EXHIBIT 4.4.1
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[ ]
TRUST AGREEMENT
between
ACE SECURITIES CORP.
and
[ ]
Dated as of [ ]
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PAGE
ARTICLE I - Definitions
SECTION 1.1. Capitalized Terms........................................................................1
SECTION 1.2 Other Definitional Provisions............................................................3
ARTICLE II - ORGANIZATION
SECTION 2.1. Name.....................................................................................4
SECTION 2.2. Office...................................................................................4
SECTION 2.3. Purposes and Powers......................................................................4
SECTION 2.4. Appointment of Owner Trustee.............................................................5
SECTION 2.5. Initial Capital Contribution of Trust Estate.............................................5
SECTION 2.6. Declaration of Trust.....................................................................5
SECTION 2.7. Liability of the Depositor...............................................................6
SECTION 2.8. Title to Trust Property..................................................................6
SECTION 2.9. Situs of Trust...........................................................................6
SECTION 2.10. Representations and Warranties of the Depositor..........................................6
SECTION 2.11. [Reserved]...............................................................................7
SECTION 2.12. Federal Income Tax Allocations...........................................................7
ARTICLE III - Trust Certificates and Transfer of Interests
SECTION 3.1. Initial Ownership........................................................................8
SECTION 3.2. The Trust Certificates...................................................................8
SECTION 3.3. Authentication of Trust Certificates.....................................................8
SECTION 3.4. Registration of Transfer and Exchange of Trust Certificates..............................8
SECTION 3.5. Mutilated, Destroyed, Lost or Stolen Trust Certificates..................................8
SECTION 3.6. Persons Deemed Certificateholders.......................................................10
SECTION 3.7. Access to List of Certificateholders' Names and Addresses...............................10
SECTION 3.8. Maintenance of Office or Agency.........................................................10
SECTION 3.9. Appointment of Paying Agent.............................................................10
SECTION 3.10. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.11. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.12. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.13. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.14. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.15. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.16. [Reserved]..............................................................................11
SECTION 3.17. Trust Certificate Transfer Restrictions.................................................11
ARTICLE IV - Actions by Owner Trustee
SECTION 4.1. Prior Notice to Owners with Respect to Certain Matters..................................13
SECTION 4.2. Action by Certificateholders with Respect to Certain Matters............................14
SECTION 4.3. Action by Certificateholders with Respect to Bankruptcy.................................14
SECTION 4.4. Restrictions on Certificateholders' Power...............................................14
SECTION 4.5. Majority Control........................................................................14
SECTION 4.6. Execution of Documents..................................................................14
ARTICLE V - Application of Trust Funds: Certain Duties
SECTION 5.1. [Reserved]..............................................................................15
SECTION 5.2. Distributions to Certificateholders.....................................................15
SECTION 5.3. [Reserved]..............................................................................15
SECTION 5.4. Method of Payment.......................................................................15
SECTION 5.5. No Segregation of Monies; No Interest...................................................16
SECTION 5.6. Accounting and Reports to the Noteholders, Certificateholders, the Internal
Revenue Service and Others..............................................................16
SECTION 5.7. Signature on Returns; Tax Matters Partner...............................................16
ARTICLE VI - Authority and Duties of Owner Trustee
SECTION 6.1. General Authority.......................................................................17
SECTION 6.2. Action upon Instruction.................................................................17
SECTION 6.3. No Duties Except as Specified in this Agreement or in Instructions......................18
SECTION 6.4. No Action Except under Specified Documents or Instructions..............................19
SECTION 6.5. Restrictions............................................................................19
SECTION 6.6. Notice of Default Under Indenture.......................................................19
ARTICLE VII - Concerning the Owner Trustee
SECTION 7.1. Acceptance of Trusts and Duties.........................................................19
SECTION 7.2. Furnishing of Documents.................................................................21
SECTION 7.3. Representations and Warranties..........................................................21
SECTION 7.4. Reliance; Advice of Counsel.............................................................21
SECTION 7.5. Not Acting in Individual Capacity.......................................................22
SECTION 7.6. Owner Trustee Not Liable for Trust Certificates or Receivables..........................22
SECTION 7.7. Owner Trustee May Own Trust Certificates and Notes......................................22
ARTICLE VIII - Compensation of Owner Trustee
SECTION 8.1. Owner Trustee's Fees and Expenses.......................................................23
SECTION 8.2. Indemnification.........................................................................23
SECTION 8.3. Payments to the Owner Trustee...........................................................23
ARTICLE IX - Dissolution and Termination of Trust
SECTION 9.1. Termination of Trust Agreement..........................................................23
SECTION 9.2. [Reserved]..............................................................................25
ARTICLE X - Successor Owner Trustees and Additional Owner Trustees
SECTION 10.1. Eligibility Requirements for Owner Trustee..............................................25
SECTION 10.2. Resignation or Removal of Owner Trustee.................................................25
SECTION 10.3. Successor Owner Trustee.................................................................26
SECTION 10.4. Merger or Consolidation of Owner Trustee................................................26
SECTION 10.5. Appointment of Co-Trustee or Separate Trustee...........................................27
ARTICLE XI - Miscellaneous
SECTION 11.1 Supplements and Amendments..............................................................28
SECTION 11.2. No Legal Title to Owner Trust Estate in Certificateholders..............................29
SECTION 11.3. Limitations on Rights of Others.........................................................29
SECTION 11.4. Notices.................................................................................30
SECTION 11.5. Severability............................................................................30
SECTION 11.6. Separate Counterparts...................................................................30
SECTION 11.7. Successors and Assigns..................................................................30
SECTION 11.8. [Reserved]..............................................................................30
SECTION 11.9. No Petition.............................................................................30
SECTION 11.10. No Recourse.............................................................................31
SECTION 11.11. Headings................................................................................31
SECTION 11.12. GOVERNING LAW...........................................................................31
SECTION 11.13. [Reserved]..............................................................................31
SECTION 11.14. Servicer................................................................................31
TRUST AGREEMENT dated as of [ ] between ACE SECURITIES
CORP., a [ ] corporation, as depositor, and [ ], a [ ]
banking corporation, as Owner Trustee.
ARTICLE I.
DEFINITIONS
SECTION 1.1 CAPITALIZED TERMS. For all purposes of this Agreement, the
following terms shall have the meanings set forth below:
"Agreement" shall mean this Trust Agreement, as the same may be
amended and supplemented from time to time.
"Basic Documents" shall mean the Sale and Servicing Agreement, the
Indenture, the Certificate Depository Agreement, the Note Depository Agreement
and the other documents and certificates delivered in connection therewith.
"Benefit Plan" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section
3.17.
"Business Trust Statute" shall mean Chapter 38 of Title 12 of the
Delaware Code, 12 DEL. CODE ss. 3801 ET SEQ., as the same may be amended from
time to time.
"Certificate" means a certificate evidencing the beneficial interest
of a Certificateholder in the Trust, substantially in the form of Exhibit A
attached hereto.
"Certificate of Trust" shall mean the Certificate of Trust in the form
of Exhibit B to be filed for the Trust pursuant to Section 3810(a) of the
Business Trust Statute.
"Certificate Register" and "Certificate Registrar" shall mean the
register mentioned and the registrar appointed pursuant to Section 3.4.
"Clearing Agency" means an organization registered as a "clearing
agency" pursuant to Section 17A of the Exchange Act.
"Code" shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended from
time to time, and Treasury Regulations promulgated thereunder.
"Corporate Trust Office" shall mean, with respect to the Owner
Trustee, the principal corporate trust office of the Owner Trustee located at [
], Attention: [ ]; or at such other address as the Owner Trustee may designate
by notice to the Certificateholders and the Depositor, or the principal
corporate trust office of any successor Owner Trustee (the address of which the
successor owner trustee will notify the Certificateholders and the Depositor).
"Delaware Trustee" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Section 10.1.
"Depositor" shall mean Ace Securities Corp., as the depositor of the
Receivables, and each successor to Ace Securities Corp., (in the same capacity)
to the extent permitted hereunder.
"ERISA" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section 3.17.
"Expenses" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in Section
8.2.
"Holder" or "Certificateholder" shall mean the Person in whose name a
Trust Certificate is registered on the Certificate Register.
"Indemnified Parties" shall have the meaning assigned to such term in
Section 8.2.
"Note Depository Agreement" shall mean the agreement among the Trust,
the Trustee, the Servicer and The Depository Trust Company, as the initial
Clearing Agency, dated as of one Business Day prior to the Closing Date,
relating to the Notes, as the same may be amended or supplemented from time to
time.
"Owner Trust Estate" shall mean all right, title and interest of the
Trust in and to the property and rights assigned to the Trust pursuant to
Article II of the Sale and Servicing Agreement, all funds on deposit from time
to time in the Trust Accounts and all other property of the Trust from time to
time, including any rights of the Owner Trustee and the Trust pursuant to the
Sale and Servicing Agreement.
"Owner Trustee" shall mean [ ], a [ ] banking corporation, not in its
individual capacity but solely as owner trustee under this Agreement, and any
successor Owner Trustee hereunder.
"Paying Agent" shall mean any paying agent or co-paying agent
appointed pursuant to Section 3.9.
"Percentage Interest" shall mean with respect to any Trust
Certificate, the percentage interest of ownership in the Trust represented
thereby as set forth on the face thereof.
"Record Date" shall mean, with respect to any Distribution Date, the
close of business on the last day of the calendar month preceding such
Distribution Date.
"Responsible Officer" shall mean, when used with respect to the Owner
Trustee, any officer assigned to the Corporate Trust Office of the Owner
Trustee, including any Vice President, any Assistant Vice President, any trust
officer or any other officer of the Owner Trustee customarily performing
functions similar to those performed by any of the above designated officers or
any agent acting under a power of attorney from the Owner Trustee, having
responsibility for the administration of this Trust Agreement, as the case may
be, and also, with respect to a particular matter relating to the Trust, any
other officer of the Owner Trustee to whom such matter is referred because of
such officer's knowledge of and familiarity with such matter. Any notice given
to the address and in the manner specified in Section 11.4 hereof shall be
deemed to be given to a Responsible Officer.
"Sale and Servicing Agreement" shall mean the Sale and Servicing
Agreement among the Trust, Ace Securities Corp., as seller and [ ], as servicer
and. as sponsor, dated as of [ ], as the same may be amended and supplemented
from time to time.
"Secretary of State" shall mean the Secretary of State of the State of
Delaware.
"Treasury Regulations" shall mean regulations, including proposed or
temporary regulations, promulgated under the Code. References herein to specific
provisions of proposed or temporary regulations shall include analogous
provisions of final Treasury Regulations or other successor Treasury
Regulations.
"Trust" shall mean the trust established by this Agreement.
"Trust Certificate" shall mean a Certificate.
SECTION 1.2. Other Definitional Provisions.
(a) Capitalized terms used herein and not otherwise defined have
the meanings assigned to them in the Sale and Servicing Agreement or, if not
defined therein, in the Indenture.
(b) All terms defined in this Agreement shall have the defined
meanings when used in any certificate or other document made or delivered
pursuant hereto unless otherwise defined therein.
(c) As used in this Agreement and in any certificate or other
document made or delivered pursuant hereto or thereto, accounting terms not
defined in this Agreement or in any such certificate or other document, and
accounting terms partly defined in this Agreement or in any such certificate or
other document to the extent not defined, shall have the respective meanings
given to them under generally accepted accounting principles as in effect on the
date of this Agreement or any such certificate or other document, as applicable.
To the extent that the definitions of accounting terms in this Agreement or in
any such certificate or other document are inconsistent with the meanings of
such terms under generally accepted accounting principles, the definitions
contained in this Agreement or in any such certificate or other document shall
control.
(d) The words "hereof," "herein," "hereunder" and words of
similar import when used in this Agreement shall refer to this Agreement as a
whole and not to any particular provision of this Agreement; Section and Exhibit
references contained in this Agreement are references to Sections and Exhibits
in or to this Agreement unless otherwise specified; and the term "including"
shall mean "including without limitation."
(e) The definitions contained in this Agreement are applicable to
the singular as well as the plural forms of such terms and to the masculine as
well as to the feminine and neuter genders of such terms.
