EXHIBIT NO. 99.8(b)
AMENDMENT TO CUSTODIAN CONTRACT
Amendment to Custodian Contract between Massachusetts Financial High
Income Trust, a business trust organized and existing under the laws of
Massachusetts, having a principal place of business at 000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000 (hereinafter called the "Fund"), and State Street
Bank and Trust Company, a Massachusetts trust company, having its principal
place of business at 000 Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxxxx 00000
(hereinafter called the "Custodian").
WHEREAS: The Fund and the Custodian are parties to a Custodian
Contract dated May 24, l988 (the "Custodian Contract");
WHEREAS: The Fund desires that the Custodian issue a letter of credit
(the "Letter of Credit") on behalf of the Fund for the benefit of ICI Mutual
Insurance Company (the "Company") in accordance with the Continuing Letter of
Credit and Security Agreement and that the Fund's obligations to the Custodian
with respect to the Letter of Credit shall be fully collateralized at all times
while the Letter of Credit is outstanding by, among other things, segregated
assets of the Fund equal to 125% of the face amount to the amount of the Letter
of Credit;
WHEREAS: The Custodian Contract provides for the establishment of
segregated accounts for proper Fund purposes upon Proper Instructions (as
defined in the Custodian Contract); and
WHEREAS: The Fund and the Custodian desire to establish a segregated
account to hold the collateral for the Fund's obligations to the Custodian
with respect to the Letter of Credit and to amend the Custodian Contract to
provide for the establishment and maintenance thereof;
WITNESSETH: That in consideration of the mutual covenants and
agreements
hereinafter contained, the parties hereto hereby amend the Custodian
Contract as follows:
1. Capitalized terms used herein without definition shall have
the meanings ascribed to them in the Custodian Contract.
2. The Fund hereby instructs the Custodian to establish and maintain a
segregated account (the "Letter of Credit Custody Account") for and in behalf of
the Fund as contemplated by Section 2.13(iv) for the purpose of collateralizing
the Fund's obligations under this Amendment to the Custodian Contract.
3. The Fund shall deposit with the Custodian and the Custodian shall
hold in the Letter of Credit Custody Account cash, U.S. government securities
and other high-grade debt securities owned by the Fund acceptable to the
Custodian (collectively "Collateral Securities") equal to 125% of the face
amount to the amount which the Company may draw under the Letter of Credit. Upon
receipt of such Collateral Securities in the Letter of Credit Custody Account,
the Custodian shall issue the Letter of Credit to the Company.
4. The fund hereby grants to the Custodian a security interest in the
Collateral Securities from time to time in the Letter of Credit Custody Account
(the "Collateral") to secure the performance of the Fund's obligations to the
Custodian with respect to the Letter of Credit, including, without limitation,
under Section 5-114(3) of the Uniform Commercial Code. The Fund shall register
the pledge of Collateral and execute and deliver to the Custodian such powers
and instruments of assignment as may be requested by the Custodian to evidence
and perfect the limited interest in the Collateral granted hereby.
5. The Collateral Securities in the Letter of Credit Custody Account
may be substituted or exchanged (including substitutions or exchanges which
increase or decrease the aggregate value of the Collateral) only pursuant to
Proper Instructions from the Fund after the Fund notifies the Custodian of the
contemplated substitution or exchange and the Custodian agrees that such
substitution or exchange is acceptable to the Custodian.
6. Upon any payment made pursuant to the Letter of Credit by the
Custodian to the Company, after notice to the company, the Custodian may
withdraw from the Letter of Credit Custody Account Collateral Securities in an
amount equal in value to the amount actually so paid. The Custodian shall have
with respect to the Collateral so withdrawn all of the rights of a secured
creditor under the Uniform Commercial Code as adopted in the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts at the time of such withdrawal and all other rights granted or
permitted to it under law.
7. The Custodian will transfer upon receipt all income earned on the
Collateral to the Fund custody account unless the Custodian receives Proper
Instructions from the Fund to the contrary.
8. Upon the drawing by the Company of all amounts which may become
payable to it under the Letter of Credit and the withdrawal of all Collateral
Securities with respect thereto by the Custodian pursuant to Section 6 hereof,
or upon the termination of the Letter of Credit by the Fund with the written
consent of the Company, the Custodian shall transfer any Collateral Securities
then remaining in the Letter of Credit Custody Account to another fund custody
account.
9. Collateral held in the Letter of Credit Custody Account shall be
released only in accordance with the provisions of this Amendment to Custodian
Contract. The Collateral shall at all times until withdrawn pursuant to Section
6 hereof remain the property of the Fund, subject only to the extent of the
interest granted herein to the Custodian.
10. Notwithstanding any other termination of the Custodian Contract,
the Custodian Contract shall remain in full force and effect with respect to the
Letter of Credit Custody Account until transfer of all Collateral Securities
pursuant to Section 8 hereof.
11. The Custodian shall be entitled to reasonable compensation for its
issuance of the Letter of Credit and for its services in connection with the
Letter of Credit Custody Account as agreed upon from time to time between the
Fund and the Custodian.
12. The Custodian Contract as amended hereby, shall be governed
by, and construed and interpreted under, the laws of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts.
13. The parties agree to execute and deliver all such further documents
and instruments and to take such further action as may be required to carry out
the purposes of the Custodian Contract, as amended hereby.
14. Except as provided in this Amendment to Custody Contract, the
Custodian Contract shall remain in full force and effect, without amendment or
modification, and all applicable provisions of the Custodian Contract, as
amended hereby, including, without limitation, Section 8 thereof, shall govern
the Letter of Credit Custody Account and the rights and obligations of the Fund
and the Custodian under this Amendment to Custodian Contract. No provision of
this Amendment to Custodian Contract shall be deemed to constitute a waiver of
any rights of the Custodian under the Custodian Contract or under law.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, each of the parties has caused this Amendment to
Custodian Contract to be executed in its name and behalf by its duly authorized
representatives and its seal to be hereunder affixed as of the 24th day of May,
1988.
ATTEST:
By: XXX XXXXXX By: X. XXXXXX LONDON
Xxx Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx London, Treasurer
ATTEST: STATE STREET BANK & TRUST COMPANY
By: ILLEGIBLE By: ILLEGIBLE
(Illegible) Assistant Secretary (Illegible) Vice President
