the control of the Board, disburse the funds of the Corporation as ordered by the Board or the other officers of the Corporation in accordance with these By-Laws, taking proper vouchers for such disbursements, and shall render to the President and to the Board at its meetings or whenever he or it may require a statement of all his transactions as treasurer and an account of the financial condition of the Corporation. In general, the Treasurer shall, subject to the control of the Board, perform all of the duties incident to the office of treasurer and such other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Board, the President or these By-Laws.
The Secretary shall, subject to the control of the Board, act as secretary of, and keep the minutes of, the proceedings of the Board and the stockholders in books belonging to the Corporation, give or cause to be given notice of all meetings of stockholders and directors as required by these By-Laws, be custodian of the seal of the Corporation, affix the seal, or cause it to be affixed, to all certificates for shares of capital stock of the Corporation and to all documents the execution of which on behalf of the Corporation under its seal shall have been specifically or generally authorized by the Board, have charge of the stock records of the Corporation and of the other books, records and papers of the Corporation relating to its organization as a corporation and see that the reports, statements and other documents required by law relating to the maintenance of the existence, qualifications and franchises of the Corporation as a corporation are properly kept or filed. The Secretary shall, subject to the control of the Board, generally perform all of the duties incident to the office of secretary and such other duties as may from time to time be assigned to him by the Board, the President or these By-Laws.
The Board may from time to time elect or appoint such other officers (including, without limitation, assistant officers), employees, agents, consultants, representatives and advisors of the Corporation as the Board may deem proper, each of whom shall hold office for such period, have such authority and perform such duties as the Board or the President pursuant to authority delegated to him by the Board may from time to time determine.
Any officer, employee, agent, consultant, representative or advisor of the Corporation may be removed at any time by the Board or by the President pursuant to authority delegated to him by the Board, except that an officer of the Corporation may be removed or replaced, directly or indirectly (including, without limitation, removal or replacement effected by reason of election and qualification of a successor, demotion, relocation, failure to re-elect or diminution in duties or compensation), pursuant to (but only pursuant to) a resolution or resolutions adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Whole Board (excluding, if such officer is also a director, such director).
Any officer may resign from his office at any time by giving written notice of his resignation to the Board, the President or the Secretary. The resignation of any officer shall take effect at the time of receipt of such notice by the Board, the President or the Secretary, as the case may be, or at any later time specified therein and, unless otherwise specified therein, the acceptance of such resignation shall not be necessary to make it effective. No such resignation shall affect any rights which the Corporation may have under any agreement with such officer.
Section 9. Giving of Bond by Officers.
All officers of the Corporation, if required to do so by the Board, shall furnish bonds to the Corporation for the faithful performance of their duties subject to such penalties and with such conditions and security as the Board may from time to time require. All expenses of any such bond shall be paid by the Corporation.
Section 10. Compensation of Officers.
Compensation of officers of the Corporation may be fixed from time to time by the Board or, in the case of officers other than the President, by the President pursuant to authority delegated to him by the Board.
Section 11. Term of Office.
Subject to Section 7 of this Article IV, the term of office of each officer shall commence at the time of his election and qualification and shall continue until his successor shall have been duly elected and qualified or his earlier death, resignation or removal.
Section 12. Voting Stock Held by Corporation.
Except as otherwise determined from time to time by the Board, the President shall have full power and authority in the name and on behalf of the Corporation to attend, act and vote at any meeting of stockholders, partners or owners of any corporation, partnership or other entity in which the Corporation may hold stock, a partnership interest or another ownership interest and at any such meeting shall possess and may exercise any and all rights and powers incident to the ownership of such stock or interest which, as the owner thereof, the Corporation might have possessed and exercised. The Board may from time to time confer like powers upon any other person or persons and the President may delegate his powers hereunder to any other officer of the Corporation.
ARTICLE V - INDEMNIFICATION
Section 1. Indemnification.