ARTICLE II.
ORGANIZATION
SECTION 2.1. NAME. The Trust created hereby shall be known as "[ ] ",
in which name the Owner Trustee may engage in the transactions contemplated
hereby, make and execute contracts and other instruments on behalf of the Trust
and sue and be sued.
SECTION 2.2. OFFICE. The office of the Trust shall be in care of the
Owner Trustee at the Corporate Trust Office, or at the office of the Delaware
Trustee, if one exists, or at such other address as the Owner Trustee may
designate by written notice to the Certificateholders and the Depositor.
SECTION 2.3. PURPOSES AND POWERS. (a) The purpose of the Trust is, and
the Trust shall have the power and authority, to engage in the following
activities:
(i) to issue the Notes pursuant to the Indenture and the Trust
Certificates pursuant to this Agreement, to sell the Notes, and to
transfer the Trust Certificates to the Depositor pursuant to the Sale
and Servicing Agreement;
(ii) with the proceeds of the sale of the Notes, to pay the
organizational, start-up and transactional expenses of the Trust and
to pay the balance to the Depositor pursuant to the Sale and Servicing
Agreement;
(iii) to acquire, receive and accept from time to time the Owner
Trust Estate, and to assign, grant, transfer, pledge, mortgage and
convey the Trust Estate pursuant to the Indenture and to hold, manage
and distribute to the Certificateholders pursuant to the terms of the
Sale and Servicing Agreement any portion of the Trust Estate released
from the Lien of, and remitted to the Trust pursuant to, the
Indenture;
(iv) to enter into and perform its obligations under the Basic
Documents to which it is a party;
(v) to engage in those activities, including entering into
agreements, that are necessary, suitable or convenient to accomplish
the foregoing or are incidental thereto or connected therewith; and
(vi) subject to compliance with the Basic Documents to which the
Trust is a party, to engage in such other activities as may be
required in connection with conservation of the Owner Trust Estate and
the making of distributions to the Certificateholders and the
Noteholders.
The Trust is hereby authorized to engage in the foregoing activities. The Trust
shall not engage in any activity other than in connection with the foregoing or
other than as required or authorized by the terms of this Agreement or the Basic
Documents.
SECTION 2.4. APPOINTMENT OF OWNER TRUSTEE. The Depositor hereby
appoints the Owner Trustee as trustee of the Trust effective as of the date
hereof, to have all the rights, powers and duties set forth herein.
SECTION 2.5. INITIAL CAPITAL CONTRIBUTION OF TRUST ESTATE. The
Depositor hereby sells, assigns, transfers, conveys and sets over to the Owner
Trustee, as of the date hereof, the sum of $1. The Owner Trustee hereby
acknowledges receipt in trust from the Depositor, as of the date hereof, of the
foregoing contribution, which shall constitute the initial Owner Trust Estate
and shall be deposited in the Certificate Distribution Account.
SECTION 2.5. DECLARATION OF TRUST. The Owner Trustee hereby declares
that it will hold the Owner Trust Estate in trust upon and subject to the
conditions set forth herein for the use and benefit of the Certificateholders,
subject to the obligations of the Trust under the Basic Documents to which the
Trust is a party. It is the intention of the parties hereto that the Trust
constitute a business trust under the Business Trust Statute and that this
Agreement constitute the governing instrument of such business trust. It is the
intention of the parties hereto that, solely for federal income tax purposes,
the Trust shall be disregarded as an entity apart from its owner, the Depositor,
in the event that the Depositor is the sole Certificateholder for federal income
tax purposes, or treated as a partnership if there is more than one
Certificateholder for federal income tax purposes. The parties agree that,
unless otherwise required by appropriate tax authorities, the Trust will file or
cause to be filed annual or other necessary returns, reports and other forms
consistent with the characterization of the Trust as a division of the
Depositor, or as a partnership, as the case may be, for such tax purposes.
Effective as of the date hereof, the Owner Trustee shall have all rights, powers
and duties set forth herein and to the extent not inconsistent herewith, in the
Business Trust Statute with respect to accomplishing the purposes of the Trust.
The Owner Trustee shall file the Certificate of Trust with the Secretary of
State.
SECTION 2.6. LIABILITY OF THE DEPOSITOR . (a) The Depositor shall pay
organizational expenses of the Trust as they may arise or shall, upon the
request of the Owner Trustee, promptly reimburse the Owner Trustee for any such
expenses paid by the Owner Trustee. The Depositor shall also be liable directly
to and will indemnify any injured party for all losses, claims, damages,
liabilities and expenses of the Trust (including Expenses, to the extent not
paid out of the Owner Trust Estate) [to the extent that the Depositor would be
liable if the Trust were a partnership under the Delaware Revised Uniform
Limited Partnership Act in which the Depositor were a general partner];
PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that the Depositor shall not be liable for any losses
incurred by a Certificateholder in the capacity of an investor in the Trust
Certificates or a Noteholder in the capacity of an investor in the Notes. In
addition, any third party creditors of the Trust (other than in connection with
the obligations described in the preceding sentence for which the Depositor
shall not be liable) shall be deemed third party beneficiaries of this
paragraph.
(b) No Holder, other than to the extent set forth in clause (a), shall
have any personal liability for any liability or obligation of the Trust.
SECTION 2.8. TITLE TO TRUST PROPERTY. Legal title to all the Owner
Trust Estate shall be vested at all times in the Trust as a separate legal
entity except where applicable law in any jurisdiction requires title to any
part of the Owner Trust Estate to be vested in a trustee or trustees, in which
case title shall be deemed to be vested in the Owner Trustee, a co-trustee
and/or a separate trustee, as the case may be.
SECTION 2.9. SITUS OF TRUST. The Trust will be located in the State of
Delaware. All bank accounts maintained by the Owner Trustee on behalf of the
Trust shall be located in the State of Delaware or the State of New York.
Payments will be received by the Trust only in Delaware or New York, and
payments will be made by the Trust only from Delaware or New York. The only
office of the Trust will be in Delaware.
SECTION 2.10. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE DEPOSITOR. The
Depositor hereby represents and warrants to the Owner Trustee that:
(a) The Depositor is duly organized and validly existing as a [ ]
corporation with power and authority to own its properties and to conduct its
business as such properties are currently owned and such business is presently
conducted.
(b) The Depositor has the corporate power and authority to
execute and deliver this Agreement and to carry out its terms; the Depositor has
full power and authority to sell and assign the property to be sold and assigned
to and deposited with the Trust and the Depositor has duly authorized such sale
and assignment and deposit to the Trust by all necessary corporate action; and
the execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement has been duly
authorized by the Depositor by all necessary corporate action.
(c) The consummation of the transactions contemplated by this
Agreement and the fulfillment of the terms hereof do not conflict with, result
in any breach of any of the terms and provisions of, or constitute (with or
without notice or lapse of time) a default under, the articles of incorporation
or by-laws of the Depositor, or any material indenture, agreement or other
instrument to which the Depositor is a party or by which it is bound; nor result
in the creation or imposition of any Lien upon any of its properties pursuant to
the terms of any such indenture, agreement or other instrument (other than
pursuant to the Basic Documents); nor violate any law or, to the best of the
Depositor's knowledge, any order, rule or regulation applicable to the Depositor
of any court or of any Federal or state regulatory body, administrative agency
or other governmental instrumentality having jurisdiction over the Depositor or
its properties.
(d) It is duly qualified to do business as a foreign corporation
in good standing, and has obtained all necessary licenses and approvals in all
jurisdictions in which the ownership or lease of property or the conduct of its
business shall require such qualifications.
SECTION 2.11. [RESERVED]
SECTION 2.12. FEDERAL INCOME TAX ALLOCATIONS. Net income of the Trust
for any month as determined for Federal income tax purposes (and each item of
income, gain, loss, credit and deduction entering into the computation thereof)
shall be allocated:
(a) for so long as (i) all of the Trust Certificates are owned by
the Depositor, the Trust shall be disregarded as an entity separate from the
Depositor such that net income of the Trust for any month as determined solely
for federal income tax purposes (and each item of income, gain, loss, credit and
deduction entering into the computation thereof) shall be allocated to the
Depositor and treated in the same manner as if the Trust were a division or
branch of the Depositor;
(b) in the event that the Depositor transfers (as such term is
defined for federal income tax purposes) any Trust Certificates and there is
more than one owner of Trust Certificates for federal income tax purposes, net
income of the Trust for any month as determined solely for federal income tax
purposes (and each item of income, gain, loss, credit and deduction entering
into the computation thereof) shall be allocated pro rata to the
Certificateholders based on their Percentage Interest.
ARTICLE III.
TRUST CERTIFICATES AND TRANSFER OF INTERESTS
SECTION 3.1. INITIAL OWNERSHIP. Upon the formation of the Trust by the
contribution by the Depositor pursuant to Section 2.5 and until the issuance of
the Trust Certificates, the Depositor shall be the sole beneficiary of the
Trust.
SECTION 3.2. THE TRUST CERTIFICATES. The Trust Certificates shall be
issued in minimum denominations of 5% Percentage Interest. The Trust
Certificates shall be initially issued to the Depositor in a Percentage Interest
of 100%. The Trust Certificates shall be executed on behalf of the Trust by
manual or facsimile signature of an authorized officer of the Owner Trustee.
Trust Certificates bearing the manual or facsimile signatures of individuals who
were, at the time when such signatures shall have been affixed, authorized to
sign on behalf of the Trust, shall be validly issued and entitled to the benefit
of this Agreement, notwithstanding that such individuals or any of them shall
have ceased to be so authorized prior to the authentication and delivery of such
Trust Certificates or did not hold such offices at the date of authentication
and delivery of such Trust Certificates. A transferee of a Trust Certificate
shall become a Certificateholder, and shall be entitled to the rights and
subject to the obligations of a Certificateholder hereunder, upon due
registration of such Trust Certificate in such transferee's name pursuant to
Section 3.4.
SECTION 3.3. AUTHENTICATION OF TRUST CERTIFICATES. Concurrently with
the initial sale of the Receivables to the Trust pursuant to the Sale and
Servicing Agreement, the Owner Trustee shall cause the Trust Certificates in an
aggregate Percentage Interest equal to 100% to be executed on behalf of the
Trust, authenticated and delivered to or upon the written order of the
Depositor, signed by its chairman of the board, its president or any vice
president, without further corporate action by the Depositor, in authorized
denominations. No Trust Certificate shall entitle its holder to any benefit
under this Agreement, or shall be valid for any purpose, unless there shall
appear on such Trust Certificate a certificate of authentication substantially
in the form set forth in Exhibit A, executed by the Owner Trustee by manual
signature; such authentication shall constitute conclusive evidence that such
Trust Certificate shall have been duly authenticated and delivered hereunder.
All Trust Certificates shall be dated the date of their authentication.
SECTION 3.4. REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER AND EXCHANGE OF TRUST
CERTIFICATES. The Certificate Registrar shall keep or cause to be kept, at the
office or agency maintained pursuant to Section 3.8, a Certificate Register in
which, subject to such reasonable regulations as it may prescribe, the Owner
Trustee shall provide for the registration of Trust Certificates and of
transfers and exchanges of Trust Certificates as herein provided. The [ ] shall
be the initial Certificate Registrar.
Upon surrender for registration of transfer of any Trust Certificate
at the office or agency maintained pursuant to Section 3.8, and, upon
satisfaction of the conditions set forth below, the Owner Trustee shall execute,
authenticate and deliver, in the name of the designated transferee or
transferees, one or more new Trust Certificates in authorized denominations of a
like class and aggregate face amount dated the date of authentication by the
Owner Trustee or any authenticating agent. At the option of a Holder, Trust
Certificates may be exchanged for other Trust Certificates of the same class in
authorized denominations of a like aggregate amount upon surrender of the Trust
Certificates to be exchanged at the office or agency maintained pursuant to
Section 3.8.
