The adjustment to reflect the amortization of organizational and initial offering cost reimbursements as well as ongoing offering costs shall be made prior to the following allocations of Trust profit and loss (and shall be taken into account in making such allocations). Tax accounts shall be adjusted as of the end of each fiscal year and as of the date a Unitholder redeems any Units as follows:
(i) Each tax account shall be increased by the amount of profit allocated to the Unitholder pursuant to Section 8(b)(1)(B) and 8(b)(1)(C) below.
(ii) Each tax account shall be decreased by the amount of loss allocated to the Unitholder pursuant to Section 8(b)(1)(D) and 8(b)(1)(E) below and by the amount of any distributions the Unitholder has received with respect to such Unit.
(iii) When a Unit is redeemed, the tax account attributable to such Unit (determined after making all allocations set forth in Section 8(b)) shall be eliminated.
(B) Profits shall be allocated first to each Unitholder who has redeemed any Units during the fiscal year up to the excess, if any, of the amount received upon redemption of the Units over the amount in the Unitholder’s tax account attributable to the redeemed Units.
(C) Profit remaining after the allocation thereof pursuant to Section 8(b)(1)(B) shall be allocated next among all Unitholders who hold Units outstanding at the end of the applicable fiscal year whose capital accounts with respect to such Units are in excess of their tax accounts in the ratio that each such Unitholder’s excess bears to all such Unitholders’ excesses. Profit remaining after the allocation described in the preceding sentence shall be allocated among all Unitholders in proportion to their holdings of outstanding Units.
(D) Loss shall be allocated first to each Unitholder who has redeemed any Units during the fiscal year up to the excess, if any, of the amount in such Unitholder’s tax account attributable to the redeemed Units over the amount received upon redemption of the Units.
(E) Loss remaining after the allocation thereof pursuant to Section 8(b)(1)(D) shall be allocated next among all Unitholders who hold Units outstanding at the end of the applicable fiscal year whose tax accounts with respect to such Units are in excess of their capital accounts in the ratio that each such Unitholder’s excess bears to all such Unitholders’ excesses. Loss remaining after the allocation pursuant to the preceding sentence shall be allocated among all Unitholders in proportion to their holding of outstanding Units.
(2) In the event that a Unit has been assigned, the allocations prescribed by this Section 8(b) shall be made with respect to such Unit without regard to the assignment, except that in the year of assignment the allocations prescribed by this Section 8(b) shall, to the extent permitted for federal income tax purposes, be allocated between the assignor and assignee using the interim closing of the books method.
(3) The allocation for federal income tax purposes of profit and loss, as set forth herein, is intended to allocate taxable profit and loss among Unitholders generally in the ratio and to the extent that net profit and net loss are allocated to such Unitholders under Section 8(a) hereof so as to eliminate, to the extent possible, any disparity between a Unitholder’s capital account and his tax account with respect to each Unit then outstanding, consistent with the principles set forth in Section 704(c) of the Code.
(4) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, in the event that at the end of any Trust taxable year any Unitholder’s capital account is adjusted for, or such Unitholder is allocated, or there is distributed to such Unitholder any item described in Treasury Regulation Section 1.704-1(b)(2)(ii)(d)(4), (5) or (6) in an amount not reasonably expected at the end of such year, and such treatment creates a deficit balance in such Unitholder’s capital account, then such Unitholder shall be allocated all items of income and gain of the Trust for such year and for all subsequent taxable years of the Trust until such deficit balance has been eliminated. In the event that any such unexpected adjustments, allocations or distributions create a deficit balance in the capital accounts of more than one Unitholder in any Trust taxable, all items of income and gain of the Trust for such taxable year and all subsequent taxable years shall be allocated among all such Unitholders in proportion to their respective deficit balances until such deficit balances have been eliminated.
(5) The allocations of profit and loss to the Unitholders shall not exceed the allocations permitted under Subchapter K of the Code, as determined by the Managing Owner, whose determination shall be binding.
The Managing Owner may adjust the allocations set forth in this Section 8(b), in the Managing Owner’s discretion, if the Managing Owner believes that doing so will achieve more equitable allocations or allocations more consistent with the Code.
The Trust shall pay no later than the tenth Business Day of each month to the Managing Owner the monthly Brokerage Fee at an annual rate of 5.0% (or approximately 0.4167% per month) of the Trust’s assets (after deduction of the management fee payable to the Trust’s trading advisor) as of the immediately preceding month-end (the “Brokerage Fee Rate”).
Any goods and services provided to the Trust by the Managing Owner shall be provided at rates and terms at least as favorable as those which may be obtained from third parties in arm’s-length negotiations. All of the expenses which are for the Trust’s account shall be billed directly to the Trust, as appropriate. Appropriate reserves may be created, accrued and charged against Net Assets for contingent liabilities, if any, as of the date any such contingent liability becomes known to the Managing Owner.
The Trust shall bear the costs of the continuous offering of the Units (other than selling commissions and ongoing compensation), as incurred; provided that the Managing Owner shall absorb, without reimbursement from the Trust, all such costs to the extent that such costs exceed 0.5% of the Trust’s average month-end Net Assets in any fiscal year. The amount of any such costs borne by the Trust shall be allocated on a pro rata basis to each Unit outstanding at any month-end (determined prior to any redemptions).
Net Assets, for purposes of calculating the 0.5% limitations on continuous offering costs set forth in this Section 8(c), shall be calculated in the same manner as calculation of the redemption value of a Unit, i.e., net of all accrued fees and expenses including any accrued Incentive Fee (but prior to redemption charges).
In no event shall organizational and offering expenses (including redemption fees, but excluding ongoing compensation) exceed 15% of the capital contributions to the Trust.
The Managing Owner shall not allocate any of its internal expenses or overhead to the account of the Trust.
(d) Limited Liability of Unitholders. Each Unit, when purchased in accordance with this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, shall, except as otherwise provided by law, be fully-paid and nonassessable. Any provisions of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust to the contrary notwithstanding, Unitholders (including the Managing Owner, except to the extent otherwise provided herein) shall be entitled to the same limitation on personal liability extended to stockholders of private corporations for profit organized under the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.
