3. | Pre-Clearance. Each individual must pre-clear with the legal or finance department its proposed 10b5-1 trading plan prior to the establishment of such plan. The Company reserves the right to withhold pre- clearance of any 10b5-1 trading plan at any time. Any modification or termination of a pre- approved 10b5-1 trading plan also requires pre-clearance by the legal or finance department. Such modification or termination must occur when you are not aware of any Material Non-Public Information and must comply with the Company’s guidelines and the requirements of the rules regarding 10b5-1 trading plans and, if you are subject to Window Period restrictions, must take place during a Window Period. Notwithstanding any pre-clearance of a 10b5-1 trading plan or any modification or termination of a 10b5-1 trading plan, the Company assumes no liability and expressly disclaims civil or other liability for content, amendment, termination, or the consequences of any transaction made pursuant to such plan. |
4. | Cooling Off Period. The Company will adopt separate guidelines in compliance with Rule 10b5-1, which will include the required “cooling off” period between the time that you enter a plan and the time that trading commences under a plan, in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws. |
5. | Timing. Your 10b5-1 trading plan should be structured to avoid purchases or sales shortly before known announcements, such as quarterly or annual earnings announcements. Even though transactions executed in accordance with a properly formulated 10b5-1 trading plan are exempt from the insider trading rules, the trades may nonetheless occur at times shortly before we announce material news, and the investing public and media may not understand the nuances of trading pursuant to a 10b5-1 trading plan. This could result in negative publicity for you and the Company if the SEC or The Nasdaq Stock Market were to investigate your trades. |
6. | No Additional Pre-Clearance. Transactions effected pursuant to a pre-cleared 10b5-1 trading plan will not require further pre-clearance at the time of the transaction if the plan specifies the dates, prices and amounts of the contemplated trades, or establishes a formula for determining the dates, prices and amounts. |
No Short Sales or Speculative Transactions. Short sales of the Company’s securities (i.e., selling stock that is not owned and borrowing the shares to make delivery) may evidence an expectation on the part of the seller that the securities will decline in value, and therefore have the potential to signal to the market that the seller lacks confidence in the Company’s prospects. In addition, short sales may reduce a seller’s incentive to seek to improve the Company’s performance. No director, officer or employee, whether or not they possess Material Non-Public Information, may trade in options (other than the exercise of a grant of options by the Company), warrants, puts and calls or similar instruments on the Company’s securities or sell Company securities “short” (i.e., selling stock that is not owned and borrowing the shares to make delivery). Such activities may put the personal gain of the director, officer or employee in conflict with the best interests of the Company and its security- holders or otherwise give the appearance of impropriety.
Hedging Transactions. Hedging transactions involve the purchase of financial instruments (including prepaid variable forward contracts, equity swaps, collars and exchange funds), or any other transactions that hedge or offset, or are designed to hedge or offset, any decrease in the market value of registrant equity securities. Such transactions may permit a director, officer or employee to continue to own the Company’s securities but without the full risks and rewards of ownership. When that occurs, the director, officer or employee may no longer have the same objectives as the Company’s other shareholders. Therefore, directors, officers and employees are prohibited from engaging in any such transactions.
Margin Accounts and Pledges. Securities purchased on margin may be sold by the broker without the customer’s consent if the customer fails to meet a margin call. Similarly, securities held in an account which may be borrowed against or are otherwise pledged (or hypothecated) as collateral for a loan may be sold in foreclosure if the borrower defaults on the loan. Accordingly, if you purchase securities on margin or pledge them as collateral for a loan, a margin sale or foreclosure sale may occur at a time when you are aware of Material Non-Public Information or otherwise are not permitted to trade in our securities. The sale, even though not initiated at your request, is still a sale for your benefit and may subject you to liability under the insider trading rules if made at a time when you are aware of Material Non-Public Information. Similar cautions apply to a bank or other loans for which you have pledged stock as collateral.
7