bgcp-ex41_114.htm



Exhibit 4.1

DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES

The following summary is a description of the material terms of BGC Partners, Inc.’s capital stock. When we use the words “we,” “us,” “our” or the “Company,” we are referring to BGC Partners, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Copies of our restated certificate of incorporation, which we refer to as our “certificate of incorporation,” and our amended and restated bylaws, which we refer to as our “bylaws,” are incorporated by reference as Exhibits 3.1 and 3.2 to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 of which this Exhibit 4.1 is a part.

Our Capital Stock

The following descriptions of our Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, which we refer to as our “Class A common stock”, Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share, which we refer to as our “Class B common stock”, preferred stock and the relevant provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws are summaries thereof and are qualified in their entirety by reference to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, copies of which are incorporated by reference as exhibits to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 of which this Exhibit 4.1 is a part, and applicable law.

Our authorized capital stock consists of 900,000,000 shares of common stock, consisting of 750,000,000 shares of our Class A common stock and 150,000,000 shares of our Class B common stock, and 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.01 per share, which we refer to as “preferred stock.”

Common Stock

As of February 25, 2021, there were 323,716,736 shares of our Class A common stock outstanding and 45,884,380 shares of our Class B common stock outstanding. The holders of our Class A common stock are generally entitled to one vote per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders as a group, entitling holders of our Class A common stock to approximately 41.4% of our voting power as of such date, and do not have cumulative voting rights. The holders of our Class B common stock are generally entitled to ten votes per share on all matters to be voted upon by the stockholders as a group, entitling holders of our Class B common stock to 58.6% of our voting power as of such date, and do not have cumulative voting rights. Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P, which we refer to as “Cantor,” and CF Group Management, Inc., the managing general partner of Cantor, and an entity controlled by our Chairman, Howard W. Lutnick, which we refer to as “CFGM,” are the only holders of our Class B common stock. Our Class B common stock generally votes together with our Class A common stock on all matters submitted to the vote of our stockholders. Our Class B common stock shall be issued only to (1) Cantor, (2) any entity controlled by Cantor or by Mr. Lutnick, or (3) Mr. Lutnick, his spouse, his estate, any of his descendants, any of his relatives or any trust established for his benefit or for the benefit of his spouse, any of his descendants or any of his relatives, which we refer to as the “B Share Entities.””

Each share of our Class A common stock is equivalent to a share of our Class B common stock for purposes of economic rights. Subject to preferences that may be applicable to any outstanding preferred stock, the holders of shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time to time by our board of directors out of funds legally available therefor. In the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up, the holders of shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution rights of preferred stock, if any, then outstanding.

Our certificate of incorporation provides that each share of our Class B common stock is convertible at any time, at the option of the holder, into one share of our Class A common stock. Each share of our Class B common stock will automatically convert into a share of our Class A common stock upon any sale, pledge or other transfer, which we refer to as a “transfer,” whether or not for value, by the initial registered holder, other than any transfer by the initial holder to (1) Cantor, (2) any entity controlled by Cantor or by Mr. Lutnick and (3) Mr. Lutnick or the B Share Entities.

Any holder of shares of our Class B common stock may pledge his, her or its shares of Class B common stock, as the case may be, to a pledgee pursuant to a bona fide pledge of the shares as collateral security 

 

   



 

for indebtedness due to the pledgee so long as the shares are not transferred to or registered in the name of the pledgee. In the event of any pledge of shares of our Class B common stock meeting these requirements, the pledged shares will not be converted automatically into shares of our Class A common stock. If the pledged shares of our Class B common stock become subject to any foreclosure, realization or other similar action by the pledgee, they will be converted automatically into shares of our Class A common stock upon the occurrence of that action. The automatic conversion provisions in our certificate of incorporation may not be amended, altered, changed or repealed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the voting power of all outstanding shares of our Class A common stock.

Shares of our Class A common stock are not subject to any conversion rights under our certificate of incorporation. None of the shares of our Class A common stock or Class B common stock has any pre-emptive or other subscription rights. There will be no redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to shares of our Class A common stock or Class B common stock. All outstanding shares of our Class A common stock and Class B common stock are fully paid and non-assessable.

Under an exchange agreement between us and Cantor, Cantor and its managing general partner, CFGM and other Cantor affiliates entitled to hold Class B common stock under our certificate of incorporation have the right to exchange from time to time, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment, up to an aggregate of 23,613,420 shares of Class A common stock now owned or subsequently acquired by Cantor and such affiliates for up to an aggregate of 23,613,420 shares of Class B common stock. These shares of Class B common stock represent the remaining 23,613,420 authorized but unissued shares of Class B common stock available for such exchange. Any shares of Class B common stock issued in connection with the exchange agreement will be deducted from the aggregate number of shares of Class B common stock that may be issued to Cantor and such affiliates upon exchange of their exchangeable limited partnership units in BGC Holdings. Accordingly, Cantor and such affiliates will not be entitled to receive any more shares of Class B common stock under the exchange agreement than they were previously eligible to receive upon exchange of exchangeable limited partnership units.

Preferred Stock

Our board of directors has the authority to cause us to issue preferred stock in one or more classes or series and to fix the designations, powers, preferences and rights, and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, dividend rates, terms of redemption, redemption prices, conversion rights and liquidation preferences of the shares constituting any class or series, without further vote or action by the stockholders. The issuance of our preferred stock pursuant to such “blank check” provisions may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us without further action by our stockholders and may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of shares of our Class A common stock. At present, we have no plans to issue any preferred stock.