The Trust will indemnify, to the full extent permitted by law, each Unitholder (other than the Managing Owner in the event that the Managing Owner acquires Units) against any claims of liability asserted against such Unitholder solely because such Unitholder is a beneficial owner of the Trust (other than in respect of taxes due from such Unitholder as such a beneficial owner).
Every written note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or undertaking made or issued by the Managing Owner shall give notice to the effect that the same was executed or made by or on behalf of the Trust and that the obligations of any of the foregoing are not binding upon the Unitholders individually but are binding only upon the assets and property of the Trust, and that no resort shall be had to the Unitholders’ personal property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim thereunder, and appropriate references may be made to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust and may contain any further recital which the Managing Owner deems appropriate, but the omission thereof shall not operate to bind the Unitholders individually or otherwise invalidate any such note, bond, contract, instrument, certificate or undertaking.
(e) Return of Capital Contributions. No Unit-holder or subsequent assignee shall have any right to demand the return of its capital contribution or any profits added thereto, except through redeeming Units or upon dissolution of the Trust, in each case as provided herein. In no event shall a Unitholder or subsequent assignee be entitled to demand or receive property other than cash.
9. Management of the Trust.
(a) Authority of the Managing Owner. Pursuant to Section 3806 of the Act, the Trust shall be managed by the Managing Owner, and the conduct of the Trust’s business shall be controlled and conducted solely by the Managing Owner in accordance with this Declaration and Agreement of Trust.
The Managing Owner, to the exclusion of all other Unitholders, shall control, conduct and manage the business of the Trust. The Managing Owner shall have sole discretion in determining what distributions of profits and income, if any, shall be made to the Unitholders (subject to the allocation provisions hereof), shall execute various documents on behalf of the Trust and the Unitholders pursuant to powers of attorney and shall supervise the liquidation of the Trust if an event causing dissolution of the Trust occurs.
The Managing Owner may, in furtherance of the business of the Trust, cause the Trust to buy, sell, hold or otherwise acquire or dispose of commodities, futures contracts, options on futures contracts, and spot and forward contracts traded on exchanges or otherwise, arbitrage positions, repurchase agreements, interest-bearing securities, deposit accounts and similar instruments and other assets, and cause the trading of the Trust to be limited to only certain of the foregoing instruments. The Managing Owner is specifically authorized to enter into brokerage, custodial and margining arrangements as described in the prospectus relating to the public offering of the Units, as it may be supplemented or updated from time to time (the “Prospectus”). The Managing Owner may engage, and compensate on behalf of the Trust from funds of the Trust, or agree to share profits and losses with, such persons, firms or corporations, including (except as described in this Declaration and Agreement of Trust) the Managing Owner and any affiliated person or entity, as the Managing Owner in its sole judgment shall deem advisable for the conduct and operation of the business of the Trust; provided, that no such arrangement shall allow brokerage commissions paid by the Trust in excess of such amount as permitted under the North American Securities Administrators Association, Inc. Guidelines for the Registration of Commodity Pool Programs (the “NASAA Guidelines”) in effect as of the date of the Prospectus (i.e., 14% annually — including pit brokerage and service fees — of the Trust’s average Net Assets, excluding the assets, if any, not directly related to trading activity). The Managing Owner shall reimburse the Trust, on an annual basis, to the extent that the Trust’s brokerage commissions have exceeded 14% of the Trust’s average Net Assets during the preceding year.
During any fiscal year of the Trust, if the management fee exceeds the 6% annual management fee contemplated by the NASAA Guidelines, the Managing Owner shall reimburse the Trust for such excess.
The Managing Owner may take such other actions on behalf of the Trust as the Managing Owner deems necessary or desirable to manage the business of the Trust.
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Any material change in the Trust’s basic investment policies or structure shall require the approval of Unitholders owning more than 50% of the Units then outstanding. In addition, the Managing Owner shall notify Unitholders of any material changes relating to the Trust as provided in Section 10 hereof.
The Managing Owner is hereby authorized to perform all duties imposed by Sections 6221 through 6232 of the Code on the Managing Owner as the “tax matters partner” of the Trust.
(b) Fiduciary Duties. The Managing Owner shall be under a fiduciary duty to conduct the affairs of the Trust in the best interests of the Trust, provided that the Managing Owner shall not be obligated to engage in any conduct on behalf of the Trust to the detriment of any other commodity pool to which the Managing Owner owes similar fiduciary duties. Except as otherwise provided herein or disclosed in the Prospectus, the Unitholders will under no circumstances be deemed to have contracted away the fiduciary obligations owed them by the Managing Owner under the common law. The Managing Owner’s fiduciary duty includes, among other things, the safekeeping of all funds and assets of the Trust and the use thereof for the benefit of the Trust. The funds of the Trust will not be commingled with the funds of any other person or entity (deposit of funds with a commodity or securities broker, clearinghouse or forward dealer shall not be deemed to constitute “commingling” for these purposes). The Managing Owner will take no actions with respect to the property of the Trust which do not benefit the Trust. The Managing Owner shall at all times act with integrity and good faith and exercise due diligence in all activities relating to the conduct of the business of the Trust and in resolving conflicts of interest.
(c) Loans; Investments. Except as otherwise provided in Section 8(c), the Trust shall not make loans to any party. The Managing Owner shall make no loans to the Trust unless approved by the Unitholders in accordance with Section 19(a). If the Managing Owner makes a loan to the Trust, the Managing Owner shall not receive interest in excess of its interest costs, nor may the Managing Owner receive interest in excess of the amounts which would be charged to the Trust (without reference to the Managing Owner’s financial resources or guarantees) by unrelated banks on comparable loans for the same purpose. The Managing Owner shall not receive “points” or other financing charges or fees regardless of the amount. The Trust shall not invest in any debt instruments other than Government Securities and other Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”)-authorized investments, or invest in any equity security without prior notice to Unitholders.
