Document:

Exhibit 4.25

 

 

 

 

JUNIOR
SUBORDINATED INDENTURE

between

AMERICAN EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING
COMPANY

and

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

as Trustee

 

 

Dated as of August 4,
2005

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE OF
CONTENTS

 

	
   

  	
  ARTICLE I

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Definitions
  and Other Provisions of General Application

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.1.

  	
  Definitions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.2.

  	
  Compliance Certificate and
  Opinions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.3.

  	
  Forms of Documents Delivered
  to Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.4.

  	
  Acts of Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.5.

  	
  Notices, Etc. to Trustee and
  Company

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.6.

  	
  Notice to Holders; Waiver

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.7.

  	
  Effect of Headings and Table
  of Contents

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.8.

  	
  Successors and Assigns

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.9.

  	
  Separability Clause

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.10.

  	
  Benefits of Indenture

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.11.

  	
  Governing Law

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.12.

  	
  Submission to Jurisdiction

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.13.

  	
  Non-Business Days

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE II

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Security
  Forms

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.1.

  	
  Form of Security

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.2.

  	
  Restricted
  Legend

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.3.

  	
  Form of
  Trustee’s Certificate of Authentication

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.4.

  	
  Temporary
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.5.

  	
  Definitive
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE III

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  The Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.1.

  	
  Payment of
  Principal and Interest

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.2.

  	
  Denominations

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.3.

  	
  Execution,
  Authentication, Delivery and Dating

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.4.

  	
  Global
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.5.

  	
  Registration,
  Transfer and Exchange Generally

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.6.

  	
  Mutilated,
  Destroyed, Lost and Stolen Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.7.

  	
  Persons
  Deemed Owners

  	
   

  

 

i

 

	
  Section 3.8.

  	
  Cancellation

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.9.

  	
  Deferrals
  of Interest Payment Dates

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.10.

  	
  Right of Set-Off

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.11.

  	
  Agreed Tax
  Treatment

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.12.

  	
  CUSIP Numbers

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE IV

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Satisfaction
  and Discharge

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 4.1.

  	
  Satisfaction
  and Discharge of Indenture

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 4.2.

  	
  Application
  of Trust Money

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE V

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Remedies

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.1.

  	
  Events of Default

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.2.

  	
  Acceleration
  of Maturity; Rescission and Annulment

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.3.

  	
  Collection
  of Indebtedness and Suits for Enforcement by Trustee.

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.4.

  	
  Trustee May File
  Proofs of Claim

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.5.

  	
  Trustee May Enforce
  Claim Without Possession of Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.6.

  	
  Application
  of Money Collected

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.7.

  	
  Limitation on
  Suits

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.8.

  	
  Unconditional
  Right of Holders to Receive Principal, Premium, if any, and Interest; Direct
  Action by Holders of Preferred Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.9.

  	
  Restoration
  of Rights and Remedies

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.10.

  	
  Rights and
  Remedies Cumulative

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.11.

  	
  Delay or
  Omission Not Waiver

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.12.

  	
  Control by
  Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.13.

  	
  Waiver of
  Past Defaults

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.14.

  	
  Undertaking
  for Costs

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.15.

  	
  Waiver of
  Usury, Stay or Extension Laws

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE VI

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  The Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.1.

  	
  Corporate
  Trustee Required

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.2.

  	
  Certain
  Duties and Responsibilities

  	
   

  

 

ii

 

	
  Section 6.3.

  	
  Notice of
  Defaults

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.4.

  	
  Certain
  Rights of Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.5.

  	
  May Hold
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.6.

  	
  Compensation;
  Reimbursement; Indemnity

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.7.

  	
  Resignation
  and Removal; Appointment of Successor

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.8.

  	
  Acceptance
  of Appointment by Successor

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.9.

  	
  Merger,
  Conversion, Consolidation or Succession to Business

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.10.

  	
  Not
  Responsible for Recitals or Issuance of Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.11.

  	
  Appointment
  of Authenticating Agent

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE VII

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Holder’s
  Lists and Reports by Company

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 7.1.

  	
  Company to
  Furnish Trustee Names and Addresses of Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 7.2.

  	
  Preservation
  of Information, Communications to Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 7.3.

  	
  Reports by
  Company

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE VIII

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Consolidation,
  Merger, Conveyance, Transfer or Lease

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.1.

  	
  Company May Consolidate,
  Etc., Only on Certain Terms

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.2.

  	
  Successor
  Company Substituted

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE IX

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Supplemental
  Indentures

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 9.1.

  	
  Supplemental
  Indentures without Consent of Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 9.2.

  	
  Supplemental
  Indentures with Consent of Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 9.3.

  	
  Execution
  of Supplemental Indentures

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 9.4.

  	
  Effect of
  Supplemental Indentures

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 9.5.

  	
  Reference
  in Securities to Supplemental Indentures

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE X

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Covenants

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.1.

  	
  Payment of
  Principal, Premium, if any, and Interest

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.2.

  	
  Money for
  Security Payments to be Held in Trust

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.3.

  	
  Statement
  as to Compliance

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.4.

  	
  Calculation
  Agent

  	
   

  

 

iii

 

	
  Section 10.5.

  	
  Additional Tax
  Sums

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.6.

  	
  Additional
  Covenants

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.7.

  	
  Waiver of
  Covenants

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 10.8.

  	
  Treatment
  of Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE XI

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Redemption of
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.1.

  	
  Optional
  Redemption

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.2.

  	
  Special
  Event Redemption

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.3.

  	
  Election to
  Redeem; Notice to Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.4.

  	
  Selection
  of Securities to be Redeemed

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.5.

  	
  Notice of
  Redemption

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.6.

  	
  Deposit of
  Redemption Price

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 11.7.

  	
  Payment of
  Securities Called for Redemption

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  ARTICLE XII

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Subordination
  of Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.1.

  	
  Securities
  Subordinate to Senior Debt

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.2.

  	
  No Payment
  When Senior Debt in Default; Payment Over of Proceeds Upon Dissolution, Etc.

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.3.

  	
  Payment
  Permitted If No Default

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.4.

  	
  Subrogation
  to Rights of Holders of Senior Debt

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.5.

  	
  Provisions
  Solely to Define Relative Rights

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.6.

  	
  Trustee to
  Effectuate Subordination

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.7.

  	
  No Waiver
  of Subordination Provisions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.8.

  	
  Notice to
  Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.9.

  	
  Reliance on
  Judicial Order or Certificate of Liquidating Agent

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.10.

  	
  Trustee Not
  Fiduciary for Holders of Senior Debt

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.11.

  	
  Rights of
  Trustee as Holder of Senior Debt; Preservation of Trustee’s Rights

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 12.12.

  	
  Article Applicable
  to Paying Agents

  	
   

  

 

iv

 

	
  SCHEDULES

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Schedule A

  	
  –

  	
  Determination of LIBOR

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Exhibit A

  	
  -

  	
  Form of Officer’s Financial
  Certificate

  	
   

  

 

i

 

JUNIOR SUBORDINATED INDENTURE, dated as of August 4, 2005, between AMERICAN EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING
COMPANY, an Iowa corporation (the “Company”), and JPMORGAN
CHASE BANK, National Association,
a national banking association, as Trustee (in such capacity, the “Trustee”).

 

RECITALS OF THE COMPANY

 

WHEREAS, the Company has duly authorized the execution
and delivery of this Indenture to provide for the issuance of its unsecured
junior subordinated deferrable interest notes (the “Securities”) issued to evidence
loans made to the Company of the proceeds from the issuance by American Equity
Capital Trust X, a Delaware statutory
trust (the “Trust”), of undivided preferred
beneficial interests in the assets of the Trust (the “Preferred Securities”) and undivided common
beneficial interests in the assets of the Trust (the “Common Securities” and, collectively with the Preferred
Securities, the “Trust
Securities”),
and to provide the terms and conditions upon which the Securities are to be
authenticated, issued and delivered; and

 

WHEREAS, all things necessary to make this Indenture a
valid agreement of the Company, in accordance with its terms, have been done.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, this Indenture Witnesseth:

 

For and in consideration of the premises and the
purchase of the Securities by the Holders thereof, it is mutually covenanted
and agreed, for the equal and proportionate benefit of all Holders of the
Securities, as follows:

 

ARTICLE I

DEFINITIONS AND OTHER PROVISIONS OF GENERAL APPLICATION

 

SECTION 1.1.  Definitions.

 

For all purposes of this Indenture, except as
otherwise expressly provided or unless the context otherwise requires:

 

(a)  the
terms defined in this Article I have the meanings assigned to them
in this Article I;

 

(b)  the
words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be deemed to be followed by
the phrase “without limitation”;

 

(c)  all
accounting terms not otherwise defined herein have the meanings assigned to
them in accordance with GAAP;

 

(d) 
unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to an “Article” or a “Section”
refers to an Article or a Section, as the case may be, of this Indenture;

 

(e)  the
words “hereby”, “herein”, “hereof” and “hereunder” and other words of similar
import refer to this Indenture as a whole and not to any particular Article, Section or
other subdivision;

 

1

 

(f)  a
reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa; and

 

(g)  the
masculine, feminine or neuter genders used herein shall include the masculine,
feminine and neuter genders.

 

“Act”  when used with respect
to any Holder, has the meaning specified in Section 1.4.

 

“Administrative
Trustee” means, with respect to the Trust, each Person identified as
an “Administrative Trustee” in the Trust Agreement, solely in its capacity as
Administrative Trustee of the Trust under the Trust Agreement and not in its
individual capacity, or its successor in interest in such capacity, or any
successor Administrative Trustee appointed as therein provided.

 

“Additional
Interest”  means
the interest, if any, that shall accrue on any amounts payable on the
Securities, the payment of which has not been made on the applicable Interest
Payment Date and which shall accrue at the rate per annum specified or
determined as specified in such Security, in each case to the extent legally
enforceable.

 

“Additional
Tax Sums”  has
the meaning specified in Section 10.5.

 

“Additional
Taxes” means taxes, duties or other governmental
charges imposed on the Trust as a result of a Tax Event (which, for the sake of
clarity, does not include amounts required to be deducted or withheld by the
Trust from payments made by the Trust to or for the benefit of the Holder of,
or any Person that acquires a beneficial interest in, the Securities).

 

“Affiliate”  of any specified Person
means any other Person directly or indirectly controlling or controlled by or
under direct or indirect common control with such specified Person. For the
purposes of this definition, “control,” when used with respect to any specified
Person, means the power to direct the management and policies of such Person,
directly or indirectly, whether through the ownership of voting securities, by
contract or otherwise; and the terms “controlling” and “controlled” have
meanings correlative to the foregoing.

 

“Applicable
Accounting Principles” means accounting practices prescribed or permitted by the
National Association of Insurance Commissioners and, with respect to the
Company’s subsidiary insurance companies, the applicable insurance department
of the state of domicile of such insurance subsidiary, and in each case,
applied consistently throughout the periods involved.

 

“Applicable
Depository Procedures”
means, with respect to any transfer or transaction involving a Global Security
or beneficial interest therein, the rules and procedures of the Depositary
for such Security, in each case to the extent applicable to such transaction
and as in effect from time to time.

 

“Applicable
Insurance Regulatory Authority” means the Iowa Insurance Division or, if at any
time after the execution of this Indenture any such entity is not existing and
performing the duties now assigned to it, any successor body performing similar
duties or functions.

 

“Authenticating
Agent” means
any Person authorized by the Trustee pursuant to Section 6.11 to
act on behalf of the Trustee to authenticate the Securities.

 

2

 

“Bankruptcy
Code” means
Title 11 of the United States Code or any successor statute(s) thereto, or any
similar federal or state law for the relief of debtors, in each case as amended
from time to time.

 

“Board
of Directors”  means
the board of directors of the Company or any duly authorized committee of that
board.

 

“Board
Resolution”  means
a copy of a resolution certified by the Secretary or an Assistant Secretary of
the Company to have been duly adopted by the Board of Directors and to be in
full force and effect on the date of such certification.

 

“Business
Day” means
any day other than (i) a Saturday or Sunday, (ii) a day on which
banking institutions in the City of New York are authorized or required by law
or executive order to remain closed or (iii) a day on which the Corporate
Trust Office of the Trustee is closed for business.

 

“Calculation Agent”
has the meaning specified in Section 10.4.

 

“Common
Securities”  has
the meaning specified in the first recital of this Indenture.

 

“Common
Stock”  means
the common stock, par value $1.00 per share, of the Company.

 

“Company”  means the Person named
as the “Company” in the first paragraph
of this Indenture until a successor corporation shall have become such pursuant
to the applicable provisions of this Indenture, and thereafter “Company” shall mean such
successor corporation.

 

“Company
Request”  and “Company Order”  mean, respectively, the
written request or order signed in the name of the Company by its Chairman of
the Board of Directors, its Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, its Chief
Executive Officer, President or a Vice President, and by its Chief Financial
Officer, its Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, its Secretary or an Assistant
Secretary, and delivered to the Trustee.

 

“Corporate
Trust Office”  means
the principal office of the Trustee at which at any particular time its
corporate trust business shall be administered, which office at the date of
this Indenture is located at 600 Travis,
50th Floor, Houston, Texas 77002, Attn:  Worldwide Securities Services, American
Equity Capital Trust X.

 

“Debt” means, with respect to
any Person, whether recourse is to all or a portion of the assets of such
Person, whether currently existing or hereafter incurred and whether or not
contingent and without duplication, (i) every obligation of such Person
for money borrowed; (ii) every obligation of such Person evidenced by
bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments, including obligations
incurred in connection with the acquisition of property, assets or businesses; (iii) every
reimbursement obligation of such Person with respect to letters of credit,
bankers’ acceptances or similar facilities issued for the account of such
Person; (iv) every obligation of such Person issued or assumed as the
deferred purchase price of property or services (but excluding trade accounts
payable or other accrued liabilities arising in the ordinary course of
business); (v) every capital lease obligation of such Person; (vi) all
indebtedness of such Person, whether incurred on or prior to the date of this
Indenture or thereafter incurred, for claims in respect of derivative products,
including interest rate, foreign exchange rate and 

 

3

 

commodity forward
contracts, options and swaps and similar arrangements; (vii) every
obligation of the type referred to in clauses (i) through (vi) of
another Person and all dividends of another Person the payment of which, in
either case, such Person has guaranteed or is responsible or liable for,
directly or indirectly, as obligor or otherwise; and (viii) any renewals,
extensions, refundings, amendments or modifications of any obligation of the
type referred to in clauses (i) through (vii).

 

“Defaulted
Interest” has
the meaning specified in Section 3.1.

 

“Delaware Trustee” means, with respect to the Trust, the Person identified as the “Delaware
Trustee” in the Trust Agreement, solely in its capacity as Delaware Trustee of
the Trust under the Trust Agreement and not in its individual capacity, or its
successor in interest in such capacity, or any successor Delaware Trustee
appointed as therein provided.

 

“Depositary”  means an organization
registered as a clearing agency under the Exchange Act that is designated as
Depositary by the Company or any successor thereto.

 

“Depositary
Participant” means
a broker, dealer, bank, other financial institution or other Person for whom
from time to time a Depositary effects book-entry transfers and pledges of
securities deposited with the Depositary.

 

“Distributions”
means amounts payable in respect of the Trust Securities as provided in the
Trust Agreement and referred to therein as “Distributions.”

 

“Dollar” or  “$” means
the currency of the United States of America that, as at the time of payment,
is legal tender for the payment of public and private debts.

 

“DTC” means The Depository
Trust Company, a New York corporation, or any successor thereto.

 

“Event
of Default”  has
the meaning specified in Section 5.1.

 

“Exchange
Act” means
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or any statute successor thereto, in each
case as amended from time to time.

 

“Expiration
Date” has the
meaning specified in Section 1.4.

 

“Extension
Period”  has
the meaning specified in Section 3.9.

 

“GAAP”
means United States generally accepted accounting principles, consistently
applied, from time to time in effect.

 

“Global
Security”  means
a Security that evidences all or part of the Securities, the ownership and
transfers of which shall be made through book entries by a Depositary.

 

“Government
Obligation” means (a) any security that is (i) a
direct obligation of the United States of America of which the full faith and
credit of the United States of America is pledged or (ii) an obligation of
a Person controlled or supervised by and acting as an agency or instrumentality
of the United States of America or the payment of which is unconditionally 

 

4

 

guaranteed as a full
faith and credit obligation by the United States of America, which, in either
case (i) or (ii), is not callable or redeemable at the option of the
issuer thereof, and (b) any depositary receipt issued by a bank (as
defined in Section 3(a)(2) of the Securities Act) as custodian with
respect to any Government Obligation that is specified in clause (a) above
and held by such bank for the account of the holder of such depositary receipt,
or with respect to any specific payment of principal of or interest on any
Government Obligation that is so specified and held, provided, that (except as
required by law) such custodian is not authorized to make any deduction from
the amount payable to the holder of such depositary receipt from any amount
received by the custodian in respect of the Government Obligation or the
specific payment of principal or interest evidenced by such depositary receipt.

 

“Guarantee
Agreement” means
the Guarantee Agreement executed by the Company and JPMorgan Chase Bank,
National Association, as Guarantee Trustee, contemporaneously with the
execution and delivery of this Indenture, for the benefit of the holders of the
Preferred Securities, as modified, amended or supplemented from time to time.

 

“Holder”  means a Person in whose
name a Security is registered in the Securities Register.

 

“Indenture”  means this instrument as
originally executed or as it may from time to time be amended or supplemented
by one or more amendments or indentures supplemental hereto entered into
pursuant to the applicable provisions hereof.

 

“Interest
Payment Date” means March 15, June 15, September 15,
and December 15 of each year, commencing on September 15, 2005,
during the term of this Indenture.

 

“Investment
Company Act” means
the Investment Company Act of 1940 or any successor statute thereto, in each
case as amended from time to time.

 

“Investment Company Event” means the receipt by the Company of an Opinion of
Counsel experienced in such matters to the effect that, as a result of the
occurrence of a change in law or regulation (including any announced
prospective change) or a written change in interpretation or application of law
or regulation by any legislative body, court, governmental agency or regulatory
authority, there is more than an insubstantial risk that the Trust is or,
within ninety (90) days of the date of such opinion will be, considered an “investment
company” that is required to be registered under the Investment Company Act,
which change or prospective change becomes effective or would become effective,
as the case may be, on or after the date of the issuance of the Securities.

 

“LIBOR” has the meaning
specified in Schedule A.

 

“LIBOR
Business Day” has
the meaning specified in Schedule A.

 

“LIBOR
Determination Date”
has the meaning specified in Schedule A.

 

“Liquidation Amount”
has the meaning specified in the Trust Agreement.

 

“Maturity,”  when used with respect
to any Security, means the date on which the principal of such Security or any
installment of principal becomes due and payable as therein or 

 

5

 

herein provided, whether
at the Stated Maturity or by declaration of acceleration, call for redemption
or otherwise.

 

“Notice
of Default” means a written notice of the kind
specified in Section 5.1(c).

 

“Officers’
Certificate”  means
a certificate signed by the Chairman of the Board, a Vice Chairman of the
Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the President or a Vice President, and by
the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the
Secretary or an Assistant Secretary, of the Company and delivered to the
Trustee.

 

“Operative
Documents”  means
the Trust Agreement, the Indenture, the Purchase Agreement, the Guarantee
Agreement and the Securities.

 

“Opinion
of Counsel”  means
a written opinion of counsel, who may be counsel for or an employee of the
Company or any Affiliate of the Company.

 

“Optional Redemption Price” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.1.

 

“Original
Issue Date” means
the date of original issuance of each Security.

 

“Outstanding”  means, when used in
reference to any Securities, as of the date of determination, all Securities
theretofore authenticated and delivered under this Indenture, except:

 

(i) 
Securities theretofore canceled by the Trustee or delivered to the Trustee for
cancellation;

 

(ii) 
Securities for whose payment or redemption money in the necessary amount has
been theretofore deposited with the Trustee or any Paying Agent (other than the
Company) in trust or set aside and segregated in trust by the Company (if the
Company shall act as its own Paying Agent) for the Holders of such Securities; provided,  that, if such Securities
are to be redeemed, notice of such redemption has been duly given pursuant to
this Indenture or provision therefor satisfactory to the Trustee has been made;
and

 

(iii) 
Securities that have been paid or in substitution for or in lieu of which other
Securities have been authenticated and delivered pursuant to the provisions of
this Indenture, unless proof satisfactory to the Trustee is presented that any
such Securities are held by Holders in whose hands such Securities are valid,
binding and legal obligations of the Company;

 

provided,  that, in determining
whether the Holders of the requisite principal amount of Outstanding Securities
have given any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent or
waiver hereunder, Securities owned by the Company or any other obligor upon the
Securities or any Affiliate of the Company or such other obligor shall be
disregarded and deemed not to be Outstanding, except that, in determining
whether the Trustee shall be protected in relying upon any such request,
demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent or waiver, only Securities
that a Responsible Officer of the Trustee actually knows to be so owned shall
be so disregarded. Securities so owned that have been pledged in good faith may
be regarded as Outstanding if the pledgee establishes to the satisfaction of
the Trustee the pledgee’s right so to act with respect to 

 

6

 

such Securities and that the pledgee is not the
Company or any other obligor upon the Securities or any Affiliate of the
Company or such other obligor. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary,
Securities initially issued to the Trust that are owned by the Trust shall be
deemed to be Outstanding notwithstanding the ownership by the Company or an
Affiliate of any beneficial interest in the Trust.

 

“Paying
Agent” means the Trustee or any Person
authorized by the Company to pay the principal of or any premium or interest
on, or other amounts in respect of, any Securities on behalf of the Company.

 

“Person” means a legal person, including any
individual, corporation, estate, partnership, joint venture, association, joint
stock company, limited liability company, trust, unincorporated association,
government or any agency or political subdivision thereof, or any other entity
of whatever nature.

 

“Place
of Payment”  means,
with respect to the Securities, the Corporate Trust Office of the Trustee.

 

“Preferred
Securities”  has
the meaning specified in the first recital of this Indenture.

 

“Predecessor
Security”  of any
particular Security means every previous Security evidencing all or a portion
of the same debt as that evidenced by such particular Security. For the
purposes of this definition, any security authenticated and delivered under Section 3.6
in lieu of a mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall be deemed to
evidence the same debt as the mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security.

 

“Proceeding”  has the meaning
specified in Section 12.2.

 

“Property
Trustee” means the Person identified as the “Property
Trustee” in the Trust Agreement, solely in its capacity as Property Trustee of
the Trust under the Trust Agreement and not in its individual capacity, or its
successor in interest in such capacity, or any successor Property Trustee
appointed as therein provided.

 

“Purchase
Agreement”  means
the agreement, dated as of the date hereof, between the Company and the Trust
and ALESCO Preferred Funding
VIII, Ltd.

 

“Redemption
Date” means,
when used with respect to any Security to be redeemed, the date fixed for such
redemption by or pursuant to this Indenture.

 

“Redemption
Price” means,
when used with respect to any Security to be redeemed, in whole or in part, the
Special Redemption Price or the Optional Redemption Price, as applicable, at
which such Security or portion thereof is to be redeemed as fixed by or pursuant
to this Indenture.

 

“Reference Banks”
has the meaning specified in Schedule A.

 

“Regular
Record Date”  for
the interest payable on any Interest Payment Date with respect to the
Securities means the date that is fifteen (15) days preceding such Interest
Payment Date (whether or not a Business Day).

 

7

 

“Responsible
Officer” means,
when used with respect to the Trustee, the officer in the Worldwide Securities
Services department of the Trustee having direct responsibility for the
administration of this Indenture.

 

“Rights
Plan” means a plan of the Company providing for
the issuance by the Company to all holders of its Common Stock of rights
entitling the holders thereof to subscribe for or purchase shares of any class
or series of capital stock of the Company which rights (i) are deemed to
be transferred with such shares of such Common Stock and (ii) are also
issued in respect of future issuances of such Common Stock, in each case until
the occurrence of a specified event or events.

 

“Securities”  or “Security means any debt securities or debt security,
as the case may be, authenticated and delivered under this
Indenture.

 

“Securities
Act” means
the Securities Act of 1933 or any successor statute thereto, in each case as
amended from time to time.

 

“Securities
Register”  and “Securities Registrar”  have the respective
meanings specified in Section 3.5.

 

“Senior
Debt”  means
the principal of and any premium and interest on (including interest accruing
on or after the filing of any petition in bankruptcy or for reorganization
relating to the Company, whether or not such claim for post-petition interest
is allowed in such proceeding) all Debt of the Company, whether incurred on or
prior to the date of this Indenture or thereafter incurred, unless it is provided in the instrument creating or
evidencing the same or pursuant to which the same is outstanding, that such
obligations are not superior in right of payment to the Securities issued under
this Indenture; provided, however, that
if the Company is subject to the regulation and supervision of any Applicable
Insurance Regulatory Authority, the Company shall have received the approval
of each appropriate Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authority prior to issuing any
such obligation if then required; and
provided, further, that Senior
Debt shall not be deemed to include any other debt securities and guarantees in
respect of such debt securities issued to any trust other than the Trust (or a
trustee of any such trust), partnership or other entity affiliated with the
Company that is a financing vehicle of the Company (a “financing entity”) in
connection with the issuance by such financing entity of equity securities or
other securities that are treated as equity capital for regulatory capital
purposes guaranteed by the Company pursuant to an instrument that ranks pari passu with or junior in right of
payment to this Indenture, including, without limitation, securities issued by
American Equity Capital Trust  I, American Equity Capital
Trust  II, American Equity Capital Trust  III, American Equity
Capital Trust  IV, American Equity Capital Trust V, American Equity
Capital Trust VI, American Equity Capital Trust VII,  American Equity Capital Trust VIII and
American Equity Capital Trust IX.

 

“Special
Event”  means
the occurrence of an Investment Company Event or a Tax Event.

 

“Special
Record Date”  for
the payment of any Defaulted Interest means a date fixed by the Trustee
pursuant to Section 3.1.

 

“Special Redemption Price” has the meaning set forth in Section 11.2.

 

“Stated
Maturity” means September 15,
2035.

 

8

 

“Statutory Financial Statements” means all financial
statements of the Company’s subsidiary insurance companies for each relevant
period, each prepared in accordance with Applicable Accounting Principles.

 

“Subsidiary” means a Person more than
fifty percent (50%) of the outstanding voting stock or other voting interests
of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by the Company or by one or more
other Subsidiaries, or by the Company and one or more other Subsidiaries. For
purposes of this definition, “voting stock”
means stock that ordinarily has voting power for the election of directors,
whether at all times or only so long as no senior class of stock has such
voting power by reason of any contingency.

 

“Tax
Event” means
the receipt by the Company of an Opinion of Counsel experienced in such matters
to the effect that, as a result of (a) any amendment to or change
(including any announced prospective change) in the laws or any regulations
thereunder of the United States or any political subdivision or taxing
authority thereof or therein or (b) any judicial decision or any official
administrative pronouncement (including any private letter ruling, technical
advice memorandum or field service advice) or regulatory procedure, including
any notice or announcement of intent to adopt any such pronouncement or
procedure (an “Administrative Action”),
regardless of whether such judicial decision or Administrative Action is issued
to or in connection with a proceeding involving the Company or the Trust and
whether or not subject to review or appeal, which amendment, change, judicial
decision or Administrative Action is enacted, promulgated or announced, in each
case, on or after the date of issuance of the Securities, there is more than an
insubstantial risk that (i) the Trust is, or will be within ninety (90)
days of the date of such opinion, subject to United States federal income tax
with respect to income received or accrued on the Securities, (ii) interest
payable by the Company on the Securities is not, or within ninety (90) days of
the date of such opinion, will not be, deductible by the Company, in whole or
in part, for United States federal income tax purposes, or (iii) the Trust
is, or will be within ninety (90) days of the date of such opinion, subject to
more than a de
minimis amount of other taxes, duties or other governmental charges.

 

“Trust” has the meaning
specified in the first recital of this Indenture.

 

“Trust
Agreement” means
the Amended and Restated
Trust Agreement executed and delivered by the Company, the Property Trustee,
Chase Manhattan Bank USA, National Association, as Delaware Trustee and the
Administrative Trustees named therein, contemporaneously with the execution and
delivery of this Indenture, for the benefit of the holders of the Trust
Securities, as amended or supplemented from time to time.

 

“Trustee”  means the Person named
as the “Trustee” in the first paragraph of
this instrument, solely in its capacity as such and not in its individual
capacity, until a successor Trustee shall have become such pursuant to the
applicable provisions of this Indenture, and, thereafter, “Trustee” shall mean or include
each Person who is then a Trustee hereunder.

 

“Trust Indenture Act” means
the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended and as in effect on the date as of
this Indenture.

 

“Trust
Securities” has
the meaning specified in the first recital of this Indenture.

 

9

 

SECTION 1.2.  Compliance Certificate and Opinions.

 

(a)                                  Upon
any application or request by the Company to the Trustee to take any action
under any provision of this Indenture, the Company shall, if requested by the
Trustee,  furnish to the Trustee an
Officers’ Certificate stating that all conditions precedent (including
covenants compliance with which constitutes a condition precedent), if any,
provided for in this Indenture relating to the proposed action have been complied
with and an Opinion of Counsel stating that in the opinion of such counsel all
such conditions precedent (including covenants compliance with which
constitutes a condition precedent), if any, have been complied with.

 

(b)                                 Every
certificate or opinion with respect to compliance with a condition or covenant
provided for in this Indenture (other than the certificate provided pursuant to
Section 10.3) shall include:

 

(i)  a statement by
each individual signing such certificate or opinion that such individual has
read such covenant or condition and the definitions herein relating thereto;

 

(ii)  a brief
statement as to the nature and scope of the examination or investigation upon
which the statements or opinions of such individual contained in such
certificate or opinion are based;

 

(iii)  a statement
that, in the opinion of such individual, he or she has made such examination or
investigation as is necessary to enable him or her to express an informed
opinion as to whether or not such covenant or condition has been complied with;
and

 

(iv)  a statement as
to whether, in the opinion of such individual, such condition or covenant has
been complied with.

 

SECTION 1.3.  Forms of Documents Delivered to Trustee.

 

(a)                                  In
any case where several matters are required to be certified by, or covered by
an opinion of, any specified Person, it is not necessary that all such matters
be certified by, or covered by the opinion of, only one such Person, or that
they be so certified or covered by only one document, but one such Person may
certify or give an opinion with respect to some matters and one or more other
such Persons as to other matters, and any such Person may certify or give an
opinion as to such matters in one or several documents.

 

(b)                                 Any
certificate or opinion of an officer of the Company may be based, insofar as it
relates to legal matters, upon a certificate or opinion of, or representations
by, counsel, unless such officer knows, or after reasonable inquiry should
know, that the certificate or opinion or representations with respect to
matters upon which his or her certificate or opinion is based are erroneous.
Any such certificate or Opinion of Counsel may be based, insofar as it relates
to factual matters, upon a certificate or opinion of, or representations by, an
officer or officers of the Company stating that the information with respect to
such factual matters is in the possession of the Company, unless such counsel
knows, or after reasonable inquiry should know, that the certificate or opinion
or representations with respect to such matters are erroneous.

 

10

 

(c)                                  Where
any Person is required to make, give or execute two or more applications,
requests, consents, certificates, statements, opinions or other instruments
under this Indenture, they may, but need not, be consolidated and form one
instrument.

 

(d)                                 Whenever,
subsequent to the receipt by the Trustee of any Board Resolution, Officers’
Certificate, Opinion of Counsel or other document or instrument, a clerical,
typographical or other inadvertent or unintentional error or omission shall be
discovered therein, a new document or instrument may be substituted therefor in
corrected form with the same force and effect as if originally received in the
corrected form and, irrespective of the date or dates of the actual execution
and/or delivery thereof, such substitute document or instrument shall be deemed
to have been executed and/or delivered as of the date or dates required with
respect to the document or instrument for which it is substituted.  Without limiting the generality of the
foregoing, any Securities issued under the authority of such defective document
or instrument shall nevertheless be the valid obligations of the Company
entitled to the benefits of this Indenture equally and ratably with all other
Outstanding Securities.

 

SECTION 1.4.  Acts of Holders.

 

(a)                                  Any
request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other
action provided by this Indenture to be given to or taken by Holders may be
embodied in and evidenced by one or more instruments of substantially similar
tenor signed by such Holders in person or by an agent thereof duly appointed in
writing; and, except as herein otherwise expressly provided, such action shall
become effective when such instrument or instruments (including any appointment
of an agent) is or are delivered to the Trustee, and, where it is hereby
expressly required, to the Company. Such instrument or instruments (and the
action embodied therein and evidenced thereby) are herein sometimes referred to
as the “Act” of the Holders signing such instrument or
instruments. Proof of execution of any such instrument or of a writing
appointing any such agent shall be sufficient for any purpose of this Indenture
and conclusive in favor of the Trustee and the Company, if made in the manner
provided in this Section 1.4.

 

(b)                                 The
fact and date of the execution by any Person of any such instrument or writing
may be proved by the affidavit of a witness of such execution or by the
certificate of any notary public or other officer authorized by law to take
acknowledgments of deeds, certifying that the individual signing such
instrument or writing acknowledged to him or her the execution thereof. Where
such execution is by a Person acting in other than his or her individual
capacity, such certificate or affidavit shall also constitute sufficient proof
of his or her authority.  The fact and
date of the execution by any Person of any such instrument or writing, or the
authority of the Person executing the same, may also be proved in any other
manner that the Trustee deems sufficient and in accordance with such reasonable
rules as the Trustee may determine.

 

(c)                                  The
ownership of Securities shall be proved by the Securities Register.

 

(d)                                 Any
request, demand, authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other
action by the Holder of any Security shall bind every future Holder of the same
Security and the Holder of every Security issued upon the registration of
transfer thereof or in exchange therefor or in lieu thereof in respect of
anything done or suffered to be done by the Trustee or the Company in reliance
thereon, whether or not notation of such action is made upon such Security.

 

11

 

(e)                                  Without
limiting the foregoing, a Holder entitled to take any action hereunder with
regard to any particular Security may do so with regard to all or any part of
the principal amount of such Security or by one or more duly appointed agents
each of which may do so pursuant to such appointment with regard to all or any
part of such principal amount.

 

(f)                                    Except
as set forth in paragraph (g) of this Section 1.4, the Company
may set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the Holders of
Outstanding Securities entitled to give, make or take any request, demand,
authorization, direction, notice, consent, waiver or other action provided or
permitted by this Indenture to be given, made or taken by Holders of
Securities. If any record date is set pursuant to this paragraph, the Holders
of Outstanding Securities on such record date, and no other Holders, shall be
entitled to take the relevant action, whether or not such Holders remain
Holders after such record date; provided, that no such action shall be effective hereunder
unless taken on or prior to the applicable Expiration Date (as defined in Section 1.4(h))
by Holders of the requisite principal amount of Outstanding Securities on such
record date.  Nothing in this paragraph
shall be construed to prevent the Company from setting a new record date for
any action for which a record date has previously been set pursuant to this
paragraph (whereupon the record date previously set shall automatically and
with no action by any Person be canceled and of no effect).  Promptly after any record date is set
pursuant to this paragraph, the Company, at its own expense, shall cause notice
of such record date, the proposed action by Holders and the applicable Expiration
Date to be given to the Trustee in writing and to each Holder of Securities in
the manner set forth in Section 1.6.

 

(g)                                 The
Trustee may set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the
Holders of Outstanding Securities entitled to join in the giving or making of (i) any
Notice of Default, (ii) any declaration of acceleration or rescission or
annulment thereof referred to in Section 5.2, (iii) any
request to institute proceedings referred to in Section 5.7(b) or
(iv) any direction referred to in Section 5.12. If any record
date is set pursuant to this paragraph, the Holders of Outstanding Securities
on such record date, and no other Holders, shall be entitled to join in such
notice, declaration, request or direction, whether or not such Holders remain
Holders after such record date; provided,
that no such action shall be effective hereunder unless taken on or prior to
the applicable Expiration Date by Holders of the requisite principal amount of
Outstanding Securities on such record date. Nothing in this paragraph shall be
construed to prevent the Trustee from setting a new record date for any action
for which a record date has previously been set pursuant to this paragraph
(whereupon the record date previously set shall automatically and with no
action by any Person be canceled and of no effect).  Promptly after any record date is set
pursuant to this paragraph, the Trustee, at the Company’s expense, shall cause
notice of such record date, the proposed action by Holders and the applicable
Expiration Date to be given to the Company in writing and to each Holder of
Securities in the manner set forth in Section 1.6.

 

(h)                                 With
respect to any record date set pursuant to paragraph (f) or (g) of
this Section 1.4, the party hereto that sets such record date may
designate any day as the “Expiration Date” and from time to time may change the
Expiration Date to any earlier or later day; provided, that no such change shall be effective unless
notice of the proposed new Expiration Date is given to the other party hereto
in writing, and to each Holder of Securities in the manner set forth in Section 1.6,
on or prior to the existing Expiration Date. If an Expiration Date is not
designated with respect to any record date set pursuant to this Section 1.4,
the party hereto that set such record date shall be deemed to have initially
designated the ninetieth (90th) day after such record 

 

12

 

date as the
Expiration Date with respect thereto, subject to its right to change the
Expiration Date as provided in this paragraph. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
no Expiration Date shall be later than the one hundred eightieth (180th)
day after the applicable record date.

 

SECTION 1.5.  Notices, Etc. to Trustee and Company.

 

Any request, demand, authorization, direction, notice,
consent, waiver, Act of Holders, or other document provided or permitted by
this Indenture to be made upon, given or furnished to, or filed with:

 

(a)                                  the
Trustee by any Holder, any holder of Preferred Securities or the Company shall
be sufficient for every purpose hereunder if made, given, furnished or filed in
writing to or with and received by the Trustee at its Corporate Trust Office,
or

 

(b)                                 the
Company by the Trustee, any Holder or any holder of Preferred Securities shall
be sufficient for every purpose hereunder if in writing and mailed, first
class, postage prepaid, to the Company addressed to it at American Equity
Investment Life Holding Company, 5000 Westown Parkway, Suite 440, West Des
Moines, IA 50266, Attention: Wendy Carlson, Chief Financial Officer or at any
other address previously furnished in writing to the Trustee by the Company.

 

SECTION 1.6.  Notice to Holders; Waiver.

 

Where this Indenture provides for notice to Holders of
any event, such notice shall be sufficiently given (unless otherwise herein
expressly provided) if in writing and mailed, first class, postage prepaid, to
each Holder affected by such event to the address of such Holder as it appears
in the Securities Register, not later than the latest date, and not earlier
than the earliest date, prescribed for the giving of such notice. If, by reason
of the suspension of or irregularities in regular mail service or for any other
reason, it shall be impossible or impracticable to mail notice of any event to
Holders when said notice is required to be given pursuant to any provision of
this Indenture, then any manner of giving such notice as shall be satisfactory
to the Trustee shall be deemed to be a sufficient giving of such notice. In any
case where notice to Holders is given by mail, neither the failure to mail such
notice, nor any defect in any notice so mailed, to any particular Holder shall
affect the sufficiency of such notice with respect to other Holders. Where this
Indenture provides for notice in any manner, such notice may be waived in
writing by the Person entitled to receive such notice, either before or after
the event, and such waiver shall be the equivalent of such notice. Waivers of
notice by Holders shall be filed with the Trustee, but such filing shall not be
a condition precedent to the validity of any action taken in reliance upon such
waiver.

 

SECTION 1.7.  Effect of Headings and Table of Contents.

 

The Article and Section headings herein and
the Table of Contents are for convenience only and shall not affect the
construction of this Indenture.

 

SECTION 1.8.  Successors and Assigns.

 

This Indenture shall be binding upon and shall inure
to the benefit of any successor to the Company and the Trustee, including any
successor by operation of law.  Except in
connection 

 

13

 

with a transaction
involving the Company that is permitted under Article VIII and
pursuant to which the assignee agrees in writing to perform the Company’s
obligations hereunder, the Company shall not assign its obligations hereunder.

 

SECTION 1.9.  Separability Clause.

 

If any provision in this Indenture or in the
Securities shall be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the validity, legality
and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected
or impaired thereby, and there shall be deemed substituted for the provision at
issue a valid, legal and enforceable provision as similar as possible to the
provision at issue.

 

SECTION 1.10.  Benefits of Indenture.

 

Nothing in this Indenture or in the Securities,
express or implied, shall give to any Person, other than the parties hereto and
their successors and assigns, the holders of Senior Debt, the Holders of the
Securities and, to the extent expressly provided in Sections 5.2, 5.8,
5.9, 5.11, 5.13, 9.2 and 10.7, the holders
of Preferred Securities, any benefit or any legal or equitable right, remedy or
claim under this Indenture.

 

SECTION 1.11.  Governing Law.

 

This Indenture and the rights and obligations of each
of the Holders, the Company and the Trustee shall be construed and enforced in
accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of New York without
reference to its conflict of laws provisions (other than Section 5-1401 of
the General Obligations Law).

 

SECTION 1.12.  Submission to Jurisdiction.

 

ANY LEGAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING BY OR AGAINST ANY PARTY
HERETO OR WITH RESPECT TO OR ARISING OUT OF THIS INDENTURE MAY BE BROUGHT
IN OR REMOVED TO THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF
NEW YORK, OR OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW
YORK (IN EACH CASE SITTING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN). BY EXECUTION AND
DELIVERY OF THIS INDENTURE, EACH PARTY ACCEPTS, FOR ITSELF AND IN RESPECT OF
ITS PROPERTY, GENERALLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY, THE JURISDICTION OF THE AFORESAID
COURTS (AND COURTS OF APPEALS THEREFROM) FOR LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ARISING OUT OF
OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS INDENTURE.

 

SECTION 1.13.  Non-Business Days.

 

If any Interest Payment Date, Redemption Date or
Stated Maturity of any Security shall not be a Business Day, then
(notwithstanding any other provision of this Indenture or the Securities)
payment of interest, premium, if any, or principal or other amounts in respect
of such Security shall not be made on such date, but shall be made on the next
succeeding Business Day (and no interest shall accrue in respect of the amounts
whose payment is so delayed for the period from and after such Interest Payment
Date, Redemption Date or Stated Maturity, as the case may be, until such next
succeeding Business Day) except that, if such Business Day falls in the next
succeeding calendar year, such payment shall be made on the immediately
preceding 

 

14

 

Business Day, in each
case with the same force and effect as if made on the Interest Payment Date or
Redemption Date or at the Stated Maturity.

 

ARTICLE II

SECURITY FORMS

 

SECTION 2.1.  Form of Security.

 

Any Security issued
hereunder shall be in substantially the following form:

 

AMERICAN
EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING COMPANY

 

Floating
Rate Junior Subordinated Note due 2035

 

	
  No.                       

  	
   

  	
  $20,620,000

  

 

American Equity
Investment Life Holding Company, a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of Iowa (hereinafter called the “Company,” which term includes any successor Person under the
Indenture hereinafter referred to), for value received, hereby promises to pay
to                        ,
or registered assigns, the principal sum of Twenty Million Six Hundred Twenty Thousand
Dollars ($20,620,000) or such other principal amount represented hereby as may
be set forth in the records of the Securities Registrar hereinafter referred to
in accordance with the Indenture on September 15, 2035.  The Company further promises to pay interest
on said principal sum from August 4, 2005, or from the most recent
Interest Payment Date to which interest has been paid or duly provided for,
quarterly (subject to deferral as set forth herein) in arrears on March 15,
June 15, September 15, and December 15 of each year, commencing September 15,
2005, or if any such day is not a Business Day, on the next succeeding Business
Day (and no interest shall accrue in respect of the amounts whose payment is so
delayed for the period from and after such Interest Payment Date until such
next succeeding Business Day), except that, if such Business Day falls in the
next succeeding calendar year, such payment shall be made on the immediately
preceding Business Day, in each case, with the same force and effect as if made
on the Interest Payment Date, at a variable rate equal to LIBOR plus 3.65% per
annum, together with Additional Tax Sums, if any, as provided in Section 10.5
of the Indenture, until the principal hereof is paid or duly provided for or
made available for payment; provided, further,
that any overdue principal, premium, if any, or Additional Tax Sums and any
overdue installment of interest shall bear Additional Interest at a variable
rate equal to LIBOR plus 3.65% per annum (to the extent that the payment of
such interest shall be legally enforceable), compounded quarterly, from the
dates such amounts are due until they are paid or made available for payment,
and such interest shall be payable on demand.

 

The amount of interest payable shall be computed on
the basis of a 360-day year and the actual number of days elapsed in the
relevant interest period. The interest so payable, and punctually paid or duly
provided for, on any Interest Payment Date shall, as provided in the Indenture,
be paid to the Person in whose name this Security (or one or more Predecessor
Securities) is registered at the close of business on the Regular Record Date
for such interest installment.  Any such
interest not so punctually paid or duly provided for shall forthwith cease to
be payable to the Holder on such Regular Record Date and may either be paid to
the Person in 

 

15

 

whose name this Security
(or one or more Predecessor Securities) is registered at the close of business
on a Special Record Date for the payment of such Defaulted Interest to be fixed
by the Trustee, notice whereof shall be given to Holders of Securities not less
than ten (10) days prior to such Special Record Date, or be paid at any
time in any other lawful manner not inconsistent with the requirements of any
securities exchange on which the Securities may be listed, and upon such notice
as may be required by such exchange, all as more fully provided in the
Indenture.

 

So long as no Event of Default has occurred and is
continuing, the Company shall have the right, at any time and from time to time
during the term of this Security, to defer the payment of interest on this
Security for a period of up to twenty (20) consecutive quarterly interest payment periods (each such period,
an “Extension
Period”),
during which Extension Period(s), no interest shall be due and payable (except
any Additional Tax Sums that may be due and payable).  No Extension Period shall end on a date other
than an Interest Payment Date, and no Extension Period shall extend beyond the
Stated Maturity of the principal of this Security.  No interest shall be due and payable during
an Extension Period (except any Additional Tax Sums that may be due and payable),
except at the end thereof, but each installment of interest that would
otherwise have been due and payable during such Extension Period shall bear
Additional Interest (to the extent payment of such interest would be legally
enforceable) at a variable rate equal to LIBOR plus 3.65% per annum, compounded
quarterly, from the dates on which amounts would have otherwise been due and
payable until paid or made available for payment.  At the end of any such Extension Period, the
Company shall pay all interest then accrued and unpaid on this Security,
together with such Additional Interest. 
Prior to the termination of any such Extension Period, the Company may
further defer the payment of interest; provided, that (i) all such
previous and further extensions comprising such Extension Period do not exceed
twenty (20) quarterly interest payment periods, (ii) no Extension Period
shall end on a date other than an Interest Payment Date and (iii) no
Extension Period shall extend beyond the Stated Maturity of the principal of
this Security.  Upon the termination of
any such Extension Period and upon the payment of all accrued and unpaid
interest and any Additional Interest then due on any Interest Payment Date, the
Company may elect to begin a new Extension Period; provided, that (i) such
Extension Period does not exceed twenty (20) quarterly interest payment
periods, (ii) no Extension Period shall end on a date other than an
Interest Payment Date and (iii) no Extension Period shall extend beyond
the Stated Maturity of the principal of this Security.  The Company shall give the Holder of this
Security and the Trustee written notice of its election to begin any such
Extension Period at least one Business Day prior to the next succeeding
Interest Payment Date on which interest on this Security would be payable but
for such deferral or, so long as this Security is held by the Trust, at least
one Business Day prior to the earlier of (i) the next succeeding date on
which Distributions on the Preferred Securities of American Equity Capital Trust X would be payable but for
such deferral and (ii) the date on which the Property Trustee of such
Trust is required to give notice to any securities exchange or other applicable
self-regulatory organization or to holders of such Preferred Securities of the
record date for the payment of such Distributions.

 

During any such Extension Period, the Company shall
not (i) declare or pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem,
purchase, acquire or make a liquidation payment with respect to, any of the
Company’s capital stock or (ii) make any payment of principal of or any
interest or premium, if any, on or repay, repurchase or redeem any debt
securities of the Company that rank pari passu in all respects with
or junior in interest to this Security (other than (a) repurchases, redemptions
or other acquisitions of shares of capital stock of the Company in 

 

16

 

connection with (1) any
employment contract, benefit plan or other similar arrangement with or for the
benefit of any one or more employees, officers, directors or consultants, (2) a
dividend reinvestment or stockholder stock purchase plan and (3) the
issuance of capital stock of the Company (or securities convertible into or
exercisable for such capital stock) as consideration in an acquisition
transaction entered into prior to the applicable Extension Period, (b) as
a result of an exchange or conversion of any class or series of the Company’s
capital stock (or any capital stock of a Subsidiary of the Company) for any
class or series of the Company’s capital stock or of any class or series of the
Company’s indebtedness for any class or series of the Company’s capital stock, (c) the
purchase of fractional interests in shares of the Company’s capital stock
pursuant to the conversion or exchange provisions of such capital stock or the
security being converted or exchanged, (d) any declaration of a dividend
in connection with any Rights Plan, the issuance of rights, stock or other
property under any Rights Plan, or the redemption or repurchase of rights
pursuant thereto or (e) any dividend in the form of stock, warrants,
options or other rights where the dividend stock or the stock issuable upon
exercise of such warrants, options or other rights is the same stock as that on
which the dividend is being paid or ranks pari passu with or junior to such
stock).

 

Payment of principal of, premium, if any, and interest
on this Security shall be made in such coin or currency of the United States of
America as at the time of payment is legal tender for payment of public and
private debts.  Payments of principal,
premium, if any, and interest due at the Maturity of this Security shall be
made at the Place of Payment
upon surrender of such Securities to the Paying Agent, and payments of interest
shall be made, subject to such surrender where applicable, by wire transfer at
such place and to such account at a banking institution in the United States as
may be designated in writing to the Paying Agent at least ten (10) Business
Days prior to the date for payment by the Person entitled thereto unless proper
written transfer instructions have not been received by the relevant record
date, in which case such payments shall be made by check mailed to the address
of such Person as such address shall appear in the Security Register.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, so long as the
Holder of this Security is the Property Trustee, the payment of the principal
of (and premium, if any) and interest (including any overdue installment of
interest and Additional Tax Sums, if any) on this Security will be made at such
place and to such account as may be designated by the Property Trustee.

 

The indebtedness evidenced by this Security is, to the
extent provided in the Indenture, subordinate and junior in right of payment to
the prior payment in full of all Senior Debt, and this Security is issued
subject to the provisions of the Indenture with respect thereto. Each Holder of
this Security, by accepting the same, (a) agrees to and shall be bound by
such provisions, (b) authorizes and directs the Trustee on his or her
behalf to take such actions as may be necessary or appropriate to effectuate
the subordination so provided and (c) appoints the Trustee his or her
attorney-in-fact for any and all such purposes. Each Holder hereof, by his or
her acceptance hereof, waives all notice of the acceptance of the subordination
provisions contained herein and in the Indenture by each holder of Senior Debt,
whether now outstanding or hereafter incurred, and waives reliance by each such
holder upon said provisions.

 

Unless the certificate of authentication hereon has
been executed by the Trustee by manual signature, this Security shall not be
entitled to any benefit under the Indenture or be valid or obligatory for any
purpose.

 

[FORM OF
REVERSE OF SECURITY]

 

17

 

This Security is one of a duly authorized issue of
securities of the Company (the “Securities”)
issued under the Junior Subordinated Indenture, dated as of August 4, 2005
(the “Indenture”), between the Company
and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, as Trustee (in such capacity,
the “Trustee,”
which term includes any successor trustee under the Indenture), to which
Indenture and all indentures supplemental thereto reference is hereby made for
a statement of the respective rights, limitations of rights, duties and
immunities thereunder of the Company, the Trustee, the holders of Senior Debt,
the Holders of the Securities and the holders of the Preferred Securities, and
of the terms upon which the Securities are, and are to be, authenticated and
delivered.

 

All terms used in this Security that are defined in
the Indenture or in the Amended and
Restated Trust Agreement, dated as of August 4, 2005 (as
modified, amended or supplemented from time to time, the “Trust Agreement”), relating to the American Equity Capital Trust X (the “Trust”) among the Company, as
Depositor, the Trustees named therein and the Holders from time to time of the
Trust Securities issued pursuant thereto, shall have the meanings assigned to
them in the Indenture or the Trust Agreement, as the case may be.

 

The Company may, on any
Interest Payment Date, at its option, upon not less than thirty (30) days’ nor
more than sixty (60) days’ written notice to the Holders of the Securities
(unless a shorter notice period shall be satisfactory to the Trustee) on or
after September 15, 2010 and subject to the terms and conditions of Article XI
of the Indenture, redeem this Security in whole at any time or in part from
time to time at a Redemption Price equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the principal
amount hereof, together, in the case of any such redemption, with accrued
interest, including any Additional Interest, through but excluding the date
fixed as the Redemption Date; provided, that the Company shall have received the prior
approval of any Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authority then required.

 

In addition, upon the occurrence and during the
continuation of a Special Event, the Company may, at its option, upon not less
than thirty (30) days’ nor more than sixty (60) days’ written notice to the
Holders of the Securities (unless a shorter notice period shall be satisfactory
to the Trustee), redeem this Security, in whole but not in part, subject to the
terms and conditions of Article XI of the Indenture at a Redemption
Price equal to one hundred seven and one half percent (107.5%) of the principal
amount hereof, together, in the case of any such redemption, with accrued
interest, including any Additional Interest, through but excluding the date
fixed as the Redemption Date; provided, that the Company shall have received the prior
approval of any Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authority then required.

 

In the event of redemption of this Security in part
only, a new Security or Securities for the unredeemed portion hereof will be
issued in the name of the Holder hereof upon the cancellation hereof.  If less than all the Securities are to be
redeemed, the particular Securities to be redeemed shall be selected not more
than sixty (60) days prior to the Redemption Date by the Trustee from the Outstanding
Securities not previously called for redemption, by such method as the Trustee
shall deem fair and appropriate and which may provide for the selection for
redemption of a portion of the principal amount of any Security.

 

The Indenture permits, with certain exceptions as
therein provided, the Company and the Trustee at any time to enter into a
supplemental indenture or indentures for the purpose of modifying in any manner
the rights and obligations of the Company and of the Holders of the 

 

18

 

Securities, with the
consent of the Holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities. The Indenture also contains provisions permitting
Holders of specified percentages in principal amount of the Securities, on
behalf of the Holders of all Securities, to waive compliance by the Company
with certain provisions of the Indenture and certain past defaults under the
Indenture and their consequences. Any such consent or waiver by the Holder of
this Security shall be conclusive and binding upon such Holder and upon all
future Holders of this Security and of any Security issued upon the
registration of transfer hereof or in exchange herefor or in lieu hereof,
whether or not notation of such consent or waiver is made upon this Security.

 

No reference herein to the Indenture and no provision
of this Security or of the Indenture shall alter or impair the obligation of
the Company, which is absolute and unconditional, to pay the principal of and
any premium, if any, and interest, including any Additional Interest, on this
Security at the times, place and rate, and in the coin or currency, herein
prescribed.

 

As provided in the Indenture and subject to certain
limitations therein set forth, the transfer of this Security is registrable in
the Securities Register, upon surrender of this Security for registration of
transfer at the office or agency of the Company maintained for such purpose,
duly endorsed by, or accompanied by a written instrument of transfer in form
satisfactory to the Company and the Securities Registrar and duly executed by,
the Holder hereof or such Holder’s attorney duly authorized in writing, and
thereupon one or more new Securities, of like tenor, of authorized denominations
and for the same aggregate principal amount, will be issued to the designated
transferee or transferees.

 

The Securities are issuable only in registered form
without coupons in minimum denominations of $100,000 and any integral multiple
of $1,000 in excess thereof. As provided in the Indenture and subject to
certain limitations therein set forth, Securities are exchangeable for a like
aggregate principal amount of Securities and of like tenor of a different
authorized denomination, as requested by the Holder surrendering the same.

 

No service charge shall be made for any such
registration of transfer or exchange, but the Company may require payment of a
sum sufficient to cover any tax or other governmental charge payable in
connection therewith.

 

The Company, the Trustee and any agent of the Company
or the Trustee may treat the Person in whose name this Security is registered
as the owner hereof for all purposes, whether or not this Security be overdue,
and neither the Company, the Trustee nor any such agent shall be affected by
notice to the contrary.

 

The Company and, by its acceptance of this Security or
a beneficial interest therein, the Holder of, and any Person that acquires a
beneficial interest in, this Security agree that, for United States federal,
state and local tax purposes, it is intended that this Security constitute
indebtedness.

 

This Security shall be construed and enforced in
accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of New York, without
reference to its conflict of laws provisions (other than Section 5-1401 of
the General Obligations Law).

 

19

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this
instrument to be duly executed on this        day
of                 ,
20   .

 

	
   

  	
   

  	
  AMERICAN EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE
  HOLDING

  COMPANY

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  By:

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
  Name:

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
  Title:

  

 

SECTION 2.2.  Restricted Legend.

 

(a)                                  Any
Security issued hereunder shall bear a legend in substantially the following
form:

 

“[IF THE SECURITY IS A
GLOBAL SECURITY INSERT: THIS SECURITY IS A GLOBAL SECURITY WITHIN
THE MEANING OF THE INDENTURE HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO AND IS REGISTERED IN THE
NAME OF THE DEPOSITORY TRUST COMPANY (“DTC”) OR A NOMINEE OF DTC.  THIS SECURITY IS EXCHANGEABLE FOR SECURITIES
REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF A PERSON OTHER THAN DTC OR ITS NOMINEE ONLY IN THE
LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED IN THE INDENTURE, AND NO TRANSFER OF THIS
SECURITY (OTHER THAN A TRANSFER OF THIS SECURITY AS A WHOLE BY DTC TO A NOMINEE
OF DTC OR BY A NOMINEE OF DTC TO DTC OR ANOTHER NOMINEE OF DTC) MAY BE
REGISTERED EXCEPT IN LIMITED CIRCUMSTANCES.

