) from and against any Losses incurred by such Distributor Indemnified Party in connection with, arising out of or as a result of (i) any material breach by the Distributor of any provision of this Agreement that relates to the Distributor; (ii) any representation provided by the Distributor herein that is false or misleading or omits material information necessary to make the statement contained therein complete; (iii) any material failure on the part of the Distributor to perform any of its obligations set forth in this Agreement; (iv) any material failure by the Distributor to comply with applicable laws to the extent relating to its role in connection with the creation and redemption of the Creation Units, including applicable rules and regulations of SROs, except the Distributor shall not be required to indemnify a Distributor Indemnified Party to the extent that such failure was caused by the Distributor’s strict adherence to instructions reasonably given or representations made by a Distributor Indemnified Party; (v) actions of such Distributor Indemnified Party taken in reasonable reliance upon any instructions issued in accordance with Annex II (including Parts A, B and C thereto) hereto (as each may be amended from time to time) reasonably believed by the Distributor Indemnified Party to be genuine and to have been given by the Distributor; (vi)(1) any representation by the Distributor about the Creation Units, any Distributor Indemnified Party, the Trust or any Fund that is not materially consistent with the Trust’s then-current Prospectus made in connection with the creation and redemption of Creation Units; and (2) any untrue statement of a material fact, alleged untrue statement of a material fact, omission of a material fact or alleged omission of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement of the Trust; or (vii) any untrue statement of a material fact, alleged untrue statement of a material fact, omission of a material fact or alleged omission of a material fact made in any Marketing Material or Communications furnished to the Authorized Participant by the Distributor or the Trust, or any written disclosure provided by the Distributor or the Trust to the Authorized Participant for inclusion in Marketing Material or Communications prepared by the Authorized Participant and approved for use by the Distributor. The Distributor shall not be liable to a Distributor Indemnified Party for any Losses arising out of (i) mistakes or errors in data provided to the Distributor by a Distributor Indemnified Party, (ii) mistakes or errors by, or out of interruptions or delays of communications with a Distributor Indemnified Party, to the extent such errors, mistakes or delays were caused by a breakdown in communications networks outside of the control of the Distributor, including, but not limited to, extreme weather, an Act of God or other similar event outside the control of the Distributor or the Transfer Agent, or (iii) any action of a service provider to the Trust, except to the extent such service provider acted under the direction of the Distributor and the Distributor acted grossly negligent in taking or failing to take an action. The Distributor shall not be liable under the indemnity agreement contained in this Section with respect to any claim made against a Distributor Indemnified Party unless the Distributor Indemnified Party shall have notified the Distributor in writing of the claim within a reasonable time after the summons or other first written notification giving information of the nature of the claim shall have been served upon the Distributor Indemnified Party (or after the Distributor Indemnified Party shall have received notice of service on any designated agent). However, failure to notify the Distributor of any claim shall not relieve the Distributor from any liability that it may have to any Distributor Indemnified Party against whom such action is brought otherwise than on account of the indemnity agreement contained in this Section and shall only release it from such liability under this Section to the extent it has been materially prejudiced by such failure to receive notice.
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(c) Other than with respect to Section 12(b)(vi)(2), this Section 12 shall not apply and a party shall not have an obligation to indemnify the other and its related indemnified persons to the extent that any Losses are directly caused by, incurred as a result of, or in connection with, any gross negligence, bad faith, or willful misconduct on the part of the party seeking to be indemnified. The term “affiliate” in this Section 12 shall include, with respect to any person, entity or organization, any other person, entity or organization which directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such person, entity or organization.
(d) The applicable indemnifying party shall be entitled, at its option, to exercise sole control and authority over the defense and settlement of such action. The indemnifying party is not authorized to accept any settlement that does not provide the applicable indemnified party with a complete release or that imposes liability not covered by these indemnifications or places restrictions on the indemnified party or causes reputational harm to the indemnified party, in each case, without the prior written consent of the indemnified party.
13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
(a) The parties undertake to perform such duties and only such duties as are expressly set forth herein, or expressly incorporated herein by reference, and no implied covenants or obligations shall be read into this Agreement against any party.
(b) Other than in connection with a material misstatement or omission of a material fact in the Registration Statement or the Prospectus, arising from information provided by a party hereto, in the absence of bad faith, gross negligence or willful misconduct on its part, no party to this Agreement, excluding the Authorized Participant, whether acting directly or through agents or attorneys shall be liable for any action taken, suffered or omitted or for any error of judgment made by any of them in the performance of their duties hereunder.
(c) In no event shall a party to this Agreement be liable for special, indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind whatsoever (including but not limited to lost profit), even if such parties have been advised of the likelihood of such loss or damage and regardless of the form of action. In no event shall a party to this Agreement be liable for the acts or omissions of DTC, NSCC or any other securities depository or clearing corporation. Further, the Distributor shall not be liable for any action or failure to take any action with respect to the voting matters set forth in Section 8 above.
(d) No party shall be responsible or liable for any failure or delay in the performance of their obligations under this Agreement arising out of or caused, directly or indirectly, by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation, acts of God; earthquakes; fires; floods; wars; civil or military disturbances; terrorism; sabotage; epidemics; riots; interruptions; loss or malfunction of utilities, computer (hardware or software) or communications service; accidents; labor disputes; acts of civil or military authority or governmental actions.
(e) The Transfer Agent shall not be required to advance, expend or risk its own funds or otherwise incur or become exposed to financial liability in the performance of its duties hereunder, except as may be required as a result of its own gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith.
(f) Tax Liability. To the extent any payment of any transfer tax, sales or use tax, stamp tax, recording tax, value added tax or any other similar tax or government charge applicable to the creation or redemption of any Creation Unit of Shares of any Fund made pursuant to this Agreement is imposed, the Authorized Participant shall be responsible for the payment of such tax or government charge regardless of whether or not such tax or charge is imposed directly on the Authorized Participant. To the extent the Trust
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or the Distributor is required by law to pay any such tax or charge, the Authorized Participant agrees to promptly indemnify such party for any such payment, together with any applicable penalties, additions to tax or interest thereon. The Distributor agrees to use its best efforts to notify the Authorized Participant of all transfer taxes, sales or use taxes, stamp taxes, recording taxes, value added taxes or any other similar tax or government charge that the Authorized Participant may incur in the future in connection with the creation or redemption of any Creation Unit of Shares.
14. INFORMATION ABOUT FUND DEPOSITS.
The Distributor represents and the Authorized Participant acknowledges that the number and names of the designated portfolio of Deposit Securities to be included in the current Fund Deposit for each Fund will be made available by NSCC on each day that the Listing Exchange is open for trading and will also be made available on each such day through the facilities of the NSCC.
15. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The Authorized Participant acknowledges receipt of the Prospectus and represents that it has reviewed and understands such documents.
16. NOTICES.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Agreement, all notices required or permitted to be given pursuant to this Agreement shall be given in writing and delivered by personal delivery or by postage prepaid registered or certified United States first class mail, return receipt requested, or by electronic mail or facsimile or similar means of same day delivery (with a confirming copy by mail). Unless otherwise notified in writing, all notices to the Trust shall be at the address, electronic mail address or telephone or facsimile numbers as follows:
The Trust
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, XX 00000
Attn.: Xxxx Xxxxxx
E-mail: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Phone: 000 000-0000
With copy to:
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, 0xx xxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000
Attn.: Xxxxxx X’Xxxxxxxxxx
E-mail: xxxxxx.x.xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Phone: 000 000-0000
All notices to the Authorized Participant, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent shall be directed to the address, electronic mail address, or telephone or facsimile numbers indicated below the signature line of such party.
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17. EFFECTIVENESS, TERMINATION AND AMENDMENT.
(a) This Agreement shall become effective upon delivery to and execution by the Distributor. A “Business Day” shall mean any day the Listing Exchange is open for regular trading. This Agreement may be terminated at any time by any party upon sixty (60) calendar days’ prior written notice to the other parties and may be terminated earlier by the Trust or the Distributor at any time in the event of a breach by the Authorized Participant of any provision of this Agreement or the procedures described or incorporated herein. This Agreement may be terminated immediately by a party at such time as the Trust, the Distributor or the Authorized Participant becomes insolvent or becomes the subject of a bankruptcy proceeding or winding up. This Agreement supersedes any prior such agreement between or among the parties.
(b) This Agreement may be amended only by a written instrument executed by all the parties; provided, however, that (i) if an amendment to the Agreement is required in order to conform the Agreement to applicable law (including, without limitation, a change to the exemptive relief and/or adoption of a rule on which the Trust relies to operate as an exchange-traded fund), then the Distributor shall provide the Authorized Participant and the Transfer Agent with prompt notice of such amendment, and the next Creation Unit created by the Authorized Participant shall be deemed to constitute the Authorized Participant’s acceptance of such amendment; and (ii) any Annex to this Agreement may be amended upon written notification to the Authorized Participant if the Authorized Participant does not object in writing to the amended Annex within five (5) days after its receipt.
18. GOVERNING LAW; CONSENT TO JURISDICTION.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York (regardless of the laws that might otherwise govern under applicable New York conflict of laws principles) as to all matters, including matters of validity, construction, effect, performance and remedies. Each party hereto irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of New York located in the Borough of Manhattan and of the U.S. District Courts for the Southern District of New York and the appellate courts therefrom in such State in connection with any action, suit or other proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any action taken or omitted hereunder, and waives any claim of forum non conveniens and any objections as to laying of venue. Each party further waives personal service of any summons, complaint or other process and agrees that service thereof may be made by certified or registered mail directed to such party at such party’s address for purposes of notices hereunder. EACH PARTY HERETO IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ANY AND ALL RIGHTS TO TRIAL BY JURY IN ANY LEGAL PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT.
19. SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.
This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns.
20. ASSIGNMENT.
Neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations hereunder shall be assigned by any party without the prior written consent of the other parties, except that any entity into which a party hereto may be merged or converted or with which it may be consolidated or any entity resulting from any merger, conversion or consolidation to which such party hereunder shall be a party, or any entity succeeding to all or substantially all of the business of the party, shall be the successor of the party under this Agreement. The party resulting from any such merger, conversion, consolidation or succession shall notify the other parties hereto of the change. Any purported assignment in violation of the provisions hereof shall be null and void.
21. INTERPRETATION.
The article and section headings contained in this Agreement are solely for the purpose of reference, are not part of the agreement of the parties and shall not in any way affect the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.
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22. ENTIRE AGREEMENT.
This Agreement, along with any other agreement or instrument delivered pursuant to this Agreement, supersedes all prior agreements and understandings between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof.
23. SEVERANCE.
If any provision of this Agreement is held by any court or any act, regulation, rule or decision of any other governmental or supra national body or authority or regulatory or self-regulatory organization to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, it shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable only to the extent so held and shall not affect the validity, legality or enforceability of the other provisions of this Agreement and this Agreement will be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein, unless the Distributor determines in its discretion, after consulting with the Trust, that the provision of this Agreement that was held invalid, illegal or unenforceable does affect the validity, legality or enforceability of one or more other provisions of this Agreement, and that this Agreement should not be continued without the provision that was held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, and in that case, upon the Distributor’s notification of the Trust of such a determination, this Agreement shall immediately terminate and the Distributor will so notify the Authorized Participant immediately.
