(c) Any Shares that are not registered under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act are or shall be issued or transferred in a transaction that is, or a series of transactions that are, exempt from the registration provisions under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act, and such Shares bear or shall bear the applicable restrictive legends. Upon any issuance or transfer of such Shares, the Company shall deliver to AST a legal opinion in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to AST.
5. Reliance.
(a) AST shall be entitled to assume the validity of the issuance, presentation or transfer of a Stock Certificate, the genuineness of any endorsement(s), the authority of its presenter(s), or the collection or payment of charges or taxes incident to the issuance or transfer of such Stock Certificate; provided, however, that AST may delay or decline to issue or transfer a Stock Certificate if it determines in good faith and in its sole discretion that it is in the Company’s and/or AST’s best interests to receive evidence or written assurance of the validity of the issuance, presentation or transfer of the Stock Certificate, the authority of its presenter(s) or the collection or payment of any charges or taxes relating to the issuance or transfer.
(b) [In its capacity as successor transfer agent, AST shall not be responsible or liable for any discrepancy between its records and the Company’s records, unless, prior to or contemporaneously with the transfer of records from the Company’s prior transfer agent, an authorized officer of the Company has notified AST in writing that no discrepancy existed between the Company’s records and the records in the possession of the prior transfer agent.] For the avoidance of doubt, AST shall not be responsible for any transfer or issuance of Shares that has not been effected by AST.
(c) AST may rely on, and shall be protected and incur no liability in acting or refraining from acting in reliance upon: (i) any writing or other instruction, including, but not limited to, oral instruction, certificate, instrument, opinion, notice, letter, stock power, affidavit or other document or security, received from any Person (as defined below) it believes in good faith to be an authorized officer, agent or employee of the Company, unless the Company has advised AST in writing that AST must act and rely only on written instructions of certain authorized officers of the Company; (ii) any statement of fact contained in any such writing or instruction which AST in good faith believes to be accurate; (iii) other authenticity and genuineness of any signature (manual, facsimile or electronic) appearing on any writing, including, but not limited to, any certificate, instrument, opinion, notice, letter, stock power, affidavit or other document or security; and (iv) the conformity to original of any copy. AST may act and rely on the advice, opinions or instructions received from the Company’s legal counsel. In the event that the Company or its legal counsel is unavailable or does not respond to AST’s requests for legal advice, AST may seek the advice of AST’s own legal counsel (including its internal legal counsel), and AST shall be entitled to act and rely on the advice, opinion or instruction of such counsel, which shall be full and complete authorization and protection in respect of any action taken, suffered or omitted by AST pursuant to such advice, opinion or instruction. Without limiting the foregoing, AST shall be entitled to use and rely upon any instructions of the Company without responsibility for independent verification thereof and shall not assume responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of such instructions.
(d) AST may rely on, and shall be protected and incur no liability in acting or refraining from acting in reliance upon: (i) any writing or other instruction believed by AST in good faith to have been furnished by or on behalf of a Shareholder, including, but not limited to, any oral instruction, certificate, instrument, opinion, notice, letter, stock power, affidavit or other document or security; (ii) any statement of fact contained in any such writing or instruction which AST in good faith believes to be accurate; (iii) the apparent authority of any Person to act on behalf of a Shareholder as having actual authority to the extent of such apparent authority; (iv) the authenticity and genuineness of any signature (manual, facsimile or electronic) appearing on any writing, including, but not limited to, any certificate, instrument, opinion,
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