(d) Certain Conflicts of Interest Prohibited. No person or entity may receive, directly or indirectly, any advisory or management fees, profit shares or any profit-sharing allocation, from joint ventures, partnerships or similar arrangements in which the Trust participates, for investment advice or management who shares or participates in any commodity brokerage commissions paid by the Trust; no broker may pay, directly or indirectly, rebates or give-ups to any trading advisor, manager or joint venturer, or to the Managing Owner or any of its affiliates; and such prohibitions may not be circumvented by any reciprocal business arrangements. No trading advisor shall be affiliated with the Trust’s commodity broker or any of its affiliates.
(e) Certain Agreements. Any agreements between the Trust and the Managing Owner or any affiliate of the Managing Owner, or a trading advisor, shall be terminable by the Trust, without penalty, on no more than 60 days’ written notice.
In addition to any specific contract or agreements described herein, the Trust and the Managing Owner on behalf of the Trust may enter into any other contracts or agreements specifically described in or contemplated by the Prospectus without any further act, approval or vote of the Unitholders, notwithstanding any other provisions of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, the Act or any applicable laws, rules or regulations; provided, however, any material change in the Trust’s basic investment policies or structure shall require the approval of Unitholders owning more than 50% of the Units then outstanding and the Managing Owner shall notify Unitholders of any material changes relating to the Trust as provided in Section 10 hereof.
The Managing Owner shall not enter into any advisory agreement with any trading advisor that does not satisfy the relevant experience requirements under the NASAA Guidelines (i.e., a minimum of three years’ experience in the managed futures industry).
The maximum period covered by any contract entered into by the Trust, except for the various provisions of the Selling Agreement which survive the final closing of the sale of the Units, shall not exceed one year.
The brokerage commissions paid by the Trust shall be competitive. The Trust shall seek the best price and services available for its commodity transactions.
R.J. O’Brien & Associates, LLC credits the Trust with interest at 100% of the Trust’s average daily U.S. dollar balances on deposit with R.J. O’Brien & Associates, LLC during each month at 75% of the average 91-day Treasury bill rate and at LIBOR less 1.0% in respect of non-U.S. dollar deposits, or as otherwise disclosed in the prospectus. The economic benefit from the possession of the Trust’s assets in excess of the interest credited by R.J. O’Brien & Associates, LLC to the Trust will be retained by R.J. O’Brien & Associates, LLC. The Trust and the Managing Owner reserve the right to deposit, at any time, a portion of the Trust assets with a custodian and engage the services of a third-party cash manager to manage such assets with the goal of enhancing net return on such assets.”
(f) Prohibition on “Pyramiding.” The Trust is prohibited from employing the trading technique commonly known as “pyramiding.” A trading manager or advisor of the Trust taking into account the Trust’s open-trade equity on existing positions in determining generally whether to acquire additional commodity positions on behalf of the Trust will not be considered to be engaging in “pyramiding.”
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(g) Freedom of Action. The Managing Owner is engaged, and may in the future engage, in other business activities and shall not be required to refrain from any other activity nor forgo any profits from any such activity, whether or not in competition with the Trust. Neither the Trust nor any of the Unitholders shall have any rights by virtue of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust in and to such independent ventures or the income or profits derived therefrom. Unitholders may similarly engage in any such other business activities. The Managing Owner shall devote to the Trust such time as the Managing Owner may deem advisable to conduct the Trust’s business and affairs.
10. Audits and Reports to Unitholders.
The Trust’s books shall be audited annually by an independent certified public accountant. The Trust shall cause each Unitholder to receive (i) within 90 days after the close of each fiscal year certified financial statements for the fiscal year then ended, (ii) within 90 days of the end of each fiscal year (but in no event later than March 15 of each year) such tax information as is necessary for a Unitholder to complete its federal income tax return and (iii) such other annual and monthly information as the CFTC may by regulation require. The Managing Owner shall include in the annual reports sent to Unitholders an approximate estimate (calculated as accurately as may be reasonably practicable) of the round-turn equivalent brokerage commission rate paid by the Trust during the preceding year (including forward contracts on a futures-equivalent basis for purposes of such calculation).
Unitholders or their duly authorized representatives may inspect the books and records of the Trust, (which do not include records of the Trust’s trades) during normal business hours upon reasonable written notice to the Managing Owner and obtain copies of such records upon payment of reasonable reproduction costs; provided, however, that upon request by the Managing Owner, the requesting Unitholder shall represent that the inspection and/or copies of such records will not be used for commercial purposes unrelated to such Unitholder’s interest as a beneficial owner of the Trust. The Managing Owner shall have the right to keep confidential from the Unitholders, for such period of time as the Managing Owner deems reasonable, any information that the Managing Owner reasonably believes to be in the nature of trade secrets or other information the disclosure of which the Managing Owner in good faith believes is not in the best interest of the Trust or could damage the Trust or its business or which the Trust is required by law or by agreement with a third party to keep confidential.
The Managing Owner shall calculate the Net Asset Value per Unit on a monthly basis and sell and redeem Units at Net Asset Value.
The Managing Owner shall notify the Unitholders of (i) changes to the trading method of the Trust’s trading advisor which the Managing Owner believes to be material, (ii) changes in Brokerage Fee, incentive fee or other fees paid by the Trust or (iii) material changes in the basic investment policies or structure of the Trust. The Managing Owner shall so notify Unitholders, by certified mail or other means of notification providing for evidence of delivery, prior to any such change. Such notification shall contain a ballot (if applicable), a description of the Unitholders’ voting and redemption rights, and a description of any material effect of such change. The Managing Owner will send written notice to each Unitholder within seven days of any decline in the Net Asset Value per Unit to 50% or less of such value as of the previous month-end. Any such notice shall contain a description of the Unitholders’ voting and redemption rights. The Trust shall pay the cost of any notification delivered pursuant to this paragraph.
The Managing Owner shall prepare or cause to be prepared and shall file on or before the due date (or any extension thereof) any federal, state or local tax returns required to be filed by the Trust. The Managing Owner shall cause the Trust to pay any taxes payable by the Trust; provided, however, that such taxes need not be paid if the Managing Owner or the Trust is in good faith and by appropriate legal proceedings contesting the validity, applicability or amount thereof, and such contest does not materially endanger any right or interest of the Trust.
The Managing Owner shall maintain and preserve all required records relating to the Trust for a period of not less than six years from the receipt of such records.
In particular, and not by way of limitation, the Managing Owner will retain all Subscription Agreement and Power of Attorney Signature Pages submitted by persons admitted as Unitholders, and all other records necessary to substantiate that Units are sold only to purchasers for whom the Units are a suitable investment, for at least six years after Units are sold to such persons.
The Managing Owner shall seek the best price and services for the Trust’s trading, and will, with the assistance of the Trust’s commodity broker(s), make an annual review of the commodity brokerage arrangements applicable to the Trust. Not by way of qualifying the Managing Owner’s obligations to ensure that the Trust’s brokerage arrangements are competitive, but rather as a means of providing additional information to the Unitholders, in connection with such review, the Managing Owner will ascertain, to the extent practicable, the commodity brokerage rates charged to other major commodity pools whose trading and operations are, in the opinion of the Managing Owner, comparable to those of the Trust, in order to assess whether the rates charged the Trust are reasonable in light of the services it receives and the terms upon which the Trust was promoted to subscribers. If, as a result of such review, the Managing Owner determines that such rates are unreasonable in light of the services provided to the Trust and the terms upon which the Trust was promoted, the Managing Owner will notify the Unitholders, setting forth the rates charged to the Trust and several funds which are, in the Managing Owner’s opinion, comparable to the Trust. The Managing Owner shall also make an annual review of the spot and forward trading arrangements for the Trust in an attempt to determine whether such arrangements are competitive with those of other comparable pools in light of the circumstances.
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In addition to the undertakings in the preceding paragraph, the Trust will seek the best price and services available on its commodity brokerage transactions. All brokerage transactions will be effected at competitive rates. Brokerage commissions may not exceed the cap set forth in Section 9(a). The Managing Owner will annually review the brokerage rates paid by the Trust to guarantee that the criteria set forth in this paragraph are followed. The Managing Owner may not rely solely on the rates charged by other major commodity pools in complying with this paragraph.
11 Assignability of Units.
Each Unitholder expressly agrees that it will not assign, transfer or dispose of, by gift or otherwise, any of its Units or any part or all of its right, title and interest in the capital or profits of the Trust in violation of any applicable federal or state securities laws or, except by involuntary operation of law, without giving written notice to the Managing Owner. No assignment, transfer or disposition by an assignee of Units or of any part of its right, title and interest in the capital or profits of the Trust shall be effective against the Trust, the Trustee or the Managing Owner until the Managing Owner has received the written notice of the assignment; the Managing Owner shall not be required to give any assignee any rights hereunder prior to receipt of such notice. The Managing Owner may, in its sole discretion, waive any such notice. No such assignee, except with the consent of the Managing Owner, may become a substituted Unitholder, nor will the estate or any beneficiary of a deceased Unitholder or assignee have any right to redeem Units from the Trust except by redemption as provided in Section 12 hereof. The Managing Owner’s consent is required for the admission of a substituted Unitholder, and the Managing Owner intends to so consent; provided, that the Managing Owner and the Trust receive an opinion of counsel to the Managing Owner and of counsel to the Trust that such admission will not adversely affect the classification of the Trust as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; and provided further, that an assignee shall not become a substituted Unitholder without first having executed an instrument reasonably satisfactory to the Managing Owner accepting and adopting the terms and provisions of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, including a Subscription Agreement and Power of Attorney Signature Page, a counterpart signature page to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust or other comparable document, and without having paid to the Trust a fee sufficient to cover all reasonable expenses of the Trust in connection with its admission as a substituted Unitholder. Each Unitholder agrees that with the consent of the Managing Owner any assignee may become a substituted Unitholder without need of the further act or approval of any Unitholder. If the Managing Owner withholds consent, an assignee shall not become a substituted Unitholder, and shall not have any of the rights of a Unitholder, except that the assignee shall be entitled to receive that share of capital and profits and shall have that right of redemption to which its assignor would otherwise have been entitled. No assignment, transfer or disposition of Units shall be effective against the Trust or the Managing Owner until the last day of the month in which the Managing Owner receives notice of such assignment, transfer or disposition.
12. Redemptions.
A Unitholder (including the Managing Owner except to the extent that its power to redeem is limited by any other provision of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust) to the extent that it owns Units or any assignee of Units of whom the Managing Owner has received written notice as described above, may redeem all or part of its Units, effective as of the close of business (as determined by the Managing Owner) on the last day of any month, provided, that (i) all liabilities, contingent or otherwise, of the Trust, except any liability to Unitholders on account of their capital contributions, have been paid or there remains property of the Trust sufficient to pay them, (ii) the Unitholder redeems at least $1,000 of Units, (iii) in the case of partial redemption, such Unitholder’s investment in the Trust after the partial redemption will be at least $1,000, and (iv) the Managing Owner shall have timely received a request for redemption (as provided below). If Units are redeemed by a Unitholder at a time when there is an accrued incentive fee due to the Trust’s trading advisor, the amount of such accrual attributable to the Units being redeemed will be deducted from the redemption proceeds payable to the redeeming Unitholder and paid to the Trust’s trading advisor. Units redeemed on or before the end of the eleventh full calendar month after such Units are issued by the Trust are subject to early redemption charges of 2% of the Net Asset Value at which they are redeemed. Such charges will be deducted from redemption proceeds due to the Unitholder making the redemption and will be paid to the Managing Owner. Units are issued, for purposes of determining whether an early redemption charge is due, as of the date as of which the subscription price of such Units is invested in the Trust, not when subscriptions are submitted by Unitholders or accepted by the Managing Owner or subscription funds are accepted into escrow. No redemption charges shall be applicable to Unitholders who redeem because the Trust’s expenses have been increased.
In the event that a Unitholder acquires Units as of the end of more than one month, such Units will be treated on a “first-in, first-out” basis for purposes of identifying which of such Units are being redeemed so as to determine whether early redemption charges apply.
