AQUILA DISTRIBUTORS, INC.
SALES AGREEMENT
(for use with financial institutions)
From:
____________________________
____________________________
____________________________
To:
Aquila Distributors, Inc.
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Gentlemen:
We desire to enter into an agreement with you to make
available to our customers the shares of any of the funds of
which you are, or may become, Distributor (hereinafter
collectively referred to as the "Funds" or individually as
the "Fund") on a fully disclosed basis wherein you would
confirm transactions of our customers in such shares
directly to them. Upon acceptance of this Agreement by you,
we understand that we may make shares of the Funds available
to our customers, subject to all terms and conditions hereof
and to your right without notice to suspend or terminate the
sale of shares of any one or more of the Funds.
1. We understand that shares of the Funds will be offered
and sold by you at the current offering price in effect as
set forth in each Fund's then current Prospectus (which term
as used herein includes any related Statement of Additional
Information). All purchase requests and applications
submitted by us are subject to acceptance or rejection as
set forth in each Fund's then current Prospectus.
2. Each of us certifies (a) that the party in question is a
member of the National Association of Securities Dealers,
Inc. ("NASD") and agrees to maintain membership in the NASD,
or (b) in the alternative, in our case, that we are either
(i) a foreign firm not eligible for membership in the NASD,
or (ii) a bank, as defined in Section 3(a)(6) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. In any case, we and you
agree to abide by all applicable rules and regulations of
the NASD, including without limitation, Section 26 of
Article III of the NASD Rules of Fair Practice, all of which
are incorporated herein as if set forth in full. We and you
further agree to comply with all applicable State and
Federal laws and regulations. We and you agree that we and
you will make available for sale shares of the Funds only in
those states or jurisdictions whose laws so permit, whether
or not such permission is dependent on registration or
qualification of the Funds or their shares under such laws.
3. We shall make shares of the Funds available only in
accordance with the terms and conditions of the then current
Prospectus of each Fund, and we shall make no
representations not included in said Prospectus or in any
authorized supplemental material supplied by you. In no
transaction where we make shares of the Funds available to
our customers shall we have any authority to act as agent
for the Funds. The customers in question are for all
purposes our customers and not your customers. However, you
will be responsible for mailing each Fund's then current
Prospectus (not including the related Statement of
Additional Information) with the confirmations. You will
clear transactions for each of our customers only upon our
authorization, it being understood in all cases that (i) we
are acting as agent for the customer, (ii) the transactions
are without recourse against us by the customer except to
the extent that our failure to transmit orders in a timely
fashion results in a loss to our customer, (iii) our
customer will have full beneficial ownership of the shares,
(iv) each transaction is initiated solely upon the order of
the customer, and (v) each transaction is for the account of
the customer and not for our account. We agree to be
responsible for the proper instruction and training of all
personnel employed by us in this area, in order that such
shares will be offered in accordance with the terms and
conditions of this Agreement and all applicable laws and
regulations. We agree to hold you and the Funds harmless
and to indemnify you and the Funds in the event that we, or
any of such personnel, violate any law or regulation, or any
provisions of this Agreement, which violation may result in
liability to you and/or any Fund; and in the event you
and/or such Fund determine to refund any amounts paid by any
investor by reason of any such violation on our part, we
shall return to you and/or such Fund any agency commissions
previously paid to us with respect to the transaction for
which the refund is made. All expenses which we incur in
connection with our activities under this Agreement will be
borne by us.
4. We understand and agree that the sales charge to the
customer and the agency commission payable to us relative to
sales of shares of any Fund made by us will be in an amount
as set forth in the then current Prospectus of such Fund or
in separate written notice to us.
5. Payment for purchases by our customers of shares of any
Fund made by wire order from us will be received by you or
such Fund within five business days after the acceptance of
our order or such shorter time as may be required by law.
If such payment is not so received, we understand that you
reserve the right, without notice, forthwith to cancel the
sale, or, at your option, to sell the shares ordered by us
back to such Fund, in which latter case we may be held
responsible for any loss, including loss of profit, suffered
by you and/or such Fund resulting from our failure to make
the aforesaid payment. Where sales of shares of any Fund
are contingent upon such Fund's receipt of Federal funds in
payment therefor, we shall forward promptly to you any
purchase orders and payments received by us from our
customers.