(a) Each person who is or was made a party or is threatened to be made a party to, or is or was involved in, any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative (a “proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he, or a person of whom he is the legal representative, is or was a director, officer, employee or, pursuant to a
resolution or resolutions adopted by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Board, agent of the Corporation or a subsidiary of the Corporation or is or was serving at the request of the Corporation as a director, officer, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee of another corporation (other than a subsidiary of the Corporation) or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including an employee benefit plan, whether the basis of such proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as an officer or director or in any other capacity while so serving, shall be indemnified by the Corporation for and held harmless by the Corporation from and against, to the fullest extent authorized by the Law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader or greater rights to indemnification than the Law prior to such amendment permitted the Corporation to provide), all expenses, liabilities and losses (including attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, excise taxes, penalties and amounts paid or to be paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such person in connection therewith; provided, however, that except as provided herein with respect to proceedings seeking to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify any such person seeking indemnification in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person only if such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized by the Board. Such right to indemnification shall continue as to a person who has ceased to be such an officer, director, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee and shall inure to the benefit of his or her heirs, executors and administrators. Such right to indemnification shall be a contract right and shall include the right of a director, officer, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee to be paid the expenses (including costs and attorneys’ fees and disbursements) incurred in defending a proceeding in advance of its final disposition to the fullest extent authorized by the Law, as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but, in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader or greater rights to indemnification than the Law prior to such amendment permitted the Corporation to provide); provided, however, that, if the Law requires, the payment of such expenses incurred by a director or officer of the Corporation in his capacity as a director or officer of the Corporation (and not in any other capacity in which service was or is rendered by such person while a director or officer of the Corporation, including, without limitation, service to an employee benefit plan) in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding, shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking, by or on behalf of such director or officer, to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined that such director or officer is not entitled to be indemnified under this Article or otherwise. Such right to indemnification and to the payment of expenses may be granted to any other employee or agent of the Corporation or its subsidiaries if, and to the extent, authorized by the Board.
(b) If a claim under this Article is not paid in full by the Corporation within thirty (30) days after a written demand therefor has been received by the Corporation, the claimant may at any time thereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim and, if successful in whole or in part, the claimant shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting such suit. It shall be a defense to any such suit (other than a suit brought to enforce a claim for expenses incurred in defending a proceeding in advance of its final disposition where the required undertaking, if any is required, has been tendered to the Corporation) that the claimant has not met the standards of conduct which make it permissible under the Law for the Corporation to indemnify the claimant for the amount claimed, but the
burden of proving such defense shall be on the Corporation. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including the Board, independent legal counsel to the Corporation or the stockholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the claimant is proper in the circumstances because he or she has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the Law nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including the Board, independent legal counsel to the Corporation or the stockholders) that the claimant has not met such applicable standard of conduct shall be a defense to the action or create a presumption that the claimant has not met the applicable standard of conduct.
Section 2. Indemnification Not Exclusive.
The indemnification of or the payment of expenses for any person under this Article, or the right of any person to indemnification or payment of expenses under this Article, shall not limit or restrict in any way the power of the Corporation to indemnify or pay expenses for such person in any other manner permitted by law or be deemed exclusive of, or invalidate, any other right which such person may have or acquire under any law, agreement, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or otherwise. The Corporation has the right to enter into indemnification contracts or otherwise arrange for indemnification of persons under this Article that may be broader than the indemnifications provided for herein.
Section 3. Successors.
The right of any person to indemnification and payment of expenses under this Article shall continue as to a person after such person shall have ceased to be such an officer, director, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee, shall inure to the benefit of the heirs, distributees, executors, administrators and other legal representatives of such person, shall survive and not be adversely affected by any modification or repeal of this Article with respect to any claim or proceeding which arose or transaction, matter, event or condition which occurred or existed before such modification or repeal and shall be binding upon all successors of the Corporation.
Section 4. Insurance.
The Corporation may purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any person who is or was such an officer, director, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee against any expense, liability or loss asserted against such person as such an officer, director, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee or arising out of such person’s status as such an officer, director, partner, member, employee, agent or trustee, whether or not the Corporation would have the power to indemnify such person against such expense, liability or loss under the provisions of this Article or applicable law.
Section 5. Definition of Certain Terms.
(a) For purposes of this Article, references to “fines” shall include any excise taxes assessed on a person with respect to an employee benefit plan; and references to “serving at
the request of the Corporation” shall include any service as a director, officer, fiduciary, employee or agent of the Corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, fiduciary, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or its beneficiaries.
(b) For the purposes of this Article and the Law, a person who acted in good faith and in a manner such person reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan shall be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interest of the Corporation.”
ARTICLE VI - CONTRACTS; BANK ACCOUNTS
Section 1. Execution of Contracts.
Except as provided otherwise in these By-Laws, the Board may from time to time authorize any officer, employee, agent or representative of the Corporation, in the name and on behalf of the Corporation, to enter into any contract or execute and deliver any instrument. Such authorization may be general or confined to specific instances. Unless so authorized by the Board or these By-Laws, no officer, employee, agent or representative shall have any power or authority to bind the Corporation by any contract or engagement, to pledge its credit or to render it pecuniarily liable for any purpose or to any amount.
Section 2. Checks; Drafts; Notes.
All checks, drafts and other orders for the payment of moneys out of the funds of the Corporation and all notes or other evidences of indebtedness of the Corporation shall be signed in the name and on behalf of the Corporation in the manner authorized from time to time by the Board.
Section 3. Deposits.
