Administrative Agent Bank of America, N.A., as the administrative agent under the Credit Agreement
Administrative Agent as Lender The bank serving as the Administrative Agent hereunder shall have the same rights and powers in its capacity as a Lender as any other Lender and may exercise the same as though it were not the Administrative Agent, and such bank and its Affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any Subsidiary or other Affiliate thereof as if it were not the Administrative Agent hereunder.
Agreement to Lend and Borrow Subject to and upon the terms and conditions set forth herein, Lender hereby agrees to make and Borrower hereby agrees to accept the Loan on the Closing Date.
Additional Borrowers Other investment companies (or series of investment companies), in addition to those Borrowers which are original signatories to this Agreement, may, with the written approval of all the Banks, become parties to this Agreement and be deemed Tranche A Borrowers for all purposes of this Agreement by executing an instrument substantially in the form of Exhibit G hereto (with such changes therein may be approved by the Banks), which instrument shall (i) have attached to it a copy of this Agreement (as the same may have been amended) with a revised Allocation Notice reflecting the participation of such additional investment company and (ii) be accompanied by the documents and instruments required to be delivered by the Borrowers pursuant to Section 3.1 hereof, including, without limitation, an opinion of counsel for such Borrower, in a form reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent and its counsel; provided, that the joinder of any additional Borrower shall be effective no earlier than five (5) Business Days following receipt by the Banks of such documents and information requested by the Administrative Agent or any Bank that are reasonably required in order to comply with “know-your-customer” and other anti-terrorism, anti-money laundering and similar rules and regulations, including without limitation the USA PATRIOT Act; and provided, further, that no such additional Borrower shall be added unless each of the Banks consent, except that (A) to the extent an existing Borrower converts to a “master/feeder” structure, no consent shall be required for the master trust in such structure to become a Borrower hereunder after such conversion, provided the converting Borrower ceases to be a Borrower hereunder on or prior to such conversion and provided that such master trust is formed under the laws of a State in the United States and (B) to the extent that an existing Borrower which is a “master trust” is merged into (or transfers all or substantially all of its assets and liabilities to) its feeder fund (the “Former Feeder Fund”), no consent shall be required for such Former Feeder Fund to become a Borrower if in connection with such merger or transfer such Former Feeder Fund shall hold all or substantially all the assets and liabilities of the prior master trust, such Former Feeder Fund is formed under the laws of a State in the United States and, prior to such merger or transfer, such Former Feeder Fund shall have no Debt. Additional Borrowers may be added to this Agreement only once per each calendar quarter. Each new Borrower added to the Credit Facility after the addition of five (5) new Borrowers shall pay a new Borrower’s fee in the amount of $1,500 to the Administrative Agent, provided that the Administrative Agent may, in its sole discretion, waive the requirement to pay such fee. To the extent that the Banks deem that the Permitted Asset Coverage Ratio is insufficient with respect to any Additional Borrower, the Joinder in which such Additional Borrower becomes a Borrower may, with the agreement of such Additional Borrower and each Bank, contain language amending this Agreement to provide for a different Permitted Asset Coverage Ratio with respect to such Additional Borrower.
Issuing Bank For purposes of Section 2.17(e) and (f), the term “Lender” includes the Issuing Bank.
Nonliability of Administrative Agent and Lenders The relationship between the Borrower, on the one hand, and the Lenders, the Issuing Banks and the Administrative Agent, on the other hand, shall be solely that of borrower and lender. None of the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or any Lender shall have any fiduciary responsibilities to the Borrower and no provision in this Agreement or in any of the other Loan Documents, and no course of dealing between or among any of the parties hereto, shall be deemed to create any fiduciary duty owing by the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or any Lender to any Lender, the Borrower, any Subsidiary or any other Loan Party. None of the Administrative Agent, any Issuing Bank or any Lender undertakes any responsibility to the Borrower to review or inform the Borrower of any matter in connection with any phase of the Borrower’s business or operations.
Administrative Agent and its Affiliates The Administrative Agent shall have the same rights and powers under this Agreement and the other Loan Documents as any other Lender and may exercise or refrain from exercising such rights and power as though it were not the Administrative Agent, and the Administrative Agent and its affiliates may accept deposits from, lend money to, and generally engage in any kind of business with the Borrower or any Affiliate of the Borrower as if it were not the Administrative Agent under the Loan Documents. The term “Lender” as used herein and in all other Loan Documents, unless the context otherwise clearly requires, includes the Administrative Agent in its capacity as a Lender (if applicable).
