INVESTMENT COMPANY SERVICE AGREEMENT
March 1, 1988
Pioneer U.S. Government Trust, a Massachusetts business trust with its
principal place of business at 00 Xxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
("Customer") and Pioneering Services Corporation, a Massachusetts corporation
("PSC"), hereby agree as follows:
1. SERVICES TO BE PROVIDED BY PSC. During the term of this Agreement,
PSC will provide to each series of shares of beneficial interest (the "Series")
of Customer, which may be established, from time to time (the "Account"), with
the services described in Exhibits A, B, C, and D (collectively, the "Exhibits")
that are attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference. It is understood
that PSC may subcontract any of such services to one or more firms designated by
PSC, provided that PSC (i) shall be solely responsible for all compensation
payable to any such firm and (ii) shall be liable to Customer for the acts or
omissions of any such firm to the same extent as PSC would be liable to Customer
with respect to any such act or omission hereunder.
2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Agreement shall become effective on the date hereof
(the "Effective Date") and shall continue in effect until it is terminated in
accordance with Section 11 below.
3. DELIVERY, VERIFICATION AND RECEIPT FOR DATA AND ASSETS. Prior to the
Effective Date, Customer agrees to deliver to PSC all such documentation, data
and materials as PSC may reasonably prescribe to enable it to perform the
services contemplated by this Agreement. If PSC so requests, Customer agrees to
confirm the accuracy of any starting records of Customer's assets and accounts
produced from PSC's computer or held in other recording systems. In the event
Customer does not, prior to the Effective Date, comply fully with any of the
foregoing provisions of this Section 3, the date for commencement of PSC's
services hereunder may be postponed by PSC until such compliance has taken
place.
Customer shall, from time to time, while this Agreement is in
effect deliver all such materials and data as may be necessary or desirable to
enable PSC to perform its services hereunder, including without limitation,
those described in Section 12 hereof.
4. REPORTS AND MAINTENANCE OF RECORDS BY PSC. PSC will furnish to
Customer and to properly authorized Auditors, examiners, distributors, dealers,
underwriters, salesmen, insurance companies, investors, and others designated by
Customer in writing, such books, any and all records and reports at such times
as are prescribed for each service in the Exhibits attached hereto. Customer
agrees to examine or to ask any other authorized recipient to examine each such
report or copy promptly and will report or cause to be reported any errors or
discrepancies therein of which Customer then has any knowledge. PSC may at its
option at any time, and shall forthwith upon Customer's demand, turn over to
Customer and cease to retain in PSC's files, any and all records and documents
created and maintained by PSC pursuant to this Agreement which are no longer
needed by PSC in the performance of its services or for its protection.
If not so turned over to Customer, such documents and reports
will be retained by PSC for six years from the year of the creation, during the
first two of which the same will be in readily accessible form. At the end of
six years, such records and documents, will be turned over to Customer by PSC
unless Customer authorizes their destruction.
5. PSC'S DUTY OF CARE. PSC shall at all time use reasonable care and act in
good faith in performing its duties hereunder. PSC shall incur no liability to
Customer in connection with its performance of services hereunder except to the
extent that it does not comply with the foregoing standards.
PSC shall at all times adhere to various procedures and
systems consistent with industry standards in order to safeguard Customer's
checks, records and other data from loss or damage attributable to fire or
theft. PSC shall maintain insurance adequate to protect against the costs of
reconstructing checks, records and other data in the event of such loss and
shall notify Customer in the event of a material adverse change in such
insurance coverage. In the event of damage or loss occurring to Customer's
records or data such that PSC is unable to meet the terms of this Agreement, PSC
shall transfer all records and data to a transfer agent of Customer's choosing
upon Customer's written authorization to do so.
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, PSC shall
not be liable or responsible for delays or errors occurring by reason of
circumstances beyond its control including acts of civil, military or banking
authority, national emergencies, labor difficulties, fire, flood or other
catastrophes, acts of God, insurrection, war, riots, failure of transportation,
communication or power supply.
6. CONFIDENTIALITY. PSC will keep confidential all records and
information provided by Customer or by the shareholders of the Account to PSC,
except to the extent disclosures are required by this Agreement, are required by
the Customer's Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, or are
required by a valid subpoena or warrant issued by a court of competent
jurisdiction or by a state or federal agency or governmental authority.
