Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers
Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law (the “DGCL”) provides that a Delaware corporation may indemnify directors, officers, employees and agents against expenses (including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such person in connection with any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding in which such person is made a party by reason of such person being or having been a director, officer, employee or agent to the corporation, provided that 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 unlawful. The DGCL provides that Section 145 is not exclusive of other rights to which those seeking indemnification may be entitled under any bylaw, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors or otherwise.
Section 102(b)(7) of the DGCL permits a corporation to provide in its certificate of incorporation or an amendment thereto, to eliminate or limit the personal liability of a director or officer to the corporation and its stockholders for monetary damages arising out of certain breaches of fiduciary duty.
The Registrant’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides for the elimination of a director’s liability to the Registrant and its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty, except for liability (i) for any breach of the director’s duty of loyalty to the Registrant or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a knowing violation of the law, (iii) under Section 174 of the DGCL, or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.
The Registrant’s Amended and Restated Bylaws (the “Bylaws”) generally provide that the Registrant shall indemnify each of its directors and executive officers to the fullest extent not prohibited by the DGCL and may indemnify certain other persons as set forth in the DGCL.
The Registrant also maintains officer and director insurance coverage against certain liabilities for actions taken in their capacities as such, including liabilities under the Securities Act. In addition, each executive officer and director is a party to a written agreement which states that the Registrant agrees to hold each of them harmless against any and all judgments, fines, settlements and expenses related to claims against such person by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director, executive officer, employee or other agent of the Registrant, and otherwise to the fullest extent authorized or permitted by the Registrant’s Bylaws and under the non-exclusivity provisions of the DGCL.
Item 9. Undertakings
1.The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(a)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 this 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; and
(iii)To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this Registration Statement or any material change to such information in this Registration Statement.
Provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(i) and (a)(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 into 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.
2.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 into 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.
3.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 summarized in Item 6, 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.