 

UNLESS
THIS SECURITY IS PRESENTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC TO THE ISSUER
OR ITS AGENT FOR REGISTRATION OF TRANSFER, EXCHANGE OR PAYMENT, AND ANY
SECURITY ISSUED IS REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF SIGLER & CO. OR IN SUCH
OTHER NAME AS REQUESTED BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC (AND ANY PAYMENT
HEREON IS MADE TO SIGLER & CO. OR TO SUCH OTHER ENTITY AS IS REQUESTED
BY AN AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE OF DTC), ANY TRANSFER, PLEDGE OR OTHER USE
HEREOF FOR VALUE OR OTHERWISE BY OR TO ANY PERSON IS WRONGFUL INASMUCH AS THE
REGISTERED OWNER HEREOF, SIGLER & CO., HAS AN INTEREST HEREIN.]

 

THE
SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE WERE ORIGINALLY ISSUED IN A
TRANSACTION EXEMPT FROM REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS
AMENDED (THE “SECURITIES ACT”), AND SUCH SECURITIES, AND ANY INTEREST THEREIN, MAY NOT
BE OFFERED, SOLD OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED IN THE ABSENCE OF SUCH REGISTRATION
OR AN APPLICABLE EXEMPTION THEREFROM. 
EACH PURCHASER OF ANY SECURITIES IS HEREBY NOTIFIED THAT THE SELLER OF
THE SECURITIES MAY BE RELYING ON THE EXEMPTION FROM THE 

 

20

 

PROVISIONS
OF SECTION 5 OF THE SECURITIES ACT PROVIDED BY RULE 144A UNDER THE SECURITIES
ACT.

 

THE
HOLDER OF THE SECURITIES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE AGREES FOR THE BENEFIT
OF THE COMPANY THAT (A) SUCH SECURITIES MAY BE OFFERED, RESOLD OR
OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED ONLY (I) TO THE COMPANY, (II) TO A PERSON WHOM THE SELLER
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, (III) TO AN INSTITUTIONAL “ACCREDITED INVESTOR” WITHIN THE MEANING
OF SUBPARAGRAPH (a) (1), (2), (3) OR (7) OF RULE 501 UNDER THE
SECURITIES ACT THAT IS ACQUIRING THE SECURITY FOR ITS OWN ACCOUNT, OR FOR THE
ACCOUNT OF AN “ACCREDITED INVESTOR,” FOR INVESTMENT PURPOSES AND NOT WITH A
VIEW TO, OR FOR OFFER OR SALE IN CONNECTION WITH, ANY DISTRIBUTION IN VIOLATION
OF THE SECURITIES ACT, (IV) PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OR (V) PURSUANT TO AN EXEMPTION FROM THE SECURITIES
ACT, IN EACH CASE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ANY APPLICABLE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY
STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER APPLICABLE JURISDICTION AND, IN THE
CASE OF (III) OR (V), SUBJECT TO THE RIGHT OF THE COMPANY TO REQUIRE AN OPINION
OF COUNSEL AND OTHER INFORMATION SATISFACTORY TO IT AND (B) THE HOLDER
WILL NOTIFY ANY PURCHASER OF ANY SECURITIES FROM IT OF THE RESALE RESTRICTIONS
REFERRED TO IN (A) ABOVE.

 

THE SECURITIES WILL BE ISSUED AND MAY BE TRANSFERRED ONLY IN
BLOCKS HAVING AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF NOT LESS THAN $100,000. TO THE
FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANY ATTEMPTED TRANSFER OF SECURITIES, OR ANY
INTEREST THEREIN, IN A BLOCK HAVING AN AGGREGATE PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF LESS THAN
$100,000 AND MULTIPLES OF $1,000 IN EXCESS THEREOF SHALL BE DEEMED TO BE VOID
AND OF NO LEGAL EFFECT WHATSOEVER. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANY
SUCH PURPORTED TRANSFEREE SHALL BE DEEMED NOT TO BE THE HOLDER OF SUCH
SECURITIES FOR ANY PURPOSE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE RECEIPT OF
PRINCIPAL OF OR INTEREST ON SUCH SECURITIES, OR ANY INTEREST THEREIN, AND SUCH
PURPORTED TRANSFEREE SHALL BE DEEMED TO HAVE NO INTEREST WHATSOEVER IN SUCH
SECURITIES.

 

THE
HOLDER OF THIS SECURITY, OR ANY INTEREST THEREIN, BY ITS ACCEPTANCE HEREOF OR
THEREOF ALSO AGREES, REPRESENTS AND WARRANTS THAT IT IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE
BENEFIT, INDIVIDUAL RETIREMENT ACCOUNT OR OTHER PLAN OR ARRANGEMENT SUBJECT TO
TITLE I OF THE EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT INCOME SECURITY ACT OF 1974, AS AMENDED (“ERISA”), OR SECTION 4975 OF THE
INTERNAL REVENUE CODE OF 1986, AS AMENDED (THE “CODE”)
(EACH A “PLAN”), OR AN 

 

21

 

ENTITY
WHOSE UNDERLYING ASSETS INCLUDE “PLAN ASSETS” BY REASON OF ANY PLAN’S
INVESTMENT IN THE ENTITY, AND NO PERSON INVESTING “PLAN ASSETS” OF ANY PLAN MAY ACQUIRE
OR HOLD THIS SECURITY OR ANY INTEREST THEREIN. ANY PURCHASER OR HOLDER OF THE SECURITIES
OR ANY INTEREST THEREIN WILL BE DEEMED TO HAVE REPRESENTED BY ITS PURCHASE AND
HOLDING THEREOF THAT IT IS NOT AN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN WITHIN THE MEANING OF SECTION 3(3) OF
ERISA, OR A PLAN TO WHICH SECTION 4975 OF THE CODE IS APPLICABLE, A TRUSTEE
OR OTHER PERSON ACTING ON BEHALF OF AN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN OR PLAN, OR ANY
OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY USING THE ASSETS OF ANY EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLAN OR PLAN TO
FINANCE SUCH PURCHASE.”

 

(b)                                 The
above legends shall not be removed from any Security unless there is delivered
to the Company satisfactory evidence, which may include an Opinion of Counsel,
as may be reasonably required to ensure that any future transfers thereof may
be made without restriction under or violation of the provisions of the
Securities Act and other applicable law. 
Upon provision of such satisfactory evidence, the Company shall execute
and deliver to the Trustee, and the Trustee shall deliver, upon receipt of a
Company Order directing it to do so, a Security that does not bear the legend.

 

SECTION 2.3.  Form of Trustee’s Certificate of
Authentication.

 

The Trustee’s certificate of authentication shall be
in substantially the following form:

 

This is one of the Securities referred to in the
within-mentioned Indenture.

 

	
  Dated:

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, 

  as Trustee

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  By:

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
  Authorized signatory

  

 

SECTION 2.4.  Temporary Securities.

 

(a)                                  Pending
the preparation of definitive Securities, the Company may execute, and upon
Company Order the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver, temporary Securities
that are printed, lithographed, typewritten, mimeographed or otherwise
produced, in any denomination, substantially of the tenor of the definitive
Securities in lieu of which they are issued and with such appropriate
insertions, omissions, substitutions and other variations as the officers
executing such Securities may determine, as evidenced by their execution of
such Securities.

 

(b)                                 If
temporary Securities are issued, the Company will cause definitive Securities
to be prepared without unreasonable delay. After the preparation of definitive
Securities, the temporary Securities shall be exchangeable for definitive
Securities upon surrender of the 

 

22

 

temporary Securities
at the office or agency of the Company designated for that purpose without
charge to the Holder. Upon surrender for cancellation of any one or more
temporary Securities, the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver in exchange therefor one or more definitive Securities
of any authorized denominations having the same Original Issue Date and Stated
Maturity and having the same terms as such temporary Securities. Until so
exchanged, the temporary Securities shall in all respects be entitled to the
same benefits under this Indenture as definitive Securities.

 

SECTION 2.5.  Definitive Securities.

 

The Securities issued on the Original Issue Date shall
be in definitive form.  The definitive
Securities shall be printed, lithographed or engraved, or produced by any
combination of these methods, if required by any securities exchange on which
the Securities may be listed, on a steel engraved border or steel engraved
borders or may be produced in any other manner permitted by the rules of
any securities exchange on which the Securities may be listed, all as
determined by the officers executing such Securities, as evidenced by their
execution of such Securities.

 

ARTICLE III

THE SECURITIES

 

SECTION 3.1.  Payment of Principal and Interest.

 

(a)                                  The
unpaid principal amount of the Securities shall bear interest at a variable
rate of LIBOR plus 3.65% per annum until paid or duly provided for, such
interest to accrue from the Original Issue Date or from the most recent
Interest Payment Date to which interest has been paid or duly provided for, and
any overdue principal, premium, if any, or Additional Tax Sums and any overdue
installment of interest shall bear Additional Interest at the rate equal to a
variable rate of LIBOR plus 3.65% per annum, compounded quarterly from the
dates such amounts are due until they are paid or funds for the payment thereof
are made available for payment.

 

(b)                                 Interest
and Additional Interest on any Security that is payable, and is punctually paid
or duly provided for, on any Interest Payment Date shall be paid to the Person
in whose name that Security (or one or more Predecessor Securities) is
registered at the close of business on the Regular Record Date for such
interest, except that interest and any Additional Interest payable on the
Stated Maturity (or any date of principal repayment upon early maturity) of the
principal of a Security or on a Redemption Date shall be paid to the Person to
whom principal is paid. The initial payment of interest on any Security that is
issued between a Regular Record Date and the related Interest Payment Date
shall be payable as provided in such Security.

 

(c)                                  Any
interest on any Security that is due and payable, but is not timely paid or
duly provided for, on any Interest Payment Date for Securities (herein called “Defaulted Interest”) shall forthwith cease
to be payable to the registered Holder on the relevant Regular Record Date by
virtue of having been such Holder, and such Defaulted Interest may be paid by
the Company, at its election in each case, as provided in paragraph (i) or
(ii) below:

 

23

 

(i)  The Company may
elect to make payment of any Defaulted Interest to the Persons in whose names
the Securities (or their respective Predecessor Securities) are registered at
the close of business on a Special Record Date for the payment of such
Defaulted Interest (a “Special Record Date”), which shall be fixed in the following
manner.  At least thirty (30) days prior
to the date of the proposed payment, the Company shall notify the Trustee in
writing of the amount of Defaulted Interest proposed to be paid on each
Security and the date of the proposed payment, and at the same time the Company
shall deposit with the Trustee an amount of money equal to the aggregate amount
proposed to be paid in respect of such Defaulted Interest or shall make
arrangements satisfactory to the Trustee for such deposit prior to the date of
the proposed payment, such money when deposited to be held in trust for the
benefit of the Persons entitled to such Defaulted Interest. Thereupon the
Trustee shall fix a Special Record Date for the payment of such Defaulted
Interest, which shall be not more than fifteen (15) days and not less than ten (10) days
prior to the date of the proposed payment and not less than ten (10) days
after the receipt by the Trustee of the notice of the proposed payment. The
Trustee shall promptly notify the Company of such Special Record Date and, in
the name and at the expense of the Company, shall cause notice of the proposed
payment of such Defaulted Interest and the Special Record Date therefor to be
mailed, first class, postage prepaid, to each Holder of a Security at the
address of such Holder as it appears in the Securities Register not less than
ten (10) days prior to such Special Record Date.  Notice of the proposed payment of such
Defaulted Interest and the Special Record Date therefor having been so mailed,
such Defaulted Interest shall be paid to the Persons in whose names the Securities
(or their respective Predecessor Securities) are registered on such Special
Record Date; or

 

(ii)  The Company
may make payment of any Defaulted Interest in any other lawful manner not
inconsistent with the requirements of any securities exchange on which the
Securities may be listed and, upon such notice as may be required by such
exchange (or by the Trustee if the Securities are not listed), if, after notice
given by the Company to the Trustee of the proposed payment pursuant to this
clause, such payment shall be deemed practicable by the Trustee.

 

(d)                                 Payments
of interest on the Securities shall include interest accrued to but excluding
the respective Interest Payment Dates. Interest payments for the Securities
shall be computed and paid on the basis of a 360-day year and the actual number
of days elapsed in the relevant interest period.

 

(e)                                  Payment
of principal of, premium, if any, and interest on the Securities shall be made
in such coin or currency of the United States of America as at the time of
payment is legal tender for payment of public and private debts.  Payments of principal, premium, if any, and
interest due at the Maturity of such Securities shall be made at the Place of
Payment upon surrender of such Securities to the Paying Agent and payments of
interest shall be made subject to such surrender where applicable, by wire
transfer at such place and to such account at a banking institution in the
United States as may be designated in writing to the Paying Agent at least ten (10) Business
Days prior to the date for payment by the Person entitled thereto unless proper
written transfer instructions have not been received by the relevant record
date, in which case such payments shall be made by check mailed to the address
of such Person as such address shall appear in the Security Register.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, so long as the
holder of 

 

24

 

this Security is
the Property Trustee, the payment of the principal of (and premium, if any) and
interest (including any overdue installment of interest and Additional Tax
Sums, if any) on this Security will be made at such place and to such account
as may be designated by the Property Trustee.

 

(f)                                    Subject
to the foregoing provisions of this Section 3.1, each Security
delivered under this Indenture upon transfer of or in exchange for or in lieu
of any other Security shall carry the rights to interest accrued and unpaid,
and to accrue, that were carried by such other Security.

 

SECTION 3.2.  Denominations.

 

The Securities shall be in registered form without
coupons and shall be issuable in minimum denominations of $100,000 and any
integral multiple of $1,000 in excess thereof.

 

SECTION 3.3.  Execution, Authentication, Delivery and
Dating.

 

(a)                                  At
any time and from time to time after the execution and delivery of this
Indenture, the Company may deliver Securities in an aggregate principal amount
(including all then Outstanding Securities) not in excess of Twenty Million Six
Hundred Twenty Thousand Dollars ($20,620,000) executed by the Company to the
Trustee for authentication, together with a Company Order for the
authentication and delivery of such Securities, and the Trustee in accordance
with the Company Order shall authenticate and deliver such Securities. In
authenticating such Securities, and accepting the additional responsibilities
under this Indenture in relation to such Securities, the Trustee shall be
entitled to receive, and shall be fully protected in relying upon:

 

(i)  a copy of any
Board Resolution relating thereto; and

 

(ii)  an Opinion of
Counsel stating that: (1) such Securities, when authenticated and
delivered by the Trustee and issued by the Company in the manner and subject to
any conditions specified in such Opinion of Counsel, will constitute, and the
Indenture constitutes, valid and legally binding obligations of the Company,
each enforceable in accordance with its terms, subject to bankruptcy,
insolvency, fraudulent transfer, reorganization, moratorium and similar laws of
general applicability relating to or affecting creditors’ rights and to general
equity principles; (2) the Securities have been duly authorized and
executed by the Company and have been delivered to the Trustee for
authentication in accordance with this Indenture; (3) the Securities are
not required to be registered under the Securities Act; and (4) the
Indenture is not required to be qualified under the Trust Indenture Act.

 

(b)                                 The
Securities shall be executed on behalf of the Company by its Chairman of the
Board, its Vice Chairman of the Board, its Chief Executive Officer, its
President or one of its Vice Presidents. The signature of any of these officers
on the Securities may be manual or facsimile. 
Securities bearing the manual or facsimile signatures of individuals who
were at any time the proper officers of the Company shall bind the Company,
notwithstanding that such individuals or any of them have ceased to hold such
offices prior to the authentication and delivery of such Securities or did not
hold such offices at the date of such Securities.

 

25

 

(c)                                  No
Security shall be entitled to any benefit under this Indenture or be valid or
obligatory for any purpose, unless there appears on such Security a certificate
of authentication substantially in the form provided for herein executed by the
Trustee by the manual signature of one of its authorized signatories, and such
certificate upon any Security shall be conclusive evidence, and the only
evidence, that such Security has been duly authenticated and delivered
hereunder. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if any Security shall have been
authenticated and delivered hereunder but never issued and sold by the Company,
and the Company shall deliver such Security to the Trustee for cancellation as
provided in Section 3.8, for all purposes of this Indenture such
Security shall be deemed never to have been authenticated and delivered
hereunder and shall never be entitled to the benefits of this Indenture.

 

(d)                                 Each
Security shall be dated the date of its authentication.

 

SECTION 3.4.  Global Securities.

 

(a)                                  Upon
the election of the Holder after the Original Issue Date, which election need
not be in writing, the Securities owned by such Holder shall be issued in the
form of one or more Global Securities registered in the name of the Depositary
or its nominee. Each Global Security issued under this Indenture shall be
registered in the name of the Depositary designated by the Company for such
Global Security or a nominee thereof and delivered to such Depositary or a
nominee thereof or custodian therefor, and each such Global Security shall
constitute a single Security for all purposes of this Indenture.

 

(b)                                 Notwithstanding
any other provision in this Indenture, no Global Security may be exchanged in
whole or in part for Securities registered, and no transfer of a Global
Security in whole or in part may be registered, in the name of any Person other
than the Depositary for such Global Security or a nominee thereof unless (i) such
Depositary advises the Trustee and the Company in writing that such Depositary
is no longer willing or able to properly discharge its responsibilities as
Depositary with respect to such Global Security, and no qualified successor is
appointed by the Company within ninety (90) days of receipt by the Company of
such notice, (ii) such Depositary ceases to be a clearing agency
registered under the Exchange Act and no successor is appointed by the Company
within ninety (90) days after obtaining knowledge of such event, (iii) the
Company executes and delivers to the Trustee a Company Order stating that the
Company elects to terminate the book-entry system through the Depositary or (iv) an
Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing.  Upon the occurrence of any event specified in
clause (i), (ii), (iii) or (iv) above, the Trustee shall notify the
Depositary and instruct the Depositary to notify all owners of beneficial
interests in such Global Security of the occurrence of such event and of the
availability of Securities to such owners of beneficial interests requesting
the same.  The Trustee may conclusively
rely, and be protected in relying, upon the written identification of the
owners of beneficial interests furnished by the Depositary, and shall not be
liable for any delay resulting from a delay by the Depositary.  Upon the issuance of such Securities and the
registration in the Securities Register of such Securities in the names of the
Holders of the beneficial interests therein, the Trustees shall recognize such
holders of beneficial interests as Holders.

 

(c)                                  If
any Global Security is to be exchanged for other Securities or canceled in
part, or if another Security is to be exchanged in whole or in part for a
beneficial interest in any Global Security, then either (i) such Global
Security shall be so surrendered for exchange or 

 

26

 

cancellation as
provided in this Article III or (ii) the principal amount
thereof shall be reduced or increased by an amount equal to the portion thereof
to be so exchanged or canceled, or equal to the principal amount of such other
Security to be so exchanged for a beneficial interest therein, as the case may
be, by means of an appropriate adjustment made on the records of the Securities
Registrar, whereupon the Trustee, in accordance with the Applicable Depository
Procedures, shall instruct the Depositary or its authorized representative to
make a corresponding adjustment to its records. Upon any such surrender or
adjustment of a Global Security by the Depositary, accompanied by registration
instructions, the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall authenticate and
deliver any Securities issuable in exchange for such Global Security (or any
portion thereof) in accordance with the instructions of the Depositary. The
Trustee shall not be liable for any delay in delivery of such instructions and
may conclusively rely on, and shall be fully protected in relying on, such
instructions.

 

(d)                                 Every
Security authenticated and delivered upon registration of transfer of, or in
exchange for or in lieu of, a Global Security or any portion thereof shall be
authenticated and delivered in the form of, and shall be, a Global Security,
unless such Security is registered in the name of a Person other than the
Depositary for such Global Security or a nominee thereof.

 

(e)                                  Securities
distributed to holders of Book-Entry Preferred Securities (as defined in the
applicable Trust Agreement) upon the dissolution of the Trust shall be
distributed in the form of one or more Global Securities registered in the name
of a Depositary or its nominee, and deposited with the Securities Registrar, as
custodian for such Depositary, or with such Depositary, for credit by the
Depositary to the respective accounts of the beneficial owners of the
Securities represented thereby (or such other accounts as they may
direct).  Securities distributed to
holders of Preferred Securities other than Book-Entry Preferred Securities upon
the dissolution of the Trust shall not be issued in the form of a Global
Security or any other form intended to facilitate book-entry trading in
beneficial interests in such Securities.

 

(f)                                    The
Depositary or its nominee, as the registered owner of a Global Security, shall
be the Holder of such Global Security for all purposes under this Indenture and
the Securities, and owners of beneficial interests in a Global Security shall
hold such interests pursuant to the Applicable Depository Procedures.
Accordingly, any such owner’s beneficial interest in a Global Security shall be
shown only on, and the transfer of such interest shall be effected only
through, records maintained by the Depositary or its nominee or its Depositary
Participants.  The Securities Registrar
and the Trustee shall be entitled to deal with the Depositary for all purposes
of this Indenture relating to a Global Security (including the payment of
principal and interest thereon and the giving of instructions or directions by
owners of beneficial interests therein and the giving of notices) as the sole
Holder of the Security and shall have no obligations to the owners of
beneficial interests therein.  Neither
the Trustee nor the Securities Registrar shall have any liability in respect of
any transfers effected by the Depositary.

 

(g)                                 The
rights of owners of beneficial interests in a Global Security shall be
exercised only through the Depositary and shall be limited to those established
by law and agreements between such owners and the Depositary and/or its
Depositary Participants.

 

(h)                                 No
holder of any beneficial interest in any Global Security held on its behalf by
a Depositary shall have any rights under this Indenture with respect to such
Global Security, and such Depositary may be treated by the Company, the Trustee
and any agent of the Company or 

 

27

 

the Trustee as the
owner of such Global Security for all purposes whatsoever.  None of the Company, the Trustee nor any
agent of the Company or the Trustee will have any responsibility or liability
for any aspect of the records relating to or payments made on account of
beneficial ownership interests of a Global Security or maintaining, supervising
or reviewing any records relating to such beneficial ownership interests.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein shall prevent the Company, the
Trustee or any agent of the Company or the Trustee from giving effect to any
written certification, proxy or other authorization furnished by a Depositary
or impair, as between a Depositary and such holders of beneficial interests,
the operation of customary practices governing the exercise of the rights of
the Depositary (or its nominee) as Holder of any Security.

 

SECTION 3.5.  Registration, Transfer and Exchange Generally.

 

(a)                                  The
Trustee shall cause to be kept at the Corporate Trust Office a register (the “Securities Register”) in which the registrar
and transfer agent with respect to the Securities (the “Securities Registrar”), subject to such
reasonable regulations as it may prescribe, shall provide for the registration
of Securities and of transfers and exchanges of Securities. The Trustee shall
at all times also be the Securities Registrar. 
The provisions of Article VI shall apply to the Trustee in
its role as Securities Registrar.

 

(b)                                 Subject
to compliance with Section 2.2(b), upon surrender for registration
of transfer of any Security at the offices or agencies of the Company
designated for that purpose the Company shall execute, and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver, in the name of the designated transferee or
transferees, one or more new Securities of any authorized denominations of like
tenor and aggregate principal amount.

 

(c)                                  At
the option of the Holder, Securities may be exchanged for other Securities of
any authorized denominations, of like tenor and aggregate principal amount,
upon surrender of the Securities to be exchanged at such office or agency.
Whenever any Securities are so surrendered for exchange, the Company shall
execute, and the Trustee shall authenticate and deliver, the Securities that
the Holder making the exchange is entitled to receive.

 

(d)                                 All
Securities issued upon any transfer or exchange of Securities shall be the
valid obligations of the Company, evidencing the same debt, and entitled to the
same benefits under this Indenture, as the Securities surrendered upon such
transfer or exchange.

 

(e)                                  Every
Security presented or surrendered for transfer or exchange shall (if so
required by the Company or the Trustee) be duly endorsed, or be accompanied by
a written instrument of transfer in form satisfactory to the Company and the
Securities Registrar, duly executed by the Holder thereof or such Holder’s
attorney duly authorized in writing.

 

(f)                                    No
service charge shall be made to a Holder for any transfer or exchange of Securities,
but the Company may require payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or
other governmental charge that may be imposed in connection with any transfer
or exchange of Securities.

 

(g)                                 Neither
the Company nor the Trustee shall be required pursuant to the provisions of
this Section 3.5 (g): (i) to issue, register the transfer of
or exchange any Security during a period beginning at the opening of business
fifteen (15) days before the day of selection for 

 

28

 

redemption of
Securities pursuant to Article XI and ending at the close of
business on the day of mailing of the notice of redemption or (ii) to
register the transfer of or exchange any Security so selected for redemption in
whole or in part, except, in the case of any such Security to be redeemed in
part, any portion thereof not to be redeemed.

 

(h)                                 The
Company shall designate an office or offices or agency or agencies where
Securities may be surrendered for registration or transfer or exchange.  The Company initially designates the
Corporate Trust Office as its office and agency for such purposes.  The Company shall give prompt written notice
to the Trustee and to the Holders of any change in the location of any such
office or agency.

 

SECTION 3.6.  Mutilated, Destroyed, Lost and Stolen
Securities.

 

(a)                                  If
any mutilated Security is surrendered to the Trustee together with such
security or indemnity as may be required by the Trustee to save the Company and
the Trustee harmless, the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver in exchange therefor a new Security of like tenor and
aggregate principal amount and bearing a number not contemporaneously
outstanding.

 

(b)                                 If
there shall be delivered to the Trustee (i) evidence to its satisfaction
of the destruction, loss or theft of any Security and (ii) such security
or indemnity as may be required by it to save each of the Company and the
Trustee harmless, then, in the absence of notice to the Company or the Trustee
that such Security has been acquired by a bona fide purchaser, the Company
shall execute and upon its written request the Trustee shall authenticate and
deliver, in lieu of any such destroyed, lost or stolen Security, a new Security
of like tenor and aggregate principal amount as such destroyed, lost or stolen
Security, and bearing a number not contemporaneously outstanding.

 

(c)                                  If
any such mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security has become or is about
to become due and payable, the Company in its discretion may, instead of
issuing a new Security, pay such Security.

 

(d)                                 Upon
the issuance of any new Security under this Section 3.6, the
Company may require the payment of a sum sufficient to cover any tax or other
governmental charge that may be imposed in relation thereto and any other
expenses (including the fees and expenses of the Trustee) connected therewith.

 

(e)                                  Every
new Security issued pursuant to this Section 3.6 in lieu of any
mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Security shall constitute an original additional
contractual obligation of the Company, whether or not the mutilated, destroyed,
lost or stolen Security shall be at any time enforceable by anyone, and shall
be entitled to all the benefits of this Indenture equally and proportionately
with any and all other Securities duly issued hereunder.

 

(f)                                    The
provisions of this Section 3.6 are exclusive and shall preclude (to
the extent lawful) all other rights and remedies with respect to the
replacement or payment of mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen Securities.

 

29

 

SECTION 3.7.  Persons Deemed Owners.

 

The Company, the Trustee and any agent of the Company
or the Trustee shall treat the Person in whose name any Security is registered
as the owner of such Security for the purpose of receiving payment of principal
of and any interest on such Security and for all other purposes whatsoever, and
neither the Company, the Trustee nor any agent of the Company or the Trustee
shall be affected by notice to the contrary.

 

SECTION 3.8.  Cancellation.

 

All Securities surrendered for payment, redemption,
transfer or exchange shall, if surrendered to any Person other than the
Trustee, be delivered to the Trustee, and any such Securities and Securities
surrendered directly to the Trustee for any such purpose shall be promptly
canceled by it. The Company may at any time deliver to the Trustee for
cancellation any Securities previously authenticated and delivered hereunder
that the Company may have acquired in any manner whatsoever, and all Securities
so delivered shall be promptly canceled by the Trustee. No Securities shall be
authenticated in lieu of or in exchange for any Securities canceled as provided
in this Section 3.8, except as expressly permitted by this
Indenture. All canceled Securities shall be retained by the Trustee in
accordance with its customary practices.

 

SECTION 3.9.  Deferrals of Interest Payment Dates.

 

(a)                                  So
long as no Event of Default has occurred and is continuing, the Company shall
have the right, at any time and from time to time during the term of the
Security, to defer the payment of interest on the Securities for a period of up
to twenty (20)
consecutive quarterly
interest payment periods (each such period, an “Extension Period”), during which Extension Period(s), the
Company shall have the right to make no payments or partial payments of
interest on any Interest Payment Date (except any Additional Tax Sums that
otherwise may be due and payable).  No
Extension Period shall end on a date other than an Interest Payment Date and no
Extension Period shall extend beyond the Stated Maturity of the principal of
the Securities.  No interest shall be due
and payable during an Extension Period, except at the end thereof, but each
installment of interest that would otherwise have been due and payable during
such Extension Period shall bear Additional Interest (to the extent payment of
such interest would be legally enforceable) at the rate equal to a variable
rate equal to LIBOR plus 3.65% per annum, compounded quarterly, from the dates on which amounts would have
otherwise been due and payable until paid or until funds for the payment
thereof have been made available for payment. 
At the end of any such Extension Period, the Company shall pay all
interest then accrued and unpaid on the Securities together with such
Additional Interest.  Prior to the
termination of any such Extension Period, the Company may extend such Extension
Period and further defer the payment of interest; provided, that (i) all such
previous and further extensions comprising such Extension Period do not exceed twenty (20) quarterly
interest payment periods, (ii) no Extension Period shall end on a date
other than an Interest Payment Date and (iii) no Extension Period shall
extend beyond the Stated Maturity of 

 

30

 

the principal of
the Securities.  Upon the termination of
any such Extension Period and upon the payment of all accrued and unpaid
interest and any Additional Interest then due on any Interest Payment Date, the
Company may elect to begin a new Extension Period; provided, that (i) such
Extension Period does not exceed twenty (20)
quarterly interest
payment periods, (ii) no Extension Period shall end on a date other than
an Interest Payment Date and (iii) no Extension Period shall extend beyond
the Stated Maturity of the principal of the Securities.  The Company shall give the Holders of the
Securities and the Trustee written notice of its election to begin any such Extension
Period at least one Business Day prior to the next succeeding Interest Payment
Date on which interest on the Securities would be payable but for such deferral
or, so long as any Securities are held by the Trust, at least one Business Day
prior to the earlier of (i) the next succeeding date on which
Distributions on the Preferred Securities of such Trust would be payable but
for such deferral and (ii) the date on which the Property Trustee of such
Trust is required to give notice to any securities exchange or other applicable
self-regulatory organization or to holders of such Preferred Securities of the
record date for the payment of such Distributions.

 

(b)                                 In
connection with any such Extension Period, the Company shall be subject to the
restrictions set forth in Section 10.6(a).

 

SECTION 3.10.  Right of Set-Off.

 

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the
Company shall have the right to set off any payment it is otherwise required to
make in respect of any Security to the extent the Company has theretofore made,
or is concurrently on the date of such payment making, a payment under the
Guarantee Agreement relating to such Security or to a holder of Preferred
Securities pursuant to an action undertaken under Section 5.8 of
this Indenture.

 

SECTION 3.11.  Agreed Tax Treatment.

 

Each Security issued hereunder shall provide that the
Company and, by its acceptance or acquisition of a Security or a beneficial
interest therein, the Holder of, and any Person that acquires a direct or
indirect beneficial interest in, such Security, intend and agree to treat such
Security as indebtedness of the Company for United States Federal, state and
local tax purposes and to treat the Preferred Securities (including but not
limited to all payments and proceeds with respect to the Preferred Securities)
as an undivided beneficial ownership interest in the Securities (and any other
Trust property) (and payments and proceeds therefrom, respectively) for United
States Federal, state and local tax purposes. 
The provisions of this Indenture shall be interpreted to further this
intention and agreement of the parties.

 

SECTION 3.12.  CUSIP Numbers.

 

The Company in issuing the Securities may use “CUSIP”
numbers (if then generally in use), and, if so, the Trustee shall use “CUSIP”
numbers in notices of redemption and other similar or related materials as a
convenience to Holders; provided, that any such notice or other materials may state
that no representation is made as to the correctness of such numbers either as
printed on the Securities or as contained in any notice of redemption or other
materials and that reliance may be placed only on the other identification
numbers printed on the Securities, and any such redemption shall not be
affected by any defect in or omission of such numbers.

 

31

 

ARTICLE IV

SATISFACTION AND DISCHARGE

 

SECTION 4.1.  Satisfaction and Discharge of Indenture.

 

This Indenture shall, upon Company Request, cease to
be of further effect (except as to any surviving rights of registration of
transfer or exchange of Securities herein expressly provided for and as
otherwise provided in this Section 4.1) and the Trustee, on demand
of and at the expense of the Company, shall execute proper instruments
acknowledging satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture, when

 

(a)                                  either

 

(i) all Securities
theretofore authenticated and delivered (other than (A) Securities that
have been mutilated, destroyed, lost or stolen and that have been replaced or
paid as provided in Section 3.6 and (B) Securities for whose
payment money has theretofore been deposited in trust or segregated and held in
trust by the Company and thereafter repaid to the Company or discharged from
such trust as provided in Section 10.2) have been delivered to the
Trustee for cancellation; or

 

(ii) all such
Securities not theretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation

 

(A)                              have
become due and payable, or

 

(B)                                will
become due and payable at their Stated Maturity within one year of the date of
deposit, or

 

(C)                                are
to be called for redemption within one year under arrangements satisfactory to
the Trustee for the giving of notice of redemption by the Trustee in the name,
and at the expense, of the Company,

 

and the Company, in the case of subclause
(ii)(A), (B) or (C) above, has deposited or caused to be deposited
with the Trustee as trust funds in trust for such purpose (x) an amount in the
currency or currencies in which the Securities are payable, (y) Government
Obligations which through the scheduled payment of principal and interest in
respect thereof in accordance with their terms will provide, not later than the
due date of any payment, money in an amount or (z) a combination thereof, in
each case sufficient, in the opinion of a nationally recognized firm of
independent public accountants expressed in a written certification thereof
delivered to the Trustee, to pay and discharge the entire indebtedness on such
Securities not theretofore delivered to the Trustee for cancellation, for
principal and any premium and interest (including any Additional Interest) to
the date of such deposit (in the case of Securities that have become due and
payable) or to the Stated Maturity (or any date of principal repayment upon
early maturity) or Redemption Date, as the case may be;

 

(b)                                 the
Company has paid or caused to be paid all other sums payable hereunder by the
Company; and

 

32

 

(c)                                  the
Company has delivered to the Trustee an Officers’ Certificate and an Opinion of
Counsel each stating that all conditions precedent herein provided for relating
to the satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture have been complied with.

 

Notwithstanding the satisfaction and discharge of this
Indenture, the obligations of the Company to the Trustee under Section 6.6,
the obligations of the Company to any Authenticating Agent under Section 6.11
and, if money shall have been deposited with the Trustee pursuant to subclause
(a)(ii) of this Section 4.1, the obligations of the Trustee
under Section 4.2 and Section 10.2(e) shall
survive.

 

SECTION 4.2.  Application of Trust Money.

 

Subject to the provisions of Section 10.2(e),
all money deposited with the Trustee pursuant to Section 4.1 shall
be held in trust and applied by the Trustee, in accordance with the provisions
of the Securities and this Indenture, to the payment in accordance with Section 3.1,
either directly or through any Paying Agent (including the Company acting as
its own Paying Agent) as the Trustee may determine, to the Persons entitled
thereto, of the principal and any premium and interest (including any
Additional Interest) for the payment of which such money or obligations have
been deposited with or received by the Trustee. 
Moneys held by the Trustee under this Section 4.2 shall not
be subject to the claims of holders of Senior Debt under Article XII.

 

ARTICLE V

REMEDIES

 

SECTION 5.1.  Events of Default.

 

“Event
of Default” means,
wherever used herein with respect to the Securities, any one of the following
events (whatever the reason for such Event of Default and whether it shall be
voluntary or involuntary or be effected by operation of law or pursuant to any
judgment, decree or order of any court or any order, rule or regulation of
any administrative or governmental body):

 

(a)                                  default
in the payment of any interest upon any Security, including any Additional
Interest in respect thereof, when it becomes due and payable, and continuance
of such default for a period of thirty (30) days (subject to the deferral of
any due date in the case of an Extension Period); or

 

(b)                                 default
in the payment of the principal of or any premium on any Security at its
Maturity; or

 

(c)                                  default
in the performance, or breach, of any covenant or warranty of the Company in
this Indenture and continuance of such default or breach for a period of thirty
(30) days after there has been given, by registered or certified mail, to the
Company by the Trustee or to the Company and the Trustee by the Holders of at
least twenty five percent (25%) in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding
Securities a written notice specifying such default or breach and requiring it
to be remedied and stating that such notice is a “Notice of Default” hereunder;

 

33

 

(d)                                 the
entry by a court having jurisdiction in the premises of a decree or order
adjudging the Company a bankrupt or insolvent, or approving as properly filed a
petition seeking reorganization, arrangement, adjustment or composition of or
in respect of the Company under any applicable Federal or state bankruptcy,
insolvency, reorganization or other similar law, or appointing a custodian,
receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee, sequestrator or other similar official
of the Company or of any substantial part of its property, or ordering the
winding up or liquidation of its affairs, and the continuance of any such
decree or order for relief or any such other decree or order unstayed and in
effect for a period of sixty (60) consecutive days;

 

(e)                                  the
institution by the Company of proceedings to be adjudicated a bankrupt or
insolvent, or the consent by the Company to the institution of bankruptcy or
insolvency proceedings against it, or the filing by the Company of a petition
or answer or consent seeking reorganization or relief under any applicable
Federal or state bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization or other similar law,
or the consent by it to the filing of such petition or to the appointment of or
taking possession by a custodian, receiver, liquidator, assignee, trustee,
sequestrator or other similar official of the Company or of any substantial
part of its property, or the making by it of an assignment for the benefit of
creditors, or the admission by it in writing of its inability to pay its debts
generally as they become due and its willingness to be adjudicated a bankrupt
or insolvent, or the taking of corporate action by the Company in furtherance
of any such action; or

 

(f)                                    the
Trust shall have voluntarily or involuntarily liquidated, dissolved, wound-up
its business or otherwise terminated its existence, except in connection with (1) the
distribution of the Securities to holders of the Preferred Securities in
liquidation of their interests in the Trust, (2) the redemption of all of
the outstanding Preferred Securities or (3) certain mergers,
consolidations or amalgamations, each as and to the extent permitted by the
Trust Agreement.

 

SECTION 5.2.  Acceleration of Maturity; Rescission and
Annulment.

 

(a)                                  If
an Event of Default occurs and is continuing, then and in every such case the Trustee
or the Holders of not less than twenty five percent (25%) in aggregate
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities may declare the principal amount
of all the Securities to be due and payable immediately, by a notice in writing
to the Company (and to the Trustee if given by Holders), provided, that if,
upon an Event of Default, the Trustee or the Holders of not less than twenty
five percent (25%) in principal amount of the Outstanding Securities fail to
declare the principal of all the Outstanding Securities to be immediately due
and payable, the holders of at least twenty five percent (25%) in aggregate
Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities then outstanding shall have the
right to make such declaration by a notice in writing to the Property Trustee,
the Company and the Trustee; and upon any such declaration the principal amount
of and the accrued interest (including any Additional Interest) on all the
Securities shall become immediately due and payable.

 

(b)                                 At
any time after such a declaration of acceleration with respect to Securities
has been made and before a judgment or decree for payment of the money due has
been obtained by the Trustee as hereinafter provided in this Article V,
the Holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding
Securities, by written notice to the Indenture Trustee, or the holders of a
majority in aggregate Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities, by
written 

 

34

 

notice to the
Property Trustee, the Company and the Trustee, may rescind and annul such
declaration and its consequences if:

 

(i)  the Company has
paid or deposited with the Trustee a sum sufficient to pay:

 

(A)                              all
overdue installments of interest on all Securities,

 

(B)                                any
accrued Additional Interest on all Securities,

 

(C)                                the
principal of and any premium on any Securities that have become due otherwise
than by such declaration of acceleration and interest (including any Additional
Interest) thereon at the rate borne by the Securities, and

 

(D)                               all
sums paid or advanced by the Trustee hereunder and the reasonable compensation,
expenses, disbursements and advances of the Trustee, the Property Trustee and
their agents and counsel; and

 

(ii)  all Events of
Default with respect to Securities, other than the non-payment of the principal
of Securities that has become due solely by such acceleration, have been cured
or waived as provided in Section 5.13;

 

provided, that if the Holders
of such Securities fail to annul such declaration and waive such default, the
holders of not less than a majority in aggregate Liquidation Amount of the
Preferred Securities then outstanding shall also have the right to rescind and
annul such declaration and its consequences by written notice to the Property
Trustee, the Company and the Trustee, subject to the satisfaction of the
conditions set forth in paragraph (b) of this Section 5.2.  No such rescission shall affect any
subsequent default or impair any right consequent thereon.

 

SECTION 5.3.  Collection of Indebtedness and Suits for
Enforcement by Trustee.

 

(a)                                  The
Company covenants that if:

 

(i)  default is made
in the payment of any installment of interest (including any Additional
Interest) on any Security when such interest becomes due and payable and such
default continues for a period of thirty (30) days, or

 

(ii)  default is
made in the payment of the principal of and any premium on any Security at the
Maturity thereof,

 

the Company will, upon demand of the Trustee, pay to
the Trustee, for the benefit of the Holders of such Securities, the whole
amount then due and payable on such Securities for principal and any premium
and interest (including any Additional Interest) and, in addition thereto, all
amounts owing the Trustee under Section 6.6.

 

(b)                                 If
the Company fails to pay such amounts forthwith upon such demand, the Trustee,
in its own name and as trustee of an express trust, may institute a judicial
proceeding for the collection of the sums so due and unpaid, and may prosecute
such proceeding to judgment or final decree, and may enforce the same against
the Company or any other obligor upon such Securities and collect the moneys
adjudged or decreed to be payable in the manner provided by 

 

35

 

law out of the
property of the Company or any other obligor upon the Securities, wherever
situated.

 

(c)                                  If
an Event of Default with respect to Securities occurs and is continuing, the
Trustee may in its discretion proceed to protect and enforce its rights and the
rights of the Holders of Securities by such appropriate judicial proceedings as
the Trustee shall deem most effectual to protect and enforce any such rights,
whether for the specific enforcement of any covenant or agreement in this
Indenture or in aid of the exercise of any power granted herein, or to enforce
any other proper remedy.

 

SECTION 5.4.  Trustee May File Proofs of Claim.

 

In case of any receivership, insolvency, liquidation,
bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, adjustment, composition or similar
judicial proceeding relative to the Company (or any other obligor upon the
Securities), its property or its creditors, the Trustee shall be entitled and
empowered, by intervention in such proceeding or otherwise, to take any and all
actions authorized hereunder in order to have claims of the Holders and the
Trustee allowed in any such proceeding. In particular, the Trustee shall be
authorized to collect and receive any moneys or other property payable or
deliverable on any such claims and to distribute the same; and any custodian,
receiver, assignee, trustee, liquidator, sequestrator or other similar official
in any such judicial proceeding is hereby authorized by each Holder to make
such payments to the Trustee and, in the event that the Trustee shall consent
to the making of such payments directly to the Holders, to first pay to the
Trustee any amount due it for the reasonable compensation, expenses,
disbursements and advances of the Trustee, its agents and counsel, and any
other amounts owing the Trustee, any predecessor Trustee and other Persons
under Section 6.6.

 

SECTION 5.5.  Trustee May Enforce Claim Without
Possession of Securities.

 

All rights of action and claims under this Indenture
or the Securities may be prosecuted and enforced by the Trustee without the
possession of any of the Securities or the production thereof in any proceeding
relating thereto, and any such proceeding instituted by the Trustee shall be
brought in its own name as trustee of an express trust, and any recovery of
judgment shall, subject to Article XII and after provision for the
payment of all the amounts owing the Trustee, any predecessor Trustee and other
Persons under Section 6.6, be for the ratable benefit of the
Holders of the Securities in respect of which such judgment has been recovered.

 

SECTION 5.6.  Application of Money Collected.

 

Any money or property collected or to be applied by
the Trustee with respect to the Securities pursuant to this Article V
shall be applied in the following order, at the date or dates fixed by the
Trustee and, in case of the distribution of such money or property on account
of principal or any premium or interest (including any Additional Interest),
upon presentation of the Securities and the notation thereon of the payment if
only partially paid and upon surrender thereof if fully paid:

 

FIRST: To the payment of all amounts due the Trustee,
any predecessor Trustee and other Persons under Section 6.6;

 

36

 

SECOND: To the payment of all Senior Debt of the
Company if and to the extent required by Article XII;

 

THIRD:  Subject
to Article XII, to the payment of the amounts then due and unpaid
upon the Securities for principal and any premium and interest (including any
Additional Interest) in respect of which or for the benefit of which such money
has been collected, ratably, without preference or priority of any kind,
according to the amounts due and payable on the Securities for principal and
any premium and interest (including any Additional Interest), respectively; and

 

FOURTH: The balance, if any, to the Person or Persons
entitled thereto.

 

SECTION 5.7.  Limitation on Suits.

 

Subject to Section 5.8, no Holder of any
Securities shall have any right to institute any proceeding, judicial or otherwise,
with respect to this Indenture or for the appointment of a custodian, receiver,
assignee, trustee, liquidator, sequestrator (or other similar official) or for
any other remedy hereunder, unless:

 

(a)                                  such
Holder has previously given written notice to the Trustee of a continuing Event
of Default with respect to the Securities;

 

(b)                                 the
Holders of not less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities shall have made written request to the Trustee to
institute proceedings in respect of such Event of Default in its own name as
Trustee hereunder;

 

(c)                                  such
Holder or Holders have offered to the Trustee reasonable indemnity against the
costs, expenses and liabilities to be incurred in compliance with such request;

 

(d)                                 the
Trustee after its receipt of such notice, request and offer of indemnity has
failed to institute any such proceeding for sixty (60) days; and

 

(e)                                  no
direction inconsistent with such written request has been given to the Trustee
during such sixty (60)-day period by the Holders of a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities;

 

it being understood and intended that no one or more
of such Holders shall have any right in any manner whatever by virtue of, or by
availing itself of, any provision of this Indenture to affect, disturb or
prejudice the rights of any other Holders of Securities, or to obtain or to
seek to obtain priority or preference over any other of such Holders or to
enforce any right under this Indenture, except in the manner herein provided
and for the equal and ratable benefit of all such Holders.

 

SECTION 5.8.  Unconditional Right of Holders to Receive
Principal, Premium, if any, and Interest; Direct
Action by Holders of Preferred Securities.

 

Notwithstanding any other provision in this Indenture,
the Holder of any Security shall have the right, which is absolute and
unconditional, to receive payment of the principal of and any premium on such
Security at its Maturity and payment of interest (including any Additional
Interest) on such Security when due and payable and to institute suit for the
enforcement of any such payment, and such right shall not be impaired without
the consent of such Holder. Any 

 

37

 

registered holder of the
Preferred Securities shall have the right, upon the occurrence of an Event of
Default described in Section 5.1(a) or Section 5.1(b),
to institute a suit directly against the Company for enforcement of payment to
such holder of principal of and any premium and interest (including any
Additional Interest) on the Securities having a principal amount equal to the
aggregate Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities held by such holder.

 

SECTION 5.9.  Restoration of Rights and Remedies.

 

If the Trustee, any Holder or any holder of Preferred
Securities has instituted any proceeding to enforce any right or remedy under
this Indenture and such proceeding has been discontinued or abandoned for any
reason, or has been determined adversely to the Trustee, such Holder or such
holder of Preferred Securities, then and in every such case the Company, the
Trustee, such Holders and such holder of Preferred Securities shall, subject to
any determination in such proceeding, be restored severally and respectively to
their former positions hereunder, and thereafter all rights and remedies of the
Trustee, such Holder and such holder of Preferred Securities shall continue as
though no such proceeding had been instituted.

 

SECTION 5.10.  Rights and Remedies Cumulative.

 

Except as otherwise provided in Section 3.6(f),
no right or remedy herein conferred upon or reserved to the Trustee or the
Holders is intended to be exclusive of any other right or remedy, and every
right and remedy shall, to the extent permitted by law, be cumulative and in
addition to every other right and remedy given hereunder or now or hereafter
existing at law or in equity or otherwise. The assertion or employment of any
right or remedy hereunder, or otherwise, shall not prevent the concurrent
assertion or employment of any other appropriate right or remedy.

 

SECTION 5.11.  Delay or Omission Not Waiver.

 

No delay or omission of the Trustee, any Holder of any
Securities or any holder of any Preferred Security to exercise any right or
remedy accruing upon any Event of Default shall impair any such right or remedy
or constitute a waiver of any such Event of Default or an acquiescence
therein.  Every right and remedy given by
this Article V or by law to the Trustee or to the Holders and the
right and remedy given to the holders of Preferred Securities by Section 5.8
may be exercised from time to time, and as often as may be deemed expedient, by
the Trustee, the Holders or the holders of Preferred Securities, as the case
may be.

 

SECTION 5.12.  Control by Holders.

 

The Holders of not less than a majority in aggregate
principal amount of the Outstanding Securities (or, as the case may be, the
holders of a majority in aggregate Liquidation Amount of Preferred
Securities)  shall have the right to
direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy
available to the Trustee or exercising any trust or power conferred on the
Trustee; provided,
that:

 

(a)                                  such
direction shall not be in conflict with any rule of law or with this
Indenture,

 

(b)                                 the
Trustee may take any other action deemed proper by the Trustee that is not
inconsistent with such direction, and

 

38

 

(c)                                  subject
to the provisions of Section 6.2, the Trustee shall have the right
to decline to follow such direction if a Responsible Officer or Officers of the
Trustee shall, in good faith, reasonably determine that the proceeding so
directed would be unjustly prejudicial to the Holders not joining in any such
direction or would involve the Trustee in personal liability.

 

SECTION 5.13.  Waiver of Past Defaults.

 

(a)                                  The
Holders of not less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities or the holders of not less than a majority in aggregate
Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities may waive any past Event of
Default hereunder and its consequences except an Event of Default:

 

(i)  in the payment
of the principal of or any premium or interest (including any Additional
Interest) on any Security (unless such Event of Default has been cured and the
Company has paid to or deposited with the Trustee a sum sufficient to pay all
installments of interest (including any Additional Interest) due and past due
and all principal of and any premium on all Securities due otherwise than by
acceleration), or

 

(ii)  in respect of
a covenant or provision hereof that under Article IX cannot be
modified or amended without the consent of each Holder of any Outstanding
Security.

 

(b)                                 Any
such waiver shall be deemed to be on behalf of the Holders of all the
Securities or, in the case of a waiver by holders of Preferred Securities
issued by such Trust, by all holders of Preferred Securities.

 

(c)                                  Upon
any such waiver, such Event of Default shall cease to exist and any Event of
Default arising therefrom shall be deemed to have been cured for every purpose
of this Indenture; but no such waiver shall extend to any subsequent or other
Event of Default or impair any right consequent thereon.

 

SECTION 5.14.  Undertaking for Costs.

 

All parties to this Indenture agree, and each Holder
of any Security by his or her acceptance thereof shall be deemed to have
agreed, that any court may in its discretion require, in any suit for the
enforcement of any right or remedy under this Indenture, or in any suit against
the Trustee for any action taken or omitted by it as Trustee, the filing by any
party litigant in such suit of an undertaking to pay the costs of such suit,
and that such court may in its discretion assess reasonable costs, including
reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, against any party litigant in such
suit, having due regard to the merits and good faith of the claims or defenses
made by such party litigant; but the provisions of this Section 5.14
shall not apply to any suit instituted by the Trustee, to any suit instituted
by any Holder, or group of Holders, holding in the aggregate more than ten
percent (10%) in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities, or
to any suit instituted by any Holder for the enforcement of the payment of the
principal of or any premium on the Security after the Stated Maturity or any
interest (including any Additional Interest) on any Security after it is due
and payable.

 

39

 

SECTION 5.15.  Waiver of Usury, Stay or Extension Laws.

 

The Company covenants (to the extent that it may
lawfully do so) that it will not at any time insist upon, or plead, or in any
manner whatsoever claim or take the benefit or advantage of, any usury, stay or
extension law wherever enacted, now or at any time hereafter in force, which
may affect the covenants or the performance of this Indenture; and the Company
(to the extent that it may lawfully do so) hereby expressly waives all benefit
or advantage of any such law, and covenants that it will not hinder, delay or
impede the execution of any power herein granted to the Trustee, but will
suffer and permit the execution of every such power as though no such law had
been enacted.

 

ARTICLE VI

THE TRUSTEE

 

SECTION 6.1.  Corporate Trustee Required.

 

There shall at all times be a Trustee hereunder with
respect to the Securities.  The Trustee
shall be a corporation organized and doing business under the laws of the
United States or of any state thereof, authorized to exercise corporate trust
powers, having a combined capital and surplus of at least $50,000,000, subject
to supervision or examination by Federal or state authority and having an
office within the United States. If such corporation publishes reports of
condition at least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of such
supervising or examining authority, then, for the purposes of this Section 6.1,
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.  If at any time
the Trustee shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the provisions of
this Section 6.1, it shall resign immediately in the manner and
with the effect hereinafter specified in this Article VI.

 

SECTION 6.2.  Certain Duties and Responsibilities.

 

Except during the continuance of an Event of Default:

 

(i)  the Trustee
undertakes to perform such duties and only such duties as are specifically set
forth in this Indenture, and no implied covenants or obligations shall be read
into this Indenture against the Trustee; and

 

(ii)  in the absence
of bad faith on its part, the Trustee may conclusively rely, as to the truth of
the statements and the correctness of the opinions expressed therein, upon certificates
or opinions furnished to the Trustee and conforming to the requirements of this
Indenture; provided, that in the case of any
such certificates or opinions that by any provision hereof are specifically
required to be furnished to the Trustee, the Trustee shall be under a duty to
examine the same to determine whether or not they substantially conform on
their face to the requirements of this Indenture.

 

(b)                                 If
an Event of Default known to the Trustee has occurred and is continuing, the
Trustee shall, prior to the receipt of directions, if any, from the Holders of
at least a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities
(or, if applicable, from the holders of at least a majority in aggregate
Liquidation Amount of Preferred Securities), exercise such of the 

 

40

 

rights and powers
vested in it by this Indenture, and use the same degree of care and skill in
its exercise, as a prudent person would exercise or use under the circumstances
in the conduct of such person’s own affairs.

 

(c)                                  Notwithstanding
the foregoing, no provision of this Indenture shall require the Trustee to
expend or risk its own funds or otherwise incur any financial liability in the
performance of any of its duties hereunder, or in the exercise of any of its
rights or powers, if it shall have reasonable grounds for believing that
repayment of such funds or adequate indemnity against such risk or liability is
not reasonably assured to it. Whether or not therein expressly so provided,
every provision of this Indenture relating to the conduct or affecting the
liability of or affording protection to the Trustee shall be subject to the
provisions of this Section 6.2. 
To the extent that, at law or in equity, the Trustee has duties and
liabilities relating to the Holders, the Trustee shall not be liable to any
Holder or any holder of Preferred Securities for the Trustee’s good faith
reliance on the provisions of this Indenture. 
The provisions of this Indenture, to the extent that they restrict the
duties and liabilities of the Trustee otherwise existing at law or in equity,
are agreed by the Company and the Holders and the holders of Preferred
Securities to replace such other duties and liabilities of the Trustee.

 

(d)                                 No
provisions of this Indenture shall be construed to relieve the Trustee from
liability with respect to matters that are within the authority of the Trustee
under this Indenture for its own negligent action, negligent failure to act or
willful misconduct, except that:

 

(i)  the Trustee
shall not be liable for any error or judgment made in good faith by an
authorized officer of the Trustee, unless it shall be proved that the Trustee
was negligent in ascertaining the pertinent facts;

 

(ii)  the Trustee
shall not be liable with respect to any action taken or omitted to be taken by
it in good faith in accordance with the direction of the Holders of at least a
majority in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities (or, as
the case may be, the holders of a majority in aggregate Liquidation Amount of
Preferred Securities) relating to the time, method and place of conducting any
proceeding for any remedy available to the Trustee under this Indenture; and

 

(iii)  the Trustee
shall be under no liability for interest on any money received by it hereunder
except as otherwise agreed in writing with the Company and money held by the
Trustee in trust hereunder need not be segregated from other funds except to
the extent required by law.

 

(e)                                  If
at any time the Trustee hereunder is not the same Person as the Property
Trustee under the Trust Agreement:

 

(i)  whenever a
reference is made herein to the dissolution, termination or liquidation of the
Trust, the Trustee shall be entitled to assume that no such dissolution,
termination, or liquidation has occurred so long as the Securities are or
continue to be registered in the name of such Property Trustee, and the Trustee
shall be charged with notice or knowledge of such dissolution, termination or
liquidation only upon written notice thereof given to the Trustee by the
Depositor under the Trust Agreement; and

 

41

 

(ii)  the Trustee
shall not be charged with notice or knowledge that any Person is a holder of
Preferred Securities or Common Securities issued by the Trust or whether any
group of holders of Preferred Securities constitutes any specified percentage
of all outstanding Preferred Securities for any purpose under this Indenture,
unless and until the Trustee is furnished with a list of holders by such
Property Trustee and the aggregate Liquidation Amount of the Preferred
Securities then outstanding.  The Trustee
may conclusively rely and shall be protected in relying on such list.

 

(f)                                    Notwithstanding
Section 1.10, the Trustee shall not, and shall not be deemed to,
owe any fiduciary duty to the holders of any of the Trust Securities issued by
the Trust and shall not be liable to any such holder (other than for the
willful misconduct or negligence of the Trustee) if the Trustee in good faith (i) pays
over or distributes to a registered Holder of the Securities or to the Company
or to any other Person, cash, property or securities to which such holders of
such Trust Securities shall be entitled or (ii) takes any action or omits
to take any action at the request of the Holder of such Securities.  Nothing in this paragraph shall affect the
obligation of any other such Person to hold such payment for the benefit of,
and to pay such amount over to, such holders of Preferred Securities or Common
Securities or their representatives.

 

SECTION 6.3.  Notice of Defaults.

 

Within ninety (90) days after the occurrence of any
default actually known to the Trustee, the Trustee shall give the Holders
notice of such default unless such default shall have been cured or waived;  provided,  that in the case of any default of the character
specified in Section 5.1(c), no such notice to Holders shall be
given until at least thirty (30) days after the occurrence thereof. For the
purpose of this Section 6.3, the term “default” means any event
which is, or after notice or lapse of time or both would become, an Event of
Default.

 

SECTION 6.4.  Certain Rights of Trustee.

 

Subject to the provisions of Section 6.2:

 

(a)                                  the
Trustee may conclusively rely and shall be fully protected in acting or
refraining from acting in good faith and in accordance with the terms hereof
upon any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report,
notice, request, direction, consent, order, bond, debenture, note or other
paper or document believed by it to be genuine and to have been signed or
presented by the proper party or parties;

 

(b)                                 if
(i) in performing its duties under this Indenture the Trustee is required
to decide between alternative courses of action, (ii) in construing any of
the provisions of this Indenture the Trustee finds ambiguous or inconsistent
with any other provisions contained herein or (iii) the Trustee is unsure
of the application of any provision of this Indenture, then, except as to any
matter as to which the Holders are entitled to decide under the terms of this
Indenture, the Trustee shall deliver a notice to the Company requesting the
Company’s written instruction as to the course of action to be taken and the
Trustee shall take such action, or refrain from taking such action, as the
Trustee shall be instructed in writing to take, or to refrain from taking, by
the Company; provided,
that if the Trustee does not receive such instructions from the Company within
ten Business Days after it has delivered such notice or such reasonably shorter
period of 

 

42

 

time set forth in
such notice the Trustee may, but shall be under no duty to, take such action,
or refrain from taking such action, as the Trustee shall deem advisable and in
the best interests of the Holders, in which event the Trustee shall have no
liability except for its own negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct;

 

(c)                                  any
request or direction of the Company shall be sufficiently evidenced by a
Company Request or Company Order and any resolution of the Board of Directors
may be sufficiently evidenced by a Board Resolution;

 

(d)                                 the
Trustee may consult with counsel (which counsel may be counsel to the Trustee,
the Company or any of its Affiliates, and may include any of its employees) and
the advice of such counsel or any Opinion of Counsel shall be full and complete
authorization and protection in respect of any action taken, suffered or
omitted by it hereunder in good faith and in reliance thereon;

 

(e)                                  the
Trustee shall be under no obligation to exercise any of the rights or powers
vested in it by this Indenture at the request or direction of any of the
Holders or any holder of Preferred Securities pursuant to this Indenture,
unless such Holders (or such holders of Preferred Securities) shall have
offered to the Trustee security or indemnity reasonably satisfactory to it
against the costs, expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses)
and liabilities that might be incurred by it in compliance with such request or
direction, including reasonable advances as may be requested by the Trustee;

 

(f)                                    the
Trustee shall not be bound to make any investigation into the facts or matters
stated in any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report,
notice, request, direction, consent, order, bond, indenture, note or other
paper or document, but the Trustee in its discretion may make such inquiry or
investigation into such facts or matters as it may see fit, and, if the Trustee
shall determine to make such inquiry or investigation, it shall be entitled to
examine the books, records and premises of the Company, personally or by agent
or attorney;

 

(g)                                 the
Trustee may execute any of the trusts or powers hereunder or perform any duties
hereunder either directly or by or through agents, attorneys, custodians or
nominees and the Trustee shall not be responsible for any misconduct or
negligence on the part of any such agent, attorney, custodian or nominee
appointed with due care by it hereunder;

 

(h)                                 whenever
in the administration of this Indenture the Trustee shall deem it desirable to
receive instructions with respect to enforcing any remedy or right or taking
any other action with respect to enforcing any remedy or right hereunder, the
Trustees (i) may request instructions from the Holders (which instructions
may only be given by the Holders of the same aggregate principal amount of
Outstanding Securities as would be entitled to direct the Trustee under this
Indenture in respect of such remedy, right or action), (ii) may refrain
from enforcing such remedy or right or taking such action until such
instructions are received and (iii) shall be protected in acting in
accordance with such instructions;

 

(i)                                     except
as otherwise expressly provided by this Indenture, the Trustee shall not be
under any obligation to take any action that is discretionary under the
provisions of this Indenture;

 

43

 

(j)            without prejudice to any other
rights available to the Trustee under applicable law, when the Trustee incurs
expenses or renders services in connection with any bankruptcy, insolvency or
other proceeding referred to in clauses (d) or (e) of the definition
of Event of Default, such expenses (including legal fees and expenses of its
agents and counsel) and the compensation for such services are intended to
constitute expenses of administration under any bankruptcy laws or law relating
to creditors rights generally;

 

(k)           whenever in the administration of
this Indenture the Trustee shall deem it desirable that a matter be proved or
established prior to taking, suffering or omitting any action hereunder, the
Trustee (unless other evidence be herein specifically prescribed) may, in the
absence of bad faith on its part, conclusively rely upon an Officers’
Certificate addressing such matter, which, upon receipt of such request, shall
be promptly delivered by the Company;

 

(l)            the Trustee shall not be charged with
knowledge of any Event of Default unless either (i) a Responsible Officer
of the Trustee shall have actual knowledge or (ii) the Trustee shall have
received written notice thereof from the Company or a Holder; and

 

(m)          in the event that the Trustee is also
acting as Paying Agent, Authenticating Agent or Securities Registrar hereunder,
the rights and protections afforded to the Trustee pursuant to this Article VI
shall also be afforded such Paying Agent, Authenticating Agent,  or 
Securities Registrar.

 

SECTION 6.5.  May Hold Securities.

 

The Trustee, any Authenticating Agent, any Paying
Agent, any Securities Registrar or any other agent of the Company, in its
individual or any other capacity, may become the owner or pledgee of Securities
and may otherwise deal with the Company with the same rights it would have if
it were not Trustee, Authenticating Agent, Paying Agent, Securities Registrar
or such other agent.

 

SECTION 6.6.  Compensation; Reimbursement; Indemnity.

 

(a)           The Company agrees

 

(i)  to pay to the
Trustee from time to time reasonable compensation for all services rendered by
it hereunder in such amounts as the Company and the Trustee shall agree from
time to time (which compensation shall not be limited by any provision of law
in regard to the compensation of a trustee of an express trust);

 

(ii)  to reimburse
the Trustee upon its request for all reasonable expenses, disbursements and
advances incurred or made by the Trustee in accordance with any provision of
this Indenture (including the reasonable compensation and the expenses and
disbursements of its agents and counsel), except any such expense, disbursement
or advance as may be attributable to its negligence, bad faith or willful
misconduct; and

 

(iii)  to the
fullest extent permitted by applicable law, to indemnify the Trustee and its
Affiliates, and their officers, directors, shareholders, agents,
representatives and employees for, and to hold them harmless against, any loss,
damage, liability, tax (other than income, franchise or other taxes imposed on
amounts paid pursuant to (i) or (ii)

 

44

 

hereof), penalty, expense or claim of any kind or
nature whatsoever incurred without negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct
on its part arising out of or in connection with the acceptance or
administration of this trust or the performance of the Trustee’s duties
hereunder, including the costs and expenses of defending itself against any
claim or liability in connection with the exercise or performance of any of its
powers or duties hereunder.

 

(b)           To secure the Company’s payment
obligations in this Section 6.6, the Company hereby grants and
pledges to the Trustee and the Trustee shall have a lien prior to the
Securities on all money or property held or collected by the Trustee, other
than money or property held in trust to pay principal and interest on
particular Securities.  Such lien shall
survive the satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture or the resignation or
removal of the Trustee.

 

(c)           The obligations of the Company under
this Section 6.6 shall survive the satisfaction and discharge of
this Indenture and the earlier resignation or removal of the Trustee.

 

(d)           In no event shall the Trustee be
liable for any indirect, special, punitive or consequential loss or damage of
any kind whatsoever, including, but not limited to, lost profits, even if the
Trustee has been advised of the likelihood of such loss or damage and
regardless of the form of action.

 

(e)           In no event shall the Trustee be
liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its obligations hereunder
because of circumstances beyond its control, including, but not limited to,
acts of God, flood, war (whether declared or undeclared), terrorism, fire,
riot, embargo, government action, including any laws, ordinances, regulations,
governmental action or the like which delay, restrict or prohibit the providing
of the services contemplated by this Indenture.

 

SECTION 6.7.  Resignation and Removal; Appointment of
Successor.

 

(a)           No resignation or removal of the
Trustee and no appointment of a successor Trustee pursuant to this Article VI
shall become effective until the acceptance of appointment by the successor
Trustee under Section 6.8.

 

(b)           The Trustee may resign at any time by
giving written notice thereof to the Company.

 

(c)           Unless an Event of Default shall have
occurred and be continuing, the Trustee may be removed at any time by the
Company by a Board Resolution.  If an
Event of Default shall have occurred and be continuing, the Trustee may be
removed by Act of the Holders of a majority in aggregate principal amount of
the Outstanding Securities, delivered to the Trustee and to the Company.

 

(d)           If the Trustee shall resign, be
removed or become incapable of acting, or if a vacancy shall occur in the
office of Trustee for any reason, at a time when no Event of Default shall have
occurred and be continuing, the Company, by a Board Resolution, shall promptly
appoint a successor Trustee, and such successor Trustee and the retiring Trustee
shall comply with the applicable requirements of Section 6.8. If
the Trustee shall resign, be removed or become incapable of acting, or if a
vacancy shall occur in the office of Trustee for any reason, at

 

45

 

a time when an Event of Default shall have occurred
and be continuing, the Holders, by Act of the Holders of a majority in
aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities, shall promptly
appoint a successor Trustee, and such successor Trustee and the retiring
Trustee shall comply with the applicable requirements of Section 6.8.
If no successor Trustee shall have been so appointed by the Company or the
Holders and accepted appointment within sixty (60) days after the giving of a
notice of resignation by the Trustee or the removal of the Trustee in the
manner required by Section 6.8, any Holder who has been a bona fide
Holder of a Security for at least six months may, on behalf of such Holder and
all others similarly situated, and any resigning Trustee may, at the expense of
the Company, petition any court of competent jurisdiction for the appointment
of a successor Trustee.

 

(e)           The Company shall give notice to all
Holders in the manner provided in Section 1.6 of each resignation
and each removal of the Trustee and each appointment of a successor
Trustee.  Each notice shall include the
name of the successor Trustee and the address of its Corporate Trust Office.

 

SECTION 6.8.  Acceptance of Appointment by Successor.

 

(a)           In case of the appointment hereunder
of a successor Trustee, each successor Trustee so appointed shall execute,
acknowledge and deliver to the Company and to the retiring Trustee an
instrument accepting such appointment, and thereupon the resignation or removal
of the retiring Trustee shall become effective and such successor Trustee,
without any further act, deed or conveyance, shall become vested with all the
rights, powers, trusts and duties of the retiring Trustee; but, on the request
of the Company or the successor Trustee, such retiring Trustee shall, upon
payment of its charges, execute and deliver an instrument transferring to such
successor Trustee all the rights, powers and trusts of the retiring Trustee and
shall duly assign, transfer and deliver to such successor Trustee all property
and money held by such retiring Trustee hereunder.

 

(b)           Upon request of any such successor
Trustee, the Company shall execute any and all instruments for more fully and
certainly vesting in and confirming to such successor Trustee all rights, powers
and trusts referred to in paragraph (a) of this Section 6.8.

 

(c)           No successor Trustee shall accept its
appointment unless at the time of such acceptance such successor Trustee shall
be qualified and eligible under this Article VI.

 

SECTION 6.9.  Merger, Conversion, Consolidation or
Succession to Business.

 

Any Person into which the Trustee may be merged or
converted or with which it may be consolidated, or any Person resulting from
any merger, conversion or consolidation to which the Trustee shall be a party,
or any Person succeeding to all or substantially all of the corporate trust
business of the Trustee, shall be the successor of the Trustee hereunder,
without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the part of
any of the parties hereto, provided, that such Person shall be otherwise qualified and
eligible under this Article VI. In case any Securities shall have
been authenticated, but not delivered, by the Trustee then in office, any
successor by merger, conversion or consolidation or as otherwise provided above
in this Section 6.9 to such authenticating Trustee may adopt such
authentication and deliver the Securities so authenticated, and in case any
Securities shall not have been authenticated, any successor to the Trustee may

 

46

 

authenticate such Securities either in the name of any predecessor
Trustee or in the name of such successor Trustee, and in all cases the
certificate of authentication shall have the full force which it is provided
anywhere in the Securities or in this Indenture that the certificate of the
Trustee shall have.

 

SECTION 6.10.  Not Responsible for Recitals or Issuance of
Securities.

 

The recitals contained herein and in the Securities,
except the Trustee’s certificates of authentication, shall be taken as the
statements of the Company, and neither the Trustee nor any Authenticating Agent
assumes any responsibility for their correctness. The Trustee makes no
representations as to the validity or sufficiency of this Indenture or of the
Securities. Neither the Trustee nor any Authenticating Agent shall be
accountable for the use or application by the Company of the Securities or the
proceeds thereof.

 

SECTION 6.11.  Appointment of Authenticating Agent.

 

(a)           The Trustee may appoint an
Authenticating Agent or Agents with respect to the Securities, which shall be
authorized to act on behalf of the Trustee to authenticate Securities issued
upon original issue and upon exchange, registration of transfer or partial
redemption thereof or pursuant to Section 3.6, and Securities so
authenticated shall be entitled to the benefits of this Indenture and shall be
valid and obligatory for all purposes as if authenticated by the Trustee
hereunder. Wherever reference is made in this Indenture to the authentication
and delivery of Securities by the Trustee or the Trustee’s certificate of
authentication, such reference shall be deemed to include authentication and
delivery on behalf of the Trustee by an Authenticating Agent. Each Authenticating
Agent shall be acceptable to the Company and shall at all times be a
corporation organized and doing business under the laws of the United States of
America, or of any State or Territory thereof or the District of Columbia,
authorized under such laws to act as Authenticating Agent, having a combined
capital and surplus of not less than $50,000,000 and subject to supervision or
examination by Federal or state authority. If such Authenticating Agent
publishes reports of condition at least annually pursuant to law or to the
requirements of said supervising or examining authority, then for the purposes
of this Section 6.11 the combined capital and surplus of such
Authenticating Agent shall be deemed to be its combined capital and surplus as
set forth in its most recent report of condition so published. If at any time
an Authenticating Agent shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the
provisions of this Section 6.11, such Authenticating Agent shall
resign immediately in the manner and with the effect specified in this Section 6.11.

 

(b)           Any Person into which an
Authenticating Agent may be merged or converted or with which it may be
consolidated, or any Person resulting from any merger, conversion or
consolidation to which such Authenticating Agent shall be a party, or any
Person succeeding to all or substantially all of the corporate trust business
of an Authenticating Agent shall be the successor Authenticating Agent
hereunder, provided such Person shall be otherwise eligible under this Section 6.11,
without the execution or filing of any paper or any further act on the part of
the Trustee or the Authenticating Agent.

 

(c)           An Authenticating Agent may resign at
any time by giving written notice thereof to the Trustee and to the Company.
The Trustee may at any time terminate the agency of an Authenticating Agent by
giving written notice thereof to such Authenticating Agent and to the

 

47

 

Company. Upon receiving such a notice of resignation
or upon such a termination, or in case at any time such Authenticating Agent
shall cease to be eligible in accordance with the provisions of this Section 6.11,
the Trustee may appoint a successor Authenticating Agent eligible under the
provisions of this Section 6.11, which shall be acceptable to the
Company, and shall give notice of such appointment to all Holders. Any
successor Authenticating Agent upon acceptance of its appointment hereunder
shall become vested with all the rights, powers and duties of its predecessor hereunder,
with like effect as if originally named as an Authenticating Agent.

 

(d)           The Company agrees to pay to each
Authenticating Agent from time to time reasonable compensation for its services
under this Section 6.11 in such amounts as the Company and the
Authenticating Agent shall agree from time to time.

 

(e)           If an appointment of an
Authenticating Agent is made pursuant to this Section 6.11, the
Securities may have endorsed thereon, in addition to the Trustee’s certificate
of authentication, an alternative certificate of authentication in the
following form:

 

This is one of the
Securities referred to in the within mentioned Indenture.

 

	
  Dated:

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

  not in its individual capacity, but solely as Trustee

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By: 

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Authenticating Agent

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By: 

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Authorized signatory

  	
   

  

 

ARTICLE VII

 

HOLDER’S
LISTS AND REPORTS BY COMPANY

 

SECTION 7.1.  Company to Furnish Trustee Names and
Addresses of Holders.

 

The Company will furnish or cause to be furnished to
the Trustee:

 

(a)           semiannually, on or before June 30
and December 31 of each year, a list, in such form as the Trustee may
reasonably require, of the names and addresses of the Holders as of a date not
more than fifteen (15) days prior to the delivery thereof, and

 

(b)           at such other times as the Trustee
may request in writing, within thirty (30) days after the receipt by the
Company of any such request, a list of similar form and content as of a date
not more than fifteen (15) days prior to the time such list is furnished,

 

48

 

in each case to the extent such information is in the
possession or control of the Company and has not otherwise been received by the
Trustee in its capacity as Securities Registrar.

 

SECTION 7.2.  Preservation of Information, Communications
to Holders.

 

(a)           The Trustee shall preserve, in as
current a form as is reasonably practicable, the names and addresses of Holders
contained in the most recent list furnished to the Trustee as provided in Section 7.1
and the names and addresses of Holders received by the Trustee in its capacity
as Securities Registrar. The Trustee may destroy any list furnished to it as
provided in Section 7.1 upon receipt of a new list so furnished.

 

(b)           The rights of Holders to communicate
with other Holders with respect to their rights under this Indenture or under
the Securities, and the corresponding rights and privileges of the Trustee,
shall be as provided in the Trust Indenture Act.

 

(c)           Every Holder of Securities, by
receiving and holding the same, agrees with the Company and the Trustee that
neither the Company nor the Trustee nor any agent of either of them shall be
held accountable by reason of the disclosure of information as to the names and
addresses of the Holders made pursuant to the Trust Indenture Act.

 

SECTION 7.3.  Reports by Company.

 

(a)           The
Company shall furnish to the Holders and to prospective purchasers of
Securities, upon their request, the information required to be furnished
pursuant to Rule 144A(d)(4) under the Securities Act.  The Company shall furnish to the Trustee and,
so long as the Property Trustee holds any of the Securities, the Company shall
furnish to the Property Trustee, Statutory Financial Statements promptly
following their filing with the Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authority.  The
delivery requirement set forth in the preceding sentence may be satisfied by
compliance with Section 7.3(b) hereof.

 

(b)           The Company shall furnish to each of (i) the
Trustee, (ii) the Holders and to subsequent holders of Securities, (iii) Cohen
Bros. Financial Management LLC, 1818 Market Street, 28th Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 13103), or such other address as designated by Cohen
Bros. Financial Management LLC) and (iv) any beneficial owner of the
Securities reasonably identified to the Company (which identification may be
made either by such beneficial owner or by Cohen Bros. Financial Management
LLC), a duly completed and executed certificate substantially and substantively
in the form attached hereto as Exhibit A, including the financial
statements referenced in such Exhibit, which certificate and financial
statements shall be so furnished by the Company not later than forty-five (45)
days after the end of each of the first three fiscal quarters of each fiscal
year of the Company and not later than ninety (90) days after the end of each
fiscal year of the Company.  The delivery
requirements under this Section 7.3(b) may be satisfied by compliance
with Section 8.16(b) of the Trust Agreement.

 

(c)           If the Company intends to file its
annual and quarterly information with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the “Commission”) in electronic
form pursuant to Regulation S-T of the Commission using the Commission’s
Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval (“EDGAR”) system, the Company shall notify the Trustee in the
manner prescribed herein of each such annual and quarterly filing.  The Trustee is hereby authorized and directed
to

 

49

 

access the EDGAR system for purposes of retrieving the
financial information so filed. 
Compliance with the foregoing shall constitute delivery by the Company
of its financial statements to the Trustee in compliance with the provisions of
Section 314(a) of the Trust Indenture Act, if applicable.  The Trustee shall have no duty to search for
or obtain any electronic or other filings that the Company makes with the
Commission, regardless of whether such filings are periodic, supplemental or
otherwise.  Delivery of reports,
information and documents to the Trustee pursuant to this Section 7.3(c) shall
be solely for purposes of compliance with this Section 7.3(c) and,
if applicable, with Section 314(a) of the Trust Indenture Act.  The Trustee’s receipt of such reports, information
and documents shall not constitute notice to it of the content thereof or any
matter determinable from the content thereof, including the Company’s
compliance with any of its covenants hereunder, as to which the Trustee is
entitled to rely upon Officers’ Certificates.

 

ARTICLE VIII

 

CONSOLIDATION,
MERGER, CONVEYANCE, TRANSFER OR LEASE

 

SECTION 8.1.  Company May Consolidate, Etc., Only on
Certain Terms.

 

The Company shall not consolidate with or merge into
any other Person or convey, transfer or lease its properties and assets
substantially as an entirety to any Person, and no Person shall consolidate
with or merge into the Company or convey, transfer or lease its properties and
assets substantially as an entirety to the Company, unless:

 

(a)           if the Company shall consolidate with
or merge into another Person or convey, transfer or lease its properties and
assets substantially as an entirety to any Person, the entity formed by such
consolidation or into which the Company is merged or the Person that acquires
by conveyance or transfer, or that leases, the properties and assets of the
Company substantially as an entirety shall be an entity organized and existing
under the laws of the United States of America or any State or Territory
thereof or the District of Columbia and shall expressly assume, by an indenture
supplemental hereto, executed and delivered to the Trustee, in form reasonably
satisfactory to the Trustee, the due and punctual payment of the principal of
and any premium and interest (including any Additional Interest) on all the
Securities and the performance of every covenant of this Indenture on the part
of the Company to be performed or observed;

 

(b)           immediately after giving effect to
such transaction, no Event of Default, and no event that, after notice or lapse
of time, or both, would constitute an Event of Default, shall have happened and
be continuing; and

 

(c)           the Company has delivered to the
Trustee an Officers’ Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel, each stating that
such consolidation, merger, conveyance, transfer or lease and, if a
supplemental indenture is required in connection with such transaction, any
such supplemental indenture comply with this Article VIII and that
all conditions precedent herein provided for relating to such transaction have
been complied with; and the Trustee may rely upon such Officers’ Certificate
and Opinion of Counsel as conclusive evidence that such transaction complies
with this Section 8.1.

 

50

 

SECTION 8.2.  Successor Company Substituted.

 

(a)           Upon any consolidation or merger by
the Company with or into any other Person, or any conveyance, transfer or lease
by the Company of its properties and assets substantially as an entirety to any
Person in accordance with Section 8.1 and the execution and
delivery to the Trustee of the supplemental indenture described in Section 8.1(a),
the successor entity formed by such consolidation or into which the Company is
merged or to which such conveyance, transfer or lease is made shall succeed to,
and be substituted for, and may exercise every right and power of, the Company
under this Indenture with the same effect as if such successor Person had been
named as the Company herein; and in the event of any such conveyance or transfer,
following the execution and delivery of such supplemental indenture, the
Company shall be discharged from all obligations and covenants under the
Indenture and the Securities.

 

(b)           Such successor Person may cause to be
executed, and may issue either in its own name or in the name of the Company,
any or all of the Securities issuable hereunder that theretofore shall not have
been signed by the Company and delivered to the Trustee; and, upon the order of
such successor Person instead of the Company and subject to all the terms,
conditions and limitations in this Indenture prescribed, the Trustee shall
authenticate and shall deliver any Securities that previously shall have been
signed and delivered by the officers of the Company to the Trustee for authentication,
and any Securities that such successor Person thereafter shall cause to be
executed and delivered to the Trustee on its behalf. All the Securities so
issued shall in all respects have the same legal rank and benefit under this
Indenture as the Securities theretofore or thereafter issued in accordance with
the terms of this Indenture.

 

(c)           In case of any such consolidation,
merger, sale, conveyance or lease, such changes in phraseology and form may be
made in the Securities thereafter to be issued as may be appropriate to reflect
such occurrence.

 

ARTICLE IX

 

SUPPLEMENTAL
INDENTURES

 

SECTION 9.1.  Supplemental Indentures without Consent of
Holders.

 

Without the consent of any Holders, the Company, when
authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee, at any time and from time to
time, may enter into one or more indentures supplemental hereto, in form
reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee, for any of the following purposes:

 

(a)           to evidence the succession of another
Person to the Company, and the assumption by any such successor of the
covenants of the Company herein and in the Securities; or

 

(b)           to cure any ambiguity, to correct or
supplement any provision herein that may be defective or inconsistent with any
other provision herein, or to make or amend any other provisions with respect
to matters or questions arising under this Indenture, which shall not be
inconsistent with the other provisions of this Indenture, provided,
that such action pursuant to this clause (b) shall not adversely affect in
any material respect the interests of any Holders or the holders of the
Preferred Securities; or

 

51

 

(c)           to add to the covenants, restrictions
or obligations of the Company or to add to the Events of Default, provided,
that such action pursuant to this clause (c) shall not adversely affect in
any material respect the interests of any Holders or the holders of the
Preferred Securities; or

 

(d)           to modify, eliminate or add to any
provisions of the Indenture or the Securities to such extent as shall be
necessary to ensure that the Securities are treated as indebtedness of the
Company for United States Federal income tax purposes, provided,
that such action pursuant to this clause (d) shall not adversely affect in
any material respect the interests of any Holders or the holders of the
Preferred Securities.

 

SECTION 9.2.  Supplemental Indentures with Consent of
Holders.

 

(a)           With the consent of the Holders of
not less than a majority in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding
Securities, by Act of said Holders delivered to the Company and the Trustee,
the Company, when authorized by a Board Resolution, and the Trustee may enter
into an indenture or indentures supplemental hereto for the purpose of adding
any provisions to or changing in any manner or eliminating any of the
provisions of this Indenture or of modifying in any manner the rights of the
Holders of Securities under this Indenture; provided, that
no such supplemental indenture shall, without the consent of the Holder of each
Outstanding Security,

 

(i)  change the
Stated Maturity of the principal or any premium of any Security or change the
date of payment of any installment of interest (including any Additional
Interest) on any Security, or reduce the principal amount thereof or the rate
of interest thereon or any premium payable upon the redemption thereof or
change the place of payment where, or the coin or currency in which, any
Security or interest thereon is payable, or restrict or impair the right to
institute suit for the enforcement of any such payment on or after such date,
or

 

(ii)  reduce the
percentage in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities, the
consent of whose Holders is required for any such supplemental indenture, or
the consent of whose Holders is required for any waiver of compliance with any
provision of this Indenture or of defaults hereunder and their consequences
provided for in this Indenture, or

 

(iii)  modify any of
the provisions of this Section 9.2, Section 5.13 or Section 10.7,
except to increase any percentage in aggregate principal amount of the
Outstanding Securities, the consent of whose Holders is required for any
reason, or to provide that certain other provisions of this Indenture cannot be
modified or waived without the consent of the Holder of each Security;

 

provided, further,
that, so long as any Preferred Securities remain outstanding, no amendment
under this Section 9.2 shall be effective until the holders of a
majority in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities shall have consented
to such amendment; provided, further, that if the consent of the Holder
of each Outstanding Security is required for any amendment under this
Indenture, such amendment shall not be effective until the holder of each
Outstanding Preferred Security shall have consented to such amendment.

 

52

 

(b)           It shall not be necessary for any Act
of Holders under this Section 9.2 to approve the particular form of
any proposed supplemental indenture, but it shall be sufficient if such Act
shall approve the substance thereof.

 

SECTION 9.3.  Execution of Supplemental Indentures.

 

In executing or accepting the additional trusts
created by any supplemental indenture permitted by this Article IX
or the modifications thereby of the trusts created by this Indenture, the
Trustee shall be entitled to receive, and shall be fully protected in
conclusively relying upon, an Officers’ Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel
stating that the execution of such supplemental indenture is authorized or
permitted by this Indenture, and that all conditions precedent herein provided
for relating to such action have been complied with. The Trustee may, but shall
not be obligated to, enter into any such supplemental indenture that affects
the Trustee’s own rights, duties, indemnities or immunities under this
Indenture or otherwise.  Copies of the
final form of each supplemental indenture shall be delivered by the Trustee at
the expense of the Company to each Holder, and, if the Trustee is the Property
Trustee, to each holder of Preferred Securities, promptly  after the execution thereof.

 

SECTION 9.4.  Effect of Supplemental Indentures.

 

Upon the execution of any supplemental indenture under
this Article IX, this Indenture shall be modified in accordance
therewith, and such supplemental indenture shall form a part of this Indenture
for all purposes; and every Holder of Securities and every holder of Preferred
Securities theretofore or thereafter authenticated and delivered hereunder
shall be bound thereby.

 

SECTION 9.5.  Reference in Securities to Supplemental
Indentures.

 

Securities authenticated and delivered after the
execution of any supplemental indenture pursuant to this Article IX
may, and shall if required by the Company, bear a notation in form approved by
the Company as to any matter provided for in such supplemental indenture. If
the Company shall so determine, new Securities so modified as to conform, in
the opinion of the Company, to any such supplemental indenture may be prepared
and executed by the Company and authenticated and delivered by the Trustee in
exchange for Outstanding Securities.

 

ARTICLE X

 

COVENANTS

 

SECTION 10.1.  Payment of Principal, Premium, if any, and Interest.

 

The Company covenants and agrees for the benefit of
the Holders of the Securities that it will duly and punctually pay the
principal of and any premium and interest (including any Additional Interest)
on the Securities in accordance with the terms of the Securities and this
Indenture.  As of the date of this
Indenture, the Company represents that it has no present intention to exercise
its right under Section 2.11 to
defer payments of interest on the Securities.

 

53

 

SECTION 10.2.  Money for Security Payments to be Held in
Trust.

 

(a)           If the Company shall at any time act
as its own Paying Agent with respect to the Securities, it will, on or before
each due date of the principal of and any premium or interest (including any
Additional Interest) on the Securities, segregate and hold in trust for the
benefit of the Persons entitled thereto a sum sufficient to pay the principal
and any premium or interest (including Additional Interest) so becoming due
until such sums shall be paid to such Persons or otherwise disposed of as
herein provided, and will promptly notify the Trustee in writing of its failure
so to act.

 

(b)           Whenever the Company shall have one
or more Paying Agents, it will, prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time,
on each due date of the principal of or any premium or interest (including any
Additional Interest) on any Securities, deposit with a Paying Agent a sum
sufficient to pay such amount, such sum to be held as provided in the Trust
Indenture Act and (unless such Paying Agent is the Trustee) the Company will
promptly notify the Trustee of its failure so to act.

 

(c)           The Company will cause each Paying
Agent for the Securities other than the Trustee to execute and deliver to the
Trustee an instrument in which such Paying Agent shall agree with the Trustee,
subject to the provisions of this Section 10.2, that such Paying
Agent will (i) comply with the provisions of this Indenture and the Trust
Indenture Act applicable to it as a Paying Agent and (ii) during the
continuance of any default by the Company (or any other obligor upon the
Securities) in the making of any payment in respect of the Securities, upon the
written request of the Trustee, forthwith pay to the Trustee all sums held in
trust by such Paying Agent for payment in respect of the Securities.

 

(d)           The Company may at any time, for the
purpose of obtaining the satisfaction and discharge of this Indenture or for
any other purpose, pay, or by Company Order direct any Paying Agent to pay, to
the Trustee all sums held in trust by the Company or such Paying Agent, such
sums to be held by the Trustee upon the same trusts as those upon which such
sums were held by the Company or such Paying Agent; and, upon such payment by
any Paying Agent to the Trustee, such Paying Agent shall be released from all
further liability with respect to such money.

 

(e)           Any money deposited with the Trustee
or any Paying Agent, or then held by the Company in trust for the payment of
the principal of and any premium or interest (including any Additional
Interest) on any Security and remaining unclaimed for two years after such
principal and any premium or interest has become due and payable shall (unless
otherwise required by mandatory provision of applicable escheat or abandoned or
unclaimed property law) be paid on Company Request to the Company, or (if then
held by the Company) shall (unless otherwise required by mandatory provision of
applicable escheat or abandoned or unclaimed property law) be discharged from
such trust; and the Holder of such Security shall thereafter, as an unsecured
general creditor, look only to the Company for payment thereof, and all
liability of the Trustee or such Paying Agent with respect to such trust money,
and all liability of the Company as trustee thereof, shall thereupon cease; provided,  that
the Trustee or such Paying Agent, before being required to make any such
repayment, may at the expense of the Company cause to be published once, in a
newspaper published in the English language, customarily published on each
Business Day and of general circulation in the Borough of Manhattan, The City
of New York, notice that

 

54

 

such money remains unclaimed and that, after a date
specified therein, which shall not be less than thirty (30) days from the date
of such publication, any unclaimed balance of such money then remaining will be
repaid to the Company.

 

SECTION 10.3.  Statement as to Compliance.

 

The Company shall deliver to the Trustee, within one
hundred and twenty (120) days after the end of each fiscal year of the Company
ending after the date hereof, an Officers’ Certificate covering the preceding
calendar year, stating whether or not to the knowledge of the signers thereof
the Company is in default in the performance or observance of any of the terms,
provisions and conditions of this Indenture (without regard to any period of
grace or requirement of notice provided hereunder), and if the Company shall be
in default, specifying all such defaults and the nature and status thereof of
which they may have knowledge.  The
delivery requirements of this Section 10.3 may be satisfied by compliance
with Section 8.16(a) of the Trust Agreement.

 

SECTION 10.4.  Calculation Agent.

 

(a)           The Company hereby agrees that for so
long as any of the Securities remain Outstanding, there will at all times be an
agent appointed to calculate LIBOR in respect of each Interest Payment Date in
accordance with the terms of Schedule A (the “Calculation Agent”).  The Company has initially appointed the
Property Trustee as Calculation Agent for purposes of determining LIBOR for
each Interest Payment Date.  The
Calculation Agent may be removed by the Company at any time.  So long as the Property Trustee holds any of
the Securities, the Calculation Agent shall be the Property Trustee, except as
described in the immediately preceding sentence.  If the Calculation Agent is unable or
unwilling to act as such or is removed by the Company, the Company will
promptly appoint as a replacement Calculation Agent the London office of a
leading bank which is engaged in transactions in Eurodollar deposits in the
international Eurodollar market and which does not control or is not controlled
by or under common control with the Company or its Affiliates.  The Calculation Agent may not resign its
duties without a successor having been duly appointed.

 

(b)           The Calculation Agent shall be
required to agree that, as soon as possible after 11:00 a.m. (London time)
on each LIBOR Determination Date (as defined in Schedule A), but in
no event later than 11:00 a.m. (London time) on the Business Day
immediately following each LIBOR Determination Date, the Calculation Agent will
calculate the interest rate (the Interest Payment shall be rounded to the
nearest cent, with half a cent being rounded upwards) for the related Interest
Payment Date, and will communicate such rate and amount to the Company, the
Trustee, each Paying Agent and the Depositary. The Calculation Agent will also
specify to the Company the quotations upon which the foregoing rates and
amounts are based and, in any event, the Calculation Agent shall notify the
Company before 5:00 p.m. (London time) on each LIBOR Determination Date
that either:  (i) it has determined
or is in the process of determining the foregoing rates and amounts or (ii) it
has not determined and is not in the process of determining the foregoing rates
and amounts, together with its reasons therefor.  The Calculation Agent’s determination of the
foregoing rates and amounts for any Interest Payment Date will (in the absence
of manifest error) be final and binding upon all parties.  For the sole purpose of calculating the
interest rate for the Securities, “Business Day” shall be defined as any day on
which dealings in deposits in Dollars are transacted in the London interbank
market.

 

55

 

SECTION 10.5.  Additional Tax Sums.

 

So long as no Event of Default has occurred and is
continuing, if (a) the Trust is the Holder of all of the Outstanding
Securities and (b) a Tax Event described in clause (i) or (iii) in
the definition of Tax Event in Section 1.1 hereof has occurred and
is continuing, the Company shall pay to the Trust (and its permitted successors
or assigns under the related Trust Agreement) for so long as the Trust (or its
permitted successor or assignee) is the registered holder of the Outstanding
Securities, such amounts as may be necessary in order that the amount of
Distributions (including any Additional Interest Amount (as defined in the
Trust Agreement)) then due and payable by the Trust on the Preferred Securities
and Common Securities that at any time remain outstanding in accordance with
the terms thereof shall not be reduced as a result of any Additional Taxes
arising from such Tax Event (additional such amounts payable by the Company to
the Trust, the “Additional
Tax Sums”). 
Whenever in this Indenture or the Securities there is a reference in any
context to the payment of principal of or interest on the Securities, such
mention shall be deemed to include mention of the payments of the Additional
Tax Sums provided for in this Section 10.5 to the extent that, in
such context, Additional Tax Sums are, were or would be payable in respect
thereof pursuant to the provisions of this Section 10.5 and express
mention of the payment of Additional Tax Sums (if applicable) in any provisions
hereof shall not be construed as excluding Additional Tax Sums in those
provisions hereof where such express mention is not made; provided,
that the deferral of the payment of interest pursuant to Section 3.9
on the Securities shall not defer the payment of any Additional Tax Sums that
may be due and payable.

 

SECTION 10.6.  Additional Covenants.

 

(a)           The Company covenants and agrees with
each Holder of Securities that if an Event of Default shall have occurred and
be continuing or the Company shall have given notice of its election to begin
an Extension Period with respect to the Securities or such Extension Period, or
any extension thereof, shall be continuing, it shall not (i) declare or
pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem, purchase, acquire or make a
liquidation payment with respect to, any shares of the Company’s capital stock,
or (ii) make any payment of principal of or any interest or premium, if
any, on or repay, repurchase or redeem any debt securities of the Company that
rank pari passu
in all respects with or junior in interest to the Securities (other than (A) repurchases,
redemptions or other acquisitions of shares of capital stock of the Company in
connection with any employment contract, benefit plan or other similar
arrangement with or for the benefit of any one or more employees, officers,
directors or consultants, in connection with a dividend reinvestment or
stockholder stock purchase plan or in connection with the issuance of capital
stock of the Company (or securities convertible into or exercisable for such
capital stock) as consideration in an acquisition transaction entered into
prior to the applicable Extension Period, (B) as a result of an exchange
or conversion of any class or series of the Company’s capital stock (or any
capital stock of a Subsidiary of the Company) for any class or series of the
Company’s capital stock or of any class or series of the Company’s indebtedness
for any class or series of the Company’s capital stock, (C) the purchase
of fractional interests in shares of the Company’s capital stock pursuant to
the conversion or exchange provisions of such capital stock or the security
being converted or exchanged, (D) any declaration of a dividend in
connection with any Rights Plan, the issuance of rights, stock or other
property under any Rights Plan or the redemption or repurchase of rights
pursuant thereto or (E) any dividend in the form of stock, warrants,
options or other rights where the dividend stock or the stock issuable upon

 

56

 

exercise of such warrants, options or other rights is
the same stock as that on which the dividend is being paid or ranks pari passu
with or junior to such stock).

 

(b)           The Company also covenants with each
Holder of Securities (i) to hold, directly or indirectly, one hundred
percent (100%) of the Common Securities of the Trust, provided,  that
any permitted successor of the Company hereunder may succeed to the Company’s
ownership of such Common Securities, (ii) as holder of such Common
Securities, not to voluntarily dissolve, wind-up or liquidate the Trust other
than (A) in connection with a distribution of the Securities to the
holders of the Preferred Securities in liquidation of the Trust or (B) in
connection with certain mergers, consolidations or amalgamations permitted by
the Trust Agreement and (iii) to use its reasonable commercial efforts,
consistent with the terms and provisions of the Trust Agreement, to cause the
Trust to continue to be taxable as a grantor trust and not as a corporation for
United States Federal income tax purposes.

 

SECTION 10.7.  Waiver of Covenants.

 

The Company may omit in any particular instance to
comply with any covenant or condition contained in Section 10.6 if,
before or after the time for such compliance, the Holders of at least a
majority in aggregate principal amount of the Outstanding Securities shall, by
Act of such Holders, and at least a majority of the aggregate Liquidation
Amount of the Preferred Securities then outstanding, by consent of such
holders, either waive such compliance in such instance or generally waive
compliance with such covenant or condition, but no such waiver shall extend to
or affect such covenant or condition except to the extent so expressly waived,
and, until such waiver shall become effective, the obligations of the Company
in respect of any such covenant or condition shall remain in full force and
effect.

 

SECTION 10.8.  Treatment of Securities.

 

The Company will treat the Securities as indebtedness,
and the amounts, other than payments of principal, payable in respect of the
principal amount of such Securities as interest, for all U.S. federal income
tax purposes.  All payments in respect of
the Securities will be made free and clear of U.S. withholding tax to any
beneficial owner thereof that has provided an Internal Revenue Service Form W-9
or W-8BEN (or any substitute or successor form) establishing its U.S. or
non-U.S. status for U.S. federal income tax purposes, or any other applicable
form establishing a complete exemption from U.S. withholding tax.

 

ARTICLE XI

 

REDEMPTION
OF SECURITIES

 

SECTION 11.1.  Optional Redemption.

 

The Company may, at its
option, on any Interest Payment Date, on or after September 15, 2010,
redeem the Securities in whole at any time or in part from time to time, at a
Redemption Price equal to one hundred percent (100%) of the principal amount
thereof (or of the redeemed portion thereof, as applicable), together, in the
case of any such redemption, with accrued interest, including any Additional
Interest, through but excluding the date fixed as the Redemption Date (the “Optional
Redemption Price”); provided, that the Company shall have

 

57

 

received the prior
approval of any Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authorities with respect to
such redemption if then required.

 

SECTION 11.2.  Special Event Redemption.

 

Prior to September 15, 2010, upon the occurrence and during the continuation of a
Special Event, the Company may, at its option, redeem the Securities, in whole
but not in part, at a Redemption Price equal to one hundred seven and one half
percent (107.5%) of the principal amount thereof, together, in the case of any
such redemption, with accrued interest, including any Additional Interest,
through but excluding the date fixed as the Redemption Date (the “Special
Redemption Price”), provided, that the Company shall have received the prior
approval of any Applicable Insurance Regulatory Authority with respect to such
redemption if then required.

 

SECTION 11.3.  Election to Redeem; Notice to Trustee.

 

The election of the Company to redeem any Securities,
in whole or in part, shall be evidenced by or pursuant to a Board
Resolution.  In case of any redemption at
the election of the Company, the Company shall, not less than forty-five (45)
days and not more than seventy-five (75) days prior to the Redemption Date
(unless a shorter notice shall be satisfactory to the Trustee), notify the
Trustee and the Property Trustee under the Trust Agreement in writing of such
date and of the principal amount of the Securities to be redeemed and provide
the additional information required to be included in the notice or notices
contemplated by Section 11.5. In the case of any redemption of
Securities, in whole or in part, (a) prior to the expiration of any
restriction on such redemption provided in this Indenture or the Securities or (b) pursuant
to an election of the Company which is subject to a condition specified in this
Indenture or the Securities, the Company shall furnish the Trustee with an
Officers’ Certificate and an Opinion of Counsel evidencing compliance with such
restriction or condition.

 

SECTION 11.4.  Selection of Securities to be Redeemed.

 

(a)           If less than all the Securities are
to be redeemed, the particular Securities to be redeemed shall be selected and
redeemed on a pro rata basis not more than sixty (60) days prior to the
Redemption Date by the Trustee from the Outstanding Securities not previously
called for redemption, provided, that the unredeemed portion of the principal
amount of any Security shall be in an authorized denomination (which shall not
be less than the minimum authorized denomination) for such Security.

 

(b)           The Trustee shall promptly notify the
Company in writing of the Securities selected for redemption and, in the case
of any Securities selected for partial redemption, the principal amount thereof
to be redeemed. For all purposes of this Indenture, unless the context
otherwise requires, all provisions relating to the redemption of Securities
shall relate, in the case of any Security redeemed or to be redeemed only in
part, to the portion of the principal amount of such Security that has been or
is to be redeemed.

 

(c)           The provisions of paragraphs (a) and
(b) of this Section 11.4 shall not apply with respect to any
redemption affecting only a single Security, whether such Security is to be
redeemed in whole or in part. In the case of any such redemption in part, the
unredeemed portion

 

58

 

of the principal amount of the Security shall be in an
authorized denomination (which shall not be less than the minimum authorized
denomination) for such Security.

 

SECTION 11.5.  Notice of Redemption.

 

(a)           Notice of redemption shall be given
not later than the thirtieth (30th) day, and not earlier than the
sixtieth (60th) day, prior to the Redemption Date to each Holder of
Securities to be redeemed, in whole or in part, (unless a shorter notice shall
be satisfactory to the Property Trustee under the related Trust Agreement).

 

(b)           With respect to Securities to be
redeemed, in whole or in part, each notice of redemption shall state:

 

(i)  the Redemption
Date;

 

(ii)  the Redemption
Price or, if the Redemption Price cannot be calculated prior to the time the
notice is required to be sent, the estimate of the Redemption Price, as
calculated by the Company, together with a statement that it is an estimate and
that the actual Redemption Price will be calculated on the fifth Business Day
prior to the Redemption Date (and if an estimate is provided, a further notice
shall be sent of the actual Redemption Price on the date that such Redemption
Price is calculated);

 

(iii)  if less than
all Outstanding Securities are to be redeemed, the identification (and, in the
case of partial redemption, the respective principal amounts) of the particular
Securities to be redeemed;

 

(iv)  that on the
Redemption Date, the Redemption Price will become due and payable upon each
such Security or portion thereof, and that any interest (including any
Additional Interest) on such Security or such portion, as the case may be,
shall cease to accrue on and after said date; and

 

(v)  the place or places
where such Securities are to be surrendered for payment of the Redemption
Price.

 

(c)           Notice of redemption of Securities to
be redeemed, in whole or in part, at the election of the Company shall be given
by the Company or, at the Company’s request, by the Trustee in the name and at
the expense of the Company and shall be irrevocable. The notice if mailed in
the manner provided above shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly
given, whether or not the Holder receives such notice. In any case, a failure
to give such notice by mail or any defect in the notice to the Holder of any
Security designated for redemption as a whole or in part shall not affect the
validity of the proceedings for the redemption of any other Security.

 

SECTION 11.6.  Deposit of Redemption Price.

 

Prior to 10:00 a.m., New York City time, on the
Redemption Date specified in the notice of redemption given as provided in Section 11.5,
the Company will deposit with the Trustee or with one or more Paying Agents (or
if the Company is acting as its own Paying Agent, the Company will segregate
and hold in trust as provided in Section 10.2) an amount of money

 

59

 

sufficient to pay the Redemption Price of, and any accrued interest
(including any Additional Interest) on, all the Securities (or portions
thereof) that are to be redeemed on that date.

 

SECTION 11.7.  Payment of Securities Called for Redemption.

 

(a)           If any notice of redemption has been
given as provided in Section 11.5, the Securities or portion of
Securities with respect to which such notice has been given shall become due
and payable on the date and at the place or places stated in such notice at the
applicable Redemption Price, together with accrued interest (including any Additional
Interest) to the Redemption Date. On presentation and surrender of such
Securities at a Place of Payment specified in such notice, the Securities or
the specified portions thereof shall be paid and redeemed by the Company at the
applicable Redemption Price, together with accrued interest (including any
Additional Interest) to the Redemption Date.

 

(b)           Upon presentation of any Security
redeemed in part only, the Company shall execute and the Trustee shall
authenticate and deliver to the Holder thereof, at the expense of the Company,
a new Security or Securities, of authorized denominations, in aggregate
principal amount equal to the unredeemed portion of the Security so presented
and having the same Original Issue Date, Stated Maturity and terms.

 

(c)           If any Security called for redemption
shall not be so paid upon surrender thereof for redemption, the principal of
and any premium on such Security shall, until paid, bear interest from the
Redemption Date at the rate prescribed therefor in the Security.

 

ARTICLE XII

 

SUBORDINATION
OF SECURITIES

 

SECTION 12.1.  Securities Subordinate to Senior Debt.

 

The Company covenants and agrees, and each Holder of a
Security, by its acceptance thereof, likewise covenants and agrees, that, to
the extent and in the manner hereinafter set forth in this Article XII,
the payment of the principal of and any premium and interest (including any
Additional Interest) on each and all of the Securities are hereby expressly
made subordinate and subject in right of payment to the prior payment in full
of all Senior Debt.

 

SECTION 12.2.  No Payment When Senior Debt in Default;
Payment Over of Proceeds Upon Dissolution, Etc. 

 

(a)           In the event and during the
continuation of any default by the Company in the payment of any principal of
or any premium or interest on any Senior Debt (following any grace period, if
applicable) when the same becomes due and payable, whether at maturity or at a
date fixed for prepayment or by declaration of acceleration or otherwise, then,
upon written notice of such default to the Company by the holders of such
Senior Debt or any trustee therefor, unless and until such default shall have
been cured or waived or shall have ceased to exist, no direct or indirect
payment (in cash, property, securities, by set-off or otherwise) shall be made
or agreed to be made on account of the principal of or any premium or interest
(including any Additional Interest) on any of the Securities, or in respect of
any redemption, repayment, retirement, purchase or other acquisition of any of
the Securities.

 

60

 

(b)           In the event of a bankruptcy,
insolvency or other proceeding described in clause (d) or (e) of the
definition of Event of Default (each such event, if any, herein sometimes
referred to as a “Proceeding”), all
Senior Debt (including any interest thereon accruing after the commencement of
any such proceedings) shall first be paid in full before any payment or
distribution, whether in cash, securities or other property, shall be made to
any Holder of any of the Securities on account thereof. Any payment or
distribution, whether in cash, securities or other property (other than
securities of the Company or any other entity provided for by a plan of
reorganization or readjustment the payment of which is subordinate, at least to
the extent provided in these subordination provisions with respect to the
indebtedness evidenced by the Securities, to the payment of all Senior Debt at
the time outstanding and to any securities issued in respect thereof under any
such plan of reorganization or readjustment), which would otherwise (but for
these subordination provisions) be payable or deliverable in respect of the
Securities shall be paid or delivered directly to the holders of Senior Debt in
accordance with the priorities then existing among such holders until all
Senior Debt  (including any interest
thereon accruing after the commencement of any Proceeding) shall have been paid
in full.

 

(c)           In the event of any Proceeding, after
payment in full of all sums owing with respect to Senior Debt, the Holders of
the Securities, together with the holders of any obligations of the Company
ranking on a parity with the Securities, shall be entitled to be paid from the
remaining assets of the Company the amounts at the time due and owing on
account of unpaid principal of and any premium and interest (including any
Additional Interest) on the Securities and such other obligations before any
payment or other distribution, whether in cash, property or otherwise, shall be
made on account of any capital stock or any obligations of the Company ranking
junior to the Securities and such other obligations. If, notwithstanding the
foregoing, any payment or distribution of any character or any security,
whether in cash, securities or other property (other than securities of the
Company or any other entity provided for by a plan of reorganization or
readjustment the payment of which is subordinate, at least to the extent
provided in these subordination provisions with respect to the indebtedness
evidenced by the Securities, to the payment of all Senior Debt at the time
outstanding and to any securities issued in respect thereof under any such plan
of reorganization or readjustment) shall be received by the Trustee or any
Holder in contravention of any of the terms hereof and before all Senior Debt
shall have been paid in full, such payment or distribution or security shall be
received in trust for the benefit of, and shall be paid over or delivered and
transferred to, the holders of the Senior Debt at the time outstanding in
accordance with the priorities then existing among such holders for application
to the payment of all Senior Debt remaining unpaid, to the extent necessary to
pay all such Senior Debt (including any interest thereon accruing after the
commencement of any Proceeding) in full. In the event of the failure of the
Trustee or any Holder to endorse or assign any such payment, distribution or
security, each holder of Senior Debt is hereby irrevocably authorized to
endorse or assign the same.

 

(d)           The Trustee and the Holders, at the
expense of the Company, shall take such reasonable action  (including the delivery of this Indenture to
an agent for any holders of Senior Debt or consent to the filing of a financing
statement with respect hereto) as may, in the opinion of counsel designated by
the holders of a majority in principal amount of the Senior Debt at the time
outstanding, be necessary or appropriate to assure the effectiveness of the
subordination effected by these provisions.

 

61

 

(e)           The provisions of this Section 12.2
shall not impair any rights, interests, remedies or powers of any secured
creditor of the Company in respect of any security interest the creation of
which is not prohibited by the provisions of this Indenture.

 

(f)            The securing of any obligations of
the Company, otherwise ranking on a parity with the Securities or ranking
junior to the Securities, shall not be deemed to prevent such obligations from
constituting, respectively, obligations ranking on a parity with the Securities
or ranking junior to the Securities.

 

SECTION 12.3.  Payment Permitted If No Default.

 

Nothing contained in this Article XII or
elsewhere in this Indenture or in any of the Securities shall prevent (a) the
Company, at any time, except during the pendency of the conditions described in
paragraph (a) of Section 12.2 or of any Proceeding referred to
in Section 12.2, from making payments at any time of principal of
and any premium or interest (including any Additional Interest) on the
Securities or (b) the application by the Trustee of any moneys deposited
with it hereunder to the payment of or on account of the principal of and any
premium or interest (including any Additional Interest) on the Securities or
the retention of such payment by the Holders, if, at the time of such
application by the Trustee, it did not have knowledge (in accordance with Section 12.8)
that such payment would have been prohibited by the provisions of this Article XII,
except as provided in Section 12.8.

 

SECTION 12.4.  Subrogation to Rights of Holders of Senior
Debt.

 

Subject to the payment in full of all amounts due or
to become due on all Senior Debt, or the provision for such payment in cash or
cash equivalents or otherwise in a manner satisfactory to the holders of Senior
Debt, the Holders of the Securities shall be subrogated to the extent of the
payments or distributions made to the holders of such Senior Debt pursuant to
the provisions of this Article XII (equally and ratably with the
holders of all indebtedness of the Company that by its express terms is
subordinated to Senior Debt of the Company to substantially the same extent as
the Securities are subordinated to the Senior Debt and is entitled to like
rights of subrogation by reason of any payments or distributions made to
holders of such Senior Debt) to the rights of the holders of such Senior Debt
to receive payments and distributions of cash, property and securities
applicable to the Senior Debt until the principal of and any premium and
interest (including any Additional Interest) on the Securities shall be paid in
full. For purposes of such subrogation, no payments or distributions to the
holders of the Senior Debt of any cash, property or securities to which the
Holders of the Securities or the Trustee would be entitled except for the
provisions of this Article XII, and no payments made pursuant to
the provisions of this Article XII to the holders of Senior Debt by
Holders of the Securities or the Trustee, shall, as among the Company, its
creditors other than holders of Senior Debt, and the Holders of the Securities,
be deemed to be a payment or distribution by the Company to or on account of
the Senior Debt.

 

SECTION 12.5.  Provisions Solely to Define Relative Rights.

 

The provisions of this Article XII are and
are intended solely for the purpose of defining the relative rights of the
Holders of the Securities on the one hand and the holders of Senior Debt on the
other hand. Nothing contained in this Article XII or elsewhere in
this Indenture or in the

 

62

 

 Securities is intended to or
shall (a) impair, as between the Company and the Holders of the
Securities, the obligations of the Company, which are absolute and
unconditional, to pay to the Holders of the Securities the principal of and any
premium and interest (including any Additional Interest) on the Securities as
and when the same shall become due and payable in accordance with their terms, (b) affect
the relative rights against the Company of the Holders of the Securities and
creditors of the Company other than their rights in relation to the holders of
Senior Debt or (c) prevent the Trustee or the Holder of any Security (or
to the extent expressly provided herein, the holder of any Preferred Security)
from exercising all remedies otherwise permitted by applicable law upon default
under this Indenture, including filing and voting claims in any Proceeding,
subject to the rights, if any, under this Article XII of the
holders of Senior Debt to receive cash, property and securities otherwise
payable or deliverable to the Trustee or such Holder.

 

SECTION 12.6.  Trustee to Effectuate Subordination.

 

Each Holder of a Security by his or her acceptance
thereof authorizes and directs the Trustee on his or her behalf to take such
action as may be necessary or appropriate to acknowledge or effectuate the
subordination provided in this Article XII and appoints the Trustee
his or her attorney-in-fact for any and all such purposes.

 

SECTION 12.7.  No Waiver of Subordination Provisions.

 

(a)           No right of any present or future
holder of any Senior Debt to enforce subordination as herein provided shall at
any time in any way be prejudiced or impaired by any act or failure to act on
the part of the Company or by any act or failure to act, in good faith, by any
such holder, or by any noncompliance by the Company with the terms, provisions
and covenants of this Indenture, regardless of any knowledge thereof that any
such holder may have or be otherwise charged with.

 

(b)           Without in any way limiting the
generality of paragraph (a) of this Section 12.7, the holders
of Senior Debt may, at any time and from to time, without the consent of or
notice to the Trustee or the Holders of the Securities, without incurring
responsibility to such Holders of the Securities and without impairing or
releasing the subordination provided in this Article XII or the
obligations hereunder of such Holders of the Securities to the holders of
Senior Debt, do any one or more of the following: (i) change the manner,
place or terms of payment or extend the time of payment of, or renew or alter,
Senior Debt, or otherwise amend or supplement in any manner Senior Debt or any
instrument evidencing the same or any agreement under which Senior Debt is
outstanding, (ii) sell, exchange, release or otherwise deal with any
property pledged, mortgaged or otherwise securing Senior Debt, (iii) release
any Person liable in any manner for the payment of Senior Debt and (iv) exercise
or refrain from exercising any rights against the Company and any other Person.