Every Trust Certificate presented or surrendered for registration of
transfer or exchange shall be accompanied by a written instrument of transfer in
form satisfactory to the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Registrar duly
executed by the Certificateholder or his attorney duly authorized in writing,
with such signature guaranteed by an "eligible guarantor institution" meeting
the requirements of the Certificate Registrar, which requirements include
membership or participation in the Securities Transfer Agent's Medallion Program
("STAMP") or such other "signature guarantee program" as may be determined by
the Certificate Registrar in addition to, or in substitution for, STAMP, all in
accordance with the Exchange Act. Each Trust Certificate surrendered for
registration of transfer or exchange shall be canceled and subsequently disposed
of by the Owner Trustee in accordance with its customary practice.
No service charge shall be made for any registration of transfer or
exchange of Trust Certificates, but the Owner Trustee or the Certificate
Registrar may, but shall not be obligated to, require payment of a sum
sufficient to cover any tax or governmental charge that may be imposed in
connection with any transfer or exchange of Trust Certificates.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Owner Trustee shall not make and
the Certificate Registrar shall not register, transfers or exchanges of, Trust
Certificates for a period of 15 days preceding the due date for any payment with
respect to any Trust Certificates.
SECTION 3.5. MUTILATED, DESTROYED, LOST OR STOLEN TRUST CERTIFICATES.
If (a) any mutilated Trust Certificate shall be surrendered to the Certificate
Registrar, or if the Certificate Registrar shall receive evidence to its
satisfaction of the destruction, loss or theft of any Trust Certificate and (b)
there shall be delivered to the Certificate Registrar and the Owner Trustee such
security or indemnity as may be required by them to save each of them harmless,
then in the absence of actual knowledge by a Responsible Officer of the Owner
Trustee that such Trust Certificate shall have been acquired by a bona fide
purchaser, the Owner Trustee on behalf of the Trust shall execute and the Owner
Trustee shall authenticate and deliver, in exchange for or in lieu of any such
mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Trust Certificate, a new Trust Certificate
of like class, tenor and denomination. In connection with the issuance of any
new Trust Certificate under this Section, the Owner Trustee or the Certificate
Registrar may, but shall not be obligated to, require the payment of a sum
sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge that may be imposed in
connection therewith. Any duplicate Trust Certificate issued pursuant to this
Section shall constitute conclusive evidence of an ownership interest in the
Trust, as if originally issued, whether or not the lost, stolen or destroyed
Trust Certificate shall be found at any time.
SECTION 3.6. PERSONS DEEMED CERTIFICATEHOLDERS. Every person by virtue
of becoming a Certificateholder in accordance with this Agreement shall be
deemed to be bound by the terms of this Agreement. Prior to due presentation of
a Trust Certificate for registration of transfer, the Owner Trustee or the
Certificate Registrar may treat the Person in whose name any Trust Certificate
shall be registered in the Certificate Register as the Owner of such Trust
Certificate for the purpose of receiving distributions pursuant to Section 5.2
and for all other purposes whatsoever, and neither the Owner Trustee, nor the
Certificate Registrar, nor the Paying Agent shall be bound by any notice to the
contrary.
SECTION 3.7. ACCESS TO LIST OF CERTIFICATEHOLDERS' NAMES AND
ADDRESSES. The Owner Trustee shall furnish or cause to be furnished to the
Servicer or the Depositor, within 15 days after receipt by the Owner Trustee of
a request therefor from the Servicer or the Depositor in writing, a list, in
such form as the Servicer or the Depositor may reasonably require, of the names
and addresses of the Certificateholders as of the most recent Record Date. If
three or more Holders of Trust Certificates or one or more Holders of Trust
Certificates evidencing not less than 25% of the Certificate Balance apply in
writing to the Owner Trustee, and such application states that the applicants
desire to communicate with other Certificateholders with respect to their rights
under this Agreement or under the Trust Certificates and such application is
accompanied by a copy of the communication that such applicants propose to
transmit, then the Owner Trustee shall, within five Business Days after the
receipt of such application, afford such applicants access during normal
business hours to the current list of Certificateholders. Each Holder, by
receiving and holding a Trust Certificate, shall be deemed to have agreed not to
hold either the Depositor or the Owner Trustee accountable by reason of the
disclosure of its name and address, regardless of the source from which such
information was derived.
SECTION 3.8. MAINTENANCE OF OFFICE OR AGENCY. The Owner Trustee shall
maintain in the Borough of Manhattan, City of New York, an office or offices or
agency or agencies where Trust Certificates may be surrendered for registration
of transfer or exchange and where notices and demands to or upon the Owner
Trustee in respect of the Trust Certificates and the Basic Documents may be
served. The Owner Trustee shall give prompt written notice to the Depositor and
to the Certificateholders of any change in the location of the Certificate
Register or any such office or agency.
SECTION 3.9. APPOINTMENT OF PAYING AGENT. The Paying Agent shall make
distributions to Certificateholders pursuant to Section 5.2 and shall report the
amounts of such distributions to the Owner Trustee. Any Paying Agent shall have
the revocable power to withdraw funds from the Reserve Account for the purpose
of making the distributions referred to above. The Owner Trustee may revoke such
power and remove the Paying Agent if the Owner Trustee determines in its sole
discretion that the Paying Agent shall have failed to perform its obligations
under this Agreement in any material respect. The Paying Agent shall initially
be [ ] and any co-paying agent chosen by [ ] and acceptable to the Servicer. The
Paying Agent shall be permitted to resign upon 30 days' written notice to the
Owner Trustee and the Servicer. In the event that [ ] shall no longer be the
Paying Agent, the Owner Trustee shall appoint a successor to act as Paying Agent
(which shall be a bank or trust company). The Owner Trustee shall cause such
successor Paying Agent or any additional Paying Agent appointed by the Owner
Trustee to execute and deliver to the Owner Trustee an instrument in which such
successor Paying Agent or additional Paying Agent shall agree with the Owner
Trustee that as Paying Agent, such successor Paying Agent or additional Paying
Agent will hold all sums, if any, held by it for payment to the
Certificateholders in trust for the benefit of the Certificateholders entitled
thereto until such sums shall be paid to such Certificateholders. The Paying
Agent shall return all unclaimed funds to the Owner Trustee and upon removal of
a Paying Agent such Paying Agent shall also return all funds in its possession
to the Owner Trustee. The provisions of Articles VII and VIII shall apply to [ ]
or the Owner Trustee also in its role as Paying Agent, for so long as [ ] or the
Owner Trustee shall act as Paying Agent and, to the extent applicable, to any
other paying agent appointed hereunder. Any reference in this Agreement to the
Paying Agent shall include any co-paying agent unless the context requires
otherwise.
SECTION 3.10. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.11. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.12. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.13. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.14. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.15. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.16. [Reserved]
SECTION 3.17. TRUST CERTIFICATE TRANSFER RESTRICTIONS. (a) The Trust
Certificates may not be acquired by or for the account of (i) an employee
benefit plan (as defined in Section 3(3) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA")) that is subject to the provisions of
Title 1 of ERISA, (ii) a plan described in Section 4975(e) (1) of the Code, or
(iii) any entity whose underlying assets include plan assets by reason of such
plan's investment in the entity (each, a "Benefit Plan"). By accepting and
holding a Trust Certificate, the Holder thereof shall be deemed to have
represented and warranted that it is not a Benefit Plan. The Owner Trustee shall
have no duty to determine whether Trust Certificates are owned by a Benefit
Plan.
(b) The Trust Certificates may not be offered or sold except to
Qualified Institutional Buyers in reliance on the exemption from the
registration requirements of the Securities Act provided by Rule 144A
thereunder.
Each purchaser of the Trust Certificates will be deemed to have
represented and agreed as follows:
(i) It is a Qualified Institutional Buyer as defined in Rule 144A
promulgated under the Securities Act and is acquiring the Trust
Certificates for its own institutional account or for the account of a
Qualified Institutional Buyer.
(ii) It understands that the Trust Certificates will be offered
in a transaction not involving any public offering within the meaning
of the Securities Act, and that, if in the future it decides to
resell, pledge or otherwise transfer any Trust Certificates, such
Trust Certificates may be resold, pledged or transferred only (a) to
the Servicer (upon redemption), (b) to a person who the seller
reasonably believes is a Qualified Institutional Buyer that purchases
for its own account or for the account of a Qualified Institutional
Buyer to whom notice is given that the resale, pledge or transfer is
being made in reliance on Rule 144A or (c) pursuant to an effective
registration statement under the Securities Act.
(iii) It understands that the Trust Certificates will bear a
legend substantially to the following effect:
THE TRUST CERTIFICATES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES
ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") OR ANY STATE SECURITIES
OR "BLUE SKY" LAWS. THE HOLDER HEREOF, BY PURCHASING ANY TRUST
CERTIFICATE, AGREES FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE ISSUER THAT SUCH TRUST
CERTIFICATE IS BEING ACQUIRED FOR ITS OWN ACCOUNT AND NOT WITH A VIEW
TO DISTRIBUTION AND MAY BE RESOLD, PLEDGED OR TRANSFERRED ONLY (1) TO
THE ISSUER (UPON REDEMPTION THEREOF OR OTHERWISE), (2) TO A PERSON THE
TRANSFEROR REASONABLY BELIEVES IS A QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYER (AS
DEFINED IN RULE 144A UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT) IN A TRANSACTION MEETING
THE REQUIREMENTS OF RULE 144A, PURCHASING FOR ITS OWN ACCOUNT OR FOR
THE ACCOUNT OF A QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYER TO WHOM NOTICE IS GIVEN
THAT THE RESALE, PLEDGE OR OTHER TRANSFER IS BEING MADE IN RELIANCE ON
RULE 144A, OR (3) IN A TRANSACTION COMPLYING WITH THE REGISTRATION
REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY
APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR ANY
OTHER JURISDICTION.
NO INTEREST IN THIS TRUST CERTIFICATE MAY BE ACQUIRED BY OR FOR THE
ACCOUNT OF (i) AN "EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN" (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3(3)
OF THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974, AS AMENDED,
("ERISA")) THAT IS SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF TITLE I OF ERISA, (ii)
A PLAN DESCRIBED IN SECTION 4975(e)(1) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF
1986, AS AMENDED (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT
ACCOUNTS AND KEOGH PLANS), OR (iii) ANY ENTITY WHOSE UNDERLYING ASSETS
INCLUDE PLAN ASSETS BY REASON OF A PLAN'S INVESTMENT IN THE ENTITY. BY
ACCEPTING AND HOLDING THIS CERTIFICATE, THE HOLDER HEREOF AND THE
CERTIFICATE OWNER SHALL EACH BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED AND
WARRANTED THAT IT IS NOT A BENEFIT PLAN.
ARTICLE IV.
ACTIONS BY OWNER TRUSTEE
SECTION 4.1. PRIOR NOTICE TO OWNERS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN MATTERS.
With respect to the following matters, the Owner Trustee shall not take action
unless at least 30 days before the taking of such action, the Owner Trustee
shall have notified the Certificateholders in writing of the proposed action and
the Certificateholders shall not have notified the Owner Trustee in writing
prior to the 30th day after such notice is given that such Certificateholders
have withheld consent or provided alternative direction:
(a) the initiation of any material claim or lawsuit by the Trust
except claims or lawsuits brought in connection with the collection of the
Receivables and the compromise of any material action, claim or lawsuit brought
by or against the Trust (except with respect to the aforementioned claims or
lawsuits for collection of the Receivables);
(b) the election by the Trust to file an amendment to the
Certificate of Trust (unless such amendment is required to be filed under the
Business Trust Statute);
(c) the amendment of the Indenture by a supplemental indenture in
circumstances where the consent of any Noteholder is required;
(d) the amendment of the Indenture by a supplemental indenture in
circumstances where the consent of any Noteholder is not required and such
amendment materially adversely affects the interest of the Certificateholders;
(e) the amendment, change or modification of the Sale and
Servicing Agreement, except to cure any ambiguity or defect or to amend or
supplement any provision in a manner that would not materially adversely affect
the interests of the Certificateholders; or
(f) the appointment pursuant to the Indenture of a successor
Trustee or the consent to the assignment by the Note Registrar, Paying Agent or
Trustee or Certificate Registrar of its obligations under the Indenture or this
Agreement, as applicable. The Owner Trustee shall notify the Certificateholders
in writing of any appointment of a successor Note Registrar, Paying Agent or
Certificate Registrar within five Business Days thereof.
SECTION 4.2. ACTION BY CERTIFICATEHOLDERS WITH RESPECT TO CERTAIN
MATTERS. The Owner Trustee shall not have the power, except upon the direction
of the Certificateholders, to (a) remove the Servicer under the Sale and
Servicing Agreement pursuant to Section 8.1 thereof or (b) sell the Receivables
after the termination of the Indenture. The Owner Trustee shall take the actions
referred to in the preceding sentence only upon written instructions signed by
the Certificateholders.
SECTION 4.3. ACTION BY CERTIFICATEHOLDERS WITH RESPECT TO BANKRUPTCY.
The Owner Trustee shall not have the power to commence a voluntary proceeding in
bankruptcy relating to the Trust without the unanimous prior approval of all
Certificateholders and the delivery to the Owner Trustee by each such
Certificateholder of a certificate certifying that such Certificateholder
reasonably believes that the Trust is insolvent.
SECTION 4.4. RESTRICTIONS ON CERTIFICATEHOLDERS' POWER. The
Certificateholders shall not direct the Owner Trustee to take or refrain from
taking any action if such action or inaction would be contrary to any obligation
of the Trust or the Owner Trustee under this Agreement or any of the Basic
Documents or would be contrary to Section 2.3 nor shall the Owner Trustee be
obligated to determine if a Certificateholder's direction violates this Section
4.4 or to follow any such direction, if given.
SECTION 4.5. MAJORITY CONTROL. Except as otherwise specifically
provided herein, any action that may be taken by the Certificateholders under
this Agreement may be taken by the Holders of Trust Certificates evidencing not
less than a majority of the Percentage Interest. Except as otherwise
specifically provided herein, any written notice of the Certificateholders
delivered pursuant to this Agreement shall be effective if signed by Holders of
Certificates evidencing not less than a majority of the Percentage Interest at
the time of the delivery of such notice.
SECTION 4.6. EXECUTION OF DOCUMENTS. Notwithstanding anything herein
to the contrary, the Owner Trustee is authorized, empowered and directed, on
behalf of the Trust, to execute, deliver, issue and authenticate the
Certificates, to execute, deliver and issue the Notes, and to execute and
deliver each Basic Document to which the Trust or the Owner Trustee is or is to
be a party and any other document, instrument, certificate or other writing that
may be necessary, convenient or incidental thereto. Any such execution,
delivery, issuance and authentication is hereby ratified and confirmed in all
respects and does not and will be deemed not to conflict with, constitute or
result in a breach or violation of, or a default under, any provision of or any
duty under this Trust Agreement.
ARTICLE V.
APPLICATION OF TRUST FUNDS: CERTAIN DUTIES
SECTION 5.1. [Reserved]
SECTION 5.2. DISTRIBUTIONS TO CERTIFICATEHOLDERS. (a) On each
Distribution Date, the Owner Trustee will, based on the information contained in
the Servicer's Certificate delivered on the related Determination Date pursuant
to Section 4.9 of the Sale and Servicing Agreement, distribute to
Certificateholders, on a pro rata basis based on Percentage Interest, an amount
equal to the Certificateholders' Distributable Amount.
(a) On each Distribution Date, the Owner Trustee shall send to
each Certificateholder the statement provided to the Owner Trustee by the
Servicer pursuant to Section 5.8 of the Sale and Servicing Agreement on such
Distribution Date.
(b) In the event that any withholding tax is imposed on the
Trust's payment (or allocations of income) to a Certificateholder, such tax
shall reduce the amount otherwise distributable to the Certificateholder in
accordance with this Section. The Owner Trustee is hereby authorized and
directed to retain from amounts otherwise distributable to the
Certificateholders sufficient funds for the payment of any tax that is legally
owed by the Trust (but such authorization shall not prevent the Owner Trustee
from contesting any such tax in appropriate proceedings, and withholding payment
of such tax, if permitted by law, pending the outcome of such proceedings). The
amount of any withholding tax imposed with respect to a Certificateholder shall
be treated as cash distributed to such Certificateholder at the time it is
withheld by the Trust and remitted to the appropriate taxing authority. If there
is a possibility that withholding tax is payable with respect to a distribution
(such as a distribution to a non-US Certificateholder), the Owner Trustee may in
it sole discretion withhold such amounts in accordance with this clause (c). In
the event that an Owner wishes to apply for a refund of any such withholding
tax, the Owner Trustee shall reasonably cooperate with such Certificateholder in
making such claim so long as such Certificateholder agrees to reimburse the
Owner Trustee for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred. The Servicer shall
facilitate compliance with this Section 5.2(c) by performance of its duties
under Section 10.1(b) of the Sale and Servicing Agreement.
SECTION 5.3. [Reserved]
SECTION 5.4. METHOD OF PAYMENT. Subject to Section 9.1(c),
distributions required to be made to Certificateholders on any Distribution Date
shall be made to each Certificateholder of record on the preceding Record Date
either by wire transfer, in immediately available funds, to the account of such
Holder at a bank or other entity having appropriate facilities therefor, if (i)
such Certificateholder shall have provided to the Certificate Registrar
appropriate written instructions at least five Business Days prior to such
Distribution Date or (ii) such Certificateholder is the Depositor, or an
Affiliate thereof, or, if not, by check mailed to such Certificateholder at the
address of such holder appearing in the Certificate Register. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, the final distribution in respect of any Trust Certificate
(whether on the Final Scheduled Distribution Date or otherwise) will be payable
only upon presentation and surrender of such Trust Certificate at the office or
agency maintained for that purpose by the Owner Trustee pursuant to Section 3.8.
SECTION 5.5. NO SEGREGATION OF MONIES; NO INTEREST. Subject to
Sections 5.1 and 5.2, monies received by the Owner Trustee hereunder need not be
segregated in any manner except to the extent required by law and may be
deposited under such general conditions as may be prescribed by law. The Owner
Trustee shall not be liable for any interest thereon.
SECTION 5.6. ACCOUNTING AND REPORTS TO THE NOTEHOLDERS,
CERTIFICATEHOLDERS, THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE AND OTHERS. Subject to Sections
10.1(b)(iii) and 10.1(c) of the Sale and Servicing Agreement, the Depositor
shall (a) maintain (or cause to be maintained) the books of the Trust on a
calendar year basis on the accrual method of accounting, (b) deliver (or cause
to be delivered) to each Certificateholder, as may be required by the Code and
applicable Treasury Regulations, such information as may be required (including,
if applicable, Schedule K-1) to enable each Certificateholder to prepare its
Federal and state income tax returns, (c) prepare or cause to be prepared, and
file or cause to be filed, all tax returns, if any, relating to the Trust
(including, if applicable, a partnership information return, Form 1065), and
direct the Owner Trustee to make such elections as may from time to time be
required or appropriate under any applicable state or Federal statute or rule or
regulation thereunder so as to maintain the Trust's characterization as a
division or branch of its 100% owner, or as a partnership, as the case may be,
for Federal income tax purposes and (d) collect or cause to be collected any
withholding tax as described in and in accordance with Section 5.2(c) with
respect to income or distributions to Certificateholders. The Owner Trustee
shall make all elections pursuant to this Section as directed by the Depositor.
The Owner Trustee shall sign all tax information returns furnished to it in
execution form by the Depositor, and filed pursuant to this Section 5.6 and any
other returns as may be required by law and so furnished to it by the Depositor,
and in doing so shall rely entirely upon, and shall have no liability for
information provided by, or calculations provided by, the Depositor. In the
event the Trust is characterized as a partnership for federal income tax
purposes, the Depositor shall cause the Trust to elect under Section 1278 of the
Code to include in income currently any market discount that accrues with
respect to the Receivables, and the Trust shall not make the election provided
under Section 754 of the Code.
SECTION 5.7. SIGNATURE ON RETURNS; TAX MATTERS PARTNER. (a)
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 5.6, the Owner Trustee shall sign on
behalf of the Trust the tax returns of the Trust, if any, furnished to it in
execution form by the Depositor, unless applicable law requires a
Certificateholder to sign such documents, in which case such documents shall be
signed by the Depositor so long as it is a Certificateholder, in its capacity as
"tax matters partner."
(b) In the event the Trust is characterized as a partnership for
federal income tax purposes, and the Depositor is a Certificateholder, the
Depositor shall be the "tax matters partner" of the Trust pursuant to the Code.
ARTICLE VI.
AUTHORITY AND DUTIES OF OWNER TRUSTEE
SECTION 6.1. GENERAL AUTHORITY. The Owner Trustee is authorized and
directed to execute and deliver the Basic Documents to which the Trust is named
as a party and each certificate or other document attached as an exhibit to or
contemplated by the Basic Documents to which the Trust is named as a party and
any amendment thereto, in each case, in such form as the Depositor shall approve
as evidenced conclusively by the Owner Trustee's execution thereof, and on
behalf of the Trust, to direct the Trustee to authenticate and deliver Class A-1
Notes in the aggregate principal amount of $[ ], Class A-2 Notes in the
aggregate principal amount of $[ ], Class A-3 Notes in the aggregate principal
amount of $[ ], Class A-4 Notes in the aggregate principal amount of $[ ], Class
A-5 Notes in the aggregate principal amount of $[ ] and Class B Notes in the
aggregate principal amount of $[ ]. In addition to the foregoing, the Owner
Trustee is authorized, but shall not be obligated, to take all actions required
of the Trust pursuant to the Basic Documents. The Owner Trustee is further
authorized from time to time to take such action as the Servicer recommends to
it in writing with respect to the Basic Documents.
It shall be the duty of the Owner Trustee to discharge (or cause to be
discharged) all of its responsibilities pursuant to the terms of this Agreement
and the Basic Documents and to administer the Trust in the interest of the
Owners, subject to the Basic Documents and in accordance with the provisions of
this Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Owner Trustee shall be deemed
to have discharged its duties and responsibilities hereunder and under the Basic
Documents to the extent the Servicer has agreed in the Sale and Servicing
Agreement, or the Depositor has agreed hereunder or thereunder, to perform any
act or to discharge any duty of the Owner Trustee hereunder or of the Trust
under any Basic Document, and the Owner Trustee shall not be liable for the
default or failure of the Servicer or the Depositor to carry out its obligations
hereunder or thereunder.
SECTION 6.2. ACTION UPON INSTRUCTION. (a) Subject to Article IV, the
Certificateholders may, by written instruction, direct the Owner Trustee in the
management of the Trust. Such direction may be exercised at any time by written
instruction of the Certificateholders pursuant to Article IV.
(b) The Owner Trustee shall not be required to take any action
hereunder or under any Basic Document if the Owner Trustee shall have reasonably
determined, or shall have been advised by counsel, that such action is likely to
result in liability on the part of the Owner Trustee or is contrary to the terms
hereof or of any Basic Document or is otherwise contrary to law.
(c) Whenever the Owner Trustee is unable to decide between
alternative courses of action permitted or required by the terms of this
Agreement or any Basic Document, the Owner Trustee shall promptly give notice
(in such form as shall be appropriate under the circumstances) to the
Certificateholders requesting instruction as to the course of action to be
adopted, and to the extent the Owner Trustee acts in good faith in accordance
with any written instruction of the Certificateholders received, the Owner
Trustee shall not be liable on account of such action to any Person. If the
Owner Trustee shall not have received appropriate instruction within ten days of
such notice (or within such shorter period of time as may be specified in such
notice or may be necessary under the circumstances) it may, but shall be under
no duty to, take or refrain from taking such action, not inconsistent with this
Agreement or the Basic Documents, as it shall deem to be in the best interests
of the Certificateholders, and shall have no liability to any Person for such
action or inaction.
