Document:

EX 10.3 Performance Guarantee

EXHIBIT 10.3
Execution

PERFORMANCE GUARANTEE
This Performance Guarantee is made as of December 16, 2014 by Wintrust Financial Corporation (the “Performance Guarantor”) in favour of CIBC Mellon Trust Company, in its capacity as trustee of PLAZA Trust (the “Purchaser”).
WHEREAS First Insurance Funding of Canada Inc. (“Seller” and, in its capacity as servicer, the “Servicer”) and the Purchaser entered into a receivables purchase agreement dated as of the date hereof (as amended, supplemented, restated, replaced or otherwise modified from time to time, the “RPA”).
AND WHEREAS the Performance Guarantor has agreed to provide this performance guarantee on the terms and conditions set out herein.
NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises herein contained and other good and valuable consideration, the parties hereto agree as follows:
		
	1.
	Definitions.  Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the respective meanings specified in the RPA.

		
	2.
	Performance of Obligations.  The Performance Guarantor hereby unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees to the Purchaser the due performance, payment and observation of all the obligations, covenants and agreements of the Seller and/or the Servicer contained in the RPA and the other Transaction Documents (the “Obligations”), and in the event of any failure of Seller or the Servicer, to perform any of such Obligations, the Performance Guarantor hereby covenants to assume and perform or cause to be performed all of such Obligations. The Performance Guarantor acknowledges that the Purchaser may proceed to enforce the obligations of Performance Guarantor under this Section 2 without first pursuing or exhausting any right or remedy it may have against Seller or the Servicer under the RPA and the other Transaction Documents.

		
	3.
	Guarantee Unconditional.  The obligations of the Performance Guarantor under this Guarantee are continuing, unconditional and absolute and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, shall not be released, discharged, diminished, limited, impaired or otherwise affected by (and the Performance Guarantor hereby waives, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law): 

		
	(a)
	any extension, other indulgence, renewal, compromise or subordination in respect of any Obligation or any part thereof or any agreement relating thereto;

		
	(b)
	any modification or amendment of or supplement to the Obligations made in accordance with the RPA and the other Transaction Documents or otherwise;

		
	(c)
	any change in the existence, structure, constitution, name, objects, powers, business or control of Seller or the Servicer;

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	(d)
	the existence of any claim, set-off or other rights which the Performance Guarantor may have at any time against Seller, the Servicer or the Purchaser or any other person, whether in connection herewith or any unrelated transactions;

		
	(e)
	any invalidity, illegality or unenforceability relating to or against Seller or the Servicer or any provision of applicable law or regulation purporting to prohibit the payment or performance by Seller or the Servicer of any Obligation;

		
	(f)
	any limitation, postponement, prohibition, subordination or other restriction on the right of the Purchaser to payment and performance of the Obligations;

		
	(g)
	any release, substitution or addition of any co-signer, endorser or other guarantor of any of the Obligations;

		
	(h)
	any defence arising by reason of any failure by the Purchaser to make any presentment, demand for performance, notice of non-performance, protest or any other notice, including notice of any of the following: acceptance of this Guarantee, partial payment or non-payment, a partial performance or nonperformance of all or any part of the Obligations and the existence, creation or incurring of new or additional Obligations;

		
	(i)
	any defence arising by reason of any failure by the Purchaser to proceed against Seller or the Servicer or any other person or to pursue any other remedy in the power of the Purchaser whatsoever;

		
	(j)
	any defence arising by reason of any incapacity, lack of authority or other defence of Seller or the Servicer or by reason of any limitation, postponement, prohibition on the Purchaser’s right to payment or performance of the Obligations or any part thereof, or by reason of the cessation from any cause whatsoever of the liability of Seller or the Servicer, with respect to all or any part of the Obligations;

		
	(k)
	any other act or omission to act or delay of any kind by Seller, the Servicer or the Purchaser or any other person, or any other circumstance whatsoever, whether similar or dissimilar to the foregoing, which might, but for the provisions of this Section 4, constitute a defense available to discharge, limit or reduce the Performance Guarantor’s obligations hereunder (other than the payment or performance and extinguishment in full of all of the Obligations).

The foregoing provisions apply (and the foregoing waivers by the Performance Guarantor will be effective) even if the effect of any action (or failure to take action) by the Purchaser is to destroy or diminish the Performance Guarantor’s subrogation rights, the Performance Guarantor’s right to proceed against Seller or the Servicer for reimbursement, the Performance Guarantor’s right to recover contribution from any other guarantor or any other right or remedy which may be available to the Performance Guarantor.

 

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	4.
	No Subrogation. Until all of the Obligations have been paid or performed in full, the Performance Guarantor shall have no right of subrogation to, and waives, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any right to enforce any remedy which the Purchaser now has or may hereafter have against Seller or the Servicer in respect of the Obligations and the Performance Guarantor waives any benefit of, and any right to participate in, any security now or hereafter held by the Purchaser for the Obligations.

		
	5.
	Reinstatement. If, at any time, all or any part of any payment previously applied by the Purchaser to any Obligation is or must be rescinded or returned by the Purchaser for any reason whatsoever (including, without limitation, the insolvency, bankruptcy or reorganization of Seller or the Servicer), such Obligation shall, for purposes of this Guarantee, to the extent that such payment is or must be rescinded or returned, be deemed to have continued in existence, notwithstanding such application by the Purchaser, and this Guarantee shall continue to be effective or be reinstated, as the case may be, as to such Obligation, all as though such application by the Purchaser had not been made.

		
	6.
	Representations and Warranties.  The Performance Guarantor represents and warrants to the Purchaser, upon each of which representations and warranties the Purchaser specifically relies in carrying out the transactions contemplated by the RPA and the other Transaction Documents from time to time and which will survive the completion of such transactions by the Purchaser, as the case may be, that as at the date hereof:

		
	(a)
	it (i) is a corporation incorporated and existing under the laws of the State of Illinois; and (ii) has the corporate power and authority to enter into and perform its obligations under this Guarantee;

		
	(b)
	it has full power and authority to own its properties and assets and is duly qualified to carry on business;

		
	(c)
	the execution, delivery of and performance by the Performance Guarantor of this Guarantee has been duly authorized by all necessary action on the part of the Performance Guarantor;

		
	(d)
	this Guarantee has been duly executed and delivered by the Performance Guarantor and constitutes a legally valid and binding obligation of the Performance Guarantor, enforceable against it in accordance with its terms, subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and other laws of general application limiting the enforceability of creditors’ rights and to the fact that injunction and specific performance are equitable remedies available only in the discretion of the court;

		
	(e)
	the execution and delivery of this Guarantee and compliance with the terms and conditions of it:

		
	(i)
	will not result in a violation of, or conflict with, or allow any other Person to exercise any rights under, any of the terms or provisions of the Performance Guarantor’s constating documents;

 

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	(ii)
	will not result in a violation of any applicable law, rule, regulation, order, judgment, injunction, award or decree;

		
	(iii)
	will not result in a breach of, or constitute a default under, any loan agreement, indenture, trust deed or any other agreement or instrument to which the Performance Guarantor is a party or by which it is bound;

		
	(iv)
	will not require any approval or consent of, or any notice to or filing with, any governmental authority having jurisdiction except such as has already been obtained; and

		
	(v)
	will not result in or require the creation of any adverse claim upon or with respect to any of the Performance Guarantor’s properties; and

		
	(f)
	there are no actions, suits or proceedings pending or, to the knowledge of the Performance Guarantor, threatened against or affecting the Performance Guarantor or any of its undertakings and assets, at law, in equity or before any arbitrator or before or by any governmental department, body, commission, board, bureau, agency or instrumentality having jurisdiction in respect of which there is a reasonable likelihood of a determination adverse to the Performance Guarantor and which would, if determined adversely, reasonably be expected to materially and adversely affect the ability of the Performance Guarantor to perform any of its obligations under this Guarantee and the Performance Guarantor is not in default with respect to any law, regulation, order, writ, judgment, injunction or award of any competent government, commission, board, agency, court, arbitrator or instrumentality which would have such an effect.

