EXHIBIT 3.1
State of Delaware
Office of the Secretary of State
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I, EDWARD J. FREEL, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE, DO HEREBY
CERTIFY THE ATTACHED IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF THE CERTIFICATE OF
INCORPORATION OF "BNC MORTGAGE, INC.", FILED IN THIS OFFICE ON THE THIRTEENTH
DAY OF JANUARY, A.D. 1998, AT 9 O'CLOCK A.M.
STATE OF DELAWARE
SECRETARY OF STATE
DIVISION OF CORPORATIONS
FILED 09:00 AM 01/13/1998
981014110 - 2845659
CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
OF
BNC MORTGAGE, INC.
ARTICLE I
The name of this corporation is BNC Mortgage, Inc.
ARTICLE II
The address of the registered office of the Corporation in the State of
Delaware is at 15 East North Street, Dover, Delaware 19901, and the name of its
registered agent at that address is Paracorp Incorporating Services.
ARTICLE III
The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity
for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of
Delaware.
ARTICLE IV
Section 1. Number of Authorized Shares. The total number of shares of
stock which the Corporation shall have the authority to issue shall be Fifty-
Five Million (55,000,000) shares. The Corporation shall be authorized to issue
two classes of shares of stock, designated, "Common Stock" and "Preferred
Stock." The Corporation shall be authorized to issue Fifty Million (50,000,000)
shares of Common Stock, each share to have a par value of $.001 per share, and
Five Million (5,000,000) shares of Preferred Stock, each share to have a par
value of $.001 per share.
Section 2. Common Stock. The Board of Directors of the Corporation may
authorize the issuance of shares of Common Stock from time to time. The
Corporation may reissue shares of Common Stock that are redeemed, purchased, or
otherwise acquired by the Corporation unless otherwise provided by law.
Section 3. Preferred Stock. The Board of Directors of the Corporation may
by resolution authorize the issuance of shares of Preferred Stock from time to
time in one or more series. The Corporation may reissue shares of Preferred
Stock that are redeemed, purchased, or otherwise acquired by the Corporation
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unless otherwise provided by law. The Board of Directors is hereby authorized to
fix or alter the designations, powers and preferences, and relative,
participating, optional or other rights, if any, and qualifications, limitations
or restrictions thereof, including, without limitation, dividend rights (and
whether dividends are cumulative), conversion rights, if any, voting rights
(including the number of votes, if any, per share, as well as the number of
members, if any, of the Board of Directors or the percentage of members, if any,
of the Board of Directors each class or series of Preferred Stock may be
entitled to elect), rights and terms of redemption (including sinking fund
provisions, if any), redemption price and liquidation preferences of any wholly
unissued series of Preferred Stock, and the number of shares constituting any
such series and the designation thereof, and to increase or decrease the number
of shares of any such series subsequent to the issuance of shares of such
series, but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding.
Section 4. Dividends and Distributions. Subject to the preferences
applicable to Preferred Stock outstanding at any time, the holders of shares of
Common Stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends, payable in cash or
otherwise, as may be declared thereon by the Board of Directors from time to
time out of assets or funds of the Corporation legally available therefor.
Section 5. Voting Rights. Each share of Common Stock shall entitle the
holder thereof to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of the
stockholders of the Corporation.
ARTICLE V
Meetings of stockholders may be held within or without the State of
Delaware, as the Bylaws may provide. The books of the Corporation may be kept
(subject to any provision contained in Delaware General Corporation Law) outside
the State of Delaware at such place or places as may be designated from time to
time by the Board of Directors or in the Bylaws of the Corporation.
ARTICLE VI
The number of directors of the Corporation shall be fixed from time to time
by or in the manner provided in the Bylaws of the Corporation or amendment
thereof duly adopted by the Board of Directors or by the stockholders of the
Corporation. Elections of directors need not be by written ballot unless the
Bylaws of the Corporation shall so provide.
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ARTICLE VII
No action, which has not been previously approved by the Board of
Directors, shall be taken by the stockholders except at an annual meeting or a
special meeting of the stockholders.
ARTICLE VIII
To the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, as
the same exists or may hereafter be amended (provided that the effect of any
such amendment shall be prospective only) (the "Delaware Law"), a director of
the Corporation shall not be liable to the Corporation or its stockholders for
monetary damages for breach of his or her fiduciary duty as a director. The
Corporation shall indemnify, in the manner and to the fullest extent permitted
by the Delaware Law (but in the case of any such amendment, only to the extent
that such amendment permits the Corporation to provide broader indemnification
rights than permitted prior thereto), any person (or the estate of any person)
who is or was a party to, or is threatened to be made a party to, any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether or not by
or in the right of the Corporation, and whether civil, criminal, administrative,
investigative or otherwise, by reason of the fact that such person is or was a
director or officer of the Corporation, or is or was serving at the request of
the Corporation as a director or officer of another corporation, partnership,
joint venture, trust or other enterprise. The Corporation to the fullest extent
permitted by the Delaware Law, purchase and maintain insurance on behalf of any
such person against any liability which may be asserted against such person. The
Corporation may create a trust fund, grant a security interest or use other
means (including without limitation a letter of credit) to ensure the payment of
such sums as may become necessary or desirable to effect the indemnification as
provided herein. To the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware Law, the
indemnification provided herein shall include expenses as incurred (including
attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement, and any such
expenses shall be paid by the Corporation in advance of the final disposition of
such action, suit or proceeding upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf
of the person seeking indemnification to repay such amounts if it is ultimately
determined that he or she is not entitled to be indemnified. Notwithstanding
the foregoing or any other provision of this Article, no advance shall be made
by the Corporation if a determination is reasonably and promptly made by the
Board by a majority vote of a quorum of disinterested directors, or (if such a
quorum is not obtainable or, even if
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obtainable, a quorum of disinterested directors so directs) by independent legal
counsel to the Corporation, that, based upon the facts known to the Board or
such counsel at the time such determination is made, (a) the party seeking an
advance acted in bad faith or deliberately breached his or her duty to the
Corporation or its stockholders, and (b) as a result of such actions by the
party seeking an advance, it is more likely than not that it will ultimately be
determined that such party is not entitled to indemnification pursuant to the
provisions of this Article VIII. The indemnification provided herein shall not
be deemed to limit the right of the Corporation to indemnify any other person
for any such expenses to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware Law, nor
shall it be deemed exclusive of any other rights to which any person seeking
indemnification from the Corporation may be entitled under any agreement, the
Corporation's Bylaws, vote of stockholders or disinterested directors, or
otherwise, both as to action in such person's official capacity and as to action
in another capacity while holding such office. The Corporation may, but only to
the extent that the Board of Directors may (but shall not be obligated to)
authorize from time to time, grant rights to indemnification and to the
advancement of expenses to any employee or agent of the Corporation to the
fullest extent of the provisions of this Article VIII as it applies to the
indemnification and advancement of expenses of directors and officers of the
Corporation.
The undersigned incorporator hereby acknowledges that the foregoing
Certificate of Incorporation is his act and deed and that the facts stated
therein are true.
/s/ JEFFREY L. DAVIDSON
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JEFFREY L. DAVIDSON, Incorporator
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