7. CUSTOMER INSPECTION. Upon reasonable notice, in writing signed by
Customer, PSC shall make available, during regular business hours, all records
and other data created and maintained pursuant to this Agreement for reasonable
audit and inspection by Customer or Customer's agents, including reasonable
visitation by Customer or Customer's agent, including inspecting PSC's operation
facilities. PSC shall not be liable for injury to or responsible in any way for
the safety of any individual visiting PSC's facilities under the authority of
this section. Customer will keep confidential and will cause to keep
confidential all confidential information obtained by its employees or agents or
any other individual representing Customer while on PSC's premises. Confidential
information shall include (1) any information of whatever nature regarding PSC's
operations, security procedures, and data processing capabilities, (2) financial
information regarding PSC, its affiliates, or subsidiaries, and (3) any
information of whatever kind or description regarding any customer of PSC, its
affiliates or subsidiaries.
8. RELIANCE BY PSC ON INSTRUCTIONS AND ADVICE; INDEMNITY. PSC shall be
entitled to seek advice of Customer's legal counsel with respect to PSC's
responsibilities and duties hereunder and shall in no event be liable to
Customer for any action taken pursuant to such advice, except to the extent that
Customer's legal counsel determines in its sole discretion that the rendering of
advice to PSC would result in a conflict of interest.
Whenever PSC is authorized to take action hereunder pursuant
to proper instructions from Customer, PSC shall be entitled to rely upon any
certificate, letter or other instrument or telephone call reasonably believed by
PSC to be genuine and to have been properly made or signed by an officer or
other authorized agent of Customer, and shall be entitled to receive as
conclusive proof of any fact or matter required to be ascertained by it
hereunder a certificate signed by an officer of Customer or any other person
authorized by Customer's Board of Trustees.
Subject to the provisions of Section 13 of this Agreement,
Customer agrees to indemnify and hold PSC, its employees, agents and nominees
harmless from any and all claims, demands, actions and suits, whether groundless
or otherwise, and from and against any and all judgments, liabilities, losses,
damages, costs, charges, counsel fees and other expenses of every nature and
character arising out of or in any way relating to PSC's action or non-action
upon information, instructions or requests given or made to PSC by Customer with
respect to the Account.
Notwithstanding the above, whenever Customer may be asked to
indemnify or hold PSC harmless, Customer shall be advised of all pertinent facts
arising from the situation in question. Additionally, PSC will use reasonable
care to identify and notify Customer promptly concerning any situation which
presents, actually or potentially, a claim for indemnification against Customer.
Customer shall have the option to defend PSC against any claim for which PSC is
entitled to indemnification from Customer under the terms hereof, and in the
event Customer so elects, it will notify PSC and, thereupon, Customer shall take
over complete defense of the claim and PSC shall sustain no further legal or
other expenses in such a situation for which indemnification shall be sought or
entitled. PSC may in no event confess any claim or make any compromise in any
case in which Customer will be asked to indemnify PSC except with Customer's
prior written consent.
9. MAINTENANCE OF DEPOSIT ACCOUNTS. PSC shall maintain on behalf of
Customer such deposit accounts as are necessary or desirable from time to time
to enable PSC to carry out the provisions of this Agreement.
10. COMPENSATION AND REIMBURSEMENT TO PSC. For the services rendered by
PSC under this Agreement, Customer agrees to pay an annual fee of $22.00 per
account to PSC, such fee to be payable in equal monthly installments. In
addition, Customer shall reimburse PSC monthly for out-of-pocket expenses such
as postage, forms, envelopes, checks, "outside" mailings, telephone line and
other charges, mailgrams, mail insurance on certificates and data processing
file recovery insurance.
11. TERMINATION. Either PSC or Customer may at any time terminate this
Agreement by giving 90 days' prior written notice to the other.
After the date of termination, for so long as PSC in fact
continues to perform any one or more of the services contemplated by this
Agreement or any exhibit hereto, the provisions of this Agreement, including
without limitation the provisions of Section 8 dealing with indemnification,
shall where applicable continue in full force and effect.
12. REQUIRED DOCUMENTS. Customer agrees to furnish to PSC prior
to the Effective Date the following (to the extent not
previously provided):
A. Two (2) copies of the Declaration of Trust of Customer, and of any
amendments thereto, certified by the proper official of the State where the
Declaration of Trust is filed.
