Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Sections 6.5 and 6.6 of the Corporation’s Articles of Organization set forth circumstances under which directors, officers, employees and agents of the Corporation may be insured or indemnified against liability which they incur in their capacities as such:
Section 6.5. Indemnification of Directors and Others.
(a)Right to Indemnification. Each person who was or is made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative, investigative or otherwise (hereinafter a “Proceeding”), by reason of the fact that he or she is or was (a) a Director of the Corporation, or (b) serving, at the request of the Corporation as evidenced by a resolution of the Board of Directors prior to the occurrence of the event to which the indemnification relates, as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan (such persons described in (a) and (b) are sometimes hereinafter referred to as an “Indemnitee”), whether the basis of such Proceeding is alleged action in an official capacity as such a Director or officer of the Corporation or as such other director, officer, employee or agent or in any other capacity while serving as such a Director or officer of the Corporation or as such other director, officer, employee or agent, shall be indemnified and held harmless by the Corporation to the fullest extent authorized by the Massachusetts Business Corporation Act (the “MBCA”), as the same exists or may hereafter be amended (but in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification rights than permitted prior thereto), against all expense, liability and loss (including, but not limited to, attorneys’ fees, judgments, fines, ERISA excise taxes or penalties and amounts paid in settlement) reasonably incurred or suffered by such Indemnitee in connection therewith and such indemnification shall continue as to an Indemnitee who has ceased to be such a director, officer, employee or agent and shall inure to the benefit of the Indemnitee’s heirs, executors and administrators; provided, however, that, except as provided in Section 6.5(c) with respect to Proceedings to enforce rights to indemnification, the Corporation shall indemnify any such Indemnitee in connection with a Proceeding (or part thereof) initiated by such Indemnitee only if such Proceeding (or part thereof) was authorized or ratified by the Board of Directors of the Corporation. The right to indemnification conferred in this Section 6.5 shall be a contract right and shall include the right to be paid by the Corporation the expenses incurred in defending any Proceeding in advance of its final disposition (hereinafter an “Advancement of Expenses”); provided, however, that, if the MBCA so requires, an Advancement of Expenses incurred by an Indemnitee shall be made only upon delivery to the Corporation of an undertaking made in accordance with the MBCA (hereinafter an “Undertaking”), by or on behalf of such Indemnitee, which shall include, without limitation, an undertaking to repay all amounts so advanced if it shall ultimately be determined by final judicial decision from which there is no further right to appeal (hereinafter a “Final Adjudication”) that such Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified for such expenses under this Section 6.5 or otherwise. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any indemnification hereunder shall be provided only to the extent permitted by 12 U.S.C. Section 1828(k) and the regulations issued thereunder.
(b)Indemnification of Employees and Agents of the Corporation. The Corporation may, to the extent authorized from time to time by the Board of Directors, grant rights to indemnification, and to an Advancement of Expenses, to any officer, employee or agent of the Corporation to the fullest extent of the provisions of this Section 6.5.
(c)Right of Indemnitee to Bring Suit. If a claim under this Section 6.5 is not paid in full by the Corporation within 60 days after a written claim has been received by the Corporation, except in the case of a claim for an Advancement of Expenses, in which case the applicable period shall be 20 days, the Indemnitee may at any time hereafter bring suit against the Corporation to recover the unpaid amount of the claim. If the Indemnitee is successful in whole or in part in any such suit, or in a suit brought by the Corporation to recover an Advancement of Expenses pursuant to the terms of an Undertaking, the Indemnitee shall also be entitled to be paid the expense of prosecuting or defending such suit. In any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification hereunder (but not in a suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to an Advancement of Expenses) it shall be a defense that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the MBCA. In addition, in any suit by the Corporation to recover an Advancement of Expenses pursuant to the terms of an Undertaking, the Corporation shall be entitled to recover such expenses upon a Final Adjudication that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the MBCA. Neither the failure of the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel, or Shareholders) to have made a determination prior to the commencement of such suit that indemnification of the Indemnitee is proper in the circumstances because the Indemnitee has met the applicable standard of conduct set forth in the MBCA, nor an actual determination by the Corporation (including its Board of Directors, independent legal counsel or Shareholders) that the Indemnitee has not met such applicable standard of conduct, shall create a presumption that the Indemnitee has not met the applicable standard of conduct or, in the case of such a suit brought by the Indemnitee, be a defense to such suit. In any suit brought by the Indemnitee to enforce a right to indemnification or to an Advancement of Expenses hereunder, or by the Corporation to recover an Advancement of Expenses pursuant to the terms of an Undertaking, the burden of proving that the Indemnitee is not entitled to be indemnified, or to such Advancement of Expenses, under this Section 6.5 or otherwise shall be on the Corporation.
(d)Non-Exclusivity of Rights. The rights to indemnification and to Advancement of Expenses conferred in this Section 6.5 shall not be exclusive of any other right which any person may have or hereafter acquire under these Bylaws, the Articles of Organization or any statute, agreement, vote of Shareholders or of disinterested Directors or otherwise.