Anti-Takeover Effects of Delaware Law, Our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws and the Outstanding Notes

Some provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which we refer to as the “DGCL,” and our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and outstanding notes, could make the following more difficult:

 


	
 
	
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acquisition of us by means of a tender offer;




 


	
 
	
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acquisition of us by means of a proxy contest or otherwise; or




 


	
 
	
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removal of our incumbent officers and directors.




The provisions, summarized above and below, are designed to discourage coercive takeover practices and inadequate takeover bids. These provisions are also primarily designed to encourage persons seeking to acquire control of us to first negotiate with our board of directors. We believe that the benefits of increased protection give us the potential ability to negotiate with the proponent of an unfriendly or unsolicited proposal to acquire or restructure us and outweigh the disadvantages of discouraging those proposals because negotiation of them could result in an improvement of their terms.

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Delaware Anti-Takeover Law

We are subject to Section 203 of the DGCL. In general, Section 203 of the DGCL prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years following the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless the “business combination” or the transaction in which the person became an “interested stockholder” is approved in a prescribed manner. Generally, a “business combination” includes a merger, asset or stock sale or other transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the “interested stockholder.” An “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock, or was the owner of 15% or more of a corporation’s outstanding voting stock at any time within the prior three years, other than “interested stockholders” prior to the time our Class A common stock was traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The existence of this provision would be expected to have an anti-takeover effect with respect to transactions not approved in advance by our board of directors, including discouraging takeover attempts that might result in a premium over the market price for the shares of our Class A common stock.

Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws

Our bylaws provide that special meetings of stockholders may be called only by the Chairman of our board of directors, or in the event the Chairman of our board of directors is unavailable, by the Chief Executive Officer or by the holders of a majority of the voting power of our Class B common stock, which is held by Cantor and CFGM. In addition, as discussed above, our certificate of incorporation permits us to issue “blank check” preferred stock.

Our bylaws require advance written notice prior to a meeting of our stockholders of a proposal or director nomination which a stockholder desires to present at such a meeting, which generally must be received by our Secretary not later than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the date of our proxy statement for the preceding year’s annual meeting. Our bylaws provide that all amendments to our bylaws must be approved by either the holders of a majority of the voting power of all of our outstanding capital stock entitled to vote or by a majority of our board of directors.

Corporate Opportunity

Our certificate of incorporation provides that no Cantor Company (as defined below) or any of the representatives (as defined below) of a Cantor Company will owe any fiduciary duty to, nor will any Cantor Company or any of their respective representatives be liable for breach of fiduciary duty to, us or any of our stockholders with respect to a corporate opportunity, except as described below. To the extent that any representative of a Cantor Company also serves as our director or officer, such person will owe fiduciary duties to us in his or her capacity as our director or officer. In addition, none of any Cantor Company or any of their representatives will owe any duty to refrain from engaging in the same or similar activities or lines of business as us, or doing business with any of our clients or customers.

If a third party presents a corporate opportunity (as defined below) to a person who is a representative of ours and a representative of a Cantor Company, expressly and solely in such person’s capacity as a representative of us, and such person acts in good faith in a manner consistent with the policy that such corporate opportunity belongs to us, then such person:

 


	
 
	
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will be deemed to have fully satisfied and fulfilled any fiduciary duty that such person has to us as a representative of us with respect to such corporate opportunity;




 


	
 
	
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will not be liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty by reason of such person’s action or inaction with respect to the corporate opportunity;




 


	
 
	
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will be deemed to have acted in good faith and in a manner that such person reasonably believed to be in, and not opposed to, our best interests; and




 


	
 
	
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will be deemed not to have breached such person’s duty of loyalty to us and our stockholders, and not to have derived an improper personal benefit therefrom.




A Cantor Company may pursue such a corporate opportunity if we decide not to.

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If a corporate opportunity is not presented to a person who is both a representative of ours and a representative of a Cantor Company and, expressly and solely in such person’s capacity as a representative of us, such person will not be obligated to present the corporate opportunity to us or to act as if such corporate opportunity belongs to us, and such person:

 


	
 
	
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will be deemed to have fully satisfied and fulfilled any fiduciary duty that such person has to us as a representative of us with respect to such corporate opportunity;




 


	
 
	
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will not be liable to us or any of our stockholders for breach of fiduciary duty by reason of such person’s action or inaction with respect to such corporate opportunity;




 


	
 
	
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will be deemed to have acted in good faith and in a manner that such person reasonably believed to be in, and not opposed to, our best interests; and




 


	
 
	
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will be deemed not to have breached a duty of loyalty to us and our stockholders, and not to have derived an improper personal benefit therefrom.




For purposes of the above:

 


	
 
	
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“Cantor Company” means Cantor and any of its affiliates (other than, if applicable, the Company and its affiliates);




 


	
 
	
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“representatives” means, with respect to any person, the directors, officers, employees, general partners or managing member of such person; and




 


	
 
	
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“corporate opportunity” means any business opportunity that we are financially able to undertake that is, from its nature, in our lines of business, is of practical advantage to us and is one in which we have an interest or a reasonable expectancy, and in which, by embracing the opportunity, the self-interest of a Cantor Company or their respective representatives will be brought into conflict with our self-interest.




Registration Rights for Class A Common Stock

We have entered into various registration rights agreements with Cantor that provide for our registration of shares of our Class A common stock for resale by Cantor. We entered into a registration rights agreement with Cantor dated December 9, 1999 in connection with eSpeed, Inc.’s formation. We also assumed in connection with the merger the obligations of BGC Partners, LLC (formerly known as BGC Partners, Inc.) under its registration rights agreement with Cantor dated March 31, 2008. For a description of such registration rights available to Cantor, see “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence — Registration Rights Agreements” included in our Definitive Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A filed on April 28, 2020, which we incorporate herein by reference.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent and registrar for our Class A common stock is American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC.

 

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