Crescent Capital BDC (CCAP) 10-K 2019 FY Annual report

Exhibit 4.31

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

As of December 31, 2019, Crescent Capital BDC, Inc. (“Crescent Capital,” the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, our common stock. In this exhibit, references to “Crescent Capital,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer only to Crescent Capital and not any of its subsidiaries. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meaning ascribed to them in the Annual Report on Form10-K to which this Description of Securities is attached as an exhibit.

a)    Common Stock, $0.001 par value per share

The statements made under this caption include summaries of certain provisions contained in our Articles of Amendment and Restatement, as amended, (the “Charter”) and Amended and Restated Bylaws, as amended, (the “Bylaws”) each of which is filed as an exhibit to our Annual Report on Form10-K of which this Exhibit 4.31 is a part. This summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to our Charter and Bylaws. We encourage you to read our Charter, Bylaws, and the applicable provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (“MGCL”).

Our authorized stock consists of 200,010,000 shares of stock, par value $0.001 per share, 200,000,000 of which are currently classified as common stock and 10,000 of which are currently classified as preferred stock. There are no outstanding options or warrants to purchase our stock. No stock has been authorized for issuance under any equity compensation plans. Under Maryland law, our stockholders generally are not personally liable for our indebtedness or obligations.

Under the charter, our board of directors (the “Board”) is authorized to classify any unissued shares of stock and reclassify any previously classified but unissued shares of stock into one or more classes or series of stock and authorize the issuance of shares of stock without obtaining stockholder approval. As permitted by the MGCL, the Charter provides that a majority of the entire Board, without any action by our stockholders, may amend the Charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that has authority to issue.

Common Stock

All shares of Common Stock have equal rights as to earnings, assets, dividends and voting and, when they are issued, will be duly authorized, validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable. Distributions may be paid to the holders of Common Stock if, as and when authorized by the Board and declared by us out of funds legally available therefor. Shares of Common Stock have no preemptive, exchange, conversion or redemption rights and are freely transferable, except as otherwise provided in the Charter or where their transfer is restricted by federal and state securities laws or by contract. The Charter provides that during the period beginning with the date the Company reincorporated as a Maryland corporation (the “Reincorporation”) and ending 365 days after the date listing of the Common Stock on a national securities exchange (the “Listing”), any transfer (whether by sale, gift, merger, operation of law or otherwise), exchange, assignment, pledge, hypothecation or other disposition or encumbrance of any shares of Common Stock acquired by a stockholder attendant to the Reincorporation is prohibited, and therefore not effective, until the later of (a) the date of such transfer or (b) 180 days after the date of the Listingfor one-third of the shares of Common Stock acquired by a stockholder in connection with the Reincorporation, 270 days after the date of the Listing for anadditional one-third of the shares of Common Stock acquired by a stockholder in connection with the Reincorporation and 365 days after the date of the Listing for theremaining one-third of the shares of Common Stock acquired by a stockholder in the Reincorporation Merger, unless the Board provides prior written consent permitting an earlier effective date and the transfer, exchange, assignment, pledge, hypothecation or other disposition or encumbrance is made in accordance with applicable securities and other laws. The Board may impose certain conditions in connection with granting its consent to an earlier effective date and any such consent shall be granted in the sole discretion of the Board. Any purported transfer, exchange, assignment, pledge, hypothecation or other disposition or encumbrance of any shares of Common Stock effected on an earlier effective date in violation of the Charter will have no force or effect, and will not register or permit registration of (and will direct its transfer agent, if any, not to register or permit registration of) any such purported transfer, exchange, assignment, pledge, hypothecation or other disposition or encumbrance on its books and records until the applicable effective date.

In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, each share of Common Stock would be entitled to share ratably in all of our assets that are legally available for distribution after pays off all indebtedness and other liabilities and subject to any preferential rights of holders of our preferred stock, if any preferred stock is outstanding at such time.

Except as may otherwise be specified in the Charter, each share of Common Stock is entitled to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders, including the election of directors. Except as provided with respect to any other class or series of stock, the holders of Common Stock will possess exclusive voting power. There is no cumulative voting in the election of our directors, which means that holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock can elect all of our directors.

Limitation on Liability of Directors and Officers; Indemnification and Advance of Expenses

Maryland law permits a Maryland corporation to include in its charter a provision limiting the liability of its directors and officers to the corporation and its stockholders for money damages except for liability resulting from (a) actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services or (b) active and deliberate dishonesty established by a final adjudication as being material to the cause of action. The Charter contains such a provision, which eliminates directors’ and officers’ liability to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, subject to the requirements of the Investment Company Act.