All funds of the Corporation not otherwise employed shall be deposited from time to time to the credit of the Corporation in the banks, trust companies or other depositories selected from time to time by the Board or by an officer, employee, agent or representative of the Corporation to whom such authority may from time to time be delegated by the Board. For the purpose of making such a deposit, any officer, employee, agent or representative to whom authority to make such a deposit is delegated by the Board may endorse, assign and deliver checks, drafts and other orders for the payment of moneys which are payable to the order of the Corporation.
ARTICLE VII - SHARES; DIVIDENDS
Section 1. Certificates.
Every holder of record of a share or shares of capital stock of the Corporation then outstanding shall be entitled to a duly signed certificate in proper form certifying that he is the record holder of such share or shares. Certificates for shares of capital stock and other securities of the Corporation shall be issued in such forms as the Board may prescribe. Such certificates shall be signed by the Chairman of the Board, the President or a Vice President and by the Secretary or the Treasurer. The seal of the Corporation or a facsimile thereof shall be affixed on such certificates, and such certificates shall be countersigned and registered in such manner, if any, as the Board may prescribe. The signatures of the officers upon such certificates may be facsimiles. In case any officer, transfer agent or registrar who has signed or whose facsimile signature has been placed upon any certificate shall have ceased to be such an officer, transfer agent or registrar before such certificate is issued, such certificate may be issued with the same effect as if he were such officer, transfer agent or registrar on the date of issuance of such certificate.
Section 2. Transfers.
Transfers of shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be made on the records of the Corporation only upon authorization by the record holder of such shares, in person or by his duly authorized attorney or legal representative, upon surrender and cancellation of certificates therefor duly endorsed or accompanied by duly executed stock powers (with such proof of authenticity of signature as the Corporation or its agent may require) for a like number of shares, upon payment of all taxes thereon and upon compliance with any restrictions on transfer thereof. The person in whose name shares of capital stock of the Corporation stand on the records of the Corporation shall be deemed the owner of such shares for all purposes as regards the Corporation. The Board may make such additional rules and regulations and take such action as it may deem expedient, not inconsistent with the Certificate of Incorporation and these By-Laws, concerning the issue, transfer and registration of certificates or the issue of certificates in lieu of certificates claimed to have been lost, destroyed, stolen or mutilated.
Notwithstanding the preceding paragraph of this Section, for a period of 180 days from the date of a final prospectus included or incorporated by reference in a registration statement filed by the Corporation with the Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a firm commitment underwritten initial public offering of the Corporation’s common stock (the “Restriction Period”), no shares of the Corporation’s common stock held immediately prior to the date of such final prospectus may be, directly or indirectly, offered for sale, sold or otherwise disposed of without the prior written consent of the Board of Directors of the Corporation, whose consent may be withheld for any reason.
Section 3. Lost or Destroyed Certificates.
The Corporation may issue a new certificate for shares of capital stock of the Corporation in order to replace any certificate theretofore issued by it alleged to have been lost, stolen or destroyed, and the Corporation may require the holder of the lost, stolen or destroyed certificate, or his legal representative, to give to the Corporation a bond or other security to indemnify it against all losses, liabilities and expenses (including attorney’s fees and expenses) incurred in connection with investigating, defending and settling any claim that may be made
against it on account of the alleged loss, theft or destruction of such certificate or the issuance of such new certificate.
Section 4. Fractions of a Share.
The Corporation shall have the authority to issue (but shall not be obligated, under these By-Laws, to issue) fractions of a share of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation. In lieu of issuing a fraction of a share of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation, the Corporation may (i) make such payments as may be determined using such equitable method as the officer of the Corporation may select and/or (ii) issue that number of whole shares of such class or series of capital stock of the Corporation as may be determined using such equitable method for rounding fractions to integers as the officers of the Corporation may select, as the Board may determine or the Certificate of Incorporation may require.
Section 5. Dividends.
Subject to the provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and to the extent permitted by the Law, the Board may declare dividends on shares of any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation at such times and in such amounts as, in its opinion, the conditions of the business of the Corporation render advisable. Before payment of any dividend or making any distribution of profits, the Board may set aside out of the surplus or net profits of the Corporation such sum or sums as the Board may from time to time, in its absolute discretion, deem proper as a reserve fund to meet contingencies or for equalizing dividends, for repairing or maintaining any property of the Corporation or for such other purposes as the Board may from time to time deem to be in the best interests of the Corporation.
ARTICLE VIII - CORPORATE SEAL
The Board may adopt a corporate seal of the Corporation which shall be in such form as the Board may from time to time determine. When authorized by these By-Laws or by the Board, a facsimile of the corporate seal may be affixed in lieu of the corporate seal.
ARTICLE IX - FISCAL YEAR
The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be fixed from time to time by the Board.
ARTICLE X - AMENDMENTS
These By-Laws, in whole or in part, may be amended or repealed and new By-Laws, in whole or in part, may be adopted as (but only as) provided in the Certificate of Incorporation.