 

SECTION 12.8.  Notice to Trustee.

 

(a)           The Company shall give prompt written
notice to a Responsible Officer of the Trustee of any fact known to the Company
that would prohibit the making of any payment to or by the Trustee in respect
of the Securities. Notwithstanding the provisions of this Article XII
or any other provision of this Indenture, the Trustee shall not be charged with
knowledge of the 

 

63

 

existence of any facts that would prohibit the making
of any payment to or by the Trustee in respect of the Securities, unless and
until a Responsible Officer of the Trustee shall have received written notice
thereof from the Company or a holder of Senior Debt or from any trustee, agent
or representative therefor; provided,
that if the Trustee shall not have received the notice provided for in
this Section 12.8 at least two Business Days prior to the date upon
which by the terms hereof any monies may become payable for any purpose
(including, the payment of the principal of and any premium on or interest
(including any Additional Interest) on any Security), then, anything herein
contained to the contrary notwithstanding, the Trustee shall have full power
and authority to receive such monies and to apply the same to the purpose for
which they were received and shall not be affected by any notice to the
contrary that may be received by it within two Business Days prior to such
date.

 

(b)           The Trustee shall be entitled to rely
on the delivery to it of a written notice by a Person representing himself or
herself to be a holder of Senior Debt (or a trustee, agent, representative or
attorney-in-fact therefor) to establish that such notice has been given by a
holder of Senior Debt (or a trustee, agent, representative or attorney-in-fact
therefor). In the event that the Trustee determines in good faith that further
evidence is required with respect to the right of any Person as a holder of
Senior Debt to participate in any payment or distribution pursuant to this Article XII,
the Trustee may request such Person to furnish evidence to the reasonable
satisfaction of the Trustee as to the amount of Senior Debt held by such Person,
the extent to which such Person is entitled to participate in such payment or
distribution and any other facts pertinent to the rights of such Person under
this Article XII, and if such evidence is not furnished, the
Trustee may defer any payment to such Person pending judicial determination as
to the right of such Person to receive such payment.

 

SECTION 12.9.  Reliance on Judicial Order or Certificate of
Liquidating Agent.

 

Upon any payment or distribution of assets of the
Company referred to in this Article XII, the Trustee and the
Holders of the Securities shall be entitled to conclusively rely upon any order
or decree entered by any court of competent jurisdiction in which such
Proceeding is pending, or a certificate of the trustee in bankruptcy, receiver,
liquidating trustee, custodian, assignee for the benefit of creditors, agent or
other Person making such payment or distribution, delivered to the Trustee or
to the Holders of Securities, for the purpose of ascertaining the Persons
entitled to participate in such payment or distribution, the holders of the
Senior Debt and other indebtedness of the Company, the amount thereof or
payable thereon, the amount or amounts paid or distributed thereon and all
other facts pertinent thereto or to this Article XII.

 

SECTION 12.10.  Trustee Not Fiduciary for Holders of Senior
Debt.

 

The Trustee, in its capacity as trustee under this
Indenture, shall not be deemed to owe any fiduciary duty to the holders of
Senior Debt and shall not be liable to any such holders if it shall in good
faith mistakenly pay over or distribute to Holders of Securities or to the
Company or to any other Person cash, property or securities to which any
holders of Senior Debt shall be entitled by virtue of this Article XII
or otherwise.

 

64

 

SECTION 12.11.  Rights of Trustee as Holder of Senior Debt;
Preservation of Trustee’s Rights.

 

The Trustee in its individual capacity shall be
entitled to all the rights set forth in this Article XII with
respect to any Senior Debt that may at any time be held by it, to the same
extent as any other holder of Senior Debt, and nothing in this Indenture shall
deprive the Trustee of any of its rights as such holder.

 

SECTION 12.12.  Article Applicable to Paying Agents.

 

If at any time any Paying Agent other than the Trustee
shall have been appointed by the Company and be then acting hereunder, the term
“Trustee” as
used in this Article XII shall in such case (unless the context
otherwise requires) be construed as extending to and including such Paying
Agent within its meaning as fully for all intents and purposes as if such
Paying Agent were named in this Article XII in addition to or in
place of the Trustee; provided,
that Sections  12.8 and 12.11 shall not apply to the
Company or any Affiliate of the Company if the Company or such Affiliate acts
as Paying Agent.

 

* * * *

 

This instrument may be executed in any number
of counterparts, each of which so executed shall be deemed to be an original,
but all such counterparts shall together constitute but one and the same
instrument.

 

65

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the
parties hereto have caused this Indenture to be duly executed as of the day and
year first above written.

 

	
   

  	
  AMERICAN EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING

  COMPANY

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By: 

  	
  /s/ Debra Richardson

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Name: 

  	
  Debra Richardson

  
	
   

  	
  Title:

  	
  Secretary and Senior Vice President

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

  as Trustee

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By: 

  	
  /s/ Shelly A. Sterling

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Name:

  	
  Shelly A. Sterling

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Title:

  	
  Vice President

  
						

 

66

 

Schedule A

 

DETERMINATION OF LIBOR

 

With respect to the Securities, the London interbank
offered rate (“LIBOR”) shall be
determined by the Calculation Agent in accordance with the following provisions
(in each case rounded to the nearest .000001%):

 

(1)           On
the second LIBOR Business Day (as defined below) prior to an Interest Payment
Date (except with respect to the first interest payment period, such date shall
be August 2, 2005 (each such
day, a “LIBOR Determination Date”),
LIBOR for any given security shall for the following interest payment period
equal the rate, as obtained by the Calculation Agent from Bloomberg Financial
Markets Commodities News, for three-month Eurodollar deposits that appears on
Dow Jones Telerate Page 3750 (as defined in the International Swaps and
Derivatives Association, Inc. 1991 Interest Rate and Currency Exchange
Definitions), or such other page as may replace such Page 3750, as of
11:00 a.m. (London time) on such LIBOR Determination Date.

 

(2)           If,
on any LIBOR Determination Date, such rate does not appear on Dow Jones
Telerate Page 3750 or such other page as may replace such Page 3750,
the Calculation Agent shall determine the arithmetic mean of the offered
quotations of the Reference Banks (as defined below) to leading banks in the
London interbank market for three-month Eurodollar deposits in an amount
determined by the Calculation Agent by reference to requests for quotations as of
approximately 11:00 a.m. (London time) on the LIBOR Determination Date
made by the Calculation Agent to the Reference Banks.  If, on any LIBOR Determination Date, at least
two of the Reference Banks provide such quotations, LIBOR shall equal such
arithmetic mean of such quotations.  If,
on any LIBOR Determination Date, only one or none of the Reference Banks
provide such quotations, LIBOR shall be deemed to be the arithmetic mean of the
offered quotations that leading banks in the City of New York selected by the
Calculation Agent are quoting on the relevant LIBOR Determination Date for
three-month Eurodollar deposits in an amount determined by the Calculation
Agent by reference to the principal London offices of leading banks in the
London interbank market; provided
that, if the Calculation Agent is required but is unable to determine a rate in
accordance with at least one of the procedures provided above, LIBOR shall be
LIBOR as determined on the previous LIBOR Determination Date.

 

(3)           As
used herein: “Reference Banks”
means four major banks in the London interbank market selected by the
Calculation Agent; and “LIBOR Business Day”
means a day on which commercial banks are open for business (including dealings
in foreign exchange and foreign currency deposits) in London.

 

A-1

 

Form of Officer’s Financial Certificate

 

The undersigned, the
[Chief Financial Officer/Treasurer/Assistant Treasurer/ Secretary/ Assistant
Secretary, Chairman/ViceChairman/Chief Executive Officer/President/Vice
President] hereby certifies, pursuant to Section 7.3(b) of the Junior
Subordinated Indenture, dated as of August 4, 2005 (the “Indenture”),
among American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (the “Company”) and
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, as trustee, that, as of [          ],
200 , the Company, if applicable, and its Subsidiary Insurance Companies
(as defined below) had the following ratios and balances:

 

For the Company, if applicable, and each Subsidiary
Insurance Company (as defined below) provide:

 

[INSURANCE COMPANY]

As of [Quarterly/Annual
Financial Date], 20  

 

 

	
  NAIC Risk Based Capital Ratio (authorized control
  level)

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Total Policyholders’ Surplus

  	
  $

  	
   

  
	
  Consolidated Debt to Total Policyholders’ Surplus

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Total Assets

  	
  $

  	
   

  
	
  NAIC Class 1 & 2 Rated Investments to
  Total Fixed Income Investments

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  NAIC Class 1 & 2 Rated Investments to
  Total Investments

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Return on Policyholders’ Surplus

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  [For Property & Casualty
  Companies, also provide:]

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Expense Ratio

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Loss and LAE Ratio

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Combined Ratio

  	
   

  	
  %

  
	
  Net Premiums Written (annualized) to Policyholders’
  Surplus

  	
   

  	
  %]

  

 

•                                          A table
describing the quarterly report calculation procedures is provided on page 3
hereof

 

The following is a complete list as of [Quarterly/Annual
Financial Date] of the Company’s companies which are authorized to write
insurance business or otherwise conduct insurance or reinsurance business (the “Subsidiary
Insurance Companies”):

 

American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company

 

American Equity Investment Life Insurance Company of
New York

 

 

[FOR FISCAL YEAR END: 
Attached hereto are the audited consolidated financial statements
(including the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows, and
notes thereto, together with the report of the independent accountants thereon)
of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the three years ended
[date], 20   and the Statutory Financial Statements (as defined in
the Indenture) for the one year ended [date] 200 .]

 

[FOR FISCAL QUARTER END:  Attached hereto are the unaudited
consolidated and consolidating financial statements (including the balance
sheet and income statement) of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries
and the Statutory Financial Statements (as defined in the Indenture) for the
fiscal quarter ended [date], 20  .]

 

The financial statements fairly present in all
material respects, in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting
principles (“GAAP”), the financial position of the Company and its consolidated
subsidiaries, and the results of operations and changes in financial condition
as of the date, and for the [quarter] [annual] period ended [date], 20  ,
and such financial statements have been prepared in accordance with GAAP
consistently applied throughout the period involved (expect as otherwise noted
therein).

 

The Statutory Financial Statements fairly present in
all material respects in accordance with Applicable Accounting Principles, as
defined in the Indenture, the financial position of the subject insurance
company and have been prepared in accordance with Applicable Accounting
Principles.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned has executed this
Officer’s Financial Certificate as of this       day
of              ,
20  

 

	
   

  	
  By:

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  Name:

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  American
  Equity Investment Life

  Holding Company

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  5000 Westown Parkway, Suite 440

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  West Des Moines, IA 50266

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  (515) 457-1824

  
					

 

 

Financial Definitions

 

INSURANCE COMPANY

 

 

	
  Report
  Item

  	
   

  	
  Description of Calculation

  
	
  NAIC Risk Based Capital Ratio-P&C

  	
   

  	
  Total Adjusted Capital/Authorized Control
  Level Risk-Based Capital

  
	
  NAICRisk Based Capital Ratio-Life

  	
   

  	
  (Total Adjusted Capital-Asset Valuation
  Reserve)/Authorized Control Level Risk-Based Capital

  
	
  Total Capital and Surplus-Life

  	
   

  	
  Common Capital Stock + Preferred Capital
  Stock + Aggregate Write-Ins for other than special surplus funds + Surplus
  Notes + Gross Paid-In and Contributed Surplus + Aggregate Write-Ins for
  Special Surplus Funds + Unassigned Funds (Surplus) – Treasury Stock

  
	
  Total Capital and Surplus-P&C

  	
   

  	
  Aggregate Write-Ins for Special Surplus
  Funds + Common Capital Stock + Preferred Capital Stock + Aggregate Write Ins
  for other than special surplus funds + Surplus Notes + Gross Paid-In and
  Contributed Surplus + Unassigned Funds (Surplus) –– Treasury Stock

  
	
  Total Class 1 & 2 Rated
  Investments to Total Fixed Income Investments

  	
   

  	
  (Total Class 1 + Total Class 2
  Rated Investments)/Total Fixed Income Investments

  
	
  Total Class 1 & 2 Rated
  Investments to Total Investments

  	
   

  	
  (Total Class 1 + Total Class 2
  Rated Investments)/Total Investments

  
	
  Total Assets

  	
   

  	
  Total Assets

  
	
  Return on Policyholders’ Surplus

  	
   

  	
  Net Income/Policyholders’ Surplus

  
	
  Expense Ratio

  	
   

  	
  Other Underwriting Expenses Incurred/Net
  premiums Earned

  
	
  Loss and LAE Ratio

  	
   

  	
  (Losses Incurred + Loss Expenses Incurred)/Net
  Premiums Earned

  
	
  Combined Ratio

  	
   

  	
  Expense Ratio + Loss and LAE Ratio

  
	
  Net Premiums Written (annualized) to
  Policyholders’ Surplus

  	
   

  	
  Net Premiums Written/Policyholders’ SurplusExhibit 4.26

 

 

 

GUARANTEE AGREEMENT

 

 

between

 

 

AMERICAN EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING COMPANY,

as
Guarantor,

 

 

and

 

 

JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

as Guarantee Trustee

 

 

Dated as
of August 4, 2005

 

 

AMERICAN EQUITY CAPITAL TRUST X

 

 

 

 

GUARANTEE AGREEMENT,
dated as of August 4, 2005, executed and delivered by AMERICAN EQUITY
INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING COMPANY, an Iowa corporation (the “Guarantor”)
having its principal office at 5000 Westown Parkway, Suite 440, West Des
Moines, IA 50266, and JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, National Association, a national
banking association, as trustee (in such capacity, the “Guarantee Trustee”),
for the benefit of the Holders (as defined herein) from time to time of the
Preferred Securities (as defined herein) of AMERICAN EQUITY CAPITAL TRUST X, a
Delaware statutory trust (the “Issuer”).

 

W
I T N E S S E T H :

 

WHEREAS, pursuant to an
Amended and Restated Trust Agreement, dated as of the date hereof (the “Trust Agreement”),
among the Guarantor, as Depositor, the Property Trustee, the Delaware Trustee
and the Administrative Trustees named therein and the holders from time to time
of the Preferred Securities (as hereinafter defined), the Issuer is issuing
Twenty Million Dollars ($20,000,000) aggregate Liquidation Amount (as defined
in the Trust Agreement) of its Floating Rate Preferred Securities (Liquidation
Amount $1,000 per preferred security) (the “Preferred Securities”)
representing preferred undivided beneficial interests in the assets of the
Issuer and having the terms set forth in the Trust Agreement;

 

WHEREAS, the Preferred
Securities will be issued by the Issuer and the proceeds thereof, together with
the proceeds from the issuance of the Issuer’s Common Securities (as defined
below), will be used to purchase the Notes (as defined in the Trust Agreement)
of the Guarantor; and

 

WHEREAS, as incentive for
the Holders to purchase Preferred Securities the Guarantor desires irrevocably
and unconditionally to agree, to the extent set forth herein, to pay to the
Holders of the Preferred Securities the Guarantee Payments (as defined herein)
and to make certain other payments on the terms and conditions set forth
herein.

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the purchase by each Holder of Preferred Securities, which
purchase the Guarantor hereby agrees shall benefit the Guarantor, the Guarantor
executes and delivers this Guarantee Agreement to provide as follows for the
benefit of the Holders from time to time of the Preferred Securities:

 

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

	
  ARTICLE I

  	
  Interpretation and
  Definitions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.1.

  	
  Interpretation

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 1.2.

  	
  Definitions

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE II

  	
  Reports

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.1.

  	
  List of
  Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.2.

  	
  Periodic
  Reports to the Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.3.

  	
  Event
  of Default; Waiver

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 2.4.

  	
  Event
  of Default; Notice

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE III

  	
  Powers, Duties and Rights of
  the Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.1.

  	
  Powers
  and Duties of the Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.2.

  	
  Certain
  Rights of the Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.3.

  	
  Compensation

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.4.

  	
  Indemnity

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 3.5.

  	
  Securities

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE IV

  	
  Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 4.1.

  	
  Guarantee
  Trustee; Eligibility

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 4.2.

  	
  Appointment,
  Removal and Resignation of the Guarantee Trustee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE V

  	
  Guarantee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.1.

  	
  Guarantee

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.2.

  	
  Waiver
  of Notice and Demand

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.3.

  	
  Obligations
  Not Affected

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.4.

  	
  Rights
  of Holders

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.5.

  	
  Guarantee
  of Payment

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.6.

  	
  Subrogation

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.7.

  	
  Independent
  Obligations

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 5.8.

  	
  Enforcement

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE VI

  	
  Covenants and Subordination

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.1.

  	
  Dividends,
  Distributions and Payments

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.2.

  	
  Subordination

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 6.3.

  	
  Pari
  Passu Guarantees

  	
   

  

 

i

 

	
  ARTICLE VII

  	
  Termination

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 7.1.

  	
  Termination

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  ARTICLE VIII

  	
  Miscellaneous

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.1.

  	
  Successors
  and Assigns

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.2.

  	
  Amendments

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.3.

  	
  Notices

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.4.

  	
  Benefit

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.5.

  	
  Governing
  Law

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.6.

  	
  Submission
  to Jurisdiction

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.7.

  	
  Counterparts

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Section 8.8.

  	
  Severability

  	
   

  

 

ii

 

ARTICLE I

 

INTERPRETATION AND DEFINITIONS

 

SECTION 1.1.  Interpretation.

 

In this Guarantee
Agreement, unless the context otherwise requires:

 

(a)                                  capitalized
terms used in this Guarantee Agreement but not defined in the preamble hereto
have the respective meanings assigned to them in Section 1.2;

 

(b)                                 the
words “include”, “includes” and “including” shall be deemed to be followed by
the phrase “without limitation”;

 

(c)                                  all
references to “the Guarantee Agreement” or “this Guarantee Agreement” are to
this Guarantee Agreement as modified, supplemented or amended from time to
time;

 

(d)                                 all
references in this Guarantee Agreement to Articles and Sections are to Articles
and Sections of this Guarantee Agreement unless otherwise specified;

 

(e)                                  the
words “hereby”, “herein”, “hereof” and “hereunder” and other words of similar
import refer to this Guarantee Agreement as a whole and not to any particular
Article, Section or other subdivision;

 

(f)                                    a
reference to the singular includes the plural and vice versa; and

 

(g)                                 the
masculine, feminine or neuter genders used herein shall include the masculine,
feminine and neuter genders.

 

SECTION 1.2.  Definitions.

 

As used in this Guarantee
Agreement, the terms set forth below shall, unless the context otherwise
requires, have the following meanings:

 

“Affiliate”  of any
specified Person means any other Person directly or indirectly controlling or
controlled by or under direct or indirect common control with such specified
Person; provided,  that
the Issuer shall not be deemed to be an Affiliate of the Guarantor.  For the purposes of this definition, “control” when
used with respect to any specified Person means the power to direct the
management and policies of such Person, directly or indirectly, whether through
the ownership of voting securities, by contract or otherwise; and the terms “controlling” and “controlled” have
meanings correlative to the foregoing.

 

“Beneficiaries” means any Person to whom
the Issuer is or hereafter becomes indebted or liable.

 

2

 

“Board of Directors” means
either the board of directors of the Guarantor or any duly authorized committee
of that board.

 

“Common Securities” means
the securities representing common undivided beneficial interests in the assets
of the Issuer.

 

“Debt” means
with respect to any Person, whether recourse is to all or a portion of the
assets of such Person, whether currently existing or hereafter incurred, and
whether or not contingent and without duplication, (i) every obligation of
such Person for money borrowed; (ii) every obligation of such Person
evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments, including
obligations incurred in connection with the acquisition of property, assets or
businesses; (iii) every reimbursement obligation of such Person with
respect to letters of credit, bankers’ acceptances or similar facilities issued
for the account of such Person; (iv) every obligation of such Person
issued or assumed as the deferred purchase price of property or services (but
excluding trade accounts payable arising in the ordinary course of business); (v) every
capital lease obligation of such Person; (vi) all indebtedness of such
Person, whether incurred on or prior to the date of this Guarantee Agreement or
thereafter incurred, for claims in respect of derivative products, including
interest rate, foreign exchange rate and commodity forward contracts, options,
swaps and similar arrangements; (vii) every obligation of the type
referred to in clauses (i) through (vi) of another Person and all
dividends of another Person the payment of which, in either case, such Person
has guaranteed or is responsible or liable for, directly or indirectly, as
obligor or otherwise; and (viii) any renewals, extensions, refundings,
amendments or modifications of any obligation of the type referred to in
clauses (i) through (vii).

 

“Event of Default” means a default by the Guarantor on any
of its payment or other obligations under this Guarantee Agreement; provided, that
except with respect to a default in payment of any Guarantee Payments, the
Guarantor shall have received notice of default from the Guarantee Trustee and
shall not have cured such default within thirty (30) days after receipt of such
notice.

 

“Guarantee Payments” means
the following payments or distributions, without duplication, with respect to
the Preferred Securities, to the extent not paid or made by or on behalf of the
Issuer: (i) any accumulated and unpaid Distributions (as defined in the
Trust Agreement) required to be paid on the Preferred Securities, to the extent
the Issuer shall have funds on hand available therefor at such time, (ii) the
Redemption Price with respect to any Preferred Securities to the extent the
Issuer shall have funds on hand available therefor at such time, and (iii) upon
a voluntary or involuntary termination, winding up or liquidation of the
Issuer, unless Notes are distributed to the Holders, the lesser of (a) the
aggregate of the Liquidation Amount of $1,000 per Preferred Security plus
accumulated and unpaid Distributions on the Preferred Securities to the date of
payment, to the extent that the Issuer shall have funds available therefor at
such time and (b) the amount of assets of the Issuer remaining available
for distribution to Holders in liquidation of the Issuer after satisfaction of
liabilities to creditors of the Issuer in accordance with applicable law (in
either case, the “Liquidation Distribution”).

 

3

 

“Guarantee Trustee”  means
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, until a Successor Guarantee Trustee,
as defined below, has been appointed and has accepted such appointment pursuant
to the terms of this Guarantee Agreement, and thereafter means each such
Successor Guarantee Trustee.

 

“Guarantor”  means American Equity
Investment Life Insurance Company and each of its successors and assigns.

 

“Issuer” has the meaning set
forth  herein above.

 

“Holder”  means
any holder, as registered on the books and records of the Issuer, of any
Preferred Securities; provided,
that, in determining whether the holders of the requisite percentage of
Preferred Securities have given any request, notice, consent or waiver
hereunder, “Holder” shall not include the Guarantor, the Guarantee Trustee or
any Affiliate of the Guarantor or the Guarantee Trustee.

 

“Indenture”  means
the Junior Subordinated Indenture, dated as of the date hereof, as supplemented
and amended, between the Guarantor and JPMorgan Chase Bank, National
Association, as trustee.

 

“List of Holders”  has
the meaning specified in Section 2.1.

 

“Majority in
Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities”  means a vote by the Holder(s), voting separately as
a class, of more than fifty percent (50%) of the aggregate Liquidation Amount
of all then outstanding Preferred Securities issued by the Issuer.

 

“Obligations” means any costs, expenses or
liabilities (but not including liabilities related to taxes) of the Issuer,
other than obligations of the Issuer to pay to holders of any Trust Securities
the amounts due such holders pursuant to the terms of the Trust Securities.

 

“Officers’
Certificate”  means,
with respect to any Person, a certificate signed by the Chief Executive
Officer, Chief Financial Officer, President or a Vice President of such Person,
and by the Treasurer, an Assistant Treasurer, the Secretary or an Assistant
Secretary of such Person, and delivered to the Guarantee Trustee.  Any Officers’ Certificate delivered with
respect to compliance with a condition or covenant provided for in this
Guarantee Agreement (other than the certificate provided pursuant to Section 2.2)
shall include:

 

(a)                                  a
statement that each officer signing the Officers’ Certificate has read the
covenant or condition and the definitions relating thereto;

 

(b)                                 a
brief statement of the nature and scope of the examination or investigation
undertaken by each officer in rendering the Officers’ Certificate;

 

(c)                                  a
statement that each officer has made such examination or investigation as, in
such officer’s opinion, is necessary to enable such officer to express an
informed opinion as to whether or not such covenant or condition has been
complied with; and

 

4

 

(d)                                 a
statement as to whether, in the opinion of each officer, such condition or
covenant has been complied with.

 

“Person”  means
a legal person, including any individual, corporation, estate, partnership,
joint venture, association, joint stock company, limited liability company,
trust, unincorporated association, government or any agency or political
subdivision thereof or any other entity of whatever nature.

 

“Preferred Securities” has the meaning set
forth in the first recital hereof.

 

“Responsible Officer”  means,
with respect to the Guarantee Trustee, the officer in the Worldwide Securities
Services department of the Trustee having direct responsibility for the
administration of this Guarantee Agreement.

 

“Senior Debt”  means
the principal of and any premium, if any, and interest on (including interest
accruing on or after the filing of any petition in bankruptcy or for
reorganization relating to the Guarantor whether or not such claim for
post-petition interest is allowed in such proceeding) all Debt of the
Guarantor, whether incurred on or prior to the date of the Indenture or
thereafter incurred, unless it is provided
in the instrument creating or evidencing the same or pursuant to which the same
is outstanding, that such obligations are not superior in right of payment to
the Preferred Securities; provided, that if the Guarantor is
subject to the regulation and supervision of an insurance regulatory
authority,  the Guarantor
shall have received the approval
of such appropriate insurance regulatory authority  prior to issuing any such obligation; and provided, further, that Senior Debt shall
not include any other debt securities and guarantees in respect of such debt
securities issued to any trust other than the Trust (or a trustee of any such
trust), partnership or other entity affiliated with the Guarantor that is a
financing vehicle of the Guarantor (a “financing entity”) in connection with
the issuance by such financing entity of equity securities or other securities
that are treated as equity capital for regulatory capital purposes guaranteed
by the Guarantor pursuant to an instrument that ranks pari passu with or junior in right of
payment to the Indenture, including, without limitation, securities issued by
American Equity Capital Trust I, American Equity Capital Trust II, American
Equity Capital Trust III, American Equity Capital Trust IV, American Equity
Capital Trust V, American Equity Capital Trust VI, American Equity Capital
Trust VII, American Equity Capital Trust VIII and American Equity Capital Trust
IX.

 

“Trust Indenture Act” means the Trust
Indenture Act of 1939, as amended and as in effect on the date of this
Guarantee Agreement.

 

“Successor Guarantee
Trustee”  means
a successor Guarantee Trustee possessing the qualifications to act as Guarantee
Trustee under Section 4.1.

 

Capitalized or otherwise
defined terms used but not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings
assigned to such terms in the Trust Agreement as in effect on the date hereof.

 

5

 

ARTICLE II

 

REPORTS

 

SECTION 2.1.  List of Holders.

 

The Guarantor shall
furnish or cause to be furnished to the Guarantee Trustee at such times as the
Guarantee Trustee may request in writing, within thirty (30) days after the
receipt by the Guarantor of any such request, a list, in such form as the
Guarantee Trustee may reasonably require, of the names and addresses of the
Holders (the “List
of Holders”) as of a date not more than fifteen (15) days prior to
the time such list is furnished, in each case to the extent such information is
in the possession or control of the Guarantor and is not identical to a
previously supplied list of Holders or has not otherwise been received by the
Guarantee Trustee in its capacity as such. 
The Guarantee Trustee may destroy any List of Holders previously given
to it on receipt of a new List of Holders.

 

SECTION 2.2.  Periodic Reports to the
Guarantee Trustee.

 

The Guarantor shall
deliver to the Guarantee Trustee, within one hundred and twenty (120) days
after the end of each fiscal year of the Guarantor ending after the date of
this Guarantee Agreement, an Officers’ Certificate covering the preceding
fiscal year, stating whether or not to the knowledge of the signers thereof the
Guarantor is in default in the performance or observance of any of the terms or
provisions or any of the conditions of this Guarantee Agreement (without regard
to any period of grace or requirement of notice provided hereunder) and, if the
Guarantor shall be in default thereof, specifying all such defaults and the
nature and status thereof of which they have knowledge.  The delivery requirements of this Section 2.2
may be satisfied by compliance with Section 8.16(a) of the Trust
Agreement.

 

SECTION 2.3.  Event of Default; Waiver.

 

The Holders of a Majority
in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities may,  on behalf of the Holders, waive any past
Event of Default and its consequences. 
Upon such waiver, any such Event of Default shall cease to exist, and
any Event of Default arising therefrom shall be deemed to have been cured, for
every purpose of this Guarantee Agreement, but no such waiver shall extend to
any subsequent or other default or Event of Default or impair any right
consequent therefrom.

 

SECTION 2.4.  Event of Default; Notice.