SPV Lender Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, any Lender (a “Granting Lender”) may grant to a special purpose funding vehicle (a “SPV”), identified as such in writing from time to time by the Granting Lender to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, the option to provide to the Borrower all or any part of any Loan that such Granting Lender would otherwise be obligated to make the Borrower pursuant to this Agreement; provided that (i) nothing herein shall constitute a commitment by any SPV to make any Loan and (ii) if an SPV elects not to exercise such option or otherwise fails to provide all or any part of such Loan, the Granting Lender shall be obligated to make such Loan pursuant to the terms hereof. The making of a Loan by an SPV hereunder shall utilize the Commitment of the Granting Lender to the same extent, and as if, such Loan were made by such Granting Lender. Each party hereto hereby agrees that no SPV shall be liable for any indemnity or similar payment obligation under this Agreement (all liability for which shall remain with the Granting Lender). In furtherance of the foregoing, each party hereto hereby agrees (which agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement) that, prior to the date that is one year and one day after the payment in full of all outstanding commercial paper or other senior indebtedness of any SPV, it shall not institute against, or join any other person in instituting against, such SPV any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, insolvency or liquidation proceedings under the laws of the United States or any State thereof. In addition, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section 13.6, any SPV may (i) with notice to, but without the prior written consent of, the Borrower and the Administrative Agent and without paying any processing fee therefor, assign all or a portion of its interests in any Loans to the Granting Lender or to any financial institutions (consented to by the Borrower and Administrative Agent) providing liquidity and/or credit support to or for the account of such SPV to support the funding or maintenance of Loans and (ii) disclose on a confidential basis any non-public information relating to its Loans to any rating agency, commercial paper dealer or provider of any surety, guarantee or credit or liquidity enhancement to such SPV. This Section 13.6(g) may not be amended without the written consent of the SPV. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, (x) no SPV shall be entitled to any greater rights under Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 than its Granting Lender would have been entitled to absent the use of such SPV and (y) each SPV agrees to be subject to the requirements of Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 as though it were a Lender and has acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to clause (b) of this Section 13.6.
Loans and Borrowings (a) Each Loan shall be made as part of a Borrowing consisting of Loans made by the Lenders ratably in accordance with their respective Commitments. The failure of any Lender to make any Loan required to be made by it shall not relieve any other Lender of its obligations hereunder; provided that the Commitments of the Lenders are several and no Lender shall be responsible for any other Lender’s failure to make Loans as required.
Designated Borrowers (a) The Company may at any time, upon not less than 15 Business Days’ notice from the Company to the Administrative Agent (or such shorter period as may be agreed by the Administrative Agent in its sole discretion), designate any Domestic Subsidiary of the Company (an “Applicant Borrower”) as a Designated Borrower to receive Loans hereunder by delivering to the Administrative Agent (which shall promptly deliver counterparts thereof to each Lender) a duly executed notice and agreement in substantially the form of Exhibit G (a “Designated Borrower Request and Assumption Agreement”). The parties hereto acknowledge and agree that prior to any Applicant Borrower becoming entitled to utilize the credit facilities provided for herein the Administrative Agent shall have received (i) with respect to the first designation of a Subsidiary as a Designated Borrower, the Guaranty duly executed by the Company and opinions of counsel as to the execution, delivery and enforceability of the Guaranty and such other matters concerning the Company and the Guaranty as the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders may reasonably request, and (ii) with respect to each designation of a Subsidiary as a Designated Borrower such supporting resolutions, incumbency certificates, opinions of counsel, including such opinions from regulatory counsel reasonably acceptable to the Administrative Agent and such other matters concerning the applicable Subsidiary as the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders may reasonably request, and other documents or information, in form, content and scope reasonably satisfactory to the Administrative Agent, as may be required by the Administrative Agent or the Required Lenders in their sole discretion, and Notes signed by such new Borrowers to the extent any Lenders so require. If the Administrative Agent and the Required Lenders agree that an Applicant Borrower shall be entitled to receive Loans hereunder, then promptly following receipt of all such requested resolutions, incumbency certificates, opinions of counsel and other documents or information, the Administrative Agent shall send a notice in substantially the form of Exhibit H (a “Designated Borrower Notice”) to the Company and the Lenders specifying the effective date upon which the Applicant Borrower shall constitute a Designated Borrower for purposes hereof, whereupon each of the Lenders agrees to permit such Designated Borrower to receive Loans hereunder, on the terms and conditions set forth herein, and each of the parties agrees that such Designated Borrower otherwise shall be a Borrower for all purposes of this Agreement; provided that no Revolving Loan Notice or Letter of Credit Application may be submitted by or on behalf of such Designated Borrower until the date five Business Days after such effective date.