Document:

Exhibit 10.34

      

      

      AMENDMENT TO EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

       

      THIS AMENDMENT TO EMPLOYMENT (the “Amendment”) is made and entered into this 14th day of March, 2022 (the “Effective Date”), by and among FinWise Bancorp, a Utah community bank holding
        company ("Holding Company"), its wholly-owned subsidiary, FinWise Bank f/k/a Utah Community Bank, a Utah corporation (the “Bank”) and David Tilis, and individual ("Executive”).  Holding Company, Bank and Executive are sometimes individually
        referred to hereafter as a “Party” and collectively referred to as the “Parties.” Capitalized terms not defined in this Amendment shall have the meaning set forth in the Employment Agreement.

       

      RECITALS

       

      WHEREAS, Executive entered into an Employment Agreement, dated January 1, 2018 (the "Agreement"), whereby Executive would be employed under the terms and subject to the conditions set forth
        thereon.

       

      WHEREAS, Section 2 of the Agreement sets for the Term of Employment for Executive.

       

      WHEREAS, the Parties desire to amend Section 2 as set forth herein.

       

      NOW, THEREFORE, FOR AND IN CONSIDERATION of the mutual promises and covenants hereinafter set forth, this Amendment and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which
        is hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto agree to amend and confirm the Agreement as follows:

      

      

      1.          Amendment.  Section 2 of the Agreement is hereby amended with the following:

      

      

      Subject to the terms hereof the term of this agreement, Executive’s employment under this Agreement shall commence on January 1, 2018 (the “Effective Date”)
        and shall continue until March 31, 2022 (the “Term”) unless earlier terminated pursuant to the provisions hereof..

      

      

      2.          Effect of Amendment.  This Amendment is incorporated in and supersedes all contrary terms of the Agreement with
        respect to the items addressed herein.  Except as specifically modified by this Amendment, all other terms and provisions in the Agreement, shall remain in full force and effect. The Agreement and this Amendment contain the entire understanding and
        agreement of the Parties related to the subject matter hereof and thereof, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous oral and written agreements or understanding with respect to the subject matter hereof and thereof.  In the event of any conflict
        between the provisions of this Amendment and the provisions of the Agreement, this Amendment will control.

      

      

      3.          Miscellaneous.  Each party represents and warrants that it has the power and authority to execute this Amendment.
        This Amendment may be signed in counterpart or duplicate copies, and any signed counterpart or duplicate copy shall be equivalent to a signed original for all purposes.

       

      

      
        
          

      

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Holding Company, Bank and Executive have hereto caused this Agreement to be executed on or as of the day and year above first written.

      

      

      	
              EXECUTIVE:

            	
              HOLDING COMPANY:

            	 
	 	
              FinWise Bancorp, a Utah bank holding company

            	 
	 	 	 
	
              /s/ David Tilis

            	 	
              By:  

            	/s/ Kent Landvatter	 
	
              David Tilis

            	
              Its:  President

            	 
	 	 	 

      	
              BANK:

            	 
	FinWise Bank, a Utah community bank	 
	 	 
	
              By:  

              

            	/s/ Kent Landvatter	 
	
              Its:   President​

Exhibit 4.1
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DESCRIPTION OF SECURITIES
We are a Cayman Islands exempted company and our affairs are governed by our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands (the “Companies Act”) and the common law of the Cayman Islands. Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we are authorized to issue 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares and 20,000,000 Class B ordinary shares, as well as 1,000,000 preference shares, $0.0001 par value each. The following description summarizes certain terms of our shares as set out more particularly in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association.  The following summary does not purport to be complete and is subject to, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to, the applicable provisions of the Companies Act and the common law of the Cayman Islands and our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, a copy of which is included as an exhibit to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of which this exhibit is a part.
Ordinary Shares
Ordinary shareholders of record are entitled to one vote for each share held on all matters to be voted on by shareholders. Except as described below, holders of Class A ordinary shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares will vote together as a single class on all matters submitted to a vote of our shareholders except as required by law, the applicable rules of Nasdaq then in effect or as otherwise specified herein. Unless specified in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, as required by applicable provisions of the Companies Act or applicable stock exchange rules or as otherwise specified herein, the affirmative vote of a majority of our ordinary shares that are voted is required to approve any such matter voted on by our shareholders. Approval of certain actions will require a special resolution under Cayman Islands law, being the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our ordinary shares that are voted, and pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association; such actions include amending our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and approving a statutory merger or consolidation with another company. There is no cumulative voting with respect to the appointment of directors, with the result that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voted for the appointment of directors can appoint all of the directors. Our shareholders are entitled to receive ratable dividends when, as and if declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available therefor.
Because our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes the issuance of up to 200,000,000 Class A ordinary shares, if we were to enter into a business combination, we may (depending on the terms of such a business combination) be required to increase the number of Class A ordinary shares which we are authorized to issue at the same time as our shareholders vote on the business combination to the extent we seek shareholder approval in connection with our initial business combination.
In accordance with Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, we are not required to hold an annual meeting until no later than one year after our first fiscal year end following our listing on Nasdaq. As an exempted company, there is no requirement under the Companies Act for us to hold annual or extraordinary general meetings to appoint directors. We may not hold an annual or extraordinary general meeting to appoint new directors prior to the consummation of our initial business combination. Prior to the completion of an initial business combination, any vacancy on the board of directors may be filled by a nominee chosen by holders of a majority of our founder shares. In addition, prior to the completion of an initial business combination, holders of a majority of our founder shares may remove a member of the board of directors for any reason.
We will provide our shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their public shares upon the completion of our initial business combination at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account as of two business days prior to the consummation of our initial business combination including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise and income taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares,
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subject to the limitations described herein. The per-share amount we will distribute to investors who properly redeem their shares will not be reduced by the deferred underwriting commissions we will pay to the underwriