Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation contains provisions that eliminate, to the maximum extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, the personal liability of the Registrant’s directors and executive officers for monetary damages for breach of their fiduciary duties as directors or officers. The Registrant’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that the Registrant must indemnify its directors and executive officers and may indemnify its employees and other agents to the fullest extent permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.
Section 145 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (“DGCL”) provides that a corporation may indemnify any person made a party to an action by reason of the fact that he or she was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of a corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another entity, against expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection with such action if he or she acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in, or not opposed to, the best interests of the corporation and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful, except that, in the case of an action by or in right of the corporation, no indemnification may generally be made in respect of any claim as to which such person is adjudged to be liable to the corporation.
Section 145 also provides that any indemnification under Section 145 (unless ordered by a court) shall be made by the corporation only as authorized in the specific case upon a determination that indemnification of the present or former director, officer, employee or agent is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in Section 145. Such determination shall be made, with respect to a person who is a director or officer of the corporation at the time of such determination, (1) by majority vote of the directors who are not parties to such action, suit or proceeding, even though less than a quorum; (2) by a committee of such directors designated by the majority vote of such directors, even though less than a quorum; (3) if there are no such directors, or if such directors so direct, by independent legal counsel in a written opinion; or (4) by the stockholders.
Section 145 of the DGCL further provides that to the extent a present or former director or officer of a corporation has been successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referenced in Section 145, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, he or she shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) he or she actually and reasonably incurred in connection therewith and that such expenses may be paid by the corporation in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such director or officer to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified by the corporation as authorized in Section 145 of the DGCL. Section 145 also provides that indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, Section 145 shall not be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which the indemnified party may be entitled and that indemnification provided by, or granted pursuant to, Section 145 shall, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of such person’s heirs, executors and administrators.
Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL provides that a certificate of incorporation may contain a provision eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, provided that such provision shall not eliminate or limit the liability of a director (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) under Section 174 of the DGCL, or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.
The Registrant has entered into indemnification agreements with its directors and executive officers in addition to the indemnification provided for in its amended and restated certificate of incorporation and bylaws and intends to enter into indemnification agreements with any new directors and executive officers in the future.
The Registrant has purchased and intends to maintain insurance on behalf of each and any person who is or was a director or officer of the Registrant against any loss arising from any claim asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her in any such capacity, subject to certain exclusions.
See also the undertakings set out in response to Item 9 herein.
Item 9. Undertakings.
A. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:
(i) to include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;
(ii) to reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and
(iii) to include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement.
Provided, however, that paragraphs (A)(1)(i) and (A)(1)(ii) above do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
B. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.