(d) In the event that the Owner Trustee is unsure as to the
application of any provision of this Agreement or any Basic Document or any such
provision is ambiguous as to its application, or is, or appears to be, in
conflict with any other applicable provision, or in the event that this
Agreement permits any determination by the Owner Trustee or is silent or is
incomplete as to the course of action that the Owner Trustee is required to take
with respect to a particular set of facts, the Owner Trustee may give notice (in
such form as shall be appropriate under the circumstances) to the
Certificateholders requesting instruction and, to the extent that the Owner
Trustee acts or refrains from acting in good faith in accordance with any such
instruction received, the Owner Trustee shall not be liable, on account of such
action or inaction, to any Person. If the Owner Trustee shall not have received
appropriate instruction within 10 days of such notice (or within such shorter
period of time as may be specified in such notice or may be necessary under the
circumstances) it may, but shall be under no duty to, take or refrain from
taking such action, not inconsistent with this Agreement or the Basic Documents,
as it shall deem to be in the best interests of the Certificateholders, and
shall have no liability to any Person for such action or inaction.
SECTION 6.3. NO DUTIES EXCEPT AS SPECIFIED IN THIS AGREEMENT OR
IN INSTRUCTIONS. The Owner Trustee shall not have any duty or obligation to
manage, make any payment with respect to, register, record, sell, dispose of, or
otherwise deal with the Owner Trust Estate, or to otherwise take or refrain from
taking any action under, or in connection with, any document contemplated hereby
to which the Owner Trustee is a party, except as expressly provided by the terms
of this Agreement or in any direction or written instruction received by the
Owner Trustee pursuant to Section 6.3; and no implied duties or obligations
shall be read into this Agreement or any Basic Document against the Owner
Trustee. The Owner Trustee shall have no responsibility for filing any financing
or continuation or termination statement in any public office at any time or to
otherwise perfect or maintain the perfection of any security interest or lien or
to prepare or file any Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the Trust
or to record this Agreement or any Basic Document. The Owner Trustee
nevertheless agrees that it will, at its own cost and expense, promptly take all
action as may be necessary to discharge any Liens on any part of the Owner Trust
Estate that result from actions by, or claims against, the Owner Trustee that
are not related to the ownership or the administration of the Owner Trust
Estate.
SECTION 6.4. NO ACTION EXCEPT UNDER SPECIFIED DOCUMENTS OR
INSTRUCTIONS. The Owner Trustee shall not manage, control, use, sell, dispose of
or otherwise deal with any part of the Owner Trust Estate except (i) in
accordance with the powers granted to and the authority conferred upon the Owner
Trustee pursuant to this Agreement, (ii) in accordance with the Basic Documents
and (iii) in accordance with any direction or instruction delivered to the Owner
Trustee pursuant to Section 6.3.
SECTION 6.5. RESTRICTIONS. The Owner Trustee shall not take any
action (a) that is inconsistent with the purposes of the Trust set forth in
Section 2.3 or (b) that, to the actual knowledge of a Responsible Officer of the
Owner Trustee, would result in the Trust's becoming taxable as a corporation for
Federal income tax purposes. The Certificateholders shall not direct the Owner
Trustee to take action that would violate the provisions of this Section.
SECTION 6.6. NOTICE OF DEFAULT UNDER INDENTURE. Within 5 business
days of receipt of a notice of Default under the Indenture, the Owner trustee
shall provide notice to each Certificateholder by letter.
ARTICLE VII.
CONCERNING THE OWNER TRUSTEE
SECTION 7.1. ACCEPTANCE OF TRUSTS AND DUTIES. The Owner Trustee
accepts the trusts hereby created and agrees to perform its duties hereunder
with respect to such trusts but only upon the terms of this Agreement. The Owner
Trustee also agrees to disburse all moneys actually received by it constituting
part of the Owner Trust Estate upon the terms of the Basic Documents and this
Agreement. The Owner Trustee shall not be answerable or accountable hereunder or
under any Basic Document under any circumstances, except (i) for its own willful
misconduct, bad faith or negligence or (ii) in the case of the inaccuracy of any
representation or warranty contained in Section 7.3 expressly made by the Owner
Trustee. In particular, but not by way of limitation (and subject to the
exceptions set forth in the preceding sentence):
(a) the Owner Trustee shall not be liable for any error of
judgment made by a Responsible Officer of the Owner Trustee;
(b) the Owner Trustee shall not be liable with respect to any
action taken or omitted to be taken by it in accordance with the instructions of
the Servicer or any Certificateholder;
(c) no provision of this Agreement or any Basic Document shall
require the Owner Trustee to expend or risk funds or otherwise incur any
financial liability in the performance of any of its rights or powers hereunder
or under any Basic Document if the Owner Trustee shall have reasonable grounds
for believing that repayment of such funds or adequate indemnity against such
risk or liability is not reasonably assured or provided to it;
(d) under no circumstances shall the Owner Trustee be liable for
indebtedness evidenced by or arising under any of the Basic Documents, including
the principal of and interest on the Notes;
(e) the Owner Trustee shall not be responsible for or in respect
of the validity or sufficiency of this Agreement or for the due execution hereof
by the Depositor or for the form, character, genuineness, sufficiency, value or
validity of any of the Owner Trust Estate or for or in respect of the validity
or sufficiency of the Basic Documents, other than the certificate of
authentication on the Trust Certificates, and the Owner Trustee shall in no
event assume or incur any liability, duty or obligation to any Noteholder or to
any Certificateholder, other than as expressly provided for herein and in the
Basic Documents;
(f) the Owner Trustee shall not be liable for the default or
misconduct of the Trustee or the Servicer or the Depositor under any of the
Basic Documents or otherwise and the Owner Trustee shall have no obligation or
liability to insure compliance by the Servicer or the Depositor with any
agreement to which it is a party or to perform the obligations of the Trust
under this Agreement or the Basic Documents that are required to be performed by
the Trustee under the Indenture or the Servicer under the Sale and Servicing
Agreement or the Depositor under this Agreement; and
(g) the Owner Trustee shall be under no obligation to exercise
any of the rights or powers vested in it by this Agreement, or to institute,
conduct or defend any litigation under this Agreement or otherwise or in
relation to this Agreement or any Basic Document, at the request, order or
direction of any of the Certificateholders, unless such Certificateholders have
offered to the Owner Trustee security or indemnity satisfactory to it against
the costs, expenses and liabilities that may be incurred by the Owner Trustee
therein or thereby. The right of the Owner Trustee to perform any discretionary
act enumerated in this Agreement or in any Basic Document shall not be construed
as a duty, and, except as otherwise provided in the third sentence of this
Section 7.1, the Owner Trustee shall not be answerable to any Certificateholder
in the performance of any such act.
SECTION 7.2. FURNISHING OF DOCUMENTS. The Owner Trustee shall furnish
to the Certificateholders promptly upon receipt of a written request therefor,
duplicates or copies of all reports, notices, requests, demands, certificates,
financial statements and any other instruments furnished to the Owner Trustee
under the Basic Documents.
SECTION 7.3. REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES. The Owner Trustee hereby
represents and warrants to the Depositor, for the benefit of the
Certificateholders, that:
(a) It is a banking corporation duly organized and validly
existing in good standing under the laws of the State of [ ] and having an
office within the State of [ ]. It has all requisite corporate power and
authority to execute, deliver and perform its obligations under this Agreement.
(b) It has taken all corporate action necessary to authorize the
execution and delivery by it of this Agreement, and this Agreement will be
executed and delivered by one of its officers who is duly authorized to execute
and deliver this Agreement on its behalf.
(c) Neither the execution nor the delivery by it of this
Agreement, nor the consummation by it of the transactions contemplated hereby
nor compliance by it with any of the terms or provisions hereof will contravene
any federal or [ ] state law, governmental rule or regulation governing the
banking or trust powers of the Owner Trustee or any judgment or order binding on
it, or constitute any default under its charter documents or by-laws or any
indenture, mortgage, contract, agreement or instrument to which it is a party or
by which any of its properties may be bound.
SECTION 7.4. RELIANCE; ADVICE OF COUNSEL. (a) The Owner Trustee shall
incur no liability to anyone in acting upon any signature, instrument, notice,
resolution, request, consent, order, certificate, report, opinion, bond or other
document or paper believed by it to be genuine and believed by it to be signed
by the proper party or parties. The Owner Trustee may accept a certified copy of
a resolution of the board of directors or other governing body of any corporate
party as conclusive evidence that such resolution has been duly adopted by such
body and that the same is in full force and effect. As to any fact or matter the
method of the determination of which is not specifically prescribed herein, the
Owner Trustee may for all purposes hereof rely on a certificate, signed by the
president or any vice president or by the treasurer, secretary or other
authorized officers of the relevant party, as to such fact or matter, and such
certificate shall constitute full protection to the Owner Trustee for any action
taken or omitted to be taken by it in good faith in reliance thereon.
(b) In the exercise or administration of the trusts hereunder and
in the performance of its duties and obligations under this Agreement or the
Basic Documents, the Owner Trustee (i) may act directly or through its agents or
attorneys pursuant to agreements entered into with any of them, and the Owner
Trustee shall not be liable for the conduct or misconduct of such agents or
attorneys if such agents or attorneys shall have been selected by the Owner
Trustee with reasonable care, and (ii) may consult with counsel, accountants and
other skilled persons to be selected with reasonable care and employed by it.
The Owner Trustee shall not be liable for anything done, suffered or omitted in
good faith by it in accordance with the written opinion or advice of any such
counsel, accountants or other such persons and not contrary to this Agreement or
any Basic Document.
SECTION 7.5. NOT ACTING IN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY. Except as
provided in this Article VII, in accepting the trusts hereby created [ ] acts
solely as Owner Trustee hereunder and not in its individual capacity and all
Persons having any claim against the Owner Trustee by reason of the transactions
contemplated by this Agreement or any Basic Document shall look only to the
Owner Trust Estate for payment or satisfaction thereof.
SECTION 7.6. OWNER TRUSTEE NOT LIABLE FOR TRUST CERTIFICATES OR
RECEIVABLES. The recitals contained herein and in the Trust Certificates (other
than the signature and countersignature of the Owner Trustee on the Trust
Certificates) shall be taken as the statements of the Depositor and the Owner
Trustee assumes no responsibility for the correctness thereof. The Owner Trustee
makes no representations as to the validity or sufficiency of this Agreement, of
any Basic Document or of the Trust Certificates (other than the signature and
countersignature of the Owner Trustee on the Trust Certificates) or the Notes,
or of any Receivable or related documents. The Owner Trustee shall at no time
have any responsibility or liability for or with respect to the legality,
validity and enforceability of any Receivable, or the perfection and priority of
any security interest created by any Receivable in any Financed Vehicle or the
maintenance of any such perfection and priority, or for or with respect to the
sufficiency of the Owner Trust Estate or its ability to generate the payments to
be distributed to Certificateholders under this Agreement or the Noteholders
under the Indenture, including, without limitation: the existence, condition and
ownership of any Financed Vehicle; the existence and enforceability of any
insurance thereon; the existence and contents of any Receivable or any computer
or other record thereof; the validity of the assignment of any Receivable to the
Trust or of any intervening assignment; the completeness of any Receivable; the
performance or enforcement of any Receivable; the compliance by the Depositor or
the Servicer with any warranty or representation made under any Basic Document
or in any related document or the accuracy of any such warranty or
representation or any action of the Trustee or the Servicer or any subservicer
taken in the name of the Owner Trustee.
SECTION 7.7. OWNER TRUSTEE MAY OWN TRUST CERTIFICATES AND NOTES.
The Owner Trustee in its individual or any other capacity may become the owner
or pledgee of Trust Certificates or Notes and may deal with the Depositor, the
Trustee and the Servicer in banking transactions with the same rights as it
would have if it were not Owner Trustee.
ARTICLE VIII.
COMPENSATION OF OWNER TRUSTEE
SECTION 8.1. OWNER TRUSTEE'S FEES AND EXPENSES. The Owner Trustee
shall receive as compensation for its services hereunder such fees as have been
separately agreed upon before the date hereof between the Sponsor and the Owner
Trustee, and the Owner Trustee shall be entitled to be reimbursed by the
Depositor for its other reasonable expenses hereunder, including the reasonable
compensation, expenses and disbursements of such agents, representatives,
experts and counsel as the Owner Trustee may employ in connection with the
exercise and performance of its rights and its duties hereunder.
