constituent corporation as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise, will stand in the same position under the provisions of this Article IX with respect to the resulting or surviving corporation as he or she would have with respect to such constituent corporation if its separate existence had continued. For purposes of this Article IX, references to “fines” 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” include any service as a director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation which imposes duties on, or involves services by, such director, officer, employee or agent with respect to an employee benefit plan, its participants or beneficiaries; and a person who acted in good faith and in a manner he or she reasonably believed to be in the interest of the participants and beneficiaries of an employee benefit plan will be deemed to have acted in a manner “not opposed to the best interests of the Corporation” as referred to in this Article IX.
Section 9.10Survival of Indemnification and Advancement of Expenses
The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this Article IX will, unless otherwise provided when authorized or ratified, continue as to a person who has ceased to be a director, officer, employee or agent of the Corporation and inure to the benefit of the heirs, executors and administrators of such a person.
Section 9.11Limitation on Indemnification
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Article IX to the contrary, except for proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification (which will be governed by Section 9.5), the Corporation is not obligated to indemnify any present or former director or officer in connection with a proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such person unless such proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized or consented to by the Board of Directors of the Corporation.
Section 9.12Indemnification of Employees and Agents
The Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, provide rights to indemnification and to the advancement of expenses to employees and agents of the Corporation similar to those conferred in this Article IX to directors and officers of the Corporation.
Section 9.13Enforceability
The provisions of this Article IX are applicable to all actions, suits or proceedings pending at the time or commenced after the adoption of this Article IX, whether arising from acts or omissions to act occurring, or based on claims asserted, before or after the adoption of this Article IX. If this Article IX or any portion hereof is invalidated on any ground by a court of competent jurisdiction, then the Corporation must nevertheless indemnify each director or officer of the Corporation as to costs, charges and expenses (including attorneys’ fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in any judgment or settlement with respect to any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, including any action by or in the right of the Corporation, to the full extent permitted by any applicable portion of this Article IX that is not invalidated and to the full extent permitted by applicable law.
26