Requests for redemption as of any month-end must be received by the Managing Owner on or before the fifth business day prior to the month-end of redemption (including the last business day of the month), or such later date as shall be acceptable to the Managing Owner.
If as of the close of business (as determined by the Managing Owner) on any day, the Net Asset Value of a Unit has decreased to less than 50% of the Net Asset Value per Unit as of the previous highest month-end Net Asset Value per Unit or to $50 or less, after adding back all distributions, the Managing Owner shall cause the Trust to liquidate all open positions as expeditiously as possible and suspend trading. Within ten business days after the suspension of trading, the Managing Owner shall declare a Special Redemption Date. Such Special Redemption Date shall be a business day within 30 business days from the suspension of trading by the Trust,
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and the Managing Owner shall mail notice of such date to each Unitholder and assignee of Units of whom it has received written notice as described above, by first-class mail, postage prepaid, not later than ten business days prior to such Special Redemption Date, together with instructions as to the procedure such Unitholder or assignee must follow to have its Units redeemed on such Date (only entire, not partial, interests in the Trust may be redeemed on a Special Redemption Date, unless otherwise determined by the Managing Owner). Upon redemption pursuant to a Special Redemption Date, a Unitholder or any other assignee of whom the Managing Owner has received written notice as described above, shall receive from the Trust an amount equal to the Net Asset Value of its Units, determined as of the close of business (as determined by the Managing Owner) on such Special Redemption Date. No redemption charges shall be assessed on any such Special Redemption Date. As in the case of a regular redemption, an assignee shall not be entitled to redemption until the Managing Owner has received written notice as described above of the assignment, transfer or disposition under which the assignee claims an interest in the Units to be redeemed. If, after a Special Redemption Date, the Net Assets of the Trust are at least $1,000,000 and the Net Asset Value per Unit is in excess of $25, the Trust may, in the discretion of the Managing Owner, resume trading.
The Managing Owner may at any time and in its discretion declare a Special Redemption Date, should the Managing Owner determine that it is in the best interests of the Trust to do so. If the Managing Owner declares a Special Redemption Date, the Managing Owner shall not be required to again call a Special Redemption Date (whether or not a Special Redemption Date would otherwise be required to be called as described above); and the Managing Owner in its notice of a Special Redemption Date may, at its discretion, establish the conditions, if any, under which other Special Redemption Dates must be called, which conditions may be determined in the sole discretion of the Managing Owner, irrespective of the provisions of the preceding paragraph. The Managing Owner may also, in its discretion, declare additional regular redemption dates for Units, permit certain Unitholders to redeem at other than at month-end and waive the notice period otherwise required to effect redemptions.
Redemption payments will be made within ten business days after the month-end of redemption, except that under special circumstances, including, but not limited to, inability to liquidate commodity positions as of a redemption date or default or delay in payments due the Trust from commodity brokers, banks or other persons or entities, the Trust may in turn delay payment to Unitholders or assignees requesting redemption of their Units of the proportionate part of the Net Asset Value of such Units equal to the proportionate part of the Trust’s aggregate Net Asset Value represented by the sums which are the subject of such default or delay.
The Managing Owner may require a Unitholder to redeem all or a portion of such Unitholder’s Units if the Managing Owner considers doing so to be desirable for the protection of the Trust, and will use best efforts to do so to the extent necessary to prevent the Trust from being deemed to hold “plan assets” under the provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) or the Code, with respect to any “employee benefit plan” subject to ERISA or with respect to any “plan” or “account” subject to Section 4975 of the Code.
13. Offering of Units.
The Managing Owner, on behalf of the Trust shall (i) cause to be filed a Registration Statement or Registration Statements, and such amendments thereto as the Managing Owner may deem advisable or necessary, with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the registration and continuous public offering of the Units, (ii) use its best efforts to qualify the Units for sale under the securities laws of such States of the United States or other jurisdictions as the Managing Owner may deem advisable and (iii) take such action with respect to the matters described in (i) and (ii) as the Managing Owner may deem advisable or necessary.
Fractional Units, calculated to five decimal places, may be sold.
All sales of Units in the United States will be conducted by registered brokers.
The Managing Owner shall not accept any subscriptions for Units if doing so would cause the Trust to hold “plan assets” under ERISA or the Code with respect to any “employee benefit plan” subject to ERISA or with respect to any “plan” or “account “ subject to Section 4975 of the Code. If a subscriber has its subscription reduced for such reason, such subscriber shall be entitled to rescind its subscription in its entirety even though subscriptions are otherwise irrevocable.
All subscriptions will be held in escrow by The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (the “Escrow Agent”) until released as of the last business day of the month. The interest actually earned on subscriptions funds while held by the Escrow Agent will be invested in the Trust, and each subscriber will be issued additional Units reflecting the subscriber’s attributable share of such interest. The Managing Owner may terminate any offering of Units at any time. The aggregate of all capital contributions shall be available to the Trust to carry on its business, and no interest shall be paid by the Trust on any such contributions after such contributions are released by the Escrow Agent.
14. Additional Offerings.
The Managing Owner may, in its discretion, continue, suspend or discontinue the public offering of the Units, as well as make additional public or private offerings of Units, provided that the net proceeds to the Trust of any such sales shall in no event be less than the Net Asset Value per Unit (as defined in Section 5(d)) at the time of sale (unless the new Unit’s participation in the profits and losses of the Trust is appropriately adjusted). No Unitholder shall have any preemptive, preferential or other rights with respect to the issuance or sale of any additional Units, other than as set forth in the preceding sentence.
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15. Special Power of Attorney.