SECTION 8.2. INDEMNIFICATION. The Depositor shall be liable as
primary obligor for, and shall indemnify the Owner Trustee and its successors,
assigns, agents and servants (collectively, the "Indemnified Parties") from and
against, any and all liabilities, obligations, losses, damages, taxes, claims,
actions and suits, and any and all reasonable costs, expenses and disbursements
(including reasonable legal fees and expenses) of any kind and nature whatsoever
(collectively, "Expenses") which may at any time be imposed on, incurred by, or
asserted against the Owner Trustee or any Indemnified Party in any way relating
to or arising out of this Agreement, the Basic Documents, the Owner Trust
Estate, the administration of the Owner Trust Estate or the action or inaction
of the Owner Trustee hereunder, except only that the Depositor shall not be
liable for or required to indemnify the Owner Trustee from and against Expenses
arising or resulting from any of the matters described in the third sentence of
Section 7.1. The indemnities contained in this Section shall survive the
resignation or termination of the Owner Trustee or the termination of this
Agreement. In any event of any claim, action or proceeding for which indemnity
will be sought pursuant to this Section, the Owner Trustee's choice of legal
counsel shall be subject to the approval of the Depositor, which approval shall
not be unreasonably withheld.
SECTION 8.3. PAYMENTS TO THE OWNER TRUSTEE. Any amounts paid to
the Owner Trustee pursuant to this Article VIII shall be deemed not to be a part
of the Owner Trust Estate immediately after such payment.
ARTICLE IX.
DISSOLUTION AND TERMINATION OF TRUST
SECTION 9.1. TERMINATION OF TRUST AGREEMENT. (a) The Trust shall
dissolve, (i) upon the final distribution by the Owner Trustee of all moneys or
other property or proceeds of the Owner Trust Estate in accordance with the
terms of the Indenture, the Sale and Servicing Agreement and Article V. The
bankruptcy, liquidation, dissolution, death or incapacity of any
Certificateholder or Owner, shall not (x) operate to terminate this Agreement or
the Trust, nor (y) entitle such Certificateholder's or Owner's legal
representatives or heirs to claim an accounting or to take any action or
proceeding in any court for a partition or winding up of all or any part of the
Trust or Owner Trust Estate nor (z) otherwise affect the rights, obligations and
liabilities of the parties hereto.
(b) Except as provided in clause (a), neither the Depositor nor
any Certificateholder shall be entitled to revoke or terminate the Trust.
(c) Notice of any termination of the Trust, specifying the
Distribution Date upon which the Certificateholders shall surrender their Trust
Certificates to the Paying Agent for payment of the final distribution and
cancellation, shall be given by the Owner Trustee by letter to
Certificateholders mailed within five Business Days of receipt of notice of such
termination from the Servicer given pursuant to Section 9.1(c) of the Sale and
Servicing Agreement, stating (i) the Distribution Date upon or with respect to
which final payment of the Trust Certificates shall be made upon presentation
and surrender of the Trust Certificates at the office of the Paying Agent
therein designated, (ii) the amount of any such final payment and (iii) that the
Record Date otherwise applicable to such Distribution Date is not applicable,
payments being made only upon presentation and surrender of the Trust
Certificates at the office of the Paying Agent therein specified. The Owner
Trustee shall give such notice to the Certificate Registrar (if other than the
Owner Trustee) and the Paying Agent (if other than the Owner Trustee) at the
time such notice is given to Certificateholders. Upon presentation and surrender
of the Trust Certificates, the Paying Agent shall cause to be distributed to
Certificateholders amounts distributable on such Distribution Date pursuant to
Section 5.2.
In the event that all of the Certificateholders shall not surrender
their Trust Certificates for cancellation within six months after the date
specified in the above mentioned written notice, the Owner Trustee shall give a
second written notice to the remaining Certificateholders to surrender their
Trust Certificates for cancellation and receive the final distribution with
respect thereto. If within one year after the second notice all the Trust
Certificates shall not have been surrendered for cancellation, the Owner Trustee
may take appropriate steps, or may appoint an agent to take appropriate steps,
to contact the remaining Certificateholders concerning surrender of their Trust
Certificates, and the cost thereof shall be paid out of the funds and other
assets that shall remain subject to this Agreement. Any funds remaining in the
Trust after exhaustion of such remedies shall be distributed, subject to
applicable escheat laws, by the Owner Trustee to the Depositor.
Certificateholders shall thereafter look solely to the Depositor as general
unsecured creditors.
(d) Any funds remaining in the Trust after funds for final
distribution have been distributed or set aside for distribution shall be
distributed by the Owner Trustee to the Depositor.
(e) Upon dissolution and completion of the winding up of the
Trust, the Owner Trustee shall cause the Certificate of Trust to be canceled by
filing a certificate of cancellation with the Secretary of State in accordance
with the provisions of Section 3810 of the Business Trust Statute and thereupon
the Trust and this Agreement shall terminate. The Owner Trustee shall furnish
notice of such dissolution to each Rating Agency.
SECTION 9.2. [Reserved]
ARTICLE X.
SUCCESSOR OWNER TRUSTEES AND ADDITIONAL OWNER TRUSTEES
SECTION 10.1. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR OWNER TRUSTEE. The Owner
Trustee shall at all times be a corporation authorized to exercise corporate
trust powers; and having a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000
and subject to supervision or examination by Federal or state authorities and
have (or have a parent which has) a long-term unsecured debt rating of at least
"BBB" by Standard & Poor's and at least "Baa3" by Moody's; PROVIDED that with
respect to the Owners Trustee (but not any successor trustee) the combined
capital and surplus of the parent organization of such banking corporation shall
be included in the determination of the combined capital and surplus of such
banking corporation. If such corporation shall publish reports of condition at
least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of the aforesaid
supervising or examining authority, then for the purpose of this Section, the
combined capital and surplus of such corporation shall be deemed to be its
combined capital and surplus as set forth in its most recent report of condition
so published. In case at any time the Owner Trustee shall cease to be eligible
in accordance with the provisions of this Section, the Owner Trustee shall
resign immediately in the manner and with the effect specified in Section 10.2.
In addition, at all times the Owner Trustee or a co-trustee shall be a person
that satisfies the requirements of Section 3807(a) of the Business Trust Statute
(the "Delaware Trustee").
SECTION 10.2. RESIGNATION OR REMOVAL OF OWNER TRUSTEE. The Owner
Trustee may at any time resign and be discharged from the trusts hereby created
by giving written notice thereof to the Servicer. Upon receiving such notice of
resignation, the Servicer shall promptly appoint a successor Owner Trustee by
written instrument, in duplicate, one copy of which instrument shall be
delivered to the resigning Owner Trustee and one copy to the successor Owner
Trustee. If no successor Owner Trustee shall have been so appointed and have
accepted appointment within 30 days after the giving of such notice of
resignation, the resigning Owner Trustee may petition any court of competent
jurisdiction for the appointment of a successor Owner Trustee.
If at any time the Owner Trustee shall cease to be eligible in
accordance with the provisions of Section 10.1 and shall fail to resign after
written request therefor by the Servicer, or if at any time the Owner Trustee
shall be legally unable to act, or shall be adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, or a
receiver of the Owner Trustee or of its property shall be appointed, or any
public officer shall take charge or control of the Owner Trustee or of its
property or affairs for the purpose of rehabilitation, conservation or
liquidation, then the Servicer may remove the Owner Trustee. If the Servicer
shall remove the Owner Trustee under the authority of the immediately preceding
sentence, the Servicer shall promptly appoint a successor Owner Trustee by
written instrument, in duplicate, one copy of which instrument shall be
delivered to the outgoing Owner Trustee so removed and one copy to the successor
Owner Trustee and payment of all fees owed to the outgoing Owner Trustee.
Any resignation or removal of the Owner Trustee and appointment of a
successor Owner Trustee pursuant to any of the provisions of this Section shall
not become effective until acceptance of appointment by the successor Owner
Trustee pursuant to Section 10.3 and payment of all fees and expenses owed to
the outgoing Owner Trustee. The Servicer shall provide notice of such
resignation or removal of the Owner Trustee to each of the Rating Agencies.
SECTION 10.3. SUCCESSOR OWNER TRUSTEE. Any successor Owner Trustee
appointed pursuant to Section 10.2 shall execute, acknowledge and deliver to the
Servicer and to its predecessor Owner Trustee an instrument accepting such
appointment under this Agreement, and thereupon the resignation or removal of
the predecessor Owner Trustee shall become effective and such successor Owner
Trustee, without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become fully vested
with all the rights, powers, duties and obligations of its predecessor under
this Agreement, with like effect as if originally named as Owner Trustee. The
predecessor Owner Trustee shall upon payment of its fees and expenses deliver to
the successor Owner Trustee all documents and statements and monies held by it
under this Agreement; and the Servicer and the predecessor Owner Trustee shall
execute and deliver such instruments and do such other things as may reasonably
be required for fully and certainly vesting and confirming in the successor
Owner Trustee all such rights, powers, duties and obligations.
No successor Owner Trustee shall accept appointment as provided in
this Section unless at the time of such acceptance such successor Owner Trustee
shall be eligible pursuant to Section 10.1.
Upon acceptance of appointment by a successor Owner Trustee pursuant
to this Section, the Servicer shall mail notice of the successor of such Owner
Trustee to all Certificateholders, the Trustee, the Noteholders and the Rating
Agencies. If the Servicer shall fail to mail such notice within 10 days after
acceptance of appointment by the successor Owner Trustee, the successor Owner
Trustee shall cause such notice to be mailed at the expense of the Servicer.
SECTION 10.4. MERGER OR CONSOLIDATION OF OWNER TRUSTEE. Any
corporation into which the Owner Trustee may be merged or converted or with
which it may be consolidated, or any corporation resulting from any merger,
conversion or consolidation to which the Owner Trustee shall be a party, or any
corporation succeeding to all or substantially all of the corporate trust
business of the Owner Trustee, shall be the successor of the Owner Trustee
hereunder, provided such corporation shall be eligible pursuant to Section 10.1,
without the execution or filing of any instrument or any further act on the part
of any of the parties hereto, anything herein to the contrary notwithstanding;
provided further that the Owner Trustee shall mail notice of such merger, sale,
conversion or consolidation to the Rating Agencies.
SECTION 10.5. APPOINTMENT OF CO-TRUSTEE OR SEPARATE TRUSTEE.
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement, at any time, for the
purpose of meeting any legal requirements of any jurisdiction in which any part
of the Owner Trust Estate or any Financed Vehicle may at the time be located or
relating to the transactions contemplated by the Basic Documents, the Servicer
and the Owner Trustee acting jointly shall have the power and shall execute and
deliver all instruments to appoint one or more Persons approved by the Owner
Trustee to act as co-trustee, jointly with the Owner Trustee, or separate
trustee or separate trustees, of all or any part of the Owner Trust Estate, and
to vest in such Person, in such capacity, such title to the Owner Trust Estate,
or any part thereof, and, subject to the other provisions of this Section, such
powers, duties, obligations, rights and trusts as the Servicer and the Owner
Trustee may consider necessary or desirable. If the Servicer shall not have
joined in such appointment within 15 days after the receipt by it of a request
so to do, the Owner Trustee alone shall have the power to make such appointment.
No co-trustee or separate trustee under this Agreement shall be required to meet
the terms of eligibility as a successor trustee pursuant to Section 10.1 and no
notice of the appointment of any co-trustee or separate trustee shall be
required pursuant to Section 10.3.
Each separate trustee and co-trustee shall, to the extent permitted by
law, be appointed and act subject to the following provisions and conditions:
(i) all rights, powers, duties and obligations conferred or
imposed upon the Owner Trustee shall be conferred upon and exercised
or performed by the Owner Trustee and such separate trustee or
co-trustee jointly (it being understood that such separate trustee or
co-trustee is not authorized to act separately without the Owner
Trustee joining in such act), except to the extent that under any law
of any jurisdiction in which any particular act or acts are to be
performed, the Owner Trustee shall be incompetent or unqualified to
perform such act or acts, in which event such rights, powers, duties
and obligations (including the holding of title to the Owner Trust
Estate or any portion thereof in any such jurisdiction) shall be
exercised and performed singly by such separate trustee or co-trustee,
but solely at the direction of the Owner Trustee;
(ii) no trustee under this Agreement shall be personally liable
by reason of any act or omission of any other trustee under this
Agreement; and
(iii) the Servicer and the Owner Trustee acting jointly may at
any time accept the resignation of or remove any separate trustee or
co-trustee.