B. Two (2) copies of the following documents,
currently certified by the Secretary of Customer;
a. Customer's By-laws and any
amendment thereto.
b. Certified copies of resolutions of Customer's Board of
Trustees covering the following matters. (1) Approval of this Agreement.
(2) Authorization of specified officers of Customers
to instruct PSC hereunder (if different from other
officers of Customer previously specified by Customer
as to other Customer accounts being serviced by PSC).
C. List of all officers of Customer together with specimen signatures of
those officers who are authorized to sign share certificates and to instruct PSC
in all other matters.
D. Two (2) copies of the following;
a. Prospectus
b. Statement of Additional Information
c. Management Agreement
d. Registration Statement
E. Opinion of counsel for Customer as to the due authorization
by and binding effect of this Agreement on Customer, the
applicability of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the
approval by such public authorities as may be prerequisite to
lawful sale and delivery in the various states.
F. Amendments to, and changes in, any of the foregoing forthwith upon such
amendments and changes being available, but in no case later than the effective
date.
13. INDEMNIFICATION. The parties to this Agreement acknowledge and
agree that all liabilities arising, directly or indirectly, under this
Agreement, of any and every nature whatsoever, including without limitation,
liabilities arising in connection with any agreement of Customer or its Trustees
set forth herein to indemnify any party to this Agreement or any other person,
shall be satisfied out of the assets of the Account first and then of Customer
and that no Trustee, officer or holder of shares of beneficial interest of
Customer shall be personally liable for any of the foregoing liabilities.
Customer's Declaration of Trust, as amended from time to time, is on file in the
Office of the Secretary of State of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Such
Declaration of Trust describes in detail the respective responsibilities and
limitations on liability of the Trustees, officers, and holders of shares of
beneficial interest of Customer.
14. MISCELLANEOUS. In connection with the operation of such Agreement,
PSC and Customer may agree from time to time on such provisions interpretative
of or in addition to the provisions of this Agreement as may in their joint
opinion be consistent with the general tenor of this Agreement. Any such
interpretative or additional provisions are to be signed by both parties and
annexed hereto, but no such provision shall contravene any applicable Federal
and state law or regulation, and no such provision shall be deemed to be an
amendment of this Agreement.
This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws
of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Customer and PSC have caused this Agreement to be
executed in their respective names by their respective officers thereunto duly
authorized as of the date first written above.
PIONEERING SERVICES CORPORATION
By: /s/ Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, Xx.
Xxxxxxx X. Xxxxx, Xx.
President
PIONEER U.S. GOVERNMENT TRUST
By: /s/ Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxx
Secretary
EXHIBIT A - TO INVESTMENT COMPANY SERVICE AGREEMENT
Shareholder Account Service:
As Servicing Agent for fund accounts and in accordance with the provisions of
the standard fund application and Customer's prospectus, PSC will:
1. Open, maintain and close accounts.
2. Purchase shares for the shareholder.
3. Out of the money received in payment for sales of Customer's
shares pay to the Customer's custodian the net asset value per
share and pay to the underwriter and to the dealer their
commission, if any, on a bimonthly basis.
4. Redeem shares by systematic withdrawal orders. (See Exhibit B)
5. Issue share certificates, upon instruction, resulting from
withdrawals from share accounts (It is the policy of PSC to issue
share certificates only upon request of the shareholder). Maintain
records showing name, address, certificate numbers and number of
shares.
6. Deposit certificates to shareholder accounts when furnished with
such documents as PSC deems necessary to authorize the deposit.
7. Reinvest or disburse dividends and other distributions upon
direction of shareholder.
8. Establish the proper registration of ownership of shares.
9. Pass upon the adequacy of documents submitted by a shareholder or
his legal representative to substantiate the transfer of ownership
of shares from the registered owner to transferees.
10. Make transfers from time to time upon the books of the Customer in
accordance with properly executed transfer instructions furnished
to PSC.
11. Upon receiving appropriate detailed instructions and written
materials prepared by Customer and, where applicable, proxy proofs
checked by Customer, mail shareholder reports, proxies and related
materials of suitable design for automatic enclosing, receive and
tabulate executed proxies, and furnish an annual meeting list of
shareholders when required.