 

(a)                                  The
Guarantee Trustee shall, within ninety (90) days after the occurrence of a
default, transmit to the Holders notices of all defaults actually known to the
Guarantee Trustee, unless such defaults have been cured or waived before the
giving of such notice.  For the purpose
of this Section 2.4, the term “default” means any event that is, or after notice or lapse
of time or both would become, an Event of Default.

 

(b)                                 The
Guarantee Trustee shall not be deemed to have knowledge of any Event of Default
unless the Guarantee Trustee shall have received written notice, or a
Responsible Officer

 

6

 

charged
with the administration of this Guarantee Agreement shall have obtained written
notice, of such Event of Default from the Guarantor or a Holder.

 

ARTICLE III

 

POWERS, DUTIES AND RIGHTS OF THE GUARANTEE TRUSTEE

 

SECTION 3.1.  Powers and Duties of the
Guarantee Trustee.

 

(a)                                  This
Guarantee Agreement shall be held by the Guarantee Trustee for the benefit of
the Holders, and the Guarantee Trustee shall not transfer this Guarantee
Agreement to any Person except a Holder exercising its rights pursuant to Section 5.4(d) or
to a Successor Guarantee Trustee upon acceptance by such Successor Guarantee
Trustee of its appointment to act as Successor Guarantee Trustee.  The right, title and interest of the
Guarantee Trustee shall automatically vest in any Successor Guarantee Trustee,
upon acceptance by such Successor Guarantee Trustee of its appointment
hereunder, and such vesting and succession of title shall be effective whether
or not conveyancing documents have been executed and delivered pursuant to the
appointment of such Successor Guarantee Trustee.

 

(b)                                 The
rights, immunities, duties and responsibilities of the Guarantee Trustee shall
be as provided by this Guarantee Agreement and there shall be no other duties
or obligations, express or implied, of the Guarantee Trustee.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, no provisions
of this Guarantee Agreement shall require the Guarantee Trustee to expend or
risk its own funds or otherwise incur any financial liability in the
performance of any of its duties hereunder, or in the exercise of any of its
rights or powers, if it shall have reasonable grounds for believing that
repayment of such funds or adequate indemnity against such risk or liability is
not reasonably assured to it.  Whether or
not herein expressly so provided, every provision of this Guarantee Agreement
relating to the conduct or affecting the liability of or affording protection
to the Guarantee Trustee shall be subject to the provisions of this Section 3.1.  To the extent that, at law or in equity, the
Guarantee Trustee has duties and liabilities relating to the Guarantor or the
Holders, the Guarantee Trustee shall not be liable to any Holder for the
Guarantee Trustee’s good faith reliance on the provisions of this Guarantee
Agreement.  The provisions of this
Guarantee Agreement, to the extent that they restrict the duties and
liabilities of the Guarantee Trustee otherwise existing at law or in equity,
are agreed by the Guarantor and the Holders to replace such other duties and
liabilities of the Guarantee Trustee.

 

(c)                                  No
provision of this Guarantee Agreement shall be construed to relieve the
Guarantee Trustee from liability for its own negligent action, negligent
failure to act or own willful misconduct, except that:

 

(i)                                     the
Guarantee Trustee shall not be liable for any error of judgment made in good
faith by a Responsible Officer of the Guarantee Trustee, unless it shall be
proved that the Guarantee Trustee was negligent in ascertaining the pertinent
facts upon which such judgment was made; and

 

(ii)                                  the
Guarantee Trustee shall not be liable with respect to any action taken or
omitted to be taken by it in good faith in accordance with the direction of the
Holders

 

7

 

of not less than a
Majority in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities relating to the
time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any remedy available to
the Guarantee Trustee, or exercising any trust or power conferred upon the
Guarantee Trustee under this Guarantee Agreement.

 

SECTION 3.2.  Certain Rights of the Guarantee
Trustee.

 

(a)                                  Subject
to the provisions of Section 3.1:

 

(i)                                     the
Guarantee Trustee may conclusively rely and shall be fully protected in acting
or refraining from acting in good faith and in accordance with the terms hereof
upon any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument, opinion, report,
notice, request, direction, consent, order, bond, debenture, note, other
evidence of indebtedness or other paper or document reasonably believed by it
to be genuine and to have been signed, sent or presented by the proper party or
parties;

 

(ii)                                  any
direction or act of the Guarantor contemplated by this Guarantee Agreement
shall be sufficiently evidenced by an Officers’ Certificate unless otherwise
prescribed herein;

 

(iii)                               the
Guarantee Trustee may consult with counsel, and the advice of such counsel
shall be full and complete authorization and protection in respect of any
action taken, suffered or omitted to be taken by it hereunder in good faith and
in reliance thereon and in accordance with such advice.  Such counsel may be counsel to the Guarantee
Trustee, the Guarantor or any of its Affiliates and may be one of its
employees.  The Guarantee Trustee shall
have the right at any time to seek instructions concerning the administration
of this Guarantee Agreement from any court of competent jurisdiction;

 

(iv)                              the
Guarantee Trustee shall be under no obligation to exercise any of the rights or
powers vested in it by this Guarantee Agreement at the request or direction of
any Holder, unless such Holder shall have provided to the Guarantee Trustee
reasonable security or indemnity against the costs, expenses (including
reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses) and liabilities that might be incurred
by it in complying with such request or direction, including such reasonable
advances as may be requested by the Guarantee Trustee; provided, that,
nothing contained in this Section 3.2(a)(iv) shall be taken to
relieve the Guarantee Trustee, upon the occurrence of an Event of Default, of
its obligation to exercise the rights and powers vested in it by this Guarantee
Agreement; provided, further,
that nothing contained in this Section 3.2(a)(iv) shall
prevent the Guarantee Trustee from exercising its rights under Section 4.2
hereof.;

 

(v)                                 the
Guarantee Trustee shall not be bound to make any investigation into the facts
or matters stated in any resolution, certificate, statement, instrument,
opinion, report, notice, request, direction, consent, order, bond, debenture,
note, other evidence of indebtedness or other paper or document, but the
Guarantee Trustee, in its discretion, may make such further inquiry or
investigation into such facts or matters as it may see fit, and if the
Guarantee Trustee shall determine to make such inquiry or investigation, it

 

8

 

shall be entitled
to examine the books, records and premises of the Guarantor, personally or by
agent or attorney;

 

(vi)                              the
Guarantee Trustee may execute any of the trusts or powers hereunder or perform
any duties hereunder either directly or by or through its agents, attorneys,
custodians or nominees and the Guarantee Trustee shall not be responsible for
any misconduct or negligence on the part of any such agent, attorney, custodian
or nominee appointed with due care by it hereunder;

 

(vii)                           whenever
in the administration of this Guarantee Agreement the Guarantee Trustee shall
deem it desirable to receive instructions with respect to enforcing any remedy
or right hereunder, the Guarantee Trustee (A) may request instructions
from the Holders of a Majority in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred
Securities, (B) may refrain from enforcing such remedy or right or taking
such other action until such instructions are received and (C) shall be
protected in acting in accordance with such instructions;

 

(viii)                        except as
otherwise expressly provided by this Guarantee Agreement, the Guarantee Trustee
shall not be under any obligation to take any action that is discretionary
under the provisions of this Guarantee Agreement; and

 

(ix)                                whenever,
in the administration of this Guarantee Agreement, the Guarantee Trustee shall
deem it desirable that a matter be proved or established before taking,
suffering or omitting to take any action hereunder, the Guarantee Trustee
(unless other evidence is herein specifically prescribed) may, in the absence
of bad faith on its part, request and rely upon an Officers’ Certificate which,
upon receipt of such request from the Guarantee Trustee, shall be promptly
delivered by the Guarantor.

 

(b)                                 No
provision of this Guarantee Agreement shall be deemed to impose any duty or
obligation on the Guarantee Trustee to perform any act or acts or exercise any
right, power, duty or obligation conferred or imposed on it in any jurisdiction
in which it shall be illegal, or in which the Guarantee Trustee shall be
unqualified or incompetent in accordance with applicable law, to perform any
such act or acts or to exercise any such right, power, duty or obligation.  No permissive power or authority available to
the Guarantee Trustee shall be construed to be a duty to act in accordance with
such power and authority.

 

SECTION 3.3.  Compensation.

 

The Guarantor agrees to
pay to the Guarantee Trustee from time to time reasonable compensation for all
services rendered by it hereunder (which compensation shall not be limited by
any provisions of law in regard to the compensation of a trustee of an express
trust) and to reimburse the Guarantee Trustee upon request for all reasonable
expenses, disbursements and advances (including the reasonable fees and
expenses of its attorneys and agents) incurred or made by the Guarantee Trustee
in accordance with any provisions of this Guarantee Agreement.

 

9

 

SECTION 3.4.  Indemnity.

 

The Guarantor agrees to
indemnify and hold harmless the Guarantee Trustee and any of its Affiliates and
any of their officers, directors, shareholders, employees, representatives or
agents from and against any loss, damage, liability, tax (other than income,
franchise or other taxes imposed on amounts paid pursuant to Section 3.3),
penalty, expense or claim of any kind or nature whatsoever incurred without
negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct on its part, arising out of or in
connection with the acceptance or administration of this Guarantee Agreement,
including the costs and expenses of defending itself against any claim or
liability in connection with the exercise or performance of any of its powers
or duties hereunder.  The Guarantee Trustee
will not claim or exact any lien or charge on any Guarantee Payments as a
result of any amount due to it under this Guarantee Agreement.  This indemnity shall survive the termination
of this Agreement or the resignation or removal of the Guarantee Trustee.

 

In no event shall the
Guarantee Trustee be liable for any indirect, special, punitive or
consequential loss or damage of any kind whatsoever, including, but not limited
to, lost profits, even if the Guarantee Trustee has been advised of the
likelihood of such loss or damage and regardless of the form of action.

 

In no event shall the
Guarantee Trustee be liable for any failure or delay in the performance of its
obligations hereunder because of circumstances beyond its control, including,
but not limited to, acts of God, flood, war (declared or undeclared),
terrorism, fire, riot, embargo, government action, including any laws,
ordinances, regulations, governmental action or the like which delay, restrict
or prohibit the providing of the services contemplated by this Guarantee
Agreement.

 

SECTION 3.5.  Securities.

 

The Guarantee Trustee or
any other agent of the Guarantee Trustee, in its individual or any other
capacity, may become the owner or pledgee of Common or Preferred Securities.

 

ARTICLE IV

 

GUARANTEE TRUSTEE

 

SECTION 4.1.  Guarantee Trustee;
Eligibility.

 

(a)                                  There
shall at all times be a Guarantee Trustee which shall:

 

(i)                                     not
be an Affiliate of the Guarantor; and

 

(ii)                                  be
a corporation organized and doing business under the laws of the United States
or of any State thereof, authorized to exercise corporate trust powers, having
a combined capital and surplus of at least fifty million dollars ($50,000,000),
subject to supervision or examination by Federal or State authority and having
an office within the United States. If such corporation publishes reports of
condition at least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of such
supervising or examining authority, then, for the purposes of this Section 4.1,
the combined capital and surplus of

 

10

 

such corporation
shall be deemed to be its combined capital and surplus as set forth in its most
recent report of condition so published.

 

(b)                                 If
at any time the Guarantee Trustee shall cease to be eligible to so act under Section 4.1(a),
the Guarantee Trustee shall immediately resign in the manner and with the
effect set out in Section 4.2(c).

 

(c)                                  If
the Guarantee Trustee has or shall acquire any “conflicting interest” within
the meaning of Section 310(b) of the Trust Indenture Act, the Guarantee
Trustee shall either eliminate such interest or resign in the manner and with
the effect set out in Section 4.2(c).

 

SECTION 4.2.  Appointment, Removal and
Resignation of the Guarantee Trustee.

 

(a)                                  Subject
to Section 4.2(b), the Guarantee Trustee may be appointed or
removed without cause at any time by the Guarantor, except during an Event of
Default.

 

(b)                                 The
Guarantee Trustee shall not be removed until a Successor Guarantee Trustee has
been appointed and has accepted such appointment by written instrument executed
by such Successor Guarantee Trustee and delivered to the Guarantor.

 

(c)                                  The
Guarantee Trustee appointed hereunder shall hold office until a Successor
Guarantee Trustee shall have been appointed or until its removal or
resignation.  The Guarantee Trustee may
resign from office (without need for prior or subsequent accounting) by an
instrument in writing executed by the Guarantee Trustee and delivered to the
Guarantor, which resignation shall not take effect until a Successor Guarantee Trustee
has been appointed and has accepted such appointment by instrument in writing
executed by such Successor Guarantee Trustee and delivered to the Guarantor and
the resigning Guarantee Trustee.

 

(d)                                 If
no Successor Guarantee Trustee shall have been appointed and accepted
appointment as provided in this Section 4.2 within thirty (30) days
after delivery to the Guarantor of an instrument of resignation, the resigning
Guarantee Trustee may petition, at the expense of the Guarantor, any court of
competent jurisdiction for appointment of a Successor Guarantee Trustee.  Such court may thereupon, after prescribing
such notice, if any, as it may deem proper, appoint a Successor Guarantee
Trustee.

 

ARTICLE V

 

GUARANTEE

 

SECTION 5.1.  Guarantee.

 

(a)                                  The
Guarantor irrevocably and unconditionally agrees to pay in full to the Holders
the Guarantee Payments (without duplication of amounts theretofore paid by or
on behalf of the Issuer), as and when due, regardless of any defense (except
for the defense of payment by the Issuer), right of set-off or counterclaim
which the Issuer may have or assert.  The
Guarantor’s obligation to make a Guarantee Payment may be satisfied by direct
payment of the required amounts by the Guarantor to the Holders or by causing
the Issuer to pay such amounts to the

 

11

 

Holders.  The Guarantor shall give prompt written
notice to the Guarantee Trustee in the event it makes any direct payment to the
Holders hereunder.

 

(b)                                 The
Guarantor hereby also agrees to assume any and all Obligations of the Issuer,
and, in the event any such Obligation is not so assumed, subject to the terms
and conditions hereof, the Guarantor hereby irrevocably and unconditionally
guarantees to each Beneficiary the full payment, when and as due, of any and
all Obligations to such Beneficiaries. 
This Guarantee is intended to be for the Beneficiaries who have received
notice hereof.

 

SECTION 5.2.  Waiver of Notice and
Demand.

 

The Guarantor hereby
waives notice of acceptance of the Guarantee Agreement and of any liability to
which it applies or may apply, presentment, demand for payment, any right to
require a proceeding first against the Guarantee Trustee, Issuer or any other
Person before proceeding against the Guarantor, protest, notice of nonpayment,
notice of dishonor, notice of redemption and all other notices and demands.

 

SECTION 5.3.  Obligations Not Affected.

 

The obligations,
covenants, agreements and duties of the Guarantor under this Guarantee
Agreement shall in no way be affected or impaired by reason of the happening
from time to time of any of the following:

 

(a)                                  the
release or waiver, by operation of law or otherwise, of the performance or
observance by the Issuer of any express or implied agreement, covenant, term or
condition relating to the Preferred Securities to be performed or observed by
the Issuer;

 

(b)                                 the
extension of time for the payment by the Issuer of all or any portion of the
Distributions (other than an extension of time for payment of Distributions
that results from the extension of any interest payment period on the Notes as
provided in the Indenture), Redemption Price, Liquidation Distribution or any
other sums payable under the terms of the Preferred Securities or the extension
of time for the performance of any other obligation under, arising out of, or
in connection with, the Preferred Securities;

 

(c)                                  any
failure, omission, delay or lack of diligence on the part of the Holders to
enforce, assert or exercise any right, privilege, power or remedy conferred on
the Holders pursuant to the terms of the Preferred Securities, or any action on
the part of the Issuer granting indulgence or extension of any kind;

 

(d)                                 the
voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution, sale of any collateral,
receivership, insolvency, bankruptcy, assignment for the benefit of creditors,
reorganization, arrangement, composition or readjustment of debt of, or other
similar proceedings affecting, the Issuer or any of the assets of the Issuer;

 

(e)                                  any
invalidity of, or defect or deficiency in, the Preferred Securities;

 

(f)                                    the
settlement or compromise of any obligation guaranteed hereby or hereby
incurred; or

 

12

 

(g)                                 any
other circumstance whatsoever that might otherwise constitute a legal or
equitable discharge or defense of a guarantor, it being the intent of this Section 5.3
that the obligations of the Guarantor hereunder shall be absolute and
unconditional under any and all circumstances.

 

There shall be no
obligation of the Holders to give notice to, or obtain the consent of, the
Guarantor with respect to the happening of any of the foregoing.

 

SECTION 5.4.  Rights of Holders.

 

The Guarantor expressly
acknowledges that:  (a) this
Guarantee Agreement will be deposited with the Guarantee Trustee to be held for
the benefit of the Holders; (b) the Guarantee Trustee has the right to
enforce this Guarantee Agreement on behalf of the Holders; (c) the Holders
of a Majority in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities have the right
to direct the time, method and place of conducting any proceeding for any
remedy available to the Guarantee Trustee in respect of this Guarantee
Agreement or exercising any trust or power conferred upon the Guarantee Trustee
under this Guarantee Agreement; and (d) any Holder may institute a legal
proceeding directly against the Guarantor to enforce its rights under this
Guarantee Agreement, without first instituting a legal proceeding against the
Guarantee Trustee, the Issuer or any other Person.

 

SECTION 5.5.  Guarantee of Payment.

 

This Guarantee Agreement
creates a guarantee of payment and not of collection.  This Guarantee Agreement will not be
discharged except by payment of the Guarantee Payments in full (without
duplication of amounts theretofore paid by the Issuer) or upon distribution of
Notes to Holders as provided in the Trust Agreement.

 

SECTION 5.6.  Subrogation.

 

The Guarantor shall be
subrogated to all (if any) rights of the Holders against the Issuer in respect
of any amounts paid to the Holders by the Guarantor under this Guarantee
Agreement and shall have the right to waive payment by the Issuer pursuant to Section 5.1;
provided,  that,
the Guarantor shall not (except to the extent required by mandatory provisions
of law) be entitled to enforce or exercise any rights it may acquire by way of
subrogation or any indemnity, reimbursement or other agreement, in all cases as
a result of payment under this Guarantee Agreement, if, at the time of any such
payment, any amounts are due and unpaid under this Guarantee Agreement.  If any amount shall be paid to the Guarantor
in violation of the preceding sentence, the Guarantor agrees to hold such
amount in trust for the Holders and to pay over such amount to the Holders.

 

SECTION 5.7.  Independent Obligations.

 

The Guarantor
acknowledges that its obligations hereunder are independent of the obligations
of the Issuer with respect to the Preferred Securities and that the Guarantor
shall be liable as principal and as debtor hereunder to make Guarantee Payments
pursuant to the terms of this Guarantee Agreement notwithstanding the
occurrence of any event referred to in subsections (a) through (g),
inclusive, of Section 5.3.

 

13

 

SECTION 5.8.  Enforcement.

 

A Beneficiary may enforce the Obligations of the
Guarantor contained in Section 5.1(b) directly against the
Guarantor, and the Guarantor waives any right or remedy to require that any
action be brought against the Issuer or any other person or entity before
proceeding against the Guarantor.

 

ARTICLE VI

 

COVENANTS AND SUBORDINATION

 

SECTION 6.1.  Dividends, Distributions
and Payments.

 

So long as any Preferred
Securities remain outstanding, if there shall have occurred and be continuing
an Event of Default or the Guarantor shall have entered into an Extension
Period as provided for in the Indenture and such period, or any extension
thereof, shall have commenced and be continuing, then the Guarantor may not (a) declare
or pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem, purchase, acquire or make
liquidation payment with respect to, any of the Guarantor’s capital stock or (b) make
any payment of principal of or any interest or premium, if any, on or repay,
repurchase or redeem any debt securities of the Guarantor that rank pari passu
in all respects with or junior in interest to the Notes (other than (i) repurchases,
redemptions or other acquisitions of shares of capital stock of the Guarantor
in connection with any employment contract, benefit plan or other similar
arrangement with or for the benefit of any one of more employees, officers,
directors or consultants, in connection with a dividend reinvestment or
stockholder stock purchase plan or in connection with the issuance of capital
stock of the Guarantor (or securities convertible into or exercisable for such
capital stock) as consideration in an acquisition transaction entered into
prior to the occurrence of such Event of Default or the applicable Extension
Period, (ii) as a result of an exchange or conversion of any class or
series of the Guarantor’s capital stock (or any capital stock of a subsidiary
of the Guarantor) for any class or series of the Guarantor’s capital stock or
any class of series of the Guarantor’s indebtedness for any class or series of
the Guarantor’s capital stock, (iii) the purchase of fractional interests
in shares of the Guarantor’s capital stock pursuant to the conversions or
exchange provisions of such capital stock or the security being converted or
exchanged, (iv) any declaration of a dividend in connection with any
rights plan, the issuance of rights, stock or other property under any rights
plan or the redemption or repurchase of rights pursuant thereto, or (v) any
dividend in the form of stock, warrants, options or other rights where the
dividend stock or the stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants, options or
other rights is the same stock as that on which the dividend is being paid or
ranks pari
passu with or junior to such stock).

 

SECTION 6.2.  Subordination.

 

The obligations of the
Guarantor under this Guarantee Agreement will constitute unsecured obligations
of the Guarantor and will rank subordinate and junior in right of payment to
all Senior Debt of the Guarantor.

 

14

 

SECTION 6.3.  Pari Passu Guarantees.

 

(a)                                  The
obligations of the Guarantor under this Guarantee Agreement shall rank pari passu
with the obligations of the Guarantor under any similar guarantee agreements
issued by the Guarantor with respect to preferred securities (if any) similar
to the Preferred Securities, issued by trusts other than the Issuer established
or to be established by the Guarantor (if any), in each case similar to the
Issuer American Equity Capital
Trust I, American Equity Capital Trust II, American Equity Capital Trust III ,
American Equity Capital Trust IV, American Equity Capital Trust V, American
Equity Capital Trust VI, American Equity Capital Trust VII, American Equity
Capital Trust VIII and American Equity Capital Trust IX.

 

(b)                                 The
right of the Guarantor to participate in any distribution of assets of any of
its subsidiaries upon any such subsidiary’s liquidation or reorganization or
otherwise is subject to the prior claims of creditors of that subsidiary,
except to the extent the Guarantor may itself be recognized as a creditor of
that subsidiary.  Accordingly, the
Guarantor’s obligations under this Guarantee will be effectively subordinated
to all existing and future liabilities of the Guarantor’s subsidiaries, and
claimants should look only to the assets of the Guarantor for payments
thereunder. This Guarantee does not limit the incurrence or issuance of other
secured or unsecured debt of the Guarantor, including Senior Debt of the
Guarantor, under any indenture or agreement that the Guarantor may enter into
in the future or otherwise.

 

ARTICLE VII

 

TERMINATION

 

SECTION 7.1.  Termination.

 

This Guarantee Agreement
shall terminate and be of no further force and effect upon (a) full
payment of the Redemption Price of all Preferred Securities, (b) the
distribution of Notes to the Holders in exchange for all of the Preferred
Securities or (c) full payment of the amounts payable in accordance with
the Trust Agreement upon liquidation of the Issuer.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, this Guarantee
Agreement will continue to be effective or will be reinstated, as the case may
be, if at any time any Holder must restore payment of any sums paid with
respect to Preferred Securities or this Guarantee Agreement.  The obligations of the Guarantor under Sections
3.3 and 3.4 shall survive any such termination or the resignation
and removal of the Guarantee Trustee.

 

ARTICLE VIII

 

MISCELLANEOUS

 

SECTION 8.1.  Successors and Assigns.

 

All guarantees and
agreements contained in this Guarantee Agreement shall bind the successors,
assigns, receivers, trustees and representatives of the Guarantor and shall
inure to the benefit of the Holders of the Preferred Securities then
outstanding.  Except in connection with a

 

15

 

consolidation,
merger or sale involving the Guarantor that is permitted under Article VIII
of the Indenture and pursuant to which the successor or assignee agrees in
writing to perform the Guarantor’s obligations hereunder, the Guarantor shall
not assign its rights or delegate its obligations hereunder without the prior
approval of the Holders of a Majority in Liquidation Amount of the Preferred
Securities.

 

SECTION 8.2.  Amendments.

 

Except with respect to
any changes that do not adversely affect the rights of the Holders in any
material respect (in which case no consent of the Holders will be required),
this Guarantee Agreement may only be amended with the prior approval of the
Guarantor, the Guarantee Trustee and the Holders of not less than a Majority in
Liquidation Amount of the Preferred Securities. 
The provisions of Article VI of the Trust Agreement concerning
meetings or consents of the Holders shall apply to the giving of such approval.

 

SECTION 8.3.  Notices.

 

Any notice, request or
other communication required or permitted to be given hereunder shall be in
writing, duly signed by the party giving such notice, and delivered, telecopied
or mailed by first class mail as follows:

 

(a)                                  if
given to the Guarantor, to the address or facsimile number set forth below or
such other address, facsimile number or to the attention of such other Person
as the Guarantor may give notice to the Guarantee Trustee and the Holders:

 

American
Equity Investment Life Insurance Company

5000 Westown
Parkway, Suite 440

West Des
Moines, IA 50266

Facsimile No.:
(515) 221-0744

Attention:
Wendy Carlson

 

(b)                                 if
given to the Issuer, at the Issuer’s address or facsimile number set forth
below or such other address, facsimile number or to the attention of such other
Person as the Issuer may give notice to the Guarantee Trustee and the Holders:

 

American
Equity Capital Trust X

5000 Westown
Parkway, Suite 440

West Des
Moines, IA 50266

Facsimile No.:
(515) 221-0744

Attention:
Wendy Carlson

 

(c)                                  if
given to the Guarantee Trustee, at the address or facsimile number set forth
below or such other address, facsimile number or to the attention of such other
Person as the Guarantee Trustee may give notice to the Guarantor and the
Holders:

 

16

 

JPMorgan Chase
Bank, National Association

600 Travis, 50th
Floor

Houston, Texas
77002

Facsimile No.:
713-216-2101

Attention:
International Trust Services -

   American Equity Capital Trust X

 

(d)                                 if
given to any Holder, at the address set forth on the books and records of the
Issuer.

 

All notices hereunder
shall be deemed to have been given when received in person, telecopied with
receipt confirmed, or mailed by first class mail, postage prepaid, except that
if a notice or other document is refused delivery or cannot be delivered
because of a changed address of which no notice was given, such notice or other
document shall be deemed to have been delivered on the date of such refusal or
inability to deliver.

 

SECTION 8.4.  Benefit.

 

This Guarantee Agreement is
solely for the benefit of the Holders and is not separately transferable from
the Preferred Securities.

 

SECTION 8.5.  Governing Law.

 

This Guarantee Agreement and the
rights and obligations of each party hereto, shall be construed and enforced in
accordance with and governed by the laws of the State of New York without
reference to its conflict of laws provisions (other than Section 5-1401 of
the General Obligations Law).

 

SECTION 8.6.  Submission
to Jurisdiction.

 

ANY LEGAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING BY OR AGAINST ANY PARTY
HERETO OR WITH RESPECT TO OR ARISING OUT OF THIS GUARANTEE AGREEMENT MAY BE
BROUGHT IN OR REMOVED TO THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, IN AND FOR THE
COUNTY OF NEW YORK, OR OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE SOUTHERN
DISTRICT OF NEW YORK (IN EACH CASE SITTING IN THE BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN). BY
EXECUTION AND DELIVERY OF THIS GUARANTEE AGREEMENT, EACH PARTY ACCEPTS, FOR
ITSELF AND IN RESPECT OF ITS PROPERTY, GENERALLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY, THE
JURISDICTION OF THE AFORESAID COURTS (AND COURTS OF APPEALS THEREFROM) FOR
LEGAL PROCEEDINGS ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS GUARANTEE
AGREEMENT.

 

SECTION 8.7.  Counterparts.

 

This instrument may be
executed in any number of counterparts, each of which so executed shall be
deemed to be an original, but all such counterparts shall together constitute
but one and the same instrument.

 

17

 

SECTION 8.8.  Severability.

 

In the event that one or
more of the provisions contained in this Guarantee Agreement shall, for any
reason, be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, such
invalidity, illegality or unenforceability shall not affect any other
provisions of this Guarantee, but this Guarantee shall be construed as if such
invalid, illegal or unenforceable provision had never been contained herein.

 

[Signature pages follow.]

 

18

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the
undersigned have executed this Guarantee Agreement as of the date first above
written.

 

	
   

  	
  AMERICAN
  EQUITY INVESTMENT LIFE HOLDING COMPANY

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By:

  	
  /s/ Debra J. Richardson

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
      Name: Debra J. Richardson

  
	
   

  	
      Title: Secretary & Senior Vice
  President

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

  not in its individual capacity, but solely as

  Guarantee Trustee

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  By:

  	
  /s/ Shelly A. Sterling

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
      Name: Shelly A.
  Sterling

  
	
   

  	
      Title: Vice
  President

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