The Charter requires , to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law and subject to the requirements of the Investment Company Act, to indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to any present or former director or officer or any individual who, while a director or officer and at our request, serves or has served another corporation, real estate investment trust, limited liability company, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan or other enterprise as a director, officer, trustee, member, manager or partner, in each case who is made or threatened to be made a party to, or witness in, the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. The Charter also permits us to indemnify and advance expenses to any person who served a predecessor of us in any of the capacities described above and any of our employees or agents or any employees or agents of our predecessor. In accordance with the Investment Company Act, we will not indemnify any person for any liability to which such person would be subject by reason of such person’s willful misfeasance, bad faith, gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of his or her office.

In addition to the indemnification provided for in the Charter, we have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our current directors and certain of our officers and with members of our investment adviser’s investment committee and we intend to enter into indemnification agreements with each of our future directors, members of our investment committee and certain of our officers. The indemnification agreements attempt to provide these directors, officers and other persons the maximum indemnification permitted under Maryland law and the Investment Company Act. The agreements provide, among other things, for the advancement of expenses and indemnification for liabilities that such person may incur by reason of his or her status as a present or former director or officer or member of our investment adviser’s investment committee in any action or proceeding arising out of the performance of such person’s services as a present or former director or officer or member of our investment adviser’s investment committee.

Maryland law requires a corporation (unless its charter provides otherwise, which the Charter does not) to indemnify a director or officer who has been successful, on the merits or otherwise, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made a party by reason of his or her service in that capacity. Maryland law permits a corporation to indemnify its present and former directors and officers, among others, against judgments, penalties, fines, settlements and reasonable expenses actually incurred by them in connection with any proceeding to which they may be made or are threatened to be made a party by reason of their service in those or other capacities unless it is established that (a) the act or omission of the director or officer was material to the matter giving rise to the proceeding and (i) was committed in bad faith or (ii) was the result of active and deliberate dishonesty, (b) the director or officer actually received an improper personal benefit in money, property or services or (c) in the case of any criminal proceeding, the director or officer had reasonable cause to believe that the act or omission was unlawful. However, under Maryland law, a Maryland corporation may not indemnify for an adverse judgment in a suit by or in the right of the corporation or for a judgment of liability on the basis that a personal benefit was improperly received, unless in either case a court orders indemnification, and then only for expenses. In addition, Maryland law permits a corporation to advance reasonable expenses to a director or officer upon the corporation’s receipt of (x) a written affirmation by the director or officer of his or her good faith belief that he or she has met the standard of conduct necessary for indemnification by the corporation and (y) a written undertaking by him or her or on his or her behalf to repay the amount paid or reimbursed by the corporation if it is ultimately determined that the standard of conduct was not met.

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Provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law and the Charter and Bylaws

The MGCL and the Charter and Bylaws contain provisions that could make it more difficult for a potential acquiror to acquire Crescent Capital by means of a tender offer, proxy contest or otherwise. These provisions are expected to discourage certain coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids and to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of to negotiate first with the Board. believes that the benefits of these provisions outweigh the potential disadvantages of discouraging any such acquisition proposals because, among other things, the negotiation of such proposals may improve their terms.

Classified Board of Directors

The Board is divided into three classes of directors serving staggered three-year terms, with the term of office of only one of the three classes expiring each year. A classified board may render a change in control of or removal of our incumbent management more difficult. believes, however, that the longer time required to elect a majority of a classified board of directors helps to ensure the continuity and stability of our management and policies.

Election of Directors

The Bylaws provide that the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast at a meeting of stockholders duly called and at which a quorum is present shall be sufficient to elect each director; provided, that if the number of nominees for director exceeds the number of directors to be elected, directors will be elected by a plurality of votes cast.

Number of Directors; Vacancies; Removal

The Charter provides that the number of directors will be set only by the Board in accordance with the Bylaws. The Bylaws provide that a majority of our entire board of directors may at any time increase or decrease the number of directors. However, unless the Bylaws are amended, the number of directors may never be less than four or more than 15. The Charter sets forth our election to be subject to the provision of Subtitle 8 of Title 3 of the MGCL regarding the filling of vacancies on the Board. Accordingly, except as may be provided by the Board in setting the terms of any class or series of preferred stock, any and all vacancies on the Board may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum, and any director elected to fill a vacancy will serve for the remainder of the full term of the class in which the vacancy occurred and until a successor is elected and qualifies, subject to any applicable requirements of the Investment Company Act.

The Charter provides that a director may be removed only for cause, as defined in the Charter, and then only by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast atleast two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors.

Action by Stockholders

Under the MGCL, stockholder action can be taken only at an annual or special meeting of stockholders or by unanimous written or electronically transmitted consent instead of a meeting. These provisions, combined with the requirements of the Bylaws regarding the calling of a stockholder-requested special meeting of stockholders discussed below, may have the effect of delaying consideration of a stockholder proposal until the next annual meeting.