12. Respond to shareholder inquiries in a timely manner.
13. Maintain dealer and salesperson records.
14. Maintain and furnish to Customer such shareholder information as
Customer may reasonably request for the purpose of compliance by
Customer with the applicable tax and securities law of various
jurisdictions.
15. Mail confirmations of transactions to shareholders in a timely
fashion.
16. Provide Customer with such information regarding correspondence
as well as enable Customer to
comply with related N-SAR requirements.
17. Maintain continuous proof of the outstanding shares of Customer.
18. Solicit taxpayer identification numbers.
19. Provide data to enable Customer to file abandoned property reports
for those accounts that have been indicated by the Post Office to
be not at the address of record with no forwarding address.
20. Maintain bank accounts and reconcile same on a monthly basis.
21. Provide management information reports on a quarterly basis to
Customer's Board of Trustees/Directors outlining the level
of service provided.
22. Provide sale/statistical reporting for purposes of providing
fund management with information to
maximizing the return to shareholders.
EXHIBIT B - TO INVESTMENT COMPANY SERVICE AGREEMENT
Redemption Service:
In accordance with the provisions of the Customer's Prospectus, as servicing
agent for the redemptions, PSC will:
1. Where applicable, establish accounts payable based on information
furnished to PSC on behalf of Customer (i.e., copies of trade
confirmations and other documents deemed necessary or desirable by
PSC on the first business day following the trade date).
2. Receive for redemption either:
a. Share certificates, supported by appropriate documentation; or
b. Written or telephone authorization (where no share certificates are
issued).
3. Verify there are sufficient available shares in an account
to cover redemption requests.
4. Transfer the redeemed or repurchased shares to Customer's treasury share
account or, if applicable, cancel such shares for retirement.
5. Pay the applicable redemption or repurchase price to the
shareholder in accordance with Customer's Prospectus and
Declaration of Trust on or before the seventh calendar day
succeeding any receipt of certificates or requests for redemption
or repurchase in "good order" as defined in the Prospectus.
6. Notify Customer and the underwriter on behalf of Customer of the
total number of shares presented and covered by such requests
within a reasonable period of time following receipt.
7. Promptly notify the shareholder if any such certificate or request
for redemption or repurchase is not in "good order" together with
notice of the documents required to comply with the good order
standards. Upon receipt of the necessary documents PSC shall
effect such redemption at the net asset value applicable at the
date and time of receipt of such documents.
8. Produce periodic reports of unsettled items, if any.
9. Adjust unsettled items, if any, relative to dividends and
distributions.
10. Report to Customer any late redemptions which must be included in
Customer's N-SAR.
EXHIBIT C - TO INVESTMENT COMPANY SERVICE AGREEMENT
Exchange Service:
1. Receive and process exchanges in accordance with a duly executed
exchange authorization. PSC will redeem existing shares and use
the proceeds to purchase new shares. Shares of Customer purchased
directly or acquired through reinvestment of dividends on such
shares may be exchanged for shares of other Pioneer funds (which
funds have sales charges) only by payment of the applicable sales
charge, if any, as described in Customer's Prospectus. Shares of
Customer acquired by exchange and through reinvestment of
dividends on such shares may be re-exchanged to another Pioneer
fund at their respective net asset values.
2. Make authorized deductions of fees, if any.
3. Register new shares identically with the shares surrendered for
exchange. Mail new shares certificates, if requested, or an
account statement confirming the exchange by first class mail to
the address of record.
4. Maintain a record of unprocessed exchanges and produce a periodic
report.
Exhibit 9
EXHIBIT D - TO INVESTMENT COMPANY SERVICE AGREEMENT
Income Accrual and Disbursing Service:
1. Distribute income dividends and/or capital gain distributions, either
through reinvestment or in cash, in accordance with shareholder
instructions.
2. On the mailing date, Customer shall make available to PSC collected
funds to make such distribution.
3. Adjust unsettled items relative to dividends and distribution.
4. Reconcile dividends and/or distributions with Customer.
5. Prepare and file annual Federal and State information returns of
distributions and, in the case of Federal returns, mail information
copies to shareholders and report and pay Federal income taxes
withheld from distributions made to non-resident aliens.
