DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT
DELAFIELD FUND, INC.
(the "Fund")
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
October 30, 2000
Xxxxx & Xxxx Distributors, Inc.
000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxx Xxxx, Xxx Xxxx 00000
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We hereby confirm our agreement with you as follows:
1. In consideration of the agreements on your part herein
contained and of the payment by us to you of a fee of $1 per year and on the
terms and conditions set forth herein we have agreed that you shall be, for the
period of this agreement, a distributor, as our agent, for the unsold portion of
such number of shares of our common stock, $.001 par value per share, as may be
effectively registered from time to time under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "1933 Act"). This agreement is being entered into pursuant to the
Distribution and Service Plan (the "Plan") adopted by us in accordance with Rule
12b-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act").
2. We hereby agree that as of such time when our Board of
Directors reclassifies our shares of stock into a new class(es) subject to a
distribution fee pursuant to the Plan and in accordance with applicable law, we
will pay you a fee up to 1% per annum of our daily net assets for providing or
arranging for others to provide distribution assistance with respect to the
applicable class(es) of our shares. In addition, such fee will be used to pay
the cost of the preparation and printing of brochures and other promotional
materials, mailings to prospective shareholders, advertising and other
promotional activities, including salaries and/or commissions of sales personnel
of yours and other persons, in connection with the distribution of the
applicable class(es) of our shares.
3. We hereby agree that you will act as our agent, and hereby
appoint you our agent, to offer, and to solicit offers to subscribe to, the
unsold balance of shares of our common stock as shall then be effectively
registered under the Act. All subscriptions for shares of our common stock
obtained by you shall be directed to us for acceptance and shall not be
binding on us until accepted by us. You shall have no authority to make binding
subscriptions on our behalf. We reserve the right to sell shares of our common
stock through other distributors or directly to investors through subscriptions
received by us at our principal office in New York, New York. The right given to
you under this agreement shall not apply to shares of our common stock issued in
connection with (a) the merger or consolidation of any other investment company
with us, (b) our acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, of all or substantially
all of the assets or stock of any other investment company, or (c) the
reinvestment in shares of our common stock by our stockholders of dividends or
other distributions or any other offering by us of securities to our
stockholders.
4. You will use your best efforts to obtain subscriptions to
shares of our common stock upon the terms and conditions contained herein and in
our Prospectus, as in effect from time to time. You will send to us promptly all
subscriptions placed with you. We shall furnish you from time to time, for use
in connection with the offering of shares of our common stock, such other
information with respect to us and shares of our common stock as you may
reasonably request. We shall supply you with such copies of our Registration
Statement and Prospectus, as in effect from time to time, as you may request.
Except as we may authorize in writing, you are not authorized to give any
information or to make any representation that is not contained in the
Registration Statement or Prospectus, as then in effect. You may use employees,
agents and other persons, at your cost and expense, to assist you in carrying
out your obligations hereunder, but no such employee, agent or other person
shall be deemed to be our agent or have any rights under this agreement. You may
sell our shares to or through qualified brokers, dealers and financial
institutions under selling and servicing agreements provided that no dealer,
financial institution or other person shall be appointed or authorized to act as
our agent without our written consent.
All sales of our shares effected through you will be made in
compliance with all applicable federal securities laws and regulations and the
Constitution, rules and regulations of the National Association of Securities
Dealers, Inc. ("NASD").
5. We reserve the right to suspend the offering of shares of
our common stock at any time, in the absolute discretion of our Board of
Directors, and upon notice of such suspension you shall cease to offer shares of
our common stock hereunder.
6. Both of us will cooperate with each other in taking such
action as may be necessary to qualify shares of our common stock for sale under
the securities laws of such states as we may designate, provided, that you shall
not be required to register as a broker-dealer or file a consent to service of
process in any such state where you are not now so registered. Pursuant to the
Investment Management Contract in effect between us and the Manager, we will pay
all fees and expenses of registering shares of our common stock under the Act
and of qualification of shares of our common stock, and to the extent necessary,
our qualification under applicable state securities laws. You will pay all
expenses relating to your broker-dealer qualification.