24. NO STRICT CONSTRUCTION.
The language used in this Agreement will be deemed to be the language chosen by the parties to express their mutual intent, and no rule of strict construction will be applied against any party.
25. SURVIVAL.
Sections 4 (Prospectus, Marketing Materials and Representations), 12 (Indemnification), 13 (Limitation of Liability) and 18 (Governing Law; Consent to Jurisdiction) hereof, as well as this Section 25, shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
26. OTHER USAGES.
The following usages shall apply in interpreting this Agreement: (i) references to a governmental or quasigovernmental agency, authority or instrumentality shall also refer to a regulatory body that succeeds to the functions of such agency, authority or instrumentality; and (ii) “including” means “including, but not limited to.”
27. COUNTERPARTS.
This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed to be an original copy of this Agreement and all of which, when taken together, will be deemed to constitute one and the same agreement. A telecopied facsimile of an executed counterpart of this Agreement, or an electronically transmitted PDF copy of an executed counterpart of this Agreement, shall be sufficient to evidence the binding agreement of each party to the terms hereof.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be executed and delivered as of the day and year written below.
DATED: ____________, 2016
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ALPS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. | ||
By: | ||
Title: | ||
Address: | 0000 Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000 | |
Xxxxxx XX 00000 | ||
Telephone: | 000.000.0000 | |
Facsimile: | 303.623.7850 |
[NAME OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT] |
|
By: |
Title: |
Address: |
Telephone: |
Facsimile: |
ACCEPTED BY: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, AS TRANSFER AGENT
|
By: |
Title: |
Address: |
Telephone: |
Facsimile: |
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ANNEX I
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT FOR
Fund | Ticker Symbol | |
Columbia Sustainable Global Equity Income ETF | ESGW | |
Columbia Sustainable International Equity Income ETF | ESGN | |
Columbia Sustainable U.S. Equity Income ETF | ESGS | |
Columbia Diversified Fixed Income Allocation ETF | DIAL | |
Columbia Multi-Sector Municipal Income ETF | MUST |
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ANNEX II
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING
PURCHASE ORDERS AND REDEMPTION ORDERS
This Annex II to the Authorized Participant Agreement supplements the Prospectus with respect to the procedures to be used in processing (1) a Purchase Order for the purchase of Shares of the Columbia ETF Trust I (the “Trust”) in Creation Units of each Fund and (2) a Redemption Order for the redemption of Shares of the Trust in Creation Units of each Fund of the Trust. Capitalized terms, unless otherwise defined in this Annex II, have the meanings attributed to them in the Authorized Participant Agreement or the Prospectus.
In order to place a Purchase Order, an Authorized Participant is required to have signed an Authorized Participant Agreement. Upon acceptance of the Authorized Participant Agreement and execution thereof by the Trust and in connection with the initial Purchase Order submitted by the Authorized Participant, the Transfer Agent will assign a PIN to each Authorized Person authorized to act for an Authorized Participant. This will allow an Authorized Participant, through its Authorized Person(s), to place a Purchase Order or Redemption Order with respect to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units of Shares of the Trust.
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AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
FOR
COLUMBIA ETF TRUST II
This Authorized Participant Agreement (this “Agreement”) is entered into by and between ALPS Distributors, Inc. (the “Distributor”) and ________________________________ (the “Authorized Participant” or the “AP”) and is subject to acceptance by The Bank of New York Mellon (the “BNYM ETF Administrator” or the “Transfer Agent”). The Transfer Agent serves as the transfer agent for the Columbia ETF Trust II (the “Company”) and is an Index Receipt Agent as that term is defined in the rules of the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”). The Distributor, the Transfer Agent and the Authorized Participant acknowledge and agree that the Company shall be a third-party beneficiary of this Agreement and shall receive the benefits contemplated by this Agreement, to the extent specified herein. The Distributor has been retained to provide services as principal underwriter of the Company acting on an agency basis in connection with the sale and distribution of shares of beneficial interest, par value $.0001 per share (sometimes referred to as “Shares”), of each of the separate investment portfolios of the Company (each such portfolio a “Fund” and collectively, the “Funds”) named on Annex I to this Agreement.
As specified in the Company’s prospectus and statement of additional information (“SAI”) incorporated therein (collectively, the “Prospectus”) included as part of its registration statement, as amended, on Form N-1A (“Registration Statement”), the Shares of any Fund offered thereby may be purchased or redeemed only in aggregations of a specified number of Shares referred to therein and herein as a “Creation Unit.” All references to “cash” shall refer to U.S. Dollars (“USD”). The number of Shares constituting a Creation Unit of each Fund is set forth in the Prospectus. Creation Units of Shares may be purchased only by or through an Authorized Participant that has entered into an Authorized Participant Agreement with the Company and the Distributor. The Prospectus provides that Creation Units generally will be sold in exchange for an in-kind deposit of a designated portfolio of equity securities (the “Deposit Securities”) and an amount of cash computed as described in the Prospectus (the “Cash Component”), plus a purchase “Transaction Fee” as described in the Prospectus, delivered to the Company by the Authorized Participant for its own account or acting on behalf of another party. Together, the Deposit Securities and the Cash Requirement constitute the “Creation Deposit,” which represents the minimum initial and subsequent investment amount for Shares of any Fund of the Company. References to the Prospectus are to the then-current Prospectus as it may be supplemented or amended from time to time. Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein are used herein as defined in the Prospectus.
This Agreement is intended to set forth certain premises and the procedures by which the Authorized Participant may purchase and/or redeem Creation Units of Shares (i) through the Continuous Net Settlement (“CNS”) clearing processes of NSCC as such processes have been enhanced to effect purchases and redemptions of Creation Units, such processes being referred to herein as the “CNS Clearing Process,” or (ii) outside the CNS Clearing Process (i.e., through the manual process of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) (the “DTC Process”). The procedures for processing an order to purchase Shares (each a “Purchase Order”) and an order to redeem Shares (each a “Redemption Order”) are described in the Company’s Prospectus and in Annex II to this Agreement. All Purchase and Redemption Orders must be made pursuant to the procedures set forth in the Prospectus and Annex II hereto, as each may be amended by the Company from time to time. An Authorized Participant may not place a Purchase Order before the fifth (5th) Business Day (as defined below) following execution and delivery to the Distributor of this Agreement and notification by the Distributor of the Authorized Participant’s status. An Authorized Participant may not cancel a Purchase Order or a Redemption Order after an order is placed by the Authorized Participant.
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The parties hereto in consideration of the premises and of the mutual
agreements contained herein agree as follows:
1. STATUS OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT.
(a) The Authorized Participant hereby represents, covenants and warrants that with respect to Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders of Creation Units of Shares of any Fund (i) through the CNS Clearing Process, it is a member of NSCC and an Authorized Participant in the CNS System of NSCC (as defined in each Fund’s Prospectus, a “Participating Party”), and/or (ii) outside the CNS Clearing Process, it is a DTC Participant (as defined in the Fund’s Prospectus, a “DTC Participant”). The Authorized Participant may place Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders for Creation Units either through the CNS Clearing Process or outside the CNS Clearing Process, subject to the procedures for purchase and redemption set forth in this Agreement, the Prospectus and Annex II hereto (“Execution of Orders”). Any change in the foregoing status of the Authorized Participant shall terminate this Agreement, and the Authorized Participant shall give prompt written notice to the Distributor, the Company and the Transfer Agent of such change.
(b) The Authorized Participant hereby represents and warrants that, unless the following paragraph is applicable to it, (i) is registered as a broker-dealer under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; (ii) is qualified to act as a broker or dealer in the states or other jurisdictions where it transacts business; and (iii) is a member in good standing of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), and the Authorized Participant agrees that it will maintain such registrations, qualifications and membership in good standing and in full force and effect throughout the term of this Agreement. The Authorized Participant agrees to comply with all applicable U.S. federal laws, the laws of the states or other jurisdictions concerned, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder and with the Constitution, By-Laws and Conduct Rules of the FINRA, and that it will not offer or sell Shares of any Fund of the Company in any state or jurisdiction where they may not lawfully be offered and/or sold.
(c) If the Authorized Participant is offering or selling Shares of any Fund of the Company in jurisdictions outside the several states, territories and possessions of the United States and is not otherwise required to be registered, qualified, or a member of FINRA as set forth above, the Authorized Participant nevertheless agrees (i) to observe the applicable laws of the jurisdiction in which such offer and/or sale is made; (ii) to comply with the full disclosure requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), and the regulations promulgated thereunder; and (iii) to conduct its business in accordance with the spirit of NASD Conduct Rules (or of comparable FINRA Conduct Rules, if such NASD Conduct Rules are subsequently repealed, rescinded or otherwise replaced by FINRA Conduct Rules).
(d) The Authorized Participant represents, covenants and warrants that it has established and presently maintains an anti-money laundering program (the “Program”) reasonably designed to prevent the Authorized Participant from being used as a conduit for money laundering or other illicit purposes or the financing of terrorist activities and is in compliance with the Program and all anti-money laundering laws, regulations and rules now or hereafter in effect that are applicable to it, including, without limitation, the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.
(e) The Authorized Participant understands and acknowledges that the method by which Creation Units of Shares will be created and traded may raise certain issues under applicable securities laws. For example, because new Creation Units of Shares may be issued and sold by the Company on an ongoing basis, at any point a “distribution,” as such term is used in the 1933 Act, may be occurring. The Authorized Participant understands and acknowledges that some activities on its part, depending on the circumstances, may result in its being deemed a participant in a distribution in a manner which could render it a statutory underwriter and subject it to the prospectus delivery and liability provisions of the 1933 Act. The Authorized Participant should review the “Continuous Offering” section of the SAI and consult with its own counsel in connection with entering into this Agreement and placing an Order (defined below). The Authorized Participant also understands and acknowledges that dealers who are not “underwriters” but are effecting transactions in Shares, whether or not participating in the distribution of Shares, are generally required to deliver a prospectus.
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(f) The Authorized Participant has the capability to send and receive communications via authenticated telecommunication facility to and from the (i) Distributor, (ii) the Custodian (as defined below in Section 5 hereof), (iii) the Subcustodian (as defined below in Section 5 hereof) in the case of International Funds (see Section 7(b) below), and (iv) the Authorized Participant’s custodian. The Authorized Participant shall confirm such capability to the satisfaction of the Distributor, the Custodian and the Subcustodian prior to placing its first order with the BNYM ETF Administrator (whether it is a Purchase Order or a Redemption Order).
2. EXECUTION OF PURCHASE ORDERS AND REDEMPTION ORDERS.
(a) All Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders shall be made in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus and the procedures described in Annex II hereto. Each party hereto agrees to comply with the provisions of such documents to the extent applicable to it. It is contemplated that the telephone lines used by the BNYM ETF Administrator of the Transfer Agent will be recorded, and the Authorized Participant hereby consents to the recording of all calls with the BNYM ETF Administrator. The Company reserves the right to issue additional or other procedures relating to the manner of purchasing or redeeming Creation Units and the Authorized Participant agrees to comply with such procedures as may be issued from time to time, including but not limited to the Cash Collateral Settlement Procedures that are referenced in Annex II hereto.
(b) The Authorized Participant acknowledges and agrees on behalf of itself and any party for which it is acting (whether as a customer or otherwise) that delivery of a Purchase Order or Redemption Order shall be irrevocable, provided that the Company and the Distributor on behalf of the Company reserves the right to reject any Purchase Order until the trade is released as described in Annex II hereto and any Redemption Order that is not in “proper form” as defined in the Prospectus.
(c) With respect to any Redemption Order, the Authorized Participant also acknowledges and agrees on behalf of itself and any party for which it is acting (whether as a customer or otherwise) to return to the Company any dividend, distribution or other corporate action paid to it or to the party for which it is acting in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should have been paid to the Company. With respect to any Redemption Order, the Authorized Participant also acknowledges and agrees on behalf of itself and any party for which it is acting (whether as a customer or otherwise) that the Company is entitled to reduce the amount of money or other proceeds due to the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting by an amount equal to any dividend, distribution or other corporate action to be paid to it or to the party for which it is acting in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should be paid to the Fund. With respect to any Purchase Order, the Transfer Agent, on behalf of the Company, acknowledges and agrees to return to the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting any dividend, distribution or other corporate action paid to the Company in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Company that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should have been paid to the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting.
3. NSCC.
Solely with respect to Purchase Orders or Redemption Orders effected through the CNS Clearing Process, the Authorized Participant, as a Participating Party, hereby authorizes the Transfer Agent to transmit to the NSCC on behalf of the Authorized Participant such instructions, including amounts of the Deposit Securities and Cash Component as are necessary, consistent with the instructions issued by the Authorized Participant to the BNYM ETF Administrator. The Authorized Participant agrees to be bound by the terms of such instructions issued by the Transfer Agent and reported to NSCC as though such instructions were issued by the Authorized Participant directly to NSCC.
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4. PROSPECTUS, MARKETING MATERIALS AND REPRESENTATIONS.
(a) The Distributor will provide to the Authorized Participant copies of the then-current Prospectus and any printed supplemental information in reasonable quantities upon request. The Distributor represents, warrants and agrees that it will notify the Authorized Participant when a revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus for any Fund is available and deliver or otherwise make available to the Authorized Participant copies of such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus at such time and in such numbers as to enable the Authorized Participant to comply with any obligation it may have to deliver such Prospectus to customers. The Distributor will make such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus available to the Authorized Participant no later than its effective date. The Distributor shall be deemed to have complied with this Section 4 when the Authorized Participant has received such revised, supplemented or amended Prospectus by e-mail at [insert e-mail address], in printable form, with such number of hard copies as may be agreed from time to time by the parties promptly thereafter.
(b) The Distributor represents and warrants that (i) the Registration Statement and the Prospectus contained therein conforms in all material respects to the requirements of the 1933 Act, and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) thereunder and do not and will not, as of the applicable effective date as to the Registration Statement and any amendment thereto and as of the applicable filing date as to the Prospectus and any amendment or supplement thereto, contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; (ii) the sale and distribution of the Shares as contemplated herein will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any statute or any order, rule or regulation of any court or governmental agency or body having jurisdiction over the Company, any Fund or the Distributor; and (iii) no consent, approval, authorization, order, registration or qualification of or with any such court or governmental agency or body is required for the issuance and sale of the Shares, except the registration under the 1933 Act of the Shares.
(c) The Authorized Participant represents, warrants and agrees that it will not make any representations concerning Shares other than those contained in the Company’s then-current Prospectus or in any promotional materials or sales literature furnished to the Authorized Participant by the Distributor. The Authorized Participant agrees not to furnish or cause to be furnished to any person or display or publish any information or materials relating to Shares (including, without limitation, promotional materials and sales literature, advertisements, press releases, announcements, statements, posters, signs or other similar materials), except such information and materials as may be furnished to the Authorized Participant by the Distributor and such other information and materials as may be approved in writing by the Distributor. The Authorized Participant understands that neither the Company nor any of its Funds will be advertised or marketed as an open-end investment company, (i.e., as a mutual fund), which offers redeemable securities, and that any advertising materials will prominently disclose that the Shares are not redeemable shares of the Company. In addition, the Authorized Participant understands that any advertising material that addresses redemptions of Shares, including the Prospectus, will disclose that the owners of Shares may acquire Shares and tender Shares for redemption to the Company in whole Creation Units only.
(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Authorized Participant may without the written approval of the Distributor prepare and circulate in the regular course of its business research reports that include information, opinions or recommendations relating to Shares (i) for public dissemination, provided that such research reports compare the relative merits and benefits of Shares with other products and are not used for purposes of marketing Shares and (ii) for internal use by the Authorized Participant.
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5. SUBCUSTODIAN ACCOUNT.
The Authorized Participant understands and agrees that in the case of each International Fund, the Company has caused The Bank of New York Mellon acting in its capacity as the Company’s custodian (“Custodian”) to maintain with the applicable subcustodian (“Subcustodian”) for such Fund an account in the relevant foreign jurisdiction to which the Authorized Participant shall deliver or cause to be delivered in connection with the purchase of a Creation Unit the securities (see Annex IV) and any other cash amounts (or the cash value of all or a part of such securities, in the case of a permitted or required cash purchase or “cash in lieu” amount) on behalf of itself or any party for which it is acting (whether or not a customer), with any appropriate adjustments as advised by such Fund, in accordance with the terms and conditions applicable to such account in such jurisdiction.
6. TITLE TO SECURITIES; RESTRICTED SHARES.
The Authorized Participant represents on behalf of itself and any party for which it acts that upon delivery of a portfolio of Deposit Securities to the Custodian and/or the relevant Subcustodian in accordance with the terms of the Prospectus, the Company will acquire good and unencumbered title to such securities, free and clear of all liens, restrictions, charges and encumbrances and not subject to any adverse claims, including, without limitation, any restriction upon the sale or transfer of such securities imposed by (i) any agreement or arrangement entered into by the Authorized Participant or any party for which it is acting in connection with a Purchase Order or (ii) any provision of the 1933 Act, and any regulations thereunder (except that portfolio securities of issuers other than U.S. issuers shall not be required to have been registered under the 1933 Act if exempt from such registration), or of the applicable laws or regulations of any other applicable jurisdiction and (iii) no such securities are “restricted securities” as such term is used in Rule 144(a)(3)(i) promulgated under the 1933 Act.
7. CASH COMPONENT AND FEES.
(a) For Domestic Funds: The Authorized Participant hereby agrees that as between the Company and itself or any party for which it acts in connection with a Purchase Order for any Domestic Fund, it will make available in same day funds for each purchase of Shares an amount of cash sufficient to pay the Cash Component and any other amounts of cash due to the Company in connection with the purchase of any Creation Unit of Shares (including the purchase Transaction Fee for in-kind and cash purchases and the additional variable charge for cash purchases (when, in the sole discretion of the Company, cash purchases are available or specified as described in the Prospectus)) (the “Cash Amount”) which shall be made through DTC to an account maintained by the Custodian and shall be provided in same day or immediately available funds on or before the settlement date in accordance with the Company’s Prospectus (“Contractual Settlement Date”). The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to ensure that the Cash Amount will be received by the Company on or before the Contractual Settlement Date, and in the event payment of such Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date, the Authorized Participant agrees on behalf of itself or any party for which it acts in connection with a Purchase Order to pay the full cash amount, plus interest, computed at such reasonable rate as may be specified by the Company from time to time. The Authorized Participant may require its customer to enter into a written agreement with the Authorized Participant with respect to such matters.
(b) For International Funds: The Authorized Participant hereby agrees that as between the Company and itself or any party for which it acts in connection with a Purchase Order for any International Fund, it will make available in same day funds for each purchase of Shares the Cash Amount as described in Section 7(a) above which shall be made via Fed Funds Wire to an account maintained by the Custodian and shall be provided in same day or immediately available funds at least one business day before Contractual Settlement Date. The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to ensure that the Cash Amount will be received by the Company on or before the Contractual Settlement Date, and in the event payment of such Cash Amount has not been made by such Contractual Settlement Date, the Authorized Participant agrees on behalf of itself or any party for which it acts in connection with a Purchase Order to pay the full Cash Amount, plus interest, computed at such reasonable rate as may be specified by the Company from time to time. The Authorized Participant may require its customer to enter into a written agreement with the Authorized Participant with respect to such matters.
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8. ROLE OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT.
(a) The Authorized Participant acknowledges and agrees that for all purposes of this Agreement, the Authorized Participant will be deemed to be an independent contractor, and will have no authority to act as agent for the Company, any Fund, the Distributor, the Custodian, the Subcustodian or the Transfer Agent in any matter or in any respect. The Authorized Participant agrees to make itself and its employees available, upon request, during normal business hours to consult with the Company, the Distributor, the Custodian, the Subcustodian, the Transfer Agent or the Authorized Participant’s custodian or their designees concerning the performance of the Authorized Participant’s responsibilities under this Agreement.
(b) In executing this Agreement, the Authorized Participant agrees in connection with any purchase or redemption transactions in which it acts for a customer or for any other Authorized Participant or indirect participant, or any other shareholder in an underlying shares account (“Beneficial Owner”), that it shall extend to any such party all of the rights and shall be bound by all of the obligations of a DTC Participant in addition to any obligations that it undertakes hereunder or in accordance with the Prospectus.
(c) The Authorized Participant agrees to maintain records of all sales of Shares made by or through it and to furnish copies of such records to the Company or the Distributor upon the request of the Company or the Distributor.
9. AUTHORIZED PERSONS OF THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT.
Concurrently with the execution of this Agreement and from time to time thereafter as may be requested by the Company or the Distributor, the Authorized Participant shall deliver to the Distributor and the Company, with copies to the Transfer Agent at the address specified below, duly certified as appropriate by its Secretary or other duly authorized official, a certificate in a form approved by the Company (see Annex III to this Agreement) setting forth the names and signatures of all persons authorized to give instructions relating to any activity contemplated hereby or any other notice, request or instruction on behalf of the Authorized Participant (each such person an “Authorized Person”). Such certificate may be accepted and relied upon by the Distributor and the Transfer Agent as conclusive evidence of the facts set forth therein and shall be considered to be in full force and effect until delivery to the Distributor and the Transfer Agent of a superseding certificate in a form approved by the Distributor and the Transfer Agent bearing a subsequent date. Upon the termination or revocation of authority of such Authorized Person by the Authorized Participant, the Authorized Participant shall give immediate written notice of such fact to the Distributor and the Transfer Agent and such notice shall be effective upon receipt by both the Distributor and Transfer Agent. The Transfer Agent shall issue to each Authorized Participant a unique personal identification number (“PIN”) by which such Authorized Participant shall be identified and instructions issued by the Authorized Participant hereunder shall be authenticated. The PIN shall be kept confidential and only provided to Authorized Persons. If after issuance, an Authorized Participant’s PIN is changed, the new PIN will become effective on a date mutually agreed upon by the Authorized Participant and the Transfer Agent.
10. REDEMPTION.
The Authorized Participant understands and agrees that Redemption Orders may be submitted only on days that the U.S. stock exchange where the Shares are principally listed (as specified in the Prospectus) (the “Listing Exchange”) is open for trading or business.
(a) The Authorized Participant represents and warrants that it will not attempt to place a Redemption Order for the purpose of redeeming any Creation Unit of Shares of any Fund unless it first ascertains that it or its customer, as the case may be, owns outright or has full legal authority and legal and beneficial right to tender for redemption the requisite number of Creation Units of Shares of the relevant Fund to be redeemed and to the entire proceeds of the redemption and that such Shares have not been loaned
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or pledged to another party and are not the subject of a repurchase agreement, securities lending agreement or any other arrangement that would preclude the delivery of such Shares to the Transfer Agent in accordance with the Prospectus or as otherwise required by the Company. The Authorized Participant understands that Shares of any Fund may be redeemed only when one or more Creation Units of Shares of a Beneficial Owner are held in the account of a single Authorized Participant.
(b) In the case of a resident Australian or New Zealand holder notwithstanding the foregoing, the Authorized Participant understands and agrees that such holder is only entitled to receive cash upon its redemption of Creation Units of Shares. In the Redemption Order the Authorized Participant will be required to confirm that an in-kind redemption request has not been submitted on behalf of a beneficial owner who is an Australian resident.
11. BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP.
(a) The Authorized Participant represents and warrants to the Distributor and the Company that (based upon the number of outstanding Shares of each such Fund made publicly available by the Company) it does not, and will not in the future, hold for the account of any single Beneficial Owner of Shares of the relevant Fund, eighty percent (80%) or more of the currently outstanding Shares of such relevant Fund, so as to cause the Fund to have a basis in the portfolio securities deposited with the Fund with respect to such Fund different from the market value of such portfolio securities on the date of such deposit, pursuant to section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The Authorized Participant agrees that the confirmation relating to any order for one or more Creation Units of Shares of any Fund shall state as follows:
“Purchaser represents and warrants that, after giving effect to the purchase of Shares to which this confirmation relates, it will not hold 80% or more of the outstanding Shares of the relevant Fund of the Company and that it will not treat such purchase as eligible for tax-free treatment under Section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. If purchaser is a dealer, it agrees to deliver similar written confirmations to any person purchasing any of the Shares to which this confirmation relates from it.”
(b) The Distributor and the Transfer Agent shall have the right to require information from the Authorized Participant regarding Share ownership of each Fund and to rely thereon to the extent necessary to make a determination regarding ownership of eighty percent (80%) or more of the currently outstanding Shares of any Fund by a Beneficial Owner as a condition to the acceptance of a deposit of Deposit Securities.
12. INDEMNIFICATION.
This section 12 shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
(a) The Authorized Participant hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Distributor, the Company, the Transfer Agent and their respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents, and each person, if any, who controls such persons within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (each an “AP Indemnified Party”) from and against any loss, liability, cost and expense (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by such AP Indemnified Party as a result of (i) any breach by the Authorized Participant of any provision of this Agreement that relates to such Authorized Participant; (ii) any failure on the part of the Authorized Participant to perform any of its obligations set forth in the Agreement; (iii) any failure by the Authorized Participant to comply with applicable laws, including rules and regulations of self-regulatory organizations; (iv) actions of such AP Indemnified Party taken pursuant to any instructions issued in accordance with Annex II (including Parts A, B and C thereto) hereto (as each may be amended from time to time) reasonably believed by the Distributor and/or the Transfer Agent to be genuine and to have been given by the Authorized Participant, or (v)(1) any representation by the Authorized Participant, its employees or its agents or other representatives about the Shares, any AP Indemnified Party or the Company that is not consistent with the Company’s then-current Prospectus made
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in connection with the offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell Shares and (2) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in any research reports, marketing material and sales literature described in Section 4 hereof or any alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading to the extent that such statement or omission relates to the Shares, any AP Indemnified Party or the Company, unless, in either case, such representation, statement or omission was made or included by the Distributor in materials furnished to the Authorized Participant or by the Authorized Participant at the written direction of the Distributor or is based upon any omission or alleged omission by the Company or the Distributor to state a material fact in connection with such representation, statement or omission necessary to make such representation, statement or omission not misleading. The Authorized Participant and the Distributor understand and agree that the Company as a third-party beneficiary to this Agreement is entitled and intends to proceed directly against the Authorized Participant in the event that the Authorized Participant fails to honor any of its obligations pursuant to this Agreement that benefit the Company. The Authorized Participant shall not be liable to the AP Indemnified Party for any damages arising out of mistakes or errors in data provided to the Authorized Participant, or mistakes or errors by, or out of interruptions or delays of communications with the AP Indemnified Parties who are service providers to the Company.
(b) The Distributor hereby agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Authorized Participant and its respective subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, officers, employees and agents, and each person, if any, who controls such persons within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act (each a “Distributor Indemnified Party”) from and against any loss, liability, cost and expense (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by such Distributor Indemnified Party as a result of (i) any breach by the Distributor of any provision of this Agreement that relates to the Distributor; (ii) any failure on the part of the Distributor to perform any of its obligations set forth in this Agreement; (iii) any failure by the Distributor to comply with applicable laws, including rules and regulations of self-regulatory organizations; (iv) actions of such Distributor Indemnified Party in reliance upon any instructions issued or representations made in accordance with Annex II (including Parts A, B and C thereto) hereto (as each may be amended from time to time) reasonably believed by the Distributor Indemnified Party to be genuine and to have been given by the Distributor, or (v) (1) any representation by the Distributor, its employees or its agents or other representatives about the Shares that is not consistent with the Company’s then-current Prospectus made in connection with the offer or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell Shares and (2) any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement of the Company as originally filed with the SEC or in any amendment thereof, or in any prospectus or any statement of additional information, or any amendment thereof or supplement thereto, or arise out of or are based upon the omission or alleged omission to state therein a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading. The Distributor shall not be liable to any Distributor Indemnified Party for any damages arising out of mistakes or errors in data provided to the Distributor, or mistakes or errors by, or out of interruptions or delays of communications with the Distributor Indemnified Parties, due to any action of a service provider to the Company.
(c) This Section 12 shall not apply to the extent any such losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses are incurred as a result or in connection with any gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on the part of the AP Indemnified Party or the Distributor Indemnified Party, as the case may be. The term “affiliate” in this Section 12 shall include, with respect to any person, entity or organization, any other person, entity or organization which directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by or is under common control with such person, entity or organization.
13. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.
(a) The Distributor and the Transfer Agent undertake to perform such duties and only such duties as are expressly set forth herein, or expressly incorporated herein by reference, and no implied covenants or obligations shall be read into this Agreement against the Distributor or the Transfer Agent.
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(b) In the absence of bad faith, negligence or willful misconduct on its part, neither the Distributor, nor the Transfer Agent, whether acting directly or through agents or attorneys as provided in paragraph (d) below, shall be liable for any action taken, suffered or omitted or for any error of judgment made by any of them in the performance of their duties hereunder. Neither the Distributor nor the Transfer Agent shall be liable for any error of judgment made in good faith unless the party exercising such shall have been negligent in ascertaining the pertinent facts necessary to make such judgment. In no event shall the Distributor or the Transfer Agent be liable for special, indirect or consequential loss or damage of any kind whatsoever (including but not limited to lost profit), even if such parties have been advised of the likelihood of such loss or damage and regardless of the form of action. In no event shall the Distributor or the Transfer Agent be liable for the acts or omissions of DTC, NSCC or any other securities depository or clearing corporation.
(c) Neither the Distributor nor the Transfer Agent shall be responsible or liable for any failure or delay in the performance of their obligations under this Agreement arising out of or caused, directly or indirectly, by circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including without limitation, acts of God; earthquakes; fires; floods; wars; civil or military disturbances; terrorism; sabotage; epidemics; riots; interruptions; loss or malfunction of utilities, computer (hardware or software) or communications service; accidents; labor disputes; acts of civil or military authority or governmental actions.
(d) The Distributor and the Transfer Agent may conclusively rely upon, and shall be fully protected in acting or refraining from acting upon, any communication authorized hereby and upon any written or oral instruction, notice, request, direction or consent reasonably believed by them to be genuine.
(e) The Transfer Agent shall not be required to advance, expend or risk its own funds or otherwise incur or become exposed to financial liability in the performance of its duties hereunder, except as may be required as a result of its own gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith.
(f) Tax Liability. To the extent any payment of any transfer tax, sales or use tax, stamp tax, recording tax, value added tax or any other similar tax or government charge applicable to the creation or redemption of any Creation Unit of Shares of any Fund made pursuant to this Agreement is imposed, the Authorized Participant shall be responsible for the payment of such tax or government charge regardless of whether or not such tax or charge is imposed directly on the Authorized Participant. To the extent the Company or the Distributor is required by law to pay any such tax or charge, the Authorized Participant agrees to promptly indemnify such party for any such payment, together with any applicable penalties, additions to tax or interest thereon.
14. INFORMATION ABOUT CREATION DEPOSITS.
The Authorized Participant understands that the number and names of the designated portfolio of Deposit Securities to be included in the current Creation Deposit for each Fund will be made available by NSCC on each day that the Listing Exchange is open for trading and will also be made available on each such day through the facilities of the NSCC.
15. ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The Authorized Participant acknowledges receipt of the Prospectus and represents that it has reviewed and understands such documents.
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16. NOTICES.
Except as otherwise specifically provided in this Agreement, all notices required or permitted to be given pursuant to this Agreement shall be given in writing and delivered by personal delivery or by postage prepaid registered or certified United States first class mail, return receipt requested, or by telex, telegram or facsimile or similar means of same day delivery (with a confirming copy by mail). Unless otherwise notified in writing, all notices to the Company shall be at the address or telephone, facsimile or telex numbers as follows:
Columbia ETF Trust II
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxx, XX 00000
Attn.: Xxxx Xxxxxx
E-mail: xxxx.xxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Phone: 000 000-0000
With copy to:
c/o Columbia Management Investment Advisers, LLC
000 Xxxx Xxxxxx, 0xx xxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, XX 00000
Attn.: Xxxxxx X’Xxxxxxxxxx
E-mail: xxxxxx.x.xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxx.xxx
Phone: 000 000-0000
All notices to the Authorized Participant, the Distributor and the Transfer Agent shall be directed to the address or telephone, facsimile or telex numbers indicated below the signature line of such party.
17. EFFECTIVENESS, TERMINATION AND AMENDMENT.
(a) This Agreement shall become effective five (5) Business Days after execution and delivery to the Distributor upon notice by the Distributor to the Authorized Participant. A “Business Day” shall mean any day the Listing Exchange is open for business. This Agreement may be terminated at any time by any party upon sixty (60) days’ prior written notice to the other parties and may be terminated earlier by the Company or the Distributor at any time in the event of a breach by the Authorized Participant of any provision of this Agreement or the procedures described or incorporated herein. This Agreement supersedes any prior such agreement between or among the parties.
(b) This Agreement may be amended by the Company or the Distributor from time to time without the consent of any Beneficial Owner by the following procedure. The Company or the Distributor will mail a copy of the amendment to the Authorized Participant and the Company or Distributor, as applicable. For purposes of this Agreement, mail will be deemed received by the recipient thereof on the fifth (5th) Business Day following the deposit of such mail into the U.S. Postal system. If neither the Authorized Participant or the other party objects in writing to the amendment within five (5) days after its receipt, the amendment will become part of this Agreement in accordance with its terms.
18. GOVERNING LAW; CONSENT TO JURISDICTION.
This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York (regardless of the laws that might otherwise govern under applicable New York conflict of laws principles) as to all matters, including matters of validity, construction, effect, performance and remedies. Each party hereto irrevocably consents to the jurisdiction of the courts of the State of New York and of any federal court located in the Borough of Manhattan in such State in connection with any action, suit or other proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement or any action taken or omitted hereunder, and waives any claim of forum non conveniens and any objections as to laying of venue. Each party further waives personal service of any summons, complaint or other process and agrees that service thereof may be made by certified or registered mail directed to such party at such party’s address for purposes of notices hereunder. Each party hereto each hereby irrevocably waives any and all rights to trial by jury in any legal proceeding arising out of or relating to this Agreement.
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19. SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.
This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and permitted assigns.
20. ASSIGNMENT.
Neither this Agreement nor any of the rights, interests or obligations hereunder shall be assigned by any party without the prior written consent of the other parties, except that any entity into which a party hereto may be merged or converted or with which it may be consolidated or any entity resulting from any merger, conversion or consolidation to which such party hereunder shall be a party, or any entity succeeding to all or substantially all of the business of the party, shall be the successor of the party under this Agreement. The party resulting from any such merger, conversion, consolidation or succession shall notify the other parties hereto of the change. Any purported assignment in violation of the provisions hereof shall be null and void.
21. INTERPRETATION.
The article and section headings contained in this Agreement are solely for the purpose of reference, are not part of the agreement of the parties and shall not in any way affect the meaning or interpretation of this Agreement.
22. ENTIRE AGREEMENT.
This Agreement, along with any other agreement or instrument delivered pursuant to this Agreement, supersede all prior agreements and understandings between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof.
23. SEVERANCE.
If any provision of this Agreement is held by any court or any act, regulation, rule or decision of any other governmental or supra national body or authority or regulatory or self-regulatory organization to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, it shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable only to the extent so held and shall not affect the validity, legality or enforceability of the other provisions of this Agreement and this Agreement will be construed as if such invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein, unless the Distributor determines in its discretion, after consulting with the Company, that the provision of this Agreement that was held invalid, illegal or unenforceable does affect the validity, legality or enforceability of one or more other provisions of this Agreement, and that this Agreement should not be continued without the provision that was held invalid, illegal or unenforceable, and in that case, upon the Distributor’s notification of the Company of such a determination, this Agreement shall immediately terminate and the Distributor will so notify the Authorized Participant immediately.
24. NO STRICT CONSTRUCTION.
The language used in this Agreement will be deemed to be the language chosen by the parties to express their mutual intent, and no rule of strict construction will be applied against any party.
25. SURVIVAL.
Section 12 (Indemnification) hereof shall survive the termination of this Agreement.
45
26. OTHER USAGES.
The following usages shall apply in interpreting this Agreement: (i) references to a governmental or quasigovernmental agency, authority or instrumentality shall also refer to a regulatory body that succeeds to the functions of such agency, authority or instrumentality; and (ii) “including” means “including, but not limited to.”
27. COUNTERPARTS.
This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of which will be deemed to be an original copy of this Agreement and all of which, when taken together, will be deemed to constitute one and the same agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have caused this Agreement to be executed and delivered as of the day and year written below.
DATED:
ALPS DISTRIBUTORS, INC. |
BY: |
TITLE: |
ADDRESS: | 0000 Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx 0000, Xxxxxx XX 00000 |
TELEPHONE: | 000.000.0000 | |
FACSIMILE: | 303.623.7850 |
[NAME OF AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT] |
BY: |
TITLE: |
ADDRESS: |
TELEPHONE: |
FACSIMILE: |
ACCEPTED BY: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, AS TRANSFER AGENT
ACCEPTED BY: |
BY: |
TITLE: |
ADDRESS: |
TELEPHONE: |
FACSIMILE: |
46
ANNEX I
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
Columbia ETF Trust II
effective as of July 22, 2017
New Fund Name |
Ticker |
|||
Columbia Beyond BRICs ETF | BBRC | |||
Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF | XCEM | |||
Columbia EM Quality Dividend ETF | HILO | |||
Columbia Emerging Markets Consumer ETF | ECON | |||
Columbia India Consumer ETF | INCO | |||
Columbia India Infrastructure ETF | INXX | |||
Columbia India Small Cap ETF | SCIN |
Note: Please refer to the Order Form for Funds eligible for second-trading window as defined in Annex II.
47
ANNEX II
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
PROCEDURES FOR PROCESSING
PURCHASE ORDERS AND REDEMPTION ORDERS
This Annex II to the Authorized Participant Agreement supplements the Prospectus with respect to the procedures to be used in processing (1) a Purchase Order for the purchase of Shares of the Columbia ETF Trust II in Creation Units of each Fund and (2) a Redemption Order for the redemption of Shares of in Creation Units of each Fund. Capitalized terms, unless otherwise defined in this Annex II, have the meanings attributed to them in the Authorized Participant Agreement or the Prospectus.
In order to place a Purchase Order, an Authorized Participant is required to have signed an Authorized Participant Agreement. Upon acceptance of the Authorized Participant Agreement and execution thereof parties and in connection with the initial Purchase Order submitted by the Authorized Participant, the Transfer Agent will assign a PIN to each Authorized Person authorized to act for an Authorized Participant. This will allow an Authorized Participant, through its Authorized Person(s), to place a Purchase Order or Redemption Order with respect to the purchase or redemption of Creation Units of Shares of the Funds.
48
ANNEX II – PART A
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
TO PLACE A PURCHASE ORDER FOR
CREATION UNIT(S) OF SHARES OF ONE OR MORE FUNDS
1. PLACING A PURCHASE ORDER.
The Authorized Participant (“AP”) submitting an order to create shall submit such orders containing the information required to the Transfer Agent either: (a) through the BNYM ETF Center Interface electronic order entry system (“BNYM Interface”), as such may be made available and constituted from time to time, the use of which shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the Electronic Services Agreement incorporated herein by reference; or (b) by telephone to the Transfer Agent Representative followed up with the faxed order form according to the procedures set forth below. The order so transmitted (either orally and in writing, or electronic form) is hereinafter referred to as the “Submission” or the “Purchase Order” as applicable, and the Business Day on which a Submission is made is hereinafter referred to as the “Transmittal Date”.
NOTE THAT WHEN THE TELEPHONIC METHOD OF SUBMITTING ORDERS IS USED, THE TELEPHONE CALL IN WHICH THE SUBMISSION NUMBER IS ISSUED INITIATES THE ORDER PROCESS BUT DOES NOT ALONE CONSTITUTE THE ORDER. AN ORDER WILL ONLY BE PROCESSED UPON RECEIPT OF THE FAXED ORDER FORM SUBMISSION.
To begin a Purchase Order that is not submitted through the BNYM Interface, the Authorized Participant (“AP”) must telephone the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator at (000) 000-0000 or such other number as BNYM designates in writing to the AP. This telephone call must be made by an Authorized Person of the AP and answered by the BNYM ETF Order Desk before the closing time of the regular trading session on the Listing Exchange, which is ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (“Listing Exchange Closing Time or Order Cutoff Time”). Upon verifying the authenticity of the AP (as determined by the use of the appropriate PIN), the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will request that the AP place the Purchase Order. To do so, the AP must provide the appropriate ticker symbols when referring to each Fund. After the AP has placed the Purchase Order, the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will read the Purchase Order back to the AP. The AP then must affirm that the Purchase Order has been taken correctly by the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator. If the AP affirms that the Purchase Order has been taken correctly, the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will issue a confirmation number to the AP, which completes the order. All orders may also be placed by the AP via the BNYM Interface by the times described above.
Purchase Orders for select funds T-1 (T minus 1) Next Day International Market Orders, are to be placed after the Listing Exchange Closing Time of 4:00 PM and before 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on any Business Day. For such Funds, the Order Cutoff Time will be 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Such Purchase Orders, if accepted, will receive the next Business Days NAV per Creation Unit. The Transfer Agent’s telephone number for all T- l orders is 000-000-0000.
PLEASE NOTE: A PURCHASE ORDER IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THE CONFIRMATION NUMBER IS ISSUED BY THE BNYM ETF ORDER DESK ADMINISTRATOR. WITH RESPECT TO EACH FUND, AN ORDER FOR FUND SHARES CAN NOT BE CANCELED BY THE AP AFTER THE LISTING EXCHANGE CLOSING TIME.
49
INCOMING TELEPHONE CALLS ARE QUEUED AND WILL BE HANDLED IN THE SEQUENCE RECEIVED. ACCORDINGLY THE AP SHOULD NOT HANG UP AND REDIAL. CALLS THAT ARE IN PROGRESS AT THE CUTOFF TIME ARE VALID AND THE ORDER WILL BE TAKEN. PLEASE NOTE THAT “IN PROGRESS” IS DEFINED AS AN AP ACTUALLY SPEAKING WITH A BNYM ETF ORDER DESK ADMINISTRATOR. CALLS THAT ARE PLACED BEFORE THE CUTOFF TIME THAT ARE IN THE HOLDING QUEUE AND UNANSWERED AT OR AFTER THE CUTOFF WILL BE VERBALLY DENIED. INCOMING CALLS THAT ARE RECEIVED AFTER THE CUTOFF TIME WILL NOT BE ANSWERED BY THE BNYM ETF ORDER DESK. ALL TELEPHONE CALLS WILL BE RECORDED.
2. TRANSMISSION OF TRADE CONFIRMATION.
Subject to the conditions that a Purchase Order has been completed by the AP not later than the Order Cutoff Time and that the Distributor finds no cause to reject such Purchase Order for the reason(s) listed in Section 3 below, the Distributor will accept the Purchase Order on behalf of the Trust and will confirm in writing or electronically to the AP that its Purchase Order has been accepted within 45 minutes after the designated Order Cutoff Time on the Order Date (e.g., 4:45 PM ET or 6:15 PM ET, as appropriate).
Until such time as the Distributor confirms acceptance thereof, any Purchase Order remains subject to rejection by the Trust for any reason(s) listed in Section 3 below.
3. REJECTING OR SUSPENDING PURCHASE ORDERS.
The Trust and the Distributor reserve the absolute right to reject acceptance of a Purchase Order for the following reasons: (i) the order is not in proper form as determined by the Trust, the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator or the Distributor; (ii) subject to Section 4 of this Annex II—Part A, the portfolio of Deposit Securities (and/or cash in lieu of names that the AP is not able to deliver in physical form) delivered is not as specified by the Distributor, (iii) the investor(s), upon obtaining the Shares ordered, would own 80% or more of the currently outstanding Shares of such Fund; (iv) acceptance of the Deposit Securities would have certain adverse tax consequences to the Trust or any Fund; (v) the acceptance of the Fund Deposit would, in the opinion of counsel, be unlawful; or (vi) circumstances outside the control of Trust, the Distributor or the Transfer Agent make it impossible to process a Purchase Order. The Distributor shall notify the AP of a rejection of any Purchase Order. The Distributor and the Trust are under no duty, however, to give notification of any defects or irregularities in the delivery of Fund Deposits nor shall either of them incur any liability for the failure to give any such notification.
The Trust acknowledges its agreement to return to the AP or any party for which it is acting any dividend, distribution or other corporate action paid to the Trust in respect of any Deposit Security that is transferred to the Trust that, based on the valuation of such Deposit Security at the time of transfer, should have been paid to the AP or any party for which it is acting.
4. CONTRACTUAL SETTLEMENT.
(a) Through the CNS Clearing Process:
(1) | Except as provided below, Deposit Securities of any Domestic Fund must be delivered through the NSCC to a DTC account maintained at the Custodian on or before the Domestic Contractual Settlement Date (defined below). The AP must also make available on or before the Contractual Settlement Date, by means satisfactory to the Trust, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the Trust to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the Purchase Order, together with the |
50
applicable purchase Transaction Fee. Any excess funds will be returned following settlement of the issue of the Creation Unit of Shares of the Trust. The “Domestic Contractual Settlement Date” is the earlier of (i) the trade date plus two (T+2) Business Days or (ii) the date upon which all of the required Deposit Securities, the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due are delivered to the Trust . Except as provided in the next two paragraphs, a Creation Unit of Shares of any Fund will be issued through the CNS system and the payment of the Cash Component and the purchase Transaction Fee through CNS in accordance with the terms, conditions and guarantees as set forth in CNS agreements to which the Custodian and AP have entered into. |
(a) | The use of CNS, a net settlement system, creates a fungible position in the ETF agent’s DTC account, as such there may not be a one to one relationship between the internal and external records until all Deposit Security Transactions are settled at NSCC. |
(2) | The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security with respect to any Domestic Fund which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or which may not be eligible for transfer through the CNS Clearing Process, or which may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC and hence not eligible for transfer through the CNS Clearing Process (discussed below). Additional cost, if any, to acquire the omitted securities will be at the expense of the AP. |
(3) | Any settlement outside the CNS Clearing Process is subject to additional requirements and fees as discussed in the Prospectus. |
(b) Outside the CNS Clearing Process:
(1) | Except as provided below, Deposit Securities must be delivered to an account maintained at the applicable local Subcustodian on or before the International Contractual Settlement Date (defined below). The AP must also make available on or before the International Contractual Settlement Date, by means satisfactory to the Trust, immediately available or same day funds estimated by the Trust to be sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the Purchase Order, together with the applicable purchase Transaction Fee (as described in the Prospectus). Any excess funds will be returned following settlement of the issue of the Creation Unit of Shares. The “International Contractual Settlement Date” with respect to each International Fund is the earlier of (i) the date upon which all of the required Deposit Securities, the Cash Component and any other cash amounts which may be due are delivered to the Trust or (ii) the latest day for settlement on the customary settlement cycle in the jurisdiction(s) where any of the securities of such International Fund are customarily traded. |
(2) | Except as provided in the next two paragraphs, a Creation Unit of Shares in any International Fund will not be issued until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the portfolio of Deposit Securities and the payment of the Cash Component and the purchase Transaction Fee have been completed. When the Subcustodian confirms to the Custodian that the required securities included in the Fund Deposit (or, when permitted in the sole discretion of the Trust, the cash value thereof) have been delivered to the account of the relevant Subcustodian, the Custodian shall will cause the delivery of the Creation Unit of Shares. |
(3) | The Trust may in its sole discretion permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or for other similar |
51
reasons. If the Trust notifies the Distributor that a “cash in lieu” amount will be accepted, the Distributor will notify the AP and the Transfer Agent and the AP shall deliver, on behalf of itself or the party on whose behalf it is acting, the “cash in lieu” amount, with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust which may include any difference between the actual cost to the Trust to acquire an omitted security and the value of the security had the security been delivered in kind. Additional amounts, if any, shall be included in the calculation of the Cash Component to be received, any excess amounts will be returned to the AP following settlement of the issue of the Creation Unit of Shares. |
(4) | In the event that a Fund Deposit is incomplete on the settlement date for a Creation Unit of Shares because certain or all of the Deposit Securities are missing, the Trust may issue a Creation Unit of Shares notwithstanding such deficiency in reliance on the undertaking of the AP to deliver the missing Deposit Securities as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such the AP’s delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash having a value at least equal to 105% of the value of the missing Deposit Securities. The parties hereto agree that the delivery of such collateral shall be made in accordance with the Cash Collateral Settlement Procedures, which such procedures shall be provided to the AP by the Transfer Agent upon request. The parties hereto further agree that the Trust, acting in good faith, may purchase the missing Deposit Securities at any time and the AP agrees to accept liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Trust of purchasing such securities and the value of the collateral, which may be sold by the Trust at such time, and in such manner, as the Trust may determine in its sole discretion. |
5. CASH PURCHASES.
When, in the sole discretion of the Trust, cash purchases of Creation Units of Shares are available or specified for a Fund, such purchases shall be affected in essentially the same manner as in-kind purchases thereof. In the case of a cash purchase or where the cash equivalent value of one or more Deposit Securities is being deposited in lieu of such Deposit Security, the AP must pay the cash equivalent of the Deposit Securities it would otherwise be required to provide through an in-kind purchase, plus the same Cash Component required to be paid by an in-kind purchaser. In addition, to offset the Trust’s brokerage, transaction, and other costs associated with using the cash to purchase the requisite Deposit Securities, the AP may be required to pay and additional Transaction Fee or adjustment as advised by the Trust which may include any difference between the actual cost to the Trust to acquire the Deposit Securities and the value of the Deposit Securities had the Deposit Securities been delivered. Such Transaction Fees and additional amounts, if any, shall be included in the calculation of the Cash Component to be received. Any excess amounts will be returned to the AP following settlement of the issue of the Creation Unit of Shares.
6. CUSTOM BASKETS.
The Trust has developed procedures for Creations and Redemptions using baskets of Deposit Securities that differ from that published by NSCC as the then-existing portfolio basket for the Fund (a “Custom Basket”), consistent with its exemptive relief1. In order for an AP to deliver or receive a Custom Basket to the Distributor or Transfer Agent and the Trust in connection with a purchase or redemption order rather than the basket of Deposit Securities published by NSCC together with the Cash Amount, any cash in lieu amounts and any other cash fees, the Distributor, the Funds’ investment adviser, or Trust must notify the AP that the Fund would like to effect the purchase or redemption through a Custom Basket and identify the contents of the Custom Basket on or prior to the time the AP calls with its Purchase Order and the AP must agree to deliver the Custom Basket in connection with the purchase. Prior to trade date, the Transfer Agent must notify NSCC of the Deposit Securities in the custom creation basket.
1 | A “custom order”, as defined by the SEC, is any purchase or redemption of Shares made in whole or in part on a cash basis in reliance on clause (e)(i) or (e)(ii) of Section 16 in Exemptive Notice (1940 Act Rel. No. 30910, February 10, 2014). |
52
ANNEX II — PART B
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
TO PLACE A REDEMPTION ORDER FOR
CREATION UNIT(S) OF SHARES OF ONE OR MORE FUNDS
1. PLACING A REDEMPTION ORDER.
The Authorized Participant (“AP”) submitting an order to redeem shall submit such orders containing the information required to the Transfer Agent in the following manner: either: (a) through the BNYM ETF Center Interface electronic order entry system (“BNYM Interface”), as such may be made available and constituted from time to time, the use of which shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the Electronic Services Agreement incorporated herein by reference; or (b) by telephone to the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator followed up with the faxed order form according to the procedures set forth below, incorporated herein by reference. The order so transmitted (either orally and in writing, or electronic form) is hereinafter referred to as the “Submission” or the “Redemption Order” as applicable, and the Business Day on which a Submission is made is hereinafter referred to as the “Transmittal Date”.
NOTE THAT WHEN THE TELEPHONIC METHOD OF SUBMITTING ORDERS IS USED, THE TELEPHONE CALL IN WHICH THE SUBMISSION NUMBER IS ISSUED INITIATES THE ORDER PROCESS BUT DOES NOT ALONE CONSTITUTE THE ORDER. AN ORDER WILL ONLY BE PROCESSED UPON RECEIPT OF THE FAXED ORDER FORM SUBMISSION.
Redemption Orders for Creation Units of Shares may be initiated only on days that the Listing Exchange is open for trading. Redemption Orders may only be made in whole Creation Units of shares of each Fund. To begin a Redemption Order, that is not submitted through the BNYM Interface, the AP must telephone the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator at (000) 000-0000. This telephone call must be made by an Authorized Person of the AP and answered by THE BNYM ETF Order Desk before the closing time of the regular trading session on the Listing Exchange which is ordinarily 4:00p.m. Eastern Standard Time (“Listing Exchange Closing Time or Order Cutoff Time’). Upon verifying the authenticity of the AP (as determined by the use of the appropriate PIN), the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will request that the AP place the Redemption Order. To do so, the AP must provide the appropriate ticker symbols when referring to a Fund. After the AP has placed the Redemption Order, the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will read the Redemption Order back to the AP. The AP then must affirm that the Redemption Order has been taken correctly by the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator. If the AP affirms that the Redemption Order has been taken correctly, the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator will issue a confirmation number to the AP which completes the order. All orders may also be placed by the AP via the BNYM ETF Center Interface by the times described above
Redemption Orders for select funds (T-1 (T minus 1 ) Next Day International Market Orders, are to be placed after the Listing Exchange Closing Time of 4:00 PM and before 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time on any Business Day. For such Funds, the Order Cutoff Time will be 5:30 PM Eastern Standard Time. Such Redemption Orders, if accepted, will receive the next Business Day’s NAV per Creation Unit. The Transfer Agent telephone number for all T-1 orders is (000) 000-0000.
53
PLEASE NOTE: A REDEMPTION ORDER REQUEST IS NOT COMPLETE UNTIL THE CONFIRMATION NUMBER IS ISSUED BY THE BNYM ETF ORDER DESK ADMINISTRATOR. WITH RESPECT TO EACH FUND, AN ORDER FOR FUND SHARES CANNOT BE CANCELED BY THE AP AFTER THE LISTING EXCHANGE CLOSING TIME. INCOMING TELEPHONE CALLS ARE QUEUED AND WILL BE HANDLED IN THE SEQUENCE RECEIVED. ACCORDINGLY, THE AP SHOULD NOT HANG UP AND REDIAL. CALLS THAT ARE IN PROGRESS AT THE CUTOFF TIME ARE VALID AND THE ORDER WILL BE TAKEN. PLEASE NOTE THAT “IN PROGRESS” IS DEFINED AS AN AP ACTUALLY SPEAKING WITH A BNYM ETF ORDER DESK ADMINISTRATOR. CALLS THAT ARE PLACED BEFORE THE CUTOFF TIME THAT ARE IN THE HOLDING QUEUE AND UNANSWERED BY STAFF AT OR AFTER THE CUTOFF TIME, WILL BE VERBALLY DENIED. INCOMING CALLS THAT ARE RECEIVED AFTER THE CUTOFF TIME WILL NOT BE ANSWERED BY THE BNYM ETF ORDER DESK. ALL TELEPHONE CALLS WI LL BE RECORDED.
2. TRANSMISSION OF TRADE CONFIRMATION.
Subject to the condition that a Redemption Order has been completed by the AP not later than the Order Cutoff Time, the Distributor will accept the Redemption Order on behalf of the Trust and will confirm in writing to the AP that its Redemption Order has been accepted within 45 minutes after the designated Order Cutoff Time on the Business Day that the Redemption Order is received (e.g., 4:45 PM ET or 6:15 PM ET, as appropriate). The Distributor signs the approved written Redemption Order (indicating the time of its signature) and sends it to the AP.
3. REJECTING OR SUSPENDING REDEMPTION ORDERS.
The right of redemption may be suspended or the date of payment postponed with respect to a Fund: (i) for any period during which the Listing Exchange is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings); (ii) for any period during which trading on the Listing Exchange is suspended or restricted; (iii) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal of the shares of such Fund or determination of such Fund’s NAV is not reasonably practicable; or (iv) in such other circumstances as permitted by the SEC.
4. TAKING DELIVERY OF DEPOSIT SECURITIES.
The Deposit Securities constituting in-kind redemption proceeds will be delivered to the appropriate account, which must be indicated in the AP’s Standing Redemption Instructions. An Authorized Person of the AP may amend the AP’s Standing Redemption Instructions from time to time by writing to the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator and the Trust in a form approved by the Trust. A redeeming Beneficial Owner or the AP acting on behalf of such Beneficial Owner must maintain an appropriate securities broker-dealer, bank or other custody arrangements to which account such Deposit Securities will be delivered. Redemptions of Shares for Deposit Securities will be subject to compliance with applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws.
54
5. CONTRACTUAL SETTLEMENT.
(a) Through the CNS Clearing Process:
(1) Except as provided below, the Shares of any Domestic Fund must be delivered through the NSCC to a DTC account maintained at the applicable custodian of any Domestic Fund on or before the Domestic Contractual Settlement Date (defined below). The Trust will make available on the Domestic Contractual Settlement Date the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the Redemption Order, less the applicable Transaction Fee. The “Domestic Contractual Settlement Date” is the date upon which all of the required Shares must be delivered to the Trust and, the Deposit Securities, any cash in lieu amounts and Cash Component less any fees are delivered by the Trust to the AP (ordinarily trade date plus two (T+2) Business Days). Except as provided in the next two paragraphs, the Deposit Securities representing Creation Units of Shares and any cash component will be delivered concurrently with the transfer of good title to the Trust of the required number of Shares through the NSCC’s Continuous Net Settlement (CNS) system and the delivery of the Cash Component less the Transaction Fee through CNS.
(a) The use of CNS, a net settlement system, creates a fungible position in the ETF agent’s DTC account, as such there may not be a one to one relationship between the internal and external records until all Deposit Security Transactions are settled at NSCC.
(2) The Trust reserves the right to permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security with respect to a Fund which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or which may not be eligible for transfer through the CNS Clearing Process, or which may not be eligible for transfer through the systems of DTC and hence not eligible for transfer through the CNS Clearing Process (discussed below) and will be at the expense of the Fund and will affect the value of all Shares of such Fund; but the Trust, subject to the approval of the Board, may adjust the Transaction Fee within the parameters described below to protect ongoing shareholders. Any settlement outside the CNS Clearing Process is subject to additional requirements and fees as discussed in the Prospectus.
(3) In the event that the number of Shares is insufficient on the settlement date for Creation Unit(s) of Shares, the Trust may deliver the Deposit Securities notwithstanding such deficiency in reliance on the AP’s undertaking to deliver the missing Shares as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such AP’s delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash having a value at least equal to 105% of the value of the missing Shares. The parties hereto agree that the delivery of such collateral shall be made in accordance with the Cash Collateral Settlement procedures, which such procedures shall be provided to the AP by the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator upon request. The parties hereto further agree that the Trust, acting in good faith, may purchase the missing Shares at any time and the AP agrees to accept liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Trust of purchasing such Shares and the value of the collateral, which may be sold by the Trust at such time, and in such manner, as the Trust may determine in its sole discretion.
(b) Outside the CNS Clearing Process:
(1) Except as provided below, the Shares must be delivered to an account maintained at the Custodian on or before the Business Day immediately following the date on which the NAV of the redemption was calculated. The Trust will also make available on the International Contractual Settlement Date, immediately available or same day funds sufficient to pay the Cash Component next determined after acceptance of the Redemption Order, less the applicable Transaction Fee (as described in the Prospectus). The “International Contractual Settlement Date” of an International Fund is the earlier of (i) the date upon which all of the Deposit Securities are delivered to the AP or (ii) the latest day for settlement on the customary settlement cycle in the jurisdiction(s) where the any of the securities of such International Fund are customarily traded.
55
(2) Deliveries of redemption proceeds by a Fund generally will be made within three (3) Business Days. Due to the schedule of holidays in certain countries, however, the delivery of in-kind Deposit Securities of International Funds may take longer than three Business Days after the day on which the Redemption Order is placed.
(3) Except as provided in the next two paragraphs, the Deposit Securities will not be delivered until the transfer of good title to the Trust of the required Creation Unit(s) of Shares has been completed. When the Custodian confirms that the required Shares or, when permitted in the sole discretion of the Trust, the cash collateral has been received by the account, the Custodian will cause the delivery of the Deposit Securities.
(4) The Trust may in its sole discretion permit or require the substitution of an amount of cash (i.e., a “cash in lieu” amount) to be added to the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security which may not be available in sufficient quantity for delivery or for other similar reasons. If the Trust notifies the Distributor that a “cash in lieu” amount will be delivered, the Distributor will notify the AP and the AP shall receive the “cash in lieu” amount, with any appropriate adjustments as advised by the Trust. The AP may also elect to replace any Deposit Securities with a “cash in lieu” amount to the extent that the AP is not authorized to purchase the particular Deposit Securities from the Fund or is not able to sell the particular Deposit Securities in the secondary market, consistent with restrictions in applicable law or the AP’s internal policies and procedures.
(5) In the event that the number of Shares is insufficient on the settlement date for Creation Unit(s) of Shares (Order Date +1), the Trust may deliver the Deposit Securities notwithstanding such deficiency in reliance on the AP’s undertaking to deliver the missing Shares as soon as possible, which undertaking shall be secured by such AP’s delivery on Order Date +1 and subsequent maintenance of collateral consisting of cash having a value at least equal to 105% of the value of the missing Shares. The parties hereto agree that the delivery of such collateral shall be made in accordance with the Cash Collateral Settlement procedures, which such procedures shall be provided to the AP by the BNYM ETF Order Desk Administrator upon request. The parties hereto further agree that the Trust, acting in good faith, may purchase the missing Shares at any time and the AP agrees to accept liability for any shortfall between the cost to the Trust of purchasing such Shares and the value of the collateral, which may be sold by the Trust at such time, and in such manner, as the Trust may determine in its sole discretion.
6. CASH REDEMPTIONS.
In the event that, in the sole discretion of the Trust, cash redemptions are permitted or required by the Trust, proceeds will be paid to the AP redeeming Shares on behalf of the redeeming investor as soon as practicable after the date of redemption.
7. STANDING REDEMPTION INSTRUCTIONS.
Annex V hereto contains the AP’s Standing Redemption Instructions, which include information identifying the account(s) into which Deposit Securities of each Fund and any other redemption proceeds should be delivered by the Trust pursuant to a Redemption Order.
56
ANNEX II – PART C
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
ALPS DISTRIBUTOR, INC., DISTRIBUTOR
THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON, TRANSFER AGENT
CREATION/REDEMPTION ORDER FORM
COLUMBIA ETF TRUST II
Standard Orders 9 AM-4 PM, T-1 4-5:30(*) PM All Times are Eastern
CONTACT INFORMATION FOR ORDER EXECUTION:
Telephone order number: (000) 000-0000
Facsimile number: (000) 000-0000
Participant must complete all items in Part 1. The Distributor and/or Transfer Agent, in their discretion may reject any order not submitted in complete form.
I. TO BE COMPLETED BY PARTICIPANT:
Order Date: __________ Time: __________ Trade Date: __________ Settlement Date: __________
Your Name: ____________________________ Firm Name: _________________________
NSCC Participant Number: ________________ DTC Participant Number: ______________
Telephone Number: ______________________ Fax Number: ______________________
Type of order: (Check One)
Type of Order (Check one): ❒ CREATION ❒ REDEMPTION
Type of Settlement (Check one):❒ In-kind ❒ Cash
☐ Columbia Beyond BRICs ETF* | BBRC | |
☐ Columbia EM Core ex-China ETF* | XCEM | |
☐ Columbia EM Quality Dividend ETF* | HILO | |
☐ Columbia Emerging Markets Consumer ETF* | ECON | |
☐ Columbia India Consumer ETF* | INCO | |
☐ Columbia India Infrastructure ETF* | INXX | |
☐ Columbia India Small Cap ETF* | SCIN |
If creation/redemption is a custom basket order, indicate the restricted security name, ticker and number of shares to be settled in cash as part of the Cash Component.
Name _________________________________ Symbol _________ Number of Shares_____________
Name __________________________________ Symbol _________ Number of Shares_____________
The Participant represents and warrants that it will not redeem a Creation Unit unless it, or the party for which it is acting, as the case may be, first owns the requisite number of Shares to be redeemed as a Creation Unit. The Authorized Participant represents and warrants that (based upon the number of outstanding Shares of each such Fund made publicly available by the Trust) either (i) it does not, and will not in the future, hold for the account of any single Beneficial Owner of Shares of the relevant Fund, eighty percent (80%) or more of the currently outstanding Shares of such relevant Fund, so as to cause the Fund to have a basis in the portfolio securities deposited with the Fund different from the market value of such portfolio securities on the date of such deposit, pursuant to section 351 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or (ii) it is carrying the Deposit Securities as a dealer and as inventory in connection with its market making activities.
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# of Creation Units (CU) Transacted: Number: _________ Number written out: ________________________
(One CU = 50,000) All Funds
Order #: ______________________________ Authorized Signature ___________________________________
II. TO BE COMPLETED BY DISTRIBUTOR OR TRANSFER AGENT:
This certifies that the above order has been:
☐ Accepted by the Distributor/Transfer Agent ☐ Declined-Reason: ______________________________________
Date___________ Time________(ET) Authorized Signature__________________________________
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ANNEX III – PART A
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
FORM OF LIST OF CERTIFIED AUTHORIZED
PERSONS OF THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT
The following are the names, titles, signatures , phone numbers, and email addresses of all persons (each an “Authorized Person”) authorized to give instructions relating to any activity contemplated by this Authorized Participant Agreement for the Columbia ETF Trust II Funds (the “Agreement”) or any other notice, request or instruction on behalf of the Authorized Participant pursuant to the Agreement.
Authorized Participant:
Name: |
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Title: |
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Signature: |
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Phone: |
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Email: |
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Email: |
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Name: |
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Title: |
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Signature: |
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Signature: |
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Phone: |
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Email: |
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Email: |
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Name: |
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Title: |
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Signature: |
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Email: |
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Date: |
Certified By: _________________ | ||||||
Name: ______________________ | ||||||
Title: ______________________ | ||||||
DTC Participant Number:________________ |
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ANNEX III- PART B
TO AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
[On AP’s Firm Letterhead]
[DATE]
The Bank of New York Mellon
ALPS DISTRIBUTORS, Inc.
Attn: ETF Services
[___________]
New York, NY [_____]
Re: | Addendum to the Certificate of Authorized Persons for [Name of AP] under the Authorized Participant Agreement for the Columbia ETF Trust II Funds (the “Agreement”) |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Pursuant to the Agreement, following are the names, titles, signatures, phone numbers, and email addresses of additional Authorized Persons (as defined in the Agreement) of [Name of AP] (the “AP”) authorized to give instructions relating to any activity contemplated by the Agreement or any other notice, request or instruction on behalf of the AP pursuant to the Agreement. This list of Authorized Persons is an addendum and adds Authorized Persons to the AP’s most recently executed certificate (entitled “Certified Authorized Persons of the Authorized Participant, Columbia ETF Trust II Funds”) preceding the date set forth above.
Name: | Name: | |||||||||||
Title: |
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Title: |
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Signature: | Signature: | |||||||||||
Phone: | Phone: | |||||||||||
Email: | Email: | |||||||||||
Name : | Name : | |||||||||||
Title: | Title: | |||||||||||
Signature: | Signature: | |||||||||||
Phone: | Phone: | |||||||||||
Email: | Email: |
Please provide PINs for such Authorized Persons who are not already established in the ETF Administrator’s system.
Very truly yours, | ||
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ANNEX IV
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
INTERNATIONAL FUND SUBCUSTODIAN ACCOUNTS FOR
DELIVERY OF DEPOSIT SECURITIES
The Subcustodian accounts into which an AP should deposit the securities constituting the Deposit Securities of each International Fund of Columbia ETF Trust II are set forth below:
__________________
[Name of Fund]
Account Name: __________________
Account Number: __________________
Other Reference Number: __________________
__________________
[Name of Fund]
Account Name: __________________
Account Number: __________________
Other Reference Number: __________________
__________________
[Name of Fund]
Account Name: __________________
Account Number: __________________
Other Reference Number: __________________
__________________
[Name of Fund]
Account Name: __________________
Account Number: __________________
Other Reference Number: __________________
__________________
[Name of Fund]
Account Name: __________________
Account Number: __________________
Other Reference Number: __________________
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ANNEX V
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
THE AP ACCOUNTS
FOR DELIVERY OF DEPOSIT SECURITIES
The accounts into which the Columbia ETF Trust II Funds should deposit the securities constituting the Deposit Securities of each Fund upon redemption by the AP are set forth below:
Name of AP: |
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Account Name: |
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Account Number: |
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Other Reference Number: |
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ANNEX VI
TO
AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT
ORDER ENTRY SYSTEM TERMS AND CONDITIONS
This Annex shall govern use by an Authorized Participant of the electronic order entry system for placing Purchase Orders and Redemption Orders for Shares (the “System”). Capitalized terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings ascribed to such terms in the Authorized Participant Agreement (the “AP Agreement”). In the event of any conflict between the terms of this Annex VI and the main body of the AP Agreement with respect to the placing of Purchase Orders and Redemption Orders, the terms of this Annex VI shall control.
1. (a) Authorized Participant shall provide to the Transfer Agent a duly executed authorization letter, in a form satisfactory to Transfer Agent, identifying those Authorized Persons who will access the System. Authorized Participant shall notify the Transfer Agent promptly in writing, including, but not limited to, by electronic mail, in the event that any person’s status as an Authorized Person is revoked or terminated, in order to give the Transfer Agent a reasonable opportunity to terminate such Authorized Person’s access to the System. The Transfer Agent shall promptly revoke access of such Authorized Person to the electronic entry systems through which Purchase Orders and Redemption are submitted by such person on behalf of the Authorized Participant.
(b) It is understood and agreed that each Authorized Person shall be designated as an authorized user of Authorized Participant for the purpose of the AP Agreement. Upon termination of the AP Agreement, the Authorized Participant ’s and each Authorized Person’s access rights with respect to System shall be immediately revoked.
2. Transfer Agent grants to Authorized Participant a personal, nontransferable and nonexclusive license to use the System solely for the purpose of transmitting Purchase Orders and Redemption Orders and otherwise communicating with Transfer Agent in connection with the same. Authorized Participant shall use the System solely for its own internal and proper business purposes. Except as set forth herein, no license or right of any kind is granted to Authorized Participant with respect to the System. Authorized Participant acknowledges that Transfer Agent and its suppliers retain and have title and exclusive proprietary rights to the System. Authorized Participant further acknowledges that all or a part of the System may be copyrighted or trademarked (or a registration or claim made therefor) by Transfer Agent or its suppliers. Authorized Participant shall not take any action with respect to the System inconsistent with the foregoing acknowledgments. Authorized Participant may not copy, distribute, sell, lease or provide, directly or indirectly, the System or any portion thereof to any other person or entity without Transfer Agent’s prior written consent. Authorized Participant may not remove any statutory copyright notice or other notice included in the System. Authorized Participant shall reproduce any such notice on any reproduction of any portion of the System and shall add any statutory copyright notice or other notice upon Transfer Agent’s request.
3. (a) Authorized Participant acknowledges that any user manuals or other documentation (whether in hard copy or electronic form) (collectively, the “Material”), which is delivered or made available to Authorized Participant regarding the System is the exclusive and confidential property of Transfer Agent. Authorized Participant shall keep the Material confidential by using the same care and discretion that Authorized Participant uses with respect to its own confidential property and trade secrets, but in no event less than reasonable care. Authorized Participant may make such copies of the Material as is reasonably necessary for Authorized Participant to use the System and shall reproduce Transfer Agent’s
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proprietary markings on any such copy. The foregoing shall not in any way be deemed to affect the copyright status of any of the Material which may be copyrighted and shall apply to all Material whether or not copyrighted. TRANSFER AGENT AND ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, CONCERNING THE MATERIAL OR ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
(b) Upon termination of the Agreement for any reason, Authorized Participant shall return to Transfer Agent all copies of the Material which is in Authorized Participant ’s possession or under its control.
4. Authorized Participant agrees that it shall have sole responsibility for maintaining adequate security and control of the user IDs, passwords and codes for access to the System, which shall not be disclosed to any third party without the prior written consent of Transfer Agent. Transfer Agent shall be entitled to rely on the information received by it from the Authorized Participant and Transfer Agent may assume that all such information was transmitted by or on behalf of an Authorized Person regardless of by whom it was actually transmitted, unless the Authorized Participant shall have notified the Transfer Agent a reasonable time prior that such person is not an Authorized Person.
5. Transfer Agent shall have no liability in connection with the use of the System, the access granted to the Authorized Participant and its Authorized Persons hereunder, or any transaction effected or attempted to be effected by the Authorized Participant hereunder, except for damages incurred by the Authorized Participant as a direct result of Transfer Agent’s negligence or willful misconduct. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, IT IS HEREBY AGREED THAT IN NO EVENT SHALL TRANSFER AGENT OR ANY MANUFACTURER OR SUPPLIER OF EQUIPMENT, SOFTWARE OR SERVICES BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INDIRECT, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHICH THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT MAY INCUR OR EXPERIENCE BY REASON OF ITS HAVING ENTERED INTO OR RELIED ON THIS AGREEMENT, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE ACCESS GRANTED TO THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT HEREUNDER, OR ANY TRANSACTION EFFECTED OR ATTEMPTED TO BE EFFECTED BY THE AUTHORIZED PARTICIPANT HEREUNDER, EVEN IF TRANSFER AGENT OR SUCH MANUFACTURER OR SUPPLIER HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, NOR SHALL TRANSFER AGENT OR ANY SUCH MANUFACTURER OR SUPPLIER BE LIABLE FOR ACTS OF GOD, MACHINE OR COMPUTER BREAKDOWN OR MALFUNCTION, INTERRUPTION OR MALFUNCTION OF COMMUNICATION FACILITIES, LABOR DIFFICULTIES OR ANY OTHER SIMILAR OR DISSIMILAR CAUSE BEYOND SUCH PERSON’S REASONABLE CONTROL.
6. Transfer Agent reserves the right to revoke Authorized Participant ’s access to the System, with written notice, upon any breach by the Authorized Participant of the terms and conditions of this Annex VI.
7. Transfer Agent shall acknowledge through the System its receipt of each Purchase Order or Redemption Order communicated through the System, and in the absence of such acknowledgment Transfer Agent shall not be liable for any failure to act in accordance with such orders and Authorized Participant may not claim that such Purchase Order or Redemption Order was received by Transfer Agent. Transfer Agent may in its discretion decline to act upon any instructions or communications that are insufficient or incomplete or are not received by Transfer Agent in sufficient time for Transfer Agent to act upon, or in accordance with such instructions or communications.
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8. Authorized Participant agrees to use reasonable efforts consistent with its own procedures used in the ordinary course of business to prevent the transmission through the System of any software or file which contains any viruses, worms, harmful component or corrupted data and agrees not to use any device, software, or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Systems.
9. Authorized Participant acknowledges and agrees that encryption may not be available for every communication through the System, or for all data. Authorized Participant agrees that Transfer Agent may deactivate any encryption features at any time, without notice or liability to Authorized Participant, for the purpose of maintaining, repairing or troubleshooting its systems.
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