		
	7.
	Costs and Expenses.  The Performance Guarantor shall pay all reasonable out-of-pocket costs and expenses of the Purchaser (including without limitation reasonable legal fees and documented disbursements) in connection with the enforcement of the obligations of the Performance Guarantor under this Guarantee. 

		
	8.
	Successor.  The agreement herein set forth shall be binding upon, and enure to the benefit of the Performance Guarantor and the Purchaser and their respective successors and permitted assigns.

		
	9.
	Assignment.  The Performance Guarantor shall not assign or transfer its rights or delegate its duties under this Guarantee. The Purchaser shall be permitted to assign the benefits of this Guarantee pursuant to and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the RPA.

		
	10.
	Waiver.  The Performance Guarantor hereby waives any failure or delay on the part of the Purchaser, as the case may be, or any other Person in asserting or enforcing any rights or in making any claims or demands hereunder.

 

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	11.
	Execution in Counterparts.  This Guarantee may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original and which together shall constitute one and the same agreement.

		
	12.
	Governing Law.  This Guarantee shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the province of Ontario.

 

[Signature Page Follows]
DATED as of the 16th day of December, 2014.

	
				
	 
	 
	WINTRUST FINANCIAL CORPORATION 

	By:
	/s/David A. Dykstra

	 
	Name:   David A. Dykjstra

	 
	Title: Senior EVP and Chief Operating Officer

	 
	 

	By:
	/s/Lisa J. Pattis

	 
	Name:   Lisa J. Pattis

	 
	Title: EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretaryexh_101.htm

Exhibit 10.1

SIMMONS FIRST NATIONAL CORPORATION

2015 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

The Simmons First National Corporation 2015 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“Plan”) was adopted by the Board of Directors (“Board”) of Simmons First National Corporation (“Company”) on December 15, 2014. The effective date of the Plan shall be June 1, 2015.

1.  Purpose of Plan. The purpose of the Plan is to provide eligible employees of the Company and its subsidiaries, whether now owned or hereafter acquired, a convenient opportunity to purchase shares of common stock of the Company through offerings financed by payroll deductions.  As used in this Plan, “subsidiary” means a corporation or other form of business association of which shares (or other ownership interests) having 50% or more of the voting power are, or in the future become, owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the Company.

2.  Qualification.  The Plan is not qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (“Code”) and is not subject to any provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).  It is the Company's intention for the Plan to qualify as an “employee stock purchase plan” under Section 423 of the Code, and the provisions of the Plan shall be construed so as to extend and limit participation in a manner consistent with the requirements of that Section of the Code.

3.  Administration.  The Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee, which consists of at least two or more members of the Board, none of whom are eligible to participate in the Plan and all of whom are “non-employee directors,” as such term is defined in Rule 16b-3(b)(3) of the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“1934 Act”).  The Compensation Committee shall prescribe rules and regulations for the administration of the Plan and interpret its provisions.  The Compensation Committee may correct any defect, reconcile any inconsistency or resolve any ambiguity in the Plan.  The actions and determinations of the Compensation Committee on matters relating to the Plan are conclusive.  The Compensation Committee and its members may be addressed in care of the Company at its principal office.  The members of the Compensation Committee do not serve for fixed periods but may be appointed or removed at any time by the Board.

