DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
SHORT TERM INCOME FUND, INC.
the "Fund"
Money Market Portfolio
U.S. Government Portfolio
the "Portfolios"
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
________________, 1996
Xxxxx & Xxxx Distributors L.P.
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
Ladies and Gentlemen:
1. In consideration of the agreements on your part herein contained and of
the payment by us to you of a fee of $1 per year and on the terms and conditions
set forth herein, on behalf of our Portfolios, we have agreed that you shall be,
for the period of this agreement, a distributor, as our agent, for the unsold
portion of such number of shares of our common stock Portfolios $.001 par value
per share, as may be effectively registered from time to time under the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"). This agreement is being
entered into pursuant to the Distribution and Service Plan (the "Plan") adopted
by us in accordance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as
amended (the "1940 Act").
2. We hereby agree that you will act as our agent, and hereby appoint you
our agent, to offer, and to solicit offers to subscribe to, the unsold balance
of shares of our common stock as shall then be effectively registered under the
Act. All subscriptions for shares of the Portfolio's common stock obtained by
you shall be directed to us for acceptance and shall not be binding on us until
accepted by us. You shall have no authority to make binding subscriptions on our
behalf. We reserve the right to sell shares of our common stock through other
distributors or directly to investors through subscriptions received by us at
our principal office in New York, New York. The right given to you under this
agreement shall not apply to shares of our common stock issued in connection
with (a) the merger or consolidation of any other investment company with us,
(b) our acquisition by purchase or otherwise of all or substantially all of the
assets or stock of any other investment
company, or (c) the reinvestment in shares of our common stock by our
stockholders of dividends or other distributions or any other offering by us of
securities to our stockholders.
3. You will use your best efforts to obtain subscriptions to shares of our
common stock upon the terms and conditions contained herein and in our
Prospectus, as in effect from time to time. You will send to us promptly all
subscriptions placed with you. We shall furnish you from time to time, for use
in connection with the offering of shares of our common stock, such other
information with respect to us and shares of our common stock as you may
reasonably request. We shall supply you with such copies of our Registration
Statement and Prospectus, as in effect from time to time, as you may request.
Except as we may authorize in writing, you are not authorized to give any
information or to make any representation that is not contained in the
Registration Statement or Prospectus, as then in effect. You may use employees,
agents and other persons, at your cost and expense, to assist you in carrying
out your obligations hereunder, but no such employee, agent or other person
shall be deemed to be our agent or have any rights under this agreement. You may
sell our shares to or through qualified brokers, dealers and financial
institutions under selling and servicing agreements provided that no dealer,
financial institution or other person shall be appointed or authorized to act as
our agent without our written consent.
With respect to the Class A Shares of our Portfolios, you will arrange for
organizations whose customers or clients are shareholders of our corporation
("Participating Organizations") to enter into agreements with you for the
performance of shareholder servicing and related administrative functions not
performed by you or the Transfer Agent. Pursuant to our Shareholder Servicing
Agreement with you with respect to our Class A Shares, you may make payments to
Participating Organizations for performing shareholder servicing and related
administrative functions with respect to our Class A Shares. Such payments will
be made only pursuant to written agreements approved in form and substance by
our Board of Directors to be entered into by you and the Participating
Organizations. It is recognized that we shall have no obligation or liability to
you or any Participating Organization for any such payments under the agreements
with Participating Organizations. Our obligation is solely to make payments to
you under the Shareholder Servicing Agreement (with respect to the Class A
Shares) and to the Manager under the Investment Management Contract and the
Administrative Services Contract. All sales of our shares effected through you
will be made in compliance with all applicable federal securities laws and
regulations and the Constitution, rules and regulations of the National
Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. ("NASD").
4. We reserve the right to suspend the offering of shares of our common
stock at any time, in the absolute discretion of our Board of Directors, and
upon notice of such suspension you shall cease to offer shares of our common
stock hereunder.
5. Both of us will cooperate with each other in taking such action as may
be necessary to qualify shares of our common stock for sale under the securities
laws of such states as we may designate, provided, that you shall not be
required to register as a broker-dealer or file a consent to service of process
in any such state where you are not now so registered. Pursuant to the
Investment Management Contract in effect between us and the Manager, we will pay
all fees and expenses of registering shares of our common stock under the Act
and of qualification of shares of our common stock, and to the extent necessary,
our qualification under applicable state securities laws. You will pay all
expenses relating to your broker-dealer qualification.
6. We represent to you that our Registration Statement and Prospectus have
been carefully prepared to date in conformity with the requirements of the 1933
Act and the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations of the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the "SEC") thereunder. We represent and warrant to you, as
of the date hereof, that our Registration Statement and Prospectus contain all
statements required to be stated therein in accordance with the 1933 Act and the
1940 Act and the SEC's rules and regulations thereunder; that all statements of
fact contained therein are or will be true and correct at the time indicated or
the effective date as the case may be; and that neither our Registration
Statement nor our Prospectus, when they shall become effective or be authorized
for use, will include 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 to a purchaser of shares of our common stock. We will
from time to time file such amendment or amendments to our Registration
Statement and Prospectus as, in the light of future development, shall, in the
opinion of our counsel, be necessary in order to have our Registration Statement
and Prospectus at all times contain all material facts required to be stated
therein or necessary to make any statements therein not misleading to a
purchaser of shares of our common stock. If we shall not file such amendment or
amendments within fifteen days after our receipt of a written request from you
to do so, you may, at your option, terminate this agreement immediately. We will
not file any amendment to our Registration Statement or Prospectus without
giving you reasonable notice thereof in advance; provided, however, that nothing
in this agreement shall in any way limit our right to file such amendments to
our Registration Statement or Prospectus, of whatever character, as we may deem
advisable, such right being in all respects absolute
and unconditional. We represent and warrant to you that any amendment to our
Registration Statement or Prospectus hereafter filed by us will be carefully
prepared in conformity within the requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act
and the SEC's rules and regulations thereunder and will, when it becomes
effective, contain all statements required to be stated therein in accordance
with the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act and the SEC's rules and regulations
thereunder; that all statements of fact contained therein will, when the same
shall become effective, be true and correct; and that no such amendment, when it
becomes effective, will include 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 to a purchaser of our shares.
7. We agree to indemnify, defend and hold you, and any person who controls
you within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act, free and harmless from and
against any and all claims, liabilities and expenses (including the cost of
investigating or defending such claims, demands or liabilities and any counsel
fees incurred in connection therewith) which you or any such controlling person
may incur, under the 1933 Act or the 1940 Act, or under common law or otherwise,
arising out of or based upon any alleged untrue statement of a material fact
contained in our Registration Statement or Prospectus in effect from time to
time or arising out of or based upon any alleged omission to state a material
fact required to be stated in either of them or necessary to make the statements
in either of them not misleading; provided, however, that in no event shall
anything herein contained be so construed as to protect you against any
liability to us or our security holders to which you would otherwise be subject
by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith, or gross negligence in the
performance of your duties, or by reason of your reckless disregard of your
obligations and duties under this agreement. Our agreement to indemnify you and
any such controlling person is expressly conditioned upon our being notified of
any action brought against you or any such controlling person, such notification
to be given by letter or by telegram addressed to us at our principal office in
New York, New York, and sent to us by the person against whom such action is
brought within ten days after the summons or other first legal process shall
have been served. The failure so to notify us of any such action shall not
relieve us from any liability which we may have to the person against whom such
action is brought other than on account of our indemnity agreement contained in
this paragraph 7. We will be entitled to assume the defense of any suit brought
to enforce any such claim, and to retain counsel of good standing chosen by us
and approved by you. In the event we do elect to assume the defense of any such
suit and retain counsel of good standing approved by you, the defendant or
defendants in such suit shall bear the fees and expenses of any additional
counsel retained by any of them; but in case we do not
elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case you, in good faith, do
not approve of counsel chosen by us, we will reimburse you or the controlling
person or persons named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for the fees
and expenses of any counsel retained by you or them. Our indemnification
agreement contained in this paragraph 7 and our representations and warranties
in this agreement shall remain in full force and effect regardless of any
investigation made by or on behalf of you or any controlling person and shall
survive the sale of any shares of our common stock made pursuant to
subscriptions obtained by you. This agreement of indemnity will inure
exclusively to your benefit, to the benefit of your successors and assigns, and
to the benefit of any of your controlling persons and their successors and
assigns. We agree promptly to notify you of the commencement of any litigation
or proceeding against us in connection with the issue and sale of any shares of
our common stock.
8. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold us, our several officers and
directors, and any person who controls us within the meaning of Section 15 of
the 1933 Act, free and harmless from and against any and all claims, demands,
liabilities, and expenses (including the cost of investigating or defending such
claims, demands or liabilities and any reasonable counsel fees incurred in
connection therewith) which we, our officers or directors, or any such
controlling person may incur under the 1933 Act or under common law or
otherwise, but only to the extent that such liability or expense incurred by us,
our officers or directors or such controlling person shall arise out of or be
based upon any alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in
information furnished in writing by you to us for use in our Registration
Statement or Prospectus as in effect from time to time, or shall arise out of or
be based upon any alleged omission to state a material fact in connection with
such information required to be stated in the Registration Statement or
Prospectus or necessary to make such information not misleading. Your agreement
to indemnify us, our officers and directors, and any such controlling person is
expressly conditioned upon your being notified of any action brought against us,
our officers or directors or any such controlling person, such notification to
be given by letter or telegram addressed to you at your principal office in New
York, New York, and sent to you by the person against whom such action is
brought, within ten days after the summons or other first legal process shall
have been served. You shall have a right to control the defense of such action,
with counsel of your own choosing, satisfactory to us, if such action is based
solely upon such alleged misstatement or omission on your part, and in any other
event you and we, our officers or directors or such controlling person shall
each have the right to participate in the defense or preparation of the defense
of any such action. The failure so to notify you of any such action shall not
relieve
you from any liability which you may have to us, to our officers or directors,
or to such controlling person other than on account of your indemnity agreement
contained in this paragraph 8.
9. We agree to advise you immediately:
a. of any request by the SEC for amendments to our Registration Statement
or Prospectus or for additional information,
b. of the issuance by the SEC of any stop order suspending the
effectiveness of our Registration Statement or Prospectus or the initiation
of any proceedings for that purpose,
c. of the happening of any material event which makes untrue any statement
made in our Registration Statement or Prospectus or which requires the
making of a change in either of them in order to make the statements
therein not misleading, and
d. of all action of the SEC with respect to any amendments to our
Registration Statement or Prospectus.
10. This agreement will become effective on the date hereof and will remain
in effect thereafter for successive twelve-month periods (computed from each
____________), provided that such continuation is specifically approved at least
annually by vote of our Board of Directors and of a majority of those of our
directors who are not interested persons (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) and have
no direct or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any
agreements related to the Plan, cast in person at a meeting called for the
purpose of voting on this agreement. This agreement may be terminated at any
time, without the payment of any penalty, (i) by vote of a majority of our
entire Board of Directors, and by a vote of a majority of our Directors who are
not interested persons (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) and who have no direct or
indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any agreement
related to the Plan, or (ii) by vote of a majority of our outstanding voting
securities, as defined in the Act, on sixty days' written notice to you, or by
you on sixty days' written notice to us.
11. This Agreement may not be transferred, assigned, sold or in any manner
hypothecated or pledged by you and this Agreement shall terminate automatically
in the event of any such transfer, assignment, sale, hypothecation or pledge by
you. The terms "transfer", "assignment" and "sale" as used in this paragraph
shall have the meanings ascribed thereto by governing law and in applicable
rules or regulations of the SEC thereunder.
12. Except to the extent necessary to perform your obligations hereunder,
nothing herein shall be deemed to limit or
restrict your right, the right of any of your employees or the right of any
officers or directors of Xxxxx & Xxxx Asset Management, Inc., your general
partner, who may also be a director, officer or employee of ours, or of a person
affiliated with us, as defined in the 1940 Act, to engage in any other business
or to devote time and attention to the management or other aspects of any other
business, whether of a similar or dissimilar nature, or to render services of
any kind to another corporation, firm, individual or association.
If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding, will you kindly
so indicate by signing and returning to us the enclosed copy hereof.
Very truly yours,
SHORT TERM INCOME FUND, INC.
Money Market Portfolio
U.S. Government Portfolio
By
Accepted: __________________, 1996
XXXXX & TANG DISTRIBUTORS L.P.
By: XXXXX & XXXX ASSET MANAGEMENT, INC.,
as General Partner
By: ___________________________________