Any notice, request or other writing given to the Owner Trustee
shall be deemed to have been given to each of the then separate trustees and
co-trustees, as effectively as if given to each of them. Every instrument
appointing any separate trustee or co-trustee shall refer to this Agreement and
the conditions of this Article. Each separate trustee and co-trustee, upon its
acceptance of the trusts conferred, shall be vested with the estates or property
specified in its instrument of appointment, either jointly with the Owner
Trustee or separately, as may be provided therein, subject to all the provisions
of this Agreement, specifically including every provision of this Agreement
relating to the conduct of, affecting the liability of, or affording protection
to, the Owner Trustee. Each such instrument shall be filed with the Owner
Trustee and a copy thereof given to the Servicer.
Any separate trustee or co-trustee may at any time appoint the
Owner Trustee, its agent or attorney-in-fact with full power and authority, to
the extent not prohibited by law, to do any lawful act under or in respect of
this Agreement on its behalf and in its name. If any separate trustee or
co-trustee shall die, become incapable of acting, resign or be removed, all of
its estates, properties, rights, remedies and trusts shall vest in and be
exercised by the Owner Trustee, to the extent permitted by law, without the
appointment of a new or successor trustee.
ARTICLE XI.
MISCELLANEOUS
SECTION 11.1. SUPPLEMENTS AND AMENDMENTS. (a) This Agreement may be
amended by the Depositor and the Owner Trustee, with prior written notice to the
Rating Agencies, without the consent of any of the Noteholders or the
Certificateholders, to cure any ambiguity or defect, to correct or supplement
any provisions in this Agreement or for the purpose of adding any provisions to
or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the provisions in this Agreement
or of modifying in any manner the rights of the Noteholders or the
Certificateholders; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that such action shall not, as evidenced
by an Opinion of Counsel, adversely affect in any material respect the interests
of any Noteholder or Certificateholder; PROVIDED, further, that any amendment
within the scope of Section 11.1(b)(i) or (ii) shall be deemed to materially and
adversely affect the interests of the Noteholders or the Certificateholders, as
evidenced by an Officer's Certificate of the Servicer delivered to the Owner
Trustee.
(b) This Agreement may also be amended from time to time by the
Depositor and the Owner Trustee, with prior written notice to the Rating
Agencies, with the consent of the Holders of Notes evidencing not less than a
majority of the Outstanding Amount of the Notes and, to the extent affected
thereby, the consent of the Holders of Certificates evidencing not less than a
majority of the Certificate Balance for the purpose of adding any provisions to
or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the provisions of this Agreement
or of modifying in any manner the rights of the Noteholders or the
Certificateholders; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that no such amendment shall (i) increase
or reduce in any manner the amount of, or accelerate or delay the timing of,
collections of payments on Receivables or distributions that shall be required
to be made for the benefit of the Noteholders or the Certificateholders or (ii)
reduce the aforesaid percentage of the Outstanding Amount of the Notes and the
Certificate Balance required to consent to any such amendment, without the
consent of the Holders of all the outstanding Notes and Holders of all
outstanding Certificates. Promptly after the execution of any such amendment or
consent, the Owner Trustee shall furnish written notification of the substance
of such amendment or consent to each Certificateholder, the Trustee and each of
the Rating Agencies.
(c) It shall not be necessary for the consent of
Certificateholders, the Noteholders or the Trustee pursuant to this Section to
approve the particular form of any proposed amendment or consent, but it shall
be sufficient if such consent shall approve the substance thereof. The manner of
obtaining such consents (and any other consents of Certificateholders provided
for in this Agreement or in any other Basic Document) and of evidencing the
authorization of the execution thereof by Certificateholders shall be subject to
such reasonable requirements as the Owner Trustee may prescribe.
(d) Promptly after the execution of any amendment to the
Certificate of Trust, the Owner Trustee shall cause the filing of such amendment
with the Secretary of State.
(e) Prior to the execution of any amendment to this Agreement or
the Certificate of Trust, the Owner Trustee shall be entitled to receive and
rely upon an Opinion of Counsel stating that the execution of such amendment is
authorized or permitted by this Agreement and that all conditions precedent to
the execution and delivery of such amendment have been satisfied. The Owner
Trustee may, but shall not be obligated to, enter into any such amendment which
affects the Owner Trustee's own rights, duties or immunities under this
Agreement or otherwise. The Owner Trustee shall furnish copies of any such
amendments to this Agreement to each Rating Agency.
SECTION 11.2. NO LEGAL TITLE TO OWNER TRUST ESTATE IN
CERTIFICATEHOLDERS. The Certificateholders shall not have legal title to any
part of the Owner Trust Estate. The Certificateholders shall be entitled to
receive distributions with respect to their undivided beneficial ownership
interest therein only in accordance with Articles V and IX. No transfer, by
operation of law or otherwise, of any right, title or interest of the
Certificateholders to and in their ownership interest in the Owner Trust Estate
shall operate to terminate this Agreement or the trusts hereunder or entitle any
transferee to an accounting or to the transfer to it of legal title to any part
of the Owner Trust Estate.
SECTION 11.3. LIMITATIONS ON RIGHTS OF OTHERS. Except for Section 2.7,
the provisions of this Agreement are solely for the benefit of the Owner
Trustee, the Depositor, the Certificateholders, the Servicer and, to the extent
expressly provided herein, the Trustee and the Noteholders, and nothing in this
Agreement, whether express or implied, shall be construed to give to any other
Person any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim in the Owner Trust Estate
or under or in respect of this Agreement or any covenants, conditions or
provisions contained herein.
SECTION 11.4. NOTICES. Unless otherwise expressly specified or
permitted by the terms hereof, all notices shall be in writing and shall be
deemed given upon receipt personally delivered, delivered by overnight courier
or mailed certified mail, return receipt requested and shall be deemed to have
been duly given upon receipt, if to the Owner Trustee, addressed to the
Corporate Trust Office; if to the Depositor, addressed to Ace Securities Corp.,
6525 Morrison Boulevard, Suite 318, Charlotte, North Carolina 28211, Attention:
General Counsel; or, as to each party, at such other address as shall be
designated by such party in a written notice to each other party.
(a) Any notice required or permitted to be given to a
Certificateholder shall be given by first-class mail, postage prepaid, at the
address of such Holder as shown in the Certificate Register. Any notice so
mailed within the time prescribed in this Agreement shall be conclusively
presumed to have been duly given, whether or not the Certificateholder receives
such notice.
SECTION 11.5. SEVERABILITY. Any provision of this Agreement that is
prohibited or unenforceable in any jurisdiction shall, as to such jurisdiction,
be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or unenforceability without
invalidating the remaining provisions hereof, and any such prohibition or
unenforceability in any jurisdiction shall not invalidate or render
unenforceable such provision in any other jurisdiction.
SECTION 11.6. SEPARATE COUNTERPARTS. This Agreement may be executed by
the parties hereto in separate counterparts, each of which when so executed and
delivered shall be an original, but all such counterparts shall together
constitute but one and the same instrument.
SECTION 11.7. SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS. All covenants and agreements
contained herein shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the
Depositor, the Owner Trustee and its successors and each Certificateholder and
its successors and permitted assigns, all as herein provided. Any request,
notice, direction, consent, waiver or other instrument or action by a
Certificateholder shall bind the successors and assigns of such
Certificateholder.
SECTION 11.8. [Reserved]
SECTION 11.9. NO PETITION. The Owner Trustee (not in its individual
capacity but solely as Owner Trustee), by entering into this Agreement, each
Certificateholder, by accepting a Trust Certificate, and the Trustee and each
Noteholder by accepting the benefits of this Agreement, hereby covenants and
agrees that they will not at any time institute against the Depositor, or join
in any institution against the Depositor of, any bankruptcy, reorganization,
arrangement, insolvency or liquidation proceedings, or other proceedings under
any United States Federal or state bankruptcy or similar law in connection with
any obligations relating to the Trust Certificates, the Notes, this Agreement or
any of the Basic Documents.
SECTION 11.10. NO RECOURSE. Each Certificateholder by accepting a
Trust Certificate acknowledges that such Certificateholder's Trust Certificates
represent beneficial ownership interests in the Trust only and do not represent
interests in or obligations of the Depositor, the Servicer, the Owner Trustee,
the Trustee or any Affiliate thereof and no recourse by such Certificateholder
may be had against such parties or their assets, except as may be expressly set
forth or contemplated in this Agreement, the Trust Certificates or the Basic
Documents.
SECTION 11.11. HEADINGS. The headings of the various Articles and
Sections herein are for convenience of reference only and shall not define or
limit any of the terms or provisions hereof.
SECTION 11.12. GOVERNING LAW. THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND
CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, WITHOUT
REFERENCE TO ITS CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS.
SECTION 11.13. [RESERVED]
SECTION 11.14. SERVICER. The Servicer is authorized to execute on
behalf of the Trust all such documents, reports, filings, tax returns,
instruments, certificates and opinions as it shall be the duty of the Trust to
prepare, file or deliver pursuant to the Basic Documents. Upon written request,
the Owner Trustee on behalf of the Trust shall execute and deliver to the
Servicer a power of attorney appointing the Servicer the Trust's agent and
attorney-in-fact to execute all such documents, reports, filings, tax returns,
instruments, certificates and opinions.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Trust
Agreement to be duly executed by their respective officers hereunto duly
authorized as of the day and year first above written.
[ ],
as Owner Trustee
By:____________________
Name:
Title:
ACE SECURITIES CORP.,
as Depositor
By: ____________________
Name:
Title:
EXHIBIT A
NUMBER __% Percentage Interest
R- CUSIP NO. ___________
SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
THE TRUST CERTIFICATES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES
ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "SECURITIES ACT") OR ANY STATE SECURITIES OR "BLUE
SKY" LAWS. THE HOLDER HEREOF, BY PURCHASING ANY TRUST CERTIFICATE, AGREES FOR
THE BENEFIT OF THE ISSUER THAT SUCH TRUST CERTIFICATE IS BEING ACQUIRED FOR ITS
OWN ACCOUNT AND NOT WITH A VIEW TO DISTRIBUTION AND MAY BE RESOLD, PLEDGED OR
TRANSFERRED ONLY (1) TO THE ISSUER (UPON REDEMPTION THEREOF OR OTHERWISE), (2)
TO A PERSON THE TRANSFEROR REASONABLY BELIEVES IS A QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL
BUYER (AS DEFINED IN RULE 144A UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT) IN A TRANSACTION
MEETING THE REQUIREMENTS OF RULE 144A, PURCHASING FOR ITS OWN ACCOUNT OR FOR THE
ACCOUNT OF A QUALIFIED INSTITUTIONAL BUYER TO WHOM NOTICE IS GIVEN THAT THE
RESALE, PLEDGE OR OTHER TRANSFER IS BEING MADE IN RELIANCE ON RULE 144A, OR (3)
IN A TRANSACTION COMPLYING WITH THE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES
ACT AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY STATE OF THE
UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.
NO INTEREST IN THIS TRUST CERTIFICATE MAY BE ACQUIRED BY OR FOR THE
ACCOUNT OF (i) AN "EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN" (AS DEFINED IN SECTION 3(3) OF THE
EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974, AS AMENDED, ("ERISA")) THAT IS
SUBJECT TO THE PROVISIONS OF TITLE I OF ERISA, (ii) A PLAN DESCRIBED IN SECTION
4975(e)(1) OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986, AS AMENDED (INCLUDING, WITHOUT
LIMITATION, INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS AND KEOGH PLANS), OR (iii) ANY ENTITY
WHOSE UNDERLYING ASSETS INCLUDE PLAN ASSETS BY REASON OF SUCH PLAN'S INVESTMENT
IN THE ENTITY (EACH A "BENEFIT PLAN"). BY ACCEPTING AND HOLDING THIS
CERTIFICATE, THE HOLDER HEREOF AND THE CERTIFICATE OWNER SHALL EACH BE DEEMED TO
HAVE REPRESENTED AND WARRANTED THAT IT IS NOT A BENEFIT PLAN.
[ ]
ASSET BACKED CERTIFICATE
evidencing a beneficial ownership interest in certain distributions of the
Trust, as defined below, the property of which includes a pool of retail
installment sale contracts and other motor vehicle installment chattel paper
secured by new and used automobiles (including passenger cars, minivans,
sport/utility vehicles and light trucks), and sold to the Trust by Ace
Securities Corp.
(THIS TRUST CERTIFICATE DOES NOT REPRESENT AN INTEREST IN OR OBLIGATION OF ACE
SECURITIES CORP. OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT DESCRIBED
BELOW.)
THIS CERTIFIES THAT Ace Securities Corp. is the registered owner of
100% Percentage Interest nonassessable, fully-paid, beneficial ownership
interest in [ ] (the "Trust") formed by Ace Securities Corp., a [ ] corporation
(the "Depositor").
The Trust was created pursuant to a Trust Agreement dated as of [ ]
(the "Trust Agreement"), between the Depositor and [ ], not in its individual
capacity but solely as owner trustee (the "Owner Trustee"), a summary of certain
of the pertinent provisions of which is set forth below. To the extent not
otherwise defined herein, the capitalized terms used herein have the meanings
assigned to them in the Trust Agreement.
This Certificate is one of the duly authorized Trust Certificates
designated as "Asset Backed Certificates" (herein called the "Trust
Certificates"). Also issued under the Indenture dated as of [ ], between the
Trust and [ ] as trustee, are Notes designated as "Class A-1 [ ]% Asset Backed
Notes" (the "Class A-1 Notes"), "Class A-2 [ ]% Asset Backed Notes" (the "Class
A-2 Notes"), "Class A-3 [ ]% Asset Backed Notes" (the "Class A-3 Notes"), "Class
A-4 [ ]% Asset Backed Notes" (the "Class A-4 Notes"), "Class A-5 [ ]% Asset
Backed Notes" (the "Class A-5 Notes") and "Class B [ ]% Asset Backed Notes" (the
"Class B Notes" and, together with the Class A-1 Notes, Class A-2 Notes, Class
A-3 Notes, Class A-4 Notes and Class A-5 Notes, the "Notes"). This Trust
Certificate is issued under and is subject to the terms, provisions and
conditions of the Trust Agreement, to which Trust Agreement the holder of this
Trust Certificate by virtue of the acceptance hereof assents and by which such
holder is bound. The property of the Trust includes a pool of retail installment
sale contracts and other motor vehicle installment chattel paper secured by new
and used automobiles (including passenger cars, minivans, sport/utility vehicles
and light trucks), (the "Receivables"), all monies received on the Receivables
on or after [ ], security interests in the vehicles financed thereby, certain
bank accounts and the proceeds thereof, proceeds from claims on certain
insurance policies and certain other rights under the Trust Agreement and the
Sale and Servicing Agreement.
Under the Trust Agreement, there will be distributed on the 15th day
of each month or, if such 15th day is not a Business Day, the next Business Day
(the "Distribution Date"), commencing in [ ] to the Person in whose name this
Trust Certificate is registered at the close of business on the last day of the
calendar month immediately preceding the Distribution Date (the "Record Date")
such Certificateholder's Percentage Interest in the amount to be distributed to
Certificateholders on such Distribution Date.
The holder of this Trust Certificate acknowledges and agrees that its
rights to receive distributions in respect of this Trust Certificate are
subordinated to the rights of the Noteholders as described in the Sale and
Servicing Agreement, the Indenture and the Trust Agreement, as applicable.
It is the intent of the Depositor, Servicer, and Certificateholders
that, for purposes of Federal income taxes, the Trust will be disregarded as an
entity apart from its owner if there is only one owner for Federal income tax
purposes, or, if there is more than one owner for Federal income tax purposes,
will be treated as a partnership the partners of which are the
Certificateholders. The Certificateholders by acceptance of a Trust Certificate,
agree to treat, and to take no action inconsistent with the treatment of, the
Trust and the Trust Certificates for such tax purposes as just described.
Each Certificateholder, by its acceptance of a Trust Certificate,
covenants and agrees that such Certificateholder will not at any time institute
against the Trust or the Depositor, or join in any institution against the Trust
or the Depositor of, any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, insolvency or
liquidation proceedings, or other proceedings under any United States Federal or
state bankruptcy or similar law in connection with any obligations relating to
the Trust Certificates, the Notes, the Trust Agreement or any of the Basic
Documents.
Distributions on this Trust Certificate will be made as provided in
the Trust Agreement by the Owner Trustee by wire transfer or check mailed to the
Certificateholder of record in the Trust Certificate Register without the
presentation or surrender of this Trust Certificate or the making of any
notation hereon. Except as otherwise provided in the Trust Agreement and
notwithstanding the above, the final distribution on this Trust Certificate will
be made after due notice by the Owner Trustee of the pendency of such
distribution and only upon presentation and surrender of this Trust Certificate
at the office or agency maintained for the purpose by the Owner Trustee in the [
].
Reference is hereby made to the further provisions of this Trust
Certificate set forth on the reverse hereof, which further provisions shall for
all purposes have the same effect as if set forth at this place.
Unless the certificate of authentication hereon shall have been
executed by an authorized officer of the Owner Trustee, by manual signature,
this Trust Certificate shall not entitle the holder hereof to any benefit under
the Trust Agreement or the Sale and Servicing Agreement or be valid for any
purpose.
THIS TRUST CERTIFICATE SHALL BE GOVERNED BY AND CONSTRUED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, WITHOUT REFERENCE TO ITS
CONFLICT OF LAW PROVISIONS.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Owner Trustee, on behalf of the Trust and not
in its individual capacity, has caused this Trust Certificate to be duly
executed.
Date:
[ ]
By: [ ],
solely as Owner Trustee and not in its
individual capacity
By: ________________________
Authorized Signatory
OWNER TRUSTEE'S CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICATION
This is one of the Trust Certificates of [ ] referred to in
the within-mentioned Trust Agreement.
Date:
[ ],
solely as Owner Trustee and not in its
individual capacity
By:___________________________
Authorized Signatory
(Reverse of Trust Certificate)
The Trust Certificates do not represent an obligation of, or an
interest in, the Depositor, the Servicer, the Owner Trustee or any Affiliates of
any of them and no recourse may be had against such parties or their assets,
except as may be expressly set forth or contemplated herein or in the Trust
Agreement, the Indenture or the Basic Documents. In addition, this Trust
Certificate is not guaranteed by any governmental agency or instrumentality and
is limited in right of payment to certain collections with respect to the
Receivables (and certain other amounts), all as more specifically set forth
herein and in the Sale and Servicing Agreement. The Trust Certificates are
limited in right of payment to certain collections and recoveries respecting the
Receivables, all as more specifically set forth in the Sale and Servicing
Agreement. A copy of each of the Sale and Servicing Agreement and the Trust
Agreement may be examined during normal business hours at the principal office
of the Depositor, and at such other places, if any, designated by the Depositor,
by any Certificateholder upon written request.
The Trust Agreement permits, with certain exceptions therein provided,
the amendment thereof and the modification of the rights and obligations of the
Depositor and the rights of the Certificateholders under the Trust Agreement at
any time by the Depositor and the Owner Trustee with the consent of the holders
of the Notes and the Trust Certificates evidencing not less than a majority of
the outstanding principal balance of the Notes and the Certificate Balance. Any
such consent by the holder of this Trust Certificate shall be conclusive and
binding on such holder and on all future holders of this Trust Certificate and
of any Trust Certificate issued upon the transfer hereof or in exchange hereof
or in lieu hereof whether or not notation of such consent is made upon this
Trust Certificate. The Trust Agreement also permits the amendment thereof, in
certain limited circumstances, without the consent of the holders of any of the
Trust Certificates.
As provided in the Trust Agreement and subject to certain limitations
therein set forth, the transfer of this Trust Certificate is registerable in the
Certificate Register upon surrender of this Trust Certificate for registration
of transfer at the offices or agencies of the Certificate Registrar maintained
by the Owner Trustee in the [ ], accompanied by a written instrument of transfer
in form satisfactory to the Owner Trustee and the Certificate Registrar duly
executed by the holder hereof or such holder's attorney duly authorized in
writing, and thereupon one or more new Trust Certificates in authorized
denominations evidencing the same aggregate interest in the Trust will be issued
to the designated transferee. The initial Certificate Registrar appointed under
the Trust Agreement is the Owner Trustee.
As provided in the Trust Agreement and subject to certain limitations
therein set forth, Trust Certificates are exchangeable for new Trust
Certificates in authorized denominations evidencing the same aggregate
denomination, as requested by the holder surrendering the same. No service
charge will be made for any such registration of transfer or exchange, but the
Owner Trustee or the Certificate Registrar may require payment of a sum
sufficient to cover any tax or governmental charge payable in connection
therewith.
The Owner Trustee, the Certificate Registrar and any agent of the
Owner Trustee or the Certificate Registrar may treat the person in whose name
this Trust Certificate is registered as the owner hereof for all purposes, and
none of the Owner Trustee, the Certificate Registrar or any such agent shall be
affected by any notice to the contrary.
The obligations and responsibilities created by the Trust Agreement
and the Trust created thereby shall terminate upon the payment to
Certificateholders of all amounts required to be paid to them pursuant to the
Trust Agreement and the Sale and Servicing Agreement and the disposition of all
property held as part of the Owner Trust Estate. The Servicer may at its option
purchase the corpus of the Trust at a price specified in the Sale and Servicing
Agreement, and such purchase of the Receivables and other property of the Trust
will effect early retirement of the Trust Certificates; however, such right of
purchase is exercisable, subject to certain restrictions, only as of the last
day of any Collection Period as of which the Pool Balance is 5% or less of the
Initial Pool Balance. In addition, if the Servicer does not exercise its option
to purchase the Receivables within 90 days after the last day of the Collection
Period as of which such right can first be exercised, an auction sale shall be
conducted (as described in the Sale and Servicing Agreement) and such auction
shall effect early retirement of the Certificates.
ASSIGNMENT
FOR VALUE RECEIVED the undersigned hereby sells, assigns and transfers
unto
PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY
OR OTHER IDENTIFYING NUMBER
OF ASSIGNEE
(Please print or type name and address, including postal zip code, of assignee)
the within Trust Certificate, and all rights thereunder, hereby irrevocably
constituting and appointing
_______________________________________________ Attorney to transfer said Trust
Certificate on the books of the Trust Certificate Registrar, with full power of
substitution in the premises.
Dated:
*
Signature Guaranteed:
*
- --------------------------
*NOTICE: The signature to this assignment must correspond with the name of the
registered owner as it appears on the face of the within Trust Certificate in
every particular, without alteration, enlargement or any change whatever. Such
signature must be guaranteed by an "eligible guarantor institution" meeting the
requirements of the Certificate Registrar, which requirements include membership
or participation in STAMP or such other "signature guarantee program" as may be
determined by the Certificate Registrar in addition to, or in substitution for,
STAMP, all in accordance with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
EXHIBIT B
[FORM OF]
CERTIFICATE OF TRUST OF
[ ]
THIS Certificate of Trust of [ ] (the "Trust"), is being duly executed
and filed by[ ], a [ ] banking corporation, as trustee, to form a business trust
under the Delaware Business Trust Act (12 DEL. CODE, ss. 3801 ET SEQ.).
1. NAME. The name of the business trust formed hereby is [ ].
2. DELAWARE TRUSTEE. The name and business address of the trustee of
the Trust in the State of Delaware is _______________________, , , Delaware
___________________________________________, Attention:
_____________________________.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being the sole trustee of the
Trust, has executed this Certificate of Trust.
___________________________,
not in its individual capacity but
solely as owner trustee of the Trust.
By:________________________________
Name:
Title: