the Committee, may consider appropriate, and may require any Participant to make such representations, furnish such information and comply with or be subject to such other conditions as it may consider appropriate in connection with the issuance or delivery of Stock or payment of other benefits in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, listing requirements, or other obligations. The foregoing notwithstanding, in connection with a Change in Control, the Company shall take or cause to be taken no action, and shall undertake or permit to arise no legal or contractual obligation, that results or would result in any postponement of the issuance or delivery of Stock or payment of benefits under any Award or the imposition of any other conditions on such issuance, delivery or payment, to the extent that such postponement or other condition would represent a greater burden on a Participant than existed on the 90th day preceding the Change in Control.
(b)Limits on Transferability; Beneficiaries.
(i)General. Except as provided herein, a Participant may not assign, sell, transfer, or otherwise encumber or subject to any lien any Award or other right or interest granted under this Plan, in whole or in part, including any Award or right which constitutes a derivative security as generally defined in Rule16a-1(c) under the Exchange Act, other than by will or by operation of the laws of descent and distribution, and such Awards or rights that may be exercisable shall be exercised during the lifetime of the Participant only by the Participant or his or her guardian or legal representative.
(ii)Permitted Transfer of Option. The Committee, in its sole discretion, may permit the transfer of an Option (but not an Incentive Stock Option, or any other right to purchase Stock other than an Option) as follows: (A) by gift to a member of the Participant’s Immediate Family or (B) by transfer by instrument to a trust providing that the Option is to be passed to beneficiaries upon death of the Optionee. For purposes of this Section 10(b)(ii), “Immediate Family” shall mean the Optionee’s spouse (including a former spouse subject to terms of a domestic relations order); child, stepchild, grandchild,child-in-law; parent, stepparent, grandparent,parent-in-law; sibling andsibling-in-law, and shall include adoptive relationships. If a determination is made by counsel for the Company that the restrictions contained in this Section 10(b)(ii) are not required by applicable federal or state securities laws under the circumstances, then the Committee, in its sole discretion, may permit the transfer of Awards (other than Incentive Stock Options and Stock Appreciation Rights in tandem therewith) to one or more Beneficiaries or other transferees during the lifetime of the Participant, which may be exercised by such transferees in accordance with the terms of such Award, but only if and to the extent permitted by the Committee pursuant to the express terms of an Award agreement (subject to any terms and conditions which the Committee may impose thereon, and further subject to any prohibitions and restrictions on such transfers pursuant to Rule16b-3). A Beneficiary, transferee, or other person claiming any rights under the Plan from or through any Participant shall be subject to all terms and conditions of the Plan and any Award agreement applicable to such Participant, except as otherwise determined by the Committee, and to any additional terms and conditions deemed necessary or appropriate by the Committee.
(c)Adjustments.
(i)Adjustments to Awards. In the event that any dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, Stock, or other property), recapitalization, forward or reverse split, reorganization, merger, consolidation, spinoff, combination, repurchase, share exchange, liquidation, dissolution or other similar corporate transaction or event affects the Stock and/or such other securities of the Company or any other issuer such that a substitution, exchange, or adjustment is determined by the Committee to be appropriate, then the Committee shall, in such manner as it deems equitable, substitute, exchange, or adjust any or all of (A) the number and kind of shares of Stock which may be delivered in connection with Awards granted thereafter, (B) the number and kind of shares of Stock by which Plan limitations are measured (including but not limited to limitations established for purposes of Code Sections 162(m) and 421 as well as per Person award limits), (C) the number and kind of shares of Stock subject to or deliverable in respect of outstanding Awards, (E) the exercise price, grant price or purchase price relating to any Award and/or “make provision for payment of cash or other property” in respect of any outstanding Award, and (F) any other aspect of any Award that the Committee determines to be appropriate.
(ii)Adjustments in Case ofa Change in Control. In the event of a Change in Control in which the Company is not the surviving corporation, or in which the shares of Stock are exchanged for or converted into securities issued by another entity, then the successor or acquiring entity or an affiliate thereof may, with the consent of the Committee, assume each outstanding Award or substitute an equivalent option or right. If the successor or acquiring entity or an affiliate thereof, does not cause such an assumption or substitution, then each Award shall terminate upon the consummation of such Change in Control. The Committee shall give written notice of any proposed transaction referred to in this Section 10(c)(ii) a reasonable period of time prior to the closing date for such transaction (which notice may be given either before or after the approval of such transaction), in order that Optionees may have a reasonable period of time prior to the closing date of such transaction within which to exercise any Options that are then exercisable (including any Options that may become exercisable upon the closing date of such transaction). An Optionee may condition his exercise of any Option upon the consummation of the transaction.
(iii)Other Adjustments. In addition, the Committee is authorized to make adjustments in the terms and conditions of, and the criteria included in, Awards (including Performance Awards and performance goals, and Annual Incentive Awards and any Annual Incentive Award pool or performance goals relating thereto) in recognition of unusual or nonrecurring events (including, without limitation, acquisitions and dispositions of businesses and assets) affecting the Company, any Related Entity or any business unit, or the financial statements of the Company or any Related Entity, or in response to changes in applicable laws, regulations, accounting principles, tax rates and regulations or business conditions or in view of the Committee’s assessment of the business strategy of the Company, any Related Entity or business unit thereof, performance of comparable organizations, economic and business conditions, and any other circumstances deemed relevant; provided that without the consent of an affected Participant, no such Board action may materially and adversely affect the rights of such Participant under any previously granted and outstanding Award. In addition, no such adjustment shall be authorized or made if and to the extent that such authority or the making of such adjustment would cause Options, Stock Appreciation Rights, Performance Awards granted under Section 8(b) hereof or Annual Incentive Awards granted under Section 8(c) hereof to Participants designated by the Committee as Covered Employees and intended to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Code Section 162(m) and the regulations thereunder to otherwise fail to qualify as “performance-based compensation” under Code Section 162(m) and regulations thereunder.
(d)Clawback/Recovery. All Awards (cash and equity) held by the Company’s Executive Officers shall be subject to clawback, recoupment or forfeiture (i) to the extent that such Executive Officer is determined to have engaged in fraud or intentional illegal conduct that caused the Company’s materialnon-compliance with any applicable financial reporting requirements and resulted in a financial restatement, the result of which is that the amount received from such Award would have been lower had it been calculated on the basis of such restated results, or (ii) required by applicable laws, rules, regulations or listing requirements. Such clawback, recoupment or forfeiture, in addition to any other remedies available under applicable laws, rules, regulations or listing requirements, shall occur through the cancellation of such Awards (to the extent then-outstanding), the recoupment of any gains realized with respect