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7. We represent to you that our Registration Statement and
Prospectus have been carefully prepared to date in conformity with the
requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations of
the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") thereunder. We represent and
warrant to you, as of the date hereof, that our Registration Statement and
Prospectus contain all statements required to be stated therein in accordance
with the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act and the SEC's rules and regulations
thereunder; that all statements of fact contained therein are or will be true
and correct at the time indicated or the effective date as the case may be; and
that neither our Registration Statement nor our Prospectus, when they shall
become effective or be authorized for use, will include an untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or
necessary to make the statements therein not misleading to a purchaser of shares
of our common stock. We will from time to time file such amendment or amendments
to our Registration Statement and Prospectus as, in the light of future
development, shall, in the opinion of our counsel, be necessary in order to have
our Registration Statement and Prospectus at all times contain all material
facts required to be stated therein or necessary to make any statements therein
not misleading to a purchaser of shares of our common stock. If we shall not
file such amendment or amendments within fifteen days after our receipt of a
written request from you to do so, you may, at your option, terminate this
agreement immediately. We will not file any amendment to our Registration
Statement or Prospectus without giving you reasonable notice thereof in advance;
provided, however, that nothing in this agreement shall in any way limit our
right to file such amendments to our Registration Statement or Prospectus, of
whatever character, as we may deem advisable, such right being in all respects
absolute and unconditional. We represent and warrant to you that any amendment
to our Registration Statement or Prospectus hereafter filed by us will be
carefully prepared in conformity within the requirements of the 1933 Act and the
1940 Act and the SEC's rules and regulations thereunder and will, when it
becomes effective, contain all statements required to be stated therein in
accordance with the 1933 Act and the 1940 Act and the SEC's rules and
regulations thereunder; that all statements of fact contained therein will, when
the same shall become effective, be true and correct; and that no such
amendment, when it becomes effective, will include an untrue statement of a
material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or
necessary to make the statements therein not misleading to a purchaser of our
shares.
8. We agree to indemnify, defend and hold you, and any person
who controls you within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act, free and
harmless from and against any and all claims, liabilities and expenses
(including the cost of investigating or defending such claims, demands or
liabilities and any counsel fees incurred in connection therewith) which you or
any such controlling person may incur, under the 1933 Act or the 1940 Act, or
under common law or otherwise, arising out of or based upon any alleged untrue
statement of a material fact contained in our Registration Statement or
Prospectus in effect from time to time or arising out of or based upon any
alleged omission to state a material fact required to be stated in either of
them or necessary to make the statements in either of them not misleading;
provided, however, that in no event shall anything herein contained be so
construed as to protect you against any liability to us or our security holders
to which you would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad
faith, or gross negligence in the performance of your duties, or by
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reason of your reckless disregard of your obligations and duties under this
agreement. Our agreement to indemnify you and any such controlling person is
expressly conditioned upon our being notified of any action brought against you
or any such controlling person, such notification to be given by letter or by
telegram addressed to us at our principal office in New York, New York, and sent
to us by the person against whom such action is brought within ten days after
the summons or other first legal process shall have been served. The failure so
to notify us of any such action shall not relieve us from any liability which we
may have to the person against whom such action is brought other than on account
of our indemnity agreement contained in this paragraph 8. We will be entitled to
assume the defense of any suit brought to enforce any such claim, and to retain
counsel of good standing chosen by us and approved by you. In the event we do
elect to assume the defense of any such suit and retain counsel of good standing
approved by you, the defendant or defendants in such suit shall bear the fees
and expenses of any additional counsel retained by any of them; but in case we
do not elect to assume the defense of any such suit, or in case you, in good
faith, do not approve of counsel chosen by us, we will reimburse you or the
controlling person or persons named as defendant or defendants in such suit, for
the fees and expenses of any counsel retained by you or them. Our
indemnification agreement contained in this paragraph 8 and our representations
and warranties in this agreement shall remain in full force and effect
regardless of any investigation made by or on behalf of you or any controlling
person and shall survive the sale of any shares of our common stock made
pursuant to subscriptions obtained by you. This agreement of indemnity will
inure exclusively to your benefit, to the benefit of your successors and
assigns, and to the benefit of any of your controlling persons and their
successors and assigns. We agree promptly to notify you of the commencement of
any litigation or proceeding against us in connection with the issue and sale of
any shares of our common stock.
9. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold us, our several
officers and directors, and any person who controls us within the meaning of
Section 15 of the 1933 Act, free and harmless from and against any and all
claims, demands, liabilities, and expenses (including the cost of investigating
or defending such claims, demands or liabilities and any reasonable counsel fees
incurred in connection therewith) which we, our officers or directors, or any
such controlling person may incur under the 1933 Act or under common law or
otherwise, but only to the extent that such liability or expense incurred by us,
our officers or directors or such controlling person shall arise out of or be
based upon any alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in
information furnished in writing by you to us for use in our Registration
Statement or Prospectus as in effect from time to time, or shall arise out of or
be based upon any alleged omission to state a material fact in connection with
such information required to be stated in the Registration Statement or
Prospectus or necessary to make such information not misleading. Your agreement
to indemnify us, our officers and directors, and any such controlling person is
expressly conditioned upon your being notified of any action brought against us,
our officers or directors or any such controlling person, such notification to
be given by letter or telegram addressed to you at your principal office in New
York, New York, and sent to you by the person against whom such action is
brought, within ten days after the summons or other first legal process shall
have been served. You shall have a right to control the defense of such action,
with counsel of your own choosing, satisfactory to us, if such action is based
solely
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upon such alleged misstatement or omission on your part, and in any other event
you and we, our officers or directors or such controlling person shall each have
the right to participate in the defense or preparation of the defense of any
such action. The failure so to notify you of any such action shall not relieve
you from any liability which you may have to us, to our officers or directors,
or to such controlling person other than on account of your indemnity agreement
contained in this paragraph 9.
10. We agree to advise you immediately:
a. of any request by the SEC for amendments to our
Registration Statement or Prospectus or for additional information,
b. of the issuance by the SEC of any stop order suspending
the effectiveness of our Registration Statement or Prospectus or the initiation
of any proceedings for that purpose,
c. of the happening of any material event which makes untrue
any statement made in our Registration Statement or Prospectus or which requires
the making of a change in either of them in order to make the statements therein
not misleading, and
d. of all action of the SEC with respect to any amendments to
our Registration Statement or Prospectus.
11. This Agreement will become effective on the date hereof
and shall continue in effect until June 30, 2001, and thereafter for successive
twelve-month periods (computed from each July 1), provided that such
continuation is specifically approved at least annually by vote of our Board of
Directors and of a majority of those of our directors who are not interested
persons (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) and have no direct or indirect financial
interest in the operation of the Plan or in any agreements related to the Plan,
cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on this agreement.
This agreement may be terminated at any time, without the payment of any
penalty, (a) on sixty days' written notice to you (i) by vote of a majority of
our entire Board of Directors, and by a vote of a majority of our Directors who
are not interested persons (as defined in the 0000 Xxx) and who have no direct
or indirect financial interest in the operation of the Plan or in any agreement
related to the Plan, or (ii) by vote of a majority of our outstanding voting
securities, as defined in the Act, or (b) by you on sixty days' written notice
to us.
12. This Agreement may not be transferred, assigned, sold or
in any manner hypothecated or pledged by you and this Agreement shall terminate
automatically in the event of any such transfer, assignment, sale, hypothecation
or pledge by you. The terms "transfer", "assignment" and "sale" as used in this
paragraph shall have the meanings ascribed thereto by governing law and in
applicable rules or regulations of the SEC thereunder.
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13. Except to the extent necessary to perform your
obligations hereunder, nothing herein shall be deemed to limit or restrict your
right, the right of any of your employees, officers or directors, who may also
be a director, officer or employee of ours, or of a person affiliated with us,
as defined in the 1940 Act, to engage in any other business or to devote time
and attention to the management or other aspects of any other business, whether
of a similar or dissimilar nature, or to render services of any kind to another
corporation, firm, individual or association.
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If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding,
will you kindly so indicate by signing and returning to us the enclosed copy
hereof.
Very truly yours,
DELAFIELD FUND, INC.
By /s/ Xxxxxxxxxx X. Xxxx
----------------------
Name: Xxxxxxxxxx X. Xxxx
Title: Secretary
Accepted: October 30, 2000
XXXXX & XXXX DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
By: /s/ Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
-----------------------
Name: Xxxxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
Title: Executive Vice President