4.  Stock Reservation.  An aggregate of 100,000 shares of Class A, $0.01 par value, common stock of the Company (“SFNC Stock”) is available for purchase under the Plan.  Shares of SFNC Stock which are to be delivered under the Plan may be obtained by the Company by authorized purchases on the open market or from private sources, or by issuing authorized but unissued shares of SFNC Stock.  In the event of any change in the SFNC Stock through recapitalization, merger, consolidation, stock dividend or split, combination or exchanges of shares or otherwise, the Compensation Committee may make such equitable adjustments in the Plan and the then outstanding offering as it deems necessary and appropriate including, but not limited to, changing the number of shares of SFNC Stock reserved under the Plan and the price of the current offering.  If the number of shares of SFNC Stock that participating employees become entitled to purchase is greater than the number of shares of SFNC Stock available, the available shares shall be allocated by the Compensation Committee among such participating employees in such manner as it deems fair and equitable.  No fractional shares of SFNC Stock shall be issued or sold under the Plan.

  

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5. Eligibility to Participate.  All employees of the Company and such of its subsidiaries as shall be designated by the Compensation Committee will be eligible to participate in the Plan.  Each offering may exclude from participation in the offering (i) employees who have been employed less than 2 years, (ii) [Missing Graphic Reference]employees whose customary employment is 20 hours or less per week, (iii) [Missing Graphic Reference]employees whose customary employment is for not more than 5 months in any calendar year, and (iv) [Missing Graphic Reference]highly compensated employees (within the meaning of section 414(q) of the Internal Revenue Code.  No employee shall be eligible to participate in the Plan if, immediately after an option is granted under the Plan, the employee owns more than five percent (5%) of the total combined voting power or value of all classes of shares of the Company or of any parent or subsidiary of the Company.

6.  SFNC Stock Offerings. The Company may make up to ten (10) offerings of twelve (12) months' duration each to eligible employees to purchase SFNC Stock under the Plan.  An eligible employee as defined in the Offering may participate in such Offering by authorizing at any time prior to the first day of such Offering a payroll deduction for such purpose in a dollar amount, not exceeding any limitation set forth in the Offering, or in the event the participant is participating in more than one Offering during any calendar year a cumulative sum of $25,000 per calendar year, provided that the maximum number of shares of SFNC Stock that may be acquired by any participant in any calendar year under the plan is limited to the Share Limitation for such year, as defined in Section 8 below. The Compensation Committee may at any time suspend an Offering if required by law or if determined by the Compensation Committee to be in the best interests of the Company.

7.  Participant Accounts.  (a)  The Company will maintain or cause to be maintained separate payroll deduction accounts for all participating employees for each Offering.  All funds received or held by the Company or its subsidiaries under the Plan may be, but need not be, segregated from other corporate funds.  Payroll deduction accounts will not be credited with interest. Any balance remaining in any employee's payroll deduction account at the end of an Offering period will be refunded to the employee.

(b)  Each participating employee will receive a statement of his or her payroll deduction account and the number of shares of SFNC Stock purchased therewith following the end of each Offering period.

(c)  Subject to rules, procedures and forms adopted by the Compensation Committee, a participating employee may at any time during the offering period increase, decrease or suspend his or her payroll deduction, or may withdraw from participation in an offering.  Under the initial rules established by the Compensation Committee, payroll deductions may not be altered more than once in each Offering period and withdrawal requests (effective on the last day of the offering) may be received on or before the last day of such offering.  In the event of a participating employee's retirement, death, disability or termination of employment, his or her participation in any offering under the Plan shall cease, no further amounts shall be deducted pursuant to the Plan, and the balance in the employee's account shall be paid to the employee, or, in the event of the employee's death, to the employee's beneficiary designated on a form approved by the Compensation Committee (or, if the employee has not designated a beneficiary, to his or her estate).

  

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8. Option Grant.  Each employee participating in any offering under the Plan will be granted an option, upon the effective date of such offering, for as many full shares of SFNC Stock as the amount of his or her payroll deduction account at the end of any offering period can purchase but not in excess of the share limitation, as defined below.  No employee may be granted an option under the Plan which permits his or her rights to purchase SFNC Stock under the Plan, and any other stock purchase plan of the Company or a parent or subsidiary of the Company qualified under Section 423 of the Code, to exceed the number of shares of SFNC Stock (rounded down to a whole number of shares) equal to $25,000 divided by the Fair Market Value of SFNC Stock determined at the time the option is granted under the first Offering for each calendar year in which the employee participates (“Share Limitation”).

As of the last day of the Offering period, the payroll deduction account of each participating employee shall be totaled.  If such account contains sufficient funds to purchase one or more full shares of SFNC Stock as of that date, the employee shall be deemed to have exercised an option to purchase the largest number of full shares of SFNC Stock (not exceeding the Share Limitation) at the purchase price. Such employee's account will be charged for the amount of the purchase and the stock will be delivered in accordance with Section 13. Any remaining funds in the employee’s account will be refunded to the employee.

9.  Purchase Price.  The Compensation Committee shall determine the purchase price of the shares of SFNC Stock which are to be sold under each offering, which price shall not be less than the lesser of (i) an amount equal to 85 percent of the Fair Market Value of the SFNC Stock at the time such option is granted, or (ii) an amount equal to 85 percent of the Fair Market Value of the SFNC Stock at the time such option is exercised.  “Fair Market Value” of a share of SFNC Stock on a given date is defined as the closing price of a share on the previous trading day (or, if none, on the most recent date on which there was one or more trades executed), as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market, or other similar service selected by the Compensation Committee.  However, if the SFNC Stock is listed on a national securities exchange, “Fair Market Value” is defined as the last reported sale price of a share on the previous trading day, or if no sale took place, the last reported sale price of a share of stock on the most recent day on which a sale of a share of stock took place as recorded on such exchange.  If the SFNC Stock is neither listed on such date on a national securities exchange nor traded in the over-the-counter market, “Fair Market Value” is defined as the fair market value of a share on such date as determined in good faith by the NCCGC.  Nothing herein shall restrict the authority of the Compensation Committee to utilize different purchase price formulas for separate Offerings, so long as such price formulas comply with the parameters set forth in this Section.

  

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10.  Non-Assignability of Option.  No option, right or benefit under the Plan may be transferred by a participating employee other than by will or the laws of descent and distribution, and all options, rights and benefits under the Plan may be exercised during the participating employee's lifetime only by such employee or the employee's guardian or legal representative.  There are no restrictions imposed under the Plan upon the resale of shares of SFNC Stock issued under the Plan, however the timing of any resale could affect the income tax treatment of such sale.

11. Term, Termination and Amendments.  No offering under this plan shall be commenced after March 15, 2020, provided that the plan shall terminate earlier in the event all of the stock allocated to the plan has been purchased.  The Board may terminate the Plan at any time, or make such amendment of the Plan as it may deem advisable, but no amendment may be made without the approval of the Company's shareholders if it would materially: (i) increase the benefits accruing to participants under the Plan; (ii) modify the requirements as to eligibility for participation in the Plan; (iii) increase the number of shares which may be issued under the Plan, (iv) increase the cost of the Plan to the Company; or (v) alter the allocation of Plan benefits among participating employees.

12. Securities Law Compliance.  Certain officers of the Company are subject to restrictions under Section 16(b) of the 1934 Act.  With respect to such officers, transactions under the Plan are intended to comply with all applicable conditions of Rule 16b-3 or its successors under the 1934 Act. To the extent any provision of the Plan or action by the Compensation Committee fails to so comply, it shall be deemed null and void if permitted by law and deemed advisable by the Compensation Committee.

13.  Delivery of Shares.    SFNC Shares purchased under the Plan will be delivered to the participating employees account at E-Trade (or such other securities brokerage firm as the Company may from time to time designate to maintain employee stock accounts).

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