Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 102(b)(7) of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the “DGCL”), allows a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation that a director of the corporation will not be personally liable to the corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty as a director, except where the director breached the duty of loyalty, failed to act in good faith, engaged in intentional misconduct or knowingly violated a law, authorized the payment of a dividend or approved a stock repurchase in violation of Delaware corporate law or obtained an improper personal benefit. The Company’s amended and restated certificate of incorporation (the “Certificate of Incorporation”), provides for this limitation of liability.
Section 145 of the DGCL, or Section 145, provides that a Delaware corporation may indemnify any person who was or is a party, or is threatened to be made a party, to any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by or in the right of such corporation), by reason of the fact that such person is or was an officer, director, employee or agent of such corporation or is or was serving at the request of such corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with such action, suit or proceeding, provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests and, with respect to any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was illegal. A Delaware corporation may indemnify any persons who were or are a party to any threatened, pending or completed action or suit by or in the right of the corporation by reason of the fact that such person is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise. The indemnity may include expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with the defense or settlement of such action or suit, provided such person acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in or not opposed to the corporation’s best interests, provided that no indemnification is permitted without judicial approval if the officer, director, employee or agent is adjudged to be liable to the corporation. Where an officer or director is successful on the merits or otherwise in the defense of any action referred to above, the corporation must indemnify him or her against the expenses which such officer or director has actually and reasonably incurred.
Section 145 further authorizes a corporation to purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was a director, officer, employee or agent of the corporation or is or was serving at the request of the corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or enterprise, against any liability asserted against him or her and incurred by him or her in any such capacity, or arising out of his or her status as such, whether or not the corporation would otherwise have the power to indemnify him under Section 145.
The Company’s Certificate of Incorporation provides that the liability of directors for monetary damages shall be eliminated to the fullest extent under applicable law. The Company’s bylaws (the “Bylaws”), state that the Company shall indemnify every present or former director, officer, employee, or agent of the Company or person who is or was serving at the Company’s request as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise (each an “Indemnitee”).
The Company’s Bylaws provide that the Company shall indemnify an Indemnitee against all expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by the Indemnitee in connection with any action, suit or proceeding in which the Indemnitee was or is a party, or is threatened to be made a party, by reason of his or her serving or having served, if it is determined that the Indemnitee (a) acted in good faith, (b) reasonably believed that such action was in, or not opposed to, the Company’s best interests and (c) in the case of any criminal action or proceeding, had no reasonable cause to believe that his or her conduct was unlawful. In respect of any action, suit or proceeding by or in the right of the Company, no indemnification will be made in respect of any claim, issue or matter as to which such person has been adjudged to be liable to the Company unless and only to the extent that the Delaware Court of Chancery or the court in which such action or suit was brought determines 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 indemnification for such expenses which the Delaware Court of Chancery or such other court deems proper. 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 Indemnitee did not meet the requirements set forth in clauses (a) through (c) above.
Expenses (including attorneys’ fees) actually and reasonably incurred by any present or former director or officer of the Company in defending any civil, criminal, administrative, or investigative action, suit, or proceeding, with respect to which indemnification may be provided shall be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such action, suit, or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of such person to repay such amount if it shall ultimately be determined that such person is not entitled to indemnification. Such expenses (including attorneys’ fees) incurred by an Indemnitee may be so paid upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the Board of Directors deems appropriate, consistent with its obligation to promptly pay all such expenses actually and reasonably incurred;
provided
,
however
, that except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Company shall not be obligated to indemnify, or advance expenses to, any person in connection with (a) a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person unless such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Company’s Board of Directors, (b) proceedings or claims involving the enforcement of any employment, severance, lock-up, non-competition, compensation, or other plan or agreement with or of the Company or any of its affiliates to which such person may be a party, or of which such person may be a beneficiary, or (c) any proceeding with respect to which final judgment is rendered against such person for payment or an accounting of profits arising from the purchase or sale by such person of securities in violation of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act, any similar successor statute, or similar provisions of state statutory law or common law.
Additionally, as permitted by the DGCL, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with each of its directors that require the Company to indemnify such persons against various actions including, but not limited to, third-party actions where such director, by reason of his or her corporate status, is a party or is threatened to be made a party to an action, or by reason of anything done or not done by such director in any such capacity.
Other than discussed above, neither the Company’s Bylaws nor its Certificate of Incorporation includes any specific indemnification provisions for the Company’s officers or directors against liability under the Securities Act. The Company has also purchased insurance providing for indemnification of its directors and officers. Additionally, insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Company pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Company has been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable.
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 this registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in the 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 a prospectus filed with the SEC pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 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 subparagraphs (i) and (ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those subparagraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the SEC by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement.
(b) 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.
(c) 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.
(d) 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 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.
(e) 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 SEC such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the 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.