regulations of any stock exchange on which the Company’s securities may then be listed, and the Company has obtained the approval or favorable ruling from any governmental agency which the Company determines is necessary or advisable. The Company shall not be liable to a Participant or other persons as to: (a) the non-issuance or sale of Shares as to which the Company has not obtained from any regulatory body having jurisdiction the authority deemed by the Company’s counsel to be necessary to the lawful issuance and sale of any Shares under the Plan; and (b) any tax consequences expected, but not realized, by any Participant or other person due to the receipt, exercise or settlement of any Award granted under the Plan.
SECTION 15 WITHHOLDING TAXES.
(a) Withholding Taxes. To the extent required by applicable federal, state, local or foreign law, a Participant or his or her successor shall make arrangements satisfactory to the Company for the satisfaction of any withholding tax obligations that arise in connection with the Plan. The Company shall not be required to issue any Shares or make any cash payment under the Plan until such obligations are satisfied.
(b) Share Withholding. The Committee may permit a Participant to satisfy all or part of his or her withholding or income tax obligations by having the Company withhold all or a portion of any Shares that otherwise would be issued to him or her or by surrendering all or a portion of any Shares that he or she previously acquired. Such Shares shall be valued at their Fair Market Value on the date when taxes otherwise would be withheld in cash. In no event may a Participant have Shares withheld that would otherwise be issued to him or her in excess of the number necessary to satisfy the maximum legally required tax withholding.
SECTION 16 OTHER PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO AWARDS.
(a) Transferability. Unless the agreement evidencing an Award (or an amendment thereto authorized by the Committee) expressly provides otherwise, no Award granted under this Plan, nor any interest in such Award, may be sold, assigned, conveyed, gifted, pledged, hypothecated or otherwise transferred in any manner (prior to the vesting and lapse of any and all restrictions applicable to Shares issued under such Award), other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution; provided, however, that an ISO may be transferred or assigned only to the extent consistent with Section 422 of the Code. Any purported assignment, transfer or encumbrance in violation of this Section 16(a) shall be void and unenforceable against the Company.
(b) Performance Criteria. The number of Shares or other benefits granted, issued, retainable and/or vested under an Award may be made subject to the attainment of performance goals.
(i) The Committee may utilize performance criteria including, but not limited to any of the following performance criteria: (a) cash flow (including operating cash flow), (b) earnings per share, (c) earnings before any combination of interest, taxes, depreciation or amortization, (d) return on equity, (e) total stockholder return, (f) share price performance, (g) return on capital, (h) return on assets or net assets, (i) revenue, (j) income or net income, (k) operating income or net operating income, (l) operating profit or net operating profit, (m) operating margin or profit margin (including as a percentage of revenue), (n) return on operating revenue, (o) return on invested capital, (p) market segment shares, (q) costs, (r) expenses, (s) achievement of target levels of discovery and/or development of products or services, including but not limited to research or regulatory achievements, (t) third party coverage and/or reimbursement objectives, (u) test volume metrics, (v) objective customer indicators (including, without limitation, customer satisfaction), (w) improvements in productivity, (x) attainment of objective operating goals, (y) objective employee metrics or (z) any other measures of performance selected by the Committee (“Qualifying Performance Criteria”), any of which may be measured either individually, alternatively or in any combination, applied to either the individual, the Company as a whole or to a business unit or subsidiary of the Company, either individually, alternatively or in any combination, and measured either annually or cumulatively over a period of years, or on the basis of any other specified period, on an absolute basis or relative to a pre-established target, to previous years’ results or to a designated comparison group or index, and subject to specified adjustments, in each case as specified by the Committee in the Award.
(ii) Unless specified otherwise by the Committee at the time the performance goals are established, the Committee shall appropriately adjust the method of evaluating performance under a Qualifying Performance Criteria for a performance period as follows: (a) to exclude asset write-downs, (b) to exclude litigation or claim judgments or settlements, (c) to exclude the effect of changes in tax law, accounting principles or other such laws or provisions affecting reported results, (d) to exclude accruals for