Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Under the Oregon Business Corporation Act (Oregon Revised Statutes Sections 60.387 to 60.414), applicable to the Corporation, a person who is made a party to a proceeding because such person is or was an officer or director of a corporation may be indemnified by the corporation against liability incurred by such person in connection with the proceeding if (i) the person’s conduct was in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed was in the corporation’s best interest or at least not opposed to its best interests and (ii) if the proceeding was a criminal proceeding, the person had no reasonable cause to believe his or her conduct was unlawful. Indemnification is not permitted if the person was adjudged liable to the corporation in a proceeding by or in the right of the corporation, or if the person was adjudged liable on the basis that he or she improperly received a personal benefit. Unless the articles of incorporation of the corporation provide otherwise, such indemnification is mandatory if the person is wholly successful on the merits or otherwise, or if ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction.
The Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation grant an indemnification right to any person who was or is a party to or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative, (including all appeals) (other than an action by or in the right of the Corporation discussed below) by reason of or arising from the fact that the person is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or one of its subsidiaries, or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, partner, or trustee of another foreign or domestic corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, against reasonable expenses (including attorney’s fees), judgments, fines, penalties, excise taxes assessed with respect to any employee benefit plan and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the person to be indemnified in connection with such action, suit or proceeding if the person acted in good faith, did not engage in intentional misconduct, and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, did not know the conduct was unlawful. The termination of any action, suit or proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent, shall not, of itself, create a presumption that the person did not act in good faith or, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, that the person knew that the conduct was unlawful.
The Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation also grant an indemnification right to any person who was or is a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit (including all appeals) by or in the right of the Corporation to procure a judgment in its favor by reason of or arising from the fact that the person is or was a director or officer of the Corporation or one of its subsidiaries, or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, partner, or trustee of another foreign or domestic corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, against reasonable expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually incurred by the person to be indemnified in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit if the person acted in good faith, provided, however, that no indemnification shall be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person shall have been adjudged to be liable for deliberate misconduct in the performance of that person’s duty to the Corporation, for any transaction in which the person received an improper personal benefit, for any breach of the duty of loyalty to the Corporation, or for any distribution to shareholders which is unlawful under the Oregon Business Corporation Act, or successor statute, unless and only to the extent that the court in which such action or suit was brought shall determine upon application that, despite the adjudication of liability but in view of all the circumstances of the case, such person is fairly and reasonably entitled to indemnity for such expenses which the court shall deem proper.
To the extent a director or officer (or an employee if the Board of Directors votes to extend an indemnification right to such person) is successful on the merits or otherwise in defense of any action, suit or proceeding referred to above, or in defense of any claim, issue or matter therein, that person shall be indemnified against expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by him or her in connection therewith. The Corporation may advance expenses prior to the final disposition of such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such
person to repay such expenses if it shall ultimately be determined that the person is not entitled to be indemnified by the Corporation and a written affirmation of the person’s good faith belief that he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct. The undertaking must be a general personal obligation of the party receiving the advances but need not be secured and may be accepted without reference to financial ability to make repayment.
The Oregon Business Corporation Act also provides that a corporation’s articles of incorporation may limit or eliminate the personal liability of a director to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for conduct as a director, provided that no such provision shall eliminate the liability of a director for (i) any breach of the directors’ duty of loyalty to the corporation or its shareholders; (ii) acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of law; (iii) any unlawful distribution; or (iv) any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit. The Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation provide that, to the fullest extent permissible by law, no director shall be personally liable to the Corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages.
The effect of these provisions is to limit the liability of directors for monetary damages, and to indemnify our directors and officers for all costs and expenses for liability incurred by them in connection with any action, suit or proceeding in which they may become involved by reason of their affiliation with us, to the fullest extent permitted by law. The Corporation maintains directors’ and officers’ liability insurance under which the Corporation’s directors and officers are insured against claims for errors, neglect, breach of duty and other matters.
Item 9. Undertakings
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 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.
(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, 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.
The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act of 1933, each filing of the registrant's annual report pursuant to section 13(a) or section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) that is incorporated by reference in the 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.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers or controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, 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 payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of such 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.