Each Unitholder by virtue of having purchased or otherwise acquired Units does hereby irrevocably constitute and appoint the Managing Owner and each officer of the Managing Owner, with full power of substitution, as its true and lawful attorney-in-fact, in its name, place and stead, to execute, acknowledge, swear to (and deliver as may be appropriate) on its behalf and file and record in the appropriate public offices and publish (as may in the reasonable judgment of the Managing Owner be required by law): (i) this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, including any amendments and/or restatements hereto duly adopted as provided herein; (ii) certificates in various jurisdictions, and amendments and/or restatements thereto; (iii) all conveyances and other instruments which the Managing Owner deems appropriate to qualify or continue the Trust in the State of Delaware and the jurisdictions in which the Trust may conduct business, or which may be required to be filed by the Trust or the Unitholders under the laws of any jurisdiction or under any amendments or successor statutes to the Act, to reflect the dissolution or termination of the Trust or the Trust being governed by any amendments or successor statutes to the Act or to reorganize or refile the Trust in a different jurisdiction; and (iv) to file, prosecute, defend, settle or compromise litigation, claims or arbitrations on behalf of the Trust. The Power of Attorney granted herein shall be irrevocable and deemed to be a power coupled with an interest (including, without limitation, the interest of the other Unitholders in the Managing Owner being able to rely on its authority to act as contemplated by this Section 15) and shall survive and shall not be affected by the subsequent incapacity, disability or death of a Unitholder.
16. Withdrawal of a Unitholder.
The Trust shall be dissolved upon the death, insanity, bankruptcy, retirement, resignation, expulsion, withdrawal, insolvency or dissolution of the Managing Owner, or any other event that causes the Managing Owner to cease to be the managing owner of the Trust, unless the Trust is continued pursuant to the terms of Section 5(a)(3). In addition, the Managing Owner may withdraw from the Trust, without any breach of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, at any time upon 120 days’ written notice by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the Trustee, each Unitholder and each assignee of whom the Managing Owner has notice. If the Managing Owner withdraws from the Trust and all Unitholders agree in writing to continue the business of the Trust and to the appointment, effective as of the date of withdrawal of the Managing Owner, of one or more managing owners, the Managing Owner shall pay all expenses incurred as a result of its withdrawal. Upon removal or withdrawal, the Managing Owner shall be entitled to redeem its interest in the Trust at its Net Asset Value on the next valuation date following the date of removal or withdrawal.
The Managing Owner may not assign its general liability interest or its obligation to manage the Trust without the consent of each Unitholder; provided, however, that the consent of Unitholders is not required if the Managing Owner assigns its general liability interest and its obligation to manage the Trust to an entity controlling, controlled by or under common control with the Managing Owner, provided that such entity (i) expressly assumes all obligations of the Managing Owner under this Declaration and Agreement of Trust and (ii) is entitled to act in the capacity of managing owner for the benefit of the Trust. The Managing Owner shall notify all Unitholders of such assignment. The Managing Owner will notify all Unitholders of any change in the principals of the Managing Owner.
The death, incompetency, withdrawal, insolvency or dissolution of a Unitholder or any other event that causes a Unitholder to cease to be a beneficial owner (within the meaning of the Act) in the Trust shall not terminate or dissolve the Trust, and a Unitholder, the Unitholder’s estate, custodian or personal representative shall have no right to redeem or value such Unitholder’s interest except as provided in Section 12 hereof. Each Unitholder that is a natural person expressly agrees that in the event of his or her death, he or she waives on behalf of himself or herself and his or her estate, and directs the legal representatives of his or her estate and any person interested therein to waive, the furnishing of any inventory, accounting or appraisal of the assets of the Trust and any right to an audit or examination of the books of the Trust. Nothing in this Section 16 shall, however, waive any right given elsewhere in this Declaration and Agreement of Trust for Unitholders to be informed of the Net Asset Value of their Units, to receive periodic reports, audited financial statements and other information from the Managing Owner or the Trust or to redeem or transfer Units.
17. Benefit Plan Investors.
Each Unitholder or assignee that is an “employee benefit plan” as defined in and subject to ERISA, or a “plan” as defined in Section 4975 of the Code (each such employee benefit plan and plan, a “Plan”), and each fiduciary thereof who has caused the Plan to become a Unitholder or assignee (a “Plan Fiduciary”), represents and warrants that: (a) the Plan Fiduciary has considered an investment in the Trust by such Plan in light of the risks relating thereto; (b) the Plan Fiduciary has determined that, in view of such considerations, the investment in the Trust by the Plan is consistent with the Plan Fiduciary’s responsibilities under ERISA; (c) the investment in the Trust by the Plan does not violate, and is not otherwise inconsistent with, the terms of any legal document constituting the Plan or any trust agreement thereunder; (d) the Plan’s investment in the Trust has been duly authorized and approved by all necessary parties; (e) none of the Managing Owner, the Trustee, the Escrow Agent, any of their respective affiliates or any of their respective agents or employees: (i) has investment discretion with respect to the investment of assets of the Plan used to purchase Units; (ii) has authority or responsibility to or regularly gives investment advice with respect to the assets of the Plan used to purchase Units for a fee and pursuant to an agreement or understanding that such advice will serve as a primary basis for investment decisions with respect to the Plan and that such advice will be based on the particular investment needs of the Plan; or (iii) is an employer maintaining or contributing to the Plan; and (f) the Plan Fiduciary:
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(i) is authorized to make, and is responsible for, the decision of the Plan to invest in the Trust, including the determination that such investment is consistent with the requirement imposed by Section 404 of ERISA that Plan investments be diversified so as to minimize the risks of large losses; (ii) is independent of the Managing Owner, the Trustee, the Escrow Agent, and any of their respective affiliates; and (iii) is qualified to make such investment decision.
18. Standard of Liability; Indemnification.
(a) Standard of Liability for the Managing Owner. The Managing Owner and its Affiliates, as defined below, shall have no liability to the Trust or to any Unitholder for any loss suffered by the Trust which arises out of any action or inaction of the Managing Owner or its Affiliates, if the Managing Owner, in good faith, determined that such course of conduct was in the best interests of the Trust, and such course of conduct did not constitute negligence or misconduct of the Managing Owner or its Affiliates.
(b) Indemnification of the Managing Owner by the Trust. To the fullest extent permitted by law, subject to this Section 18, the Managing Owner and its Affiliates shall be indemnified by the Trust against any losses, judgments, liabilities, expenses and amounts paid in settlement of any claims sustained by them in connection with the Trust; provided that such claims were not the result of negligence or misconduct on the part of the Managing Owner or its Affiliates, and the Managing Owner, in good faith, determined that such conduct was in the best interests of the Trust; and provided further that Affiliates of the Managing Owner shall be entitled to indemnification only for losses incurred by such Affiliates in performing the duties of the Managing Owner and acting wholly within the scope of the authority of the Managing Owner.
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the preceding two paragraphs, the Managing Owner and its Affiliates and any persons acting as selling agent for the Units shall not be indemnified for any losses, liabilities or expenses arising from or out of an alleged violation of federal or state securities laws unless (1) there has been a successful adjudication on the merits of each count involving alleged securities law violations as to the particular indemnitee and the court approves indemnification of the litigation costs, or (2) such claims have been dismissed with prejudice on the merits by a court of competent jurisdiction as to the particular indemnitee and the court approves indemnification of the litigation costs, or (3) a court of competent jurisdiction approves a settlement of the claims against a particular indemnitee and finds that indemnification of the settlement and related costs should be made.
In any claim for indemnification for federal or state securities law violations, the party seeking indemnification shall place before the court the position of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the California Department of Corporations, the Massachusetts Securities Division, the Missouri Securities Division, the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, the Tennessee Securities Division, the Texas Securities Board and any other state or applicable regulatory authority with respect to the issue of indemnification for securities law violations.
The Trust shall not bear the cost of that portion of any insurance which insures any party against any liability the indemnification of which is herein prohibited.
For the purposes of this Section 18, the term “Affiliates” shall mean any person acting on behalf of or performing services on behalf of the Trust who: (1) directly or indirectly controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Managing Owner; or (2) owns or controls 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of the Managing Owner; or (3) is an officer or director of the Managing Owner; or (4) if the Managing Owner is an officer, director, partner or trustee, is any entity for which the Managing Owner acts in any such capacity.
Advances from the funds of the Trust to the Managing Owner or its Affiliates for legal expenses and other costs incurred as a result of any legal action initiated against the Managing Owner by a Unitholder are prohibited.
Advances from the funds of the Trust to the Managing Owner or its Affiliates for legal expenses and other costs incurred as a result of a legal action will be made only if the following three conditions are satisfied: (1) the legal action relates to the performance of duties or services by the Managing Owner or its Affiliates on behalf of the Trust; (2) the legal action is initiated by a third party who is not a Unitholder; and (3) the Managing Owner or its Affiliates undertake to repay the advanced funds, with interest from the initial date of such advance, to the Trust in cases in which they would not be entitled to indemnification under the standard of liability set forth in Section 18(a).
In no event shall any indemnity or exculpation provided for herein be more favorable to the Managing Owner or any Affiliate than that contemplated by the NASAA Guidelines as in effect on the date of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust.
In no event shall any indemnification permitted by this subsection (b) of Section 18 be made by the Trust unless all provisions of this Section for the payment of indemnification have been complied with in all respects. Furthermore, it shall be a precondition of any such indemnification that the Trust receive a determination of qualified independent legal counsel in a written opinion that the party which seeks to be indemnified hereunder has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth herein. Receipt of any such opinion shall not, however, in itself, entitle any such party to indemnification unless indemnification is otherwise proper hereunder. Any indemnification payable by the Trust hereunder shall be made only as provided in the specific case.
In no event shall any indemnification obligations of the Trust under this subsection (b) of Section 18 subject a Unitholder to any liability in excess of the capital contributed by such Unitholder, his or her share of undistributed profits and assets and the amount of any distributions wrongfully distributed to such Unitholder.
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(c) Indemnification by the Unitholders. In the event that the Trust is made a party to any claim, dispute or litigation or otherwise incurs any loss or expense as a result of or in connection with any activities of a Unitholder, obligations or liabilities unrelated to the business of the Trust or as a result of or in connection with a transfer, assignment or other disposition or an attempted transfer, assignment or other disposition by a Unitholder or an assignee of its Units or of any part of its right, title and interest in the capital or profits of the Trust in violation of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, such Unitholder shall indemnify and reimburse the Trust for all loss and expense incurred, including reasonable attorneys’ fees.
The Managing Owner shall indemnify and hold the Trust harmless from all loss or expense which the Trust may incur (including, without limitation, any indemnify payments) as a result of the difference between the standard of liability and indemnity under the Trading Advisory Agreement and the Customer Agreement, on the one hand, and the Managing Owner’s standards of liability as set forth herein, on the other hand.
19. Amendments; Meetings.
(a) Amendments with Consent of the Managing Owner. If at any time during the term of the Trust the Managing Owner shall deem it necessary or desirable to amend this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, the Managing Owner may proceed to do so, provided that such amendment shall be effective only if embodied in an instrument approved by the Managing Owner and, pursuant to a vote called by the Managing Owner, by the holders of Units representing a majority of the outstanding Units. Such vote shall be taken at least 30 but not more than 60 days after delivery by the Managing Owner to each Unitholder of record by certified mail of notice of the proposed amendment and voting procedures. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Managing Owner may amend this Declaration and Agreement of Trust without the consent of the Unitholders in order (i) to clarify any clerical inaccuracy or ambiguity or reconcile any inconsistency (including any inconsistency between this Declaration and Agreement of Trust and the Prospectus), (ii) to effect the intent of the allocations proposed herein to the maximum extent possible in the event of a change in the Code or the interpretations thereof affecting such allocations, (iii) to attempt to ensure that the Trust is not treated as an association taxable as a corporation for federal income tax purposes, (iv) to qualify or maintain the qualification of the Trust as a trust in any jurisdiction, (v) to delete or add any provision of or to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust required to be deleted or added by the Staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal agency or any state “Blue Sky” or similar official or in order to opt to be governed by any amendment or successor statute to the Act, (vi) to make any amendment to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust which the Managing Owner deems advisable, provided that such amendment is for the benefit of and not adverse to the Unitholders or the Trustee, or that is required by law, (vii) to make any amendment that is appropriate or necessary, in the opinion of the Managing Owner, to prevent the Trust or the Managing Owner or its directors, officers or controlling persons from in any manner being subjected to the provisions of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or to avoid causing the assets of the Trust from being considered for any purpose of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code to constitute assets of any “employee benefit plan,” as defined in and subject to ERISA, or of a “plan,” as defined in and subject to Section 4975 of the Code.
(b) Amendments and Actions without Consent of the Managing Owner. In any vote called by the Managing Owner or pursuant to subsection (c) of this Section 19, upon the affirmative vote (which may be in person or by proxy) of more than 50% of the Units then owned by Unitholders, the following actions may be taken with respect to the Trust, irrespective of whether the Managing Owner concurs: (i) this Declaration and Agreement of Trust may be amended, provided, however, that approval of all Unitholders shall be required in the case of amendments changing or altering this Section 19 or extending the term of the Trust; in addition, reduction of the capital account of any Unitholder or assignee or modification of the percentage of profits, losses or distributions to which a Unitholder or an assignee is entitled hereunder shall not be effected by any amendment or supplement to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust without such Unitholder’s or assignee’s written consent; (ii) the Trust may be dissolved; (iii) the Managing Owner may be removed and replaced; (iv) a new managing owner or managing owners may be elected if the Managing Owner withdraws from the Trust; (v) the sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Trust may be approved; and (vi) any contract with the Managing Owner or any affiliate thereof may be disapproved and, as a result, terminated upon 60 days’ notice.
(c) Meetings; Other. Any Unitholder upon request addressed to the Managing Owner shall be entitled to obtain from the Managing Owner, upon payment in advance of reasonable reproduction and mailing costs, a list of the names and addresses of record of all Unitholders and the number of Units held by each (which shall be mailed by the Managing Owner to the Unitholder within ten days of the receipt of the request); provided, that the Managing Owner may require any Unitholder requesting such information to submit written confirmation that such information will not be used for commercial purposes. Upon receipt of a written proposal, signed by Unitholders owning Units representing at least 10% of all Units then owned by Unitholders, that a meeting of the Trust be called to vote upon any matter upon which the Unitholders may vote pursuant to this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, the Managing Owner shall, by written notice to each Unitholder of record sent by certified mail within 15 days after such receipt, call a meeting of the Trust. Such meeting shall be held at least 30 but not more than 60 days after the mailing of such notice, and such notice shall specify the date of, a reasonable place and time for, and the purpose of such meeting. Such notice shall establish a record date for Units entitled to vote at the meeting, which shall be not more than 15 days prior to the date established for such meeting.
The Managing Owner may not restrict the voting rights of Unitholders as set forth herein.
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(d) Consent by Trustee. The Trustee’s written consent to any amendment of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust shall be required, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld; provided, however, that the Trustee may, in its sole discretion, withhold its consent to any such amendment that would adversely affect any right, duty or liability of, or immunity or indemnity in favor of, the Trustee under this Declaration and Agreement of Trust or any of the documents contemplated hereby to which the Trustee is a party, or would cause or result in any conflict with or breach of any terms, conditions or provisions of, or default under, the charter documents or by-laws of the Trustee or any document contemplated hereby to which the Trustee is a party; provided further, that the Trustee may not withhold consent for any action listed in subsections 19(b)(ii)-(vi). Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Declaration and Agreement of Trust, the Trustee may immediately resign if, in its sole discretion, the Trustee determines that the Unitholders’ actions pursuant to subsections 19(b)(i)-(vi) would adversely affect the Trustee in any manner.
20. Governing Law.
The validity and construction of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust shall be determined and governed by the laws of the State of Delaware without regard to principles of conflicts of law; provided, that causes of action for violations of federal or state securities laws shall not be governed by this Section 20.
21. Miscellaneous.
(a) Notices. All notices under this Declaration and Agreement of Trust shall be in writing and shall be effective upon personal delivery, or if sent by first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the last known address of the party to whom such notice is to be given, upon the deposit of such notice in the United States mails.
(b) Binding Effect. This Declaration and Agreement of Trust shall inure to and be binding upon all of the parties, their successors and assigns, custodians, estates, heirs and personal representatives. For purposes of determining the rights of any Unitholder or assignee hereunder, the Trust and the Managing Owner may rely upon the Trust records as to who are Unitholders and assignees, and all Unitholders and assignees agree that their rights shall be determined and they shall be bound thereby.
(c) Captions. Captions in no way define, limit, extend or describe the scope of this Declaration and Agreement of Trust nor the effect of any of its provisions. Any reference to “persons” in this Declaration and Agreement of Trust shall also be deemed to include entities, unless the context otherwise requires.
22. Certain Definitions.
[Reserved]
23. No Legal Title to Trust Estate.
The Unitholders shall not have legal title to any part of the Trust Estate.
24. Legal Title.
Legal title to all the Trust Estate shall be vested in the Trust as a separate legal entity; except where applicable law in any jurisdiction requires any part of the Trust Estate to be vested otherwise, the Managing Owner (or the Trustee, if required by law) may cause legal title to the Trust Estate or any portion thereof to be held by or in the name of the Managing Owner or any other person as nominee.
25. Creditors.
No creditors of any Unitholders shall have any right to obtain possession of, or otherwise exercise legal or equitable remedies with respect to, the Trust Estate.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned have duly executed this Seventh Amended and Restated Declaration and Agreement of Trust and Trust Agreement as of the day and year first above written.
WILMINGTON TRUST COMPANY
By: | /s/ Joseph B. Feil | |
| Name: Joseph B. Feil | |
| Title: Assistant Vice President |
| | | | |
R.J. O’BRIEN FUND MANAGEMENT, LLC
By: | /s/ Annette A. Cazenave | |
| Name: | Annette A. Cazenave | |
| Title: | Senior Vice President |
| | | | |
All Unitholders now and hereafter admitted as Unitholders of the Trust, pursuant to powers of attorney now and hereafter executed in favor of, and granted and delivered to, the Managing Owner.
By: | R.J. O’BRIEN FUND MANAGEMENT, LLC |
| as Attorney-in-Fact | |
| | | |
By: | /s/ Annette A. Cazenave | |
| Name: | Annette A. Cazenave |
| Title: | Senior Vice President | |
| | | | | |
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