6. We agree to make shares available to our customers only
(a) at the public offering price (except as provided in
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orders already received from our customers. We shall not
withhold placing with you orders received from our customers
so as to profit ourselves as a result of such withholding;
e.g., by a change in the net asset value from that used in
determining the public offering price to our customers.
7. Unless at the time of transmitting an order we advise you
to the contrary, you may consider the order to be the total
holding of the investor and assume that the investor is not
entitled to any reduction in sales price beyond that
accorded to the amount of the purchase as determined by the
schedule set forth in the then current Prospectus. If we
make shares available to our customers as provided in
Paragraph 12 hereunder, we shall so indicate to you at the
time of transmitting such order.
8. We understand and agree that if any shares sold to our
customers under the terms of this Agreement are redeemed by
any Fund (including redemptions resulting from an exchange
for shares of another investment company) or are repurchased
by you as agent for such Fund or are tendered to such Fund
for redemption within seven business days after the
confirmation to our customers of our original purchase order
for such shares, we shall pay forthwith to you the full
amount of the commission allowed to us on the original sale,
provided you notify us of such repurchase or redemption
within ten days of the date upon which written redemption
requests (and, if applicable, share certificates) are
delivered to you or to such Fund.
9. Your obligations to us under this Agreement are subject
to all the provisions of any agreements entered into between
you and the Funds. We understand and agree that in
performing our services covered by this Agreement we are
acting as agent for our customers, and you are in no way
responsible for the manner of our performance or for any of
our acts or omissions in connection therewith. Nothing in
this Agreement shall be construed to constitute us or any of
our agents, employees or representatives as your agent,
partner or employee, or as the Funds' agent or employee.
10. We may terminate this Agreement by notice in writing to
you, which termination shall become effective thirty days
after the date of mailing such notice to you. However, our
termination of this Agreement will not terminate our
responsibilities under sections (iv) and (v) of Paragraph 12
hereunder. We agree that you have and reserve the right, in
your sole discretion without notice, to suspend sales of
shares of any one or more of the Funds, or to withdraw
entirely the offering of shares of any one or more of the
Funds, or, in your sole discretion, to modify, amend, or
cancel this Agreement upon written notice to us of such
modification, amendment, or cancellation, which shall become
effective on the date stated in such notice. Without
limiting the foregoing, you may terminate this Agreement for
cause on violation by us of any of the provisions of this
Agreement, said termination to become effective on the date
of mailing notice to us of such termination. Without
limiting the foregoing, any provision hereof to the contrary
notwithstanding, our expulsion from the NASD, if we are a
member of the NASD, will automatically terminate this
Agreement without notice; our suspension from the NASD, if
we are a member of the NASD, or violation of applicable
State or Federal laws or regulations (whether or not we are
a member of the NASD) will terminate this Agreement
effective upon the date of your mailing notice to us of such
termination. Your failure to terminate for any cause will
not constitute a waiver of your right to terminate at a
later date for any such cause. All notices hereunder will
be to the respective parties at the addresses listed hereon,
unless changed by notice given in accordance with this
Agreement.
11. This Agreement will become effective when it is executed
and dated by you, and will be in substitution of any prior
agreement between you and us covering shares of the Funds.
This Agreement is not assignable or transferable, except
that you may assign or transfer this Agreement to any
successor firm or corporation which becomes a principal
underwriter of the Funds.
12. We may make shares of the Funds available to our
customers at the next determined net asset value of such
shares under the following circumstances: (i) each such
purchase order is on behalf of a trust, agency, or custodial
client, (ii) we have, as to each such purchase order,
discretionary investment responsibility over the assets in
question, (iii) the relationship between the us and the
client was not formed solely for the purpose of purchasing
shares of any Fund at net asset value, (iv) the shares
purchased pursuant to such purchase order will not be resold
except by redemption, (v) there is no charge relating to
such purchase other than our normal service charge, and (vi)
we may disclose the name of any Fund to the client without
your consent.
_________________________________
(name of financial institution)
By:______________________________
(signature of officer)
_________________________________
(name and title of officer)
_________________________________
(telephone number)
Accepted:
Aquila Distributors, Inc.
By:________________________
(signature of officer)
___________________________
(name and title of officer)
Dated:______________, 19__