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Advance Notice Provisions for Stockholder Nominations and Stockholder Proposals

The Bylaws provide that with respect to an annual meeting of stockholders, nominations of individuals for election to the Board and the proposal of business to be considered by stockholders may be made only (a) pursuant to our notice of the meeting, (b) by or at the direction of the Board or (c) by a stockholder who is a stockholder of record at the record date set by the Board for the purpose of determining stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, at the time of giving the advance notice required by the Bylaws and at the time of the meeting (and any adjournment or postponement thereof), is entitled to vote at the meeting in the election of each individual so nominated or on any such other business and has complied with the advance notice procedures of the Bylaws. With respect to special meetings of stockholders, only the business specified in our notice of the meeting may be brought before the meeting. Nominations of individuals for election to the Board at a special meeting may be made only (a) by or at the direction of the Board or (b) provided that the special meeting has been called in accordance with the Bylaws for the purpose of electing directors, by a stockholder who is a stockholder of record at the record date set by the Board for the purpose of determining stockholders entitled to vote at the meeting, at the time of giving the advance notice required by the Bylaws and at the time of the meeting (and any adjournment or postponement thereof), who is entitled to vote at the meeting in the election of each individual so nominated and who has complied with the advance notice provisions of the Bylaws.

The purpose of requiring stockholders to give advance notice of nominations and other business is to afford the Board a meaningful opportunity to consider the qualifications of the proposed nominees and the advisability of any other proposed business and, to the extent deemed necessary or desirable by the Board, to inform stockholders and make recommendations about such qualifications or business, as well as to provide a more orderly procedure for conducting meetings of stockholders. Although the Bylaws do not give the Board any power to disapprove stockholder nominations for the election of directors or proposals recommending certain action, they may have the effect of precluding a contest for the election of directors or the consideration of stockholder proposals if proper procedures are not followed and of discouraging or deterring a third party from conducting a solicitation of proxies to elect its own slate of directors or to approve its own proposal without regard to whether consideration of such nominees or proposals might be harmful or beneficial to us and our stockholders.

Calling of Special Meetings of Stockholders

The Bylaws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called by the Board and certain of our officers. Additionally, the Bylaws provide that, subject to the satisfaction of certain procedural and informational requirements by the stockholders requesting the meeting, a special meeting of stockholders must be called by the secretary of the corporation to act on any matter that may properly be considered at a meeting of stockholders upon the written request of stockholders entitled to cast not less than a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on such matter at such meeting.

Approval of Extraordinary Corporate Action; Amendment of the Charter and Bylaws

Under Maryland law, a Maryland corporation generally cannot dissolve, amend its charter, merge, convert, sell all or substantially all of its assets, engage in a share exchange or engage in similar transactions outside the ordinary course of business, unless approved by the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast atleast two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. However, a Maryland corporation may provide in its charter for approval of these matters by a lesser percentage, but not less than a majority of all of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. The Charter generally provides for approval of charter amendments and extraordinary transactions by the stockholders entitled to cast at least a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. The Charter also provides that certain charter amendments and any proposal for our conversion, whether by merger or otherwise, froma closed-end company toan open-end company or any proposal for our liquidation or dissolution require the approval of the stockholders entitled to cast at least 80% of the votes entitled to be cast on such matter. However, if such amendment or proposal is approved by atleast two-thirds of our continuing directors (as defined below) (in addition to approval by the Board), such amendment or proposal may be approved by a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. The “continuing directors” are defined in the Charter as our current directors as well as those directors whose nomination for election by the stockholders or whose election by the directors to fill vacancies is approved by a majority of the continuing directors then on the board of directors.

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The Bylaws provide that the board of directors will have the power to adopt, alter or repeal any provision of the Bylaws and to make new bylaws. The Bylaws also provide that the stockholders will have the power, at any annual or special meeting of the stockholders, subject to the requirements in the Bylaws regarding the advance notice of stockholder proposals or the calling of a stockholder-requested special meeting of stockholders, as the case may be, to alter or repeal any provision of the Bylaws and to adopt new bylaws if any such alteration, repeal or adoption is approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of all votes entitled to be cast on the matter and is otherwise permitted by applicable law, except that the stockholders will not have the power to alter or repeal or adopt any provision inconsistent with the amendment provisions of the Bylaws without the approval of the Board.

No Appraisal Rights

Except with respect to appraisal rights arising in connection with the Control Share Acquisition Act discussed below, as permitted by the MGCL, the Charter provides that stockholders will not be entitled to exercise appraisal rights unless the Board determines that such rights will apply, with respect to all or any classes or series of stock, to one or more transactions occurring after the date of such determination in connection with which stockholders would otherwise be entitled to exercise appraisal rights.

Control Share Acquisitions

The Control Share Acquisition Act provides that control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent approved by a vote of stockholders entitled to cast atleast two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquiror, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter. Control shares are voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned by the acquiror or in respect of which the acquiror is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquiror to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of voting power:

• one-tenth or more but lessthan one-third;

• one-third or more but less than a majority; or

• a majority or more of all voting power.

The requisite stockholder approval must be obtained each time an acquiror crosses one of the thresholds of voting power set forth above. Control shares do not include shares the acquiring person is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval. A control share acquisition means the acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares, subject to certain exceptions.

A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition may compel the board of directors of the corporation to call a special meeting of stockholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the shares. The right to compel the calling of a special meeting is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including an undertaking to pay the expenses of the meeting. If no request for a meeting is made, the corporation may itself present the question at any stockholders meeting.

If voting rights are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiring person does not deliver an acquiring person statement as required by the statute, then the corporation may redeem for fair value any or all of the control shares, except those for which voting rights have previously been approved. The right of the corporation to redeem control shares is subject to certain conditions and limitations, including, as provided in the Bylaws, compliance with the Investment Company Act, which will prohibit any such redemption other than in limited circumstances. Fair value is determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares, as of the date of any meeting of stockholders at which the voting rights of the shares are considered and not approved or, if no such meeting is held, as of the date of the last control share acquisition by the acquiror. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a stockholders meeting and the acquiror becomes entitled to vote a majority of the shares entitled to vote, all other stockholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquiror in the control share acquisition.

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The Control Share Acquisition Act does not apply (a) to shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or (b) to acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation.

The Bylaws contain a provision exempting from the Control Share Acquisition Act any and all acquisitions by any person of our shares of stock and, as a result, any control shares of will have the same voting rights as all of the other shares of Common Stock. Such provision could be amended or eliminated at any time in the future. However, will amend the Bylaws to be subject to the Control Share Acquisition Act only if the Board determines that it would be in our best interests and determines (after consultation with the SEC staff) that our being subject to the Control Share Acquisition Act does not conflict with the Investment Company Act.

Business Combinations

Under Maryland law, “business combinations” between a Maryland corporation and an interested stockholder or an affiliate of an interested stockholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. These business combinations include a merger, consolidation, share exchange or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities. An interested stockholder is defined as:

• any person who, directly or indirectly, beneficially owns 10% or more of the voting power of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock; or

• an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time withinthe two-year period prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding stock of the corporation.

A person is not an interested stockholder under this statute if the board of directors approved in advance the transaction by which such person otherwise would have become an interested stockholder. However, in approving a transaction, the board of directors may provide that its approval is subject to compliance, at or after the time of approval, with any terms and conditions determined by the board.

After the five-year prohibition, any business combination between the corporation and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by the board of directors of the corporation and approved by the affirmative vote of at least:

• 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of voting stock of the corporation; and

• two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder.

These super-majority vote requirements do not apply if the corporation’s common stockholders receive a minimum price, as defined under Maryland law, for their shares in the form of cash or other consideration in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares.

The statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations that are exempted by the board of directors before the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. The Board has adopted a resolution that any business combination between us and any other person is exempted from the provisions of the Business Combination Act, provided that the business combination is first approved by the Board, including a majority of the independent directors. This resolution, however, may be altered or repealed in whole or in part at any time. If this resolution is repealed or the Board does not otherwise approve a business combination, the statute may discourage others from trying to acquire control of and increase the difficulty of consummating any offer.

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Conflict with the Investment Company Act

The Bylaws provide that, if and to the extent that any provision of the MGCL, including the Control Share Acquisition Act (if we amend the Bylaws to be subject to such act) and the Business Combination Act, or any provision of the Charter or Bylaws conflicts with any provision of the Investment Company Act, the applicable provision of the Investment Company Act will control.

Exclusive Forum

The Charter provides that, unless consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, Maryland, or, if that Court does not have jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Baltimore Division, will be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any Internal Corporate Claim, as such term is definedin Section 1-101(p) of the MGCL, including, without limitation, (a) any action asserting a claim of breach of any duty owed by any of our directors or officers or other employees to or to our stockholders or (b) any action asserting a claim against or any of our directors or officers or other employees arising pursuant to any provision of the MGCL or the Charter or Bylaws, or (iii) any action asserting a claim against or any of our directors or officers or other employees that is governed by the internal affairs doctrine. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring or holding any interest in our stock will be deemed to have notice of and to have consented and waived any objection to this exclusive forum provision of the Charter, as the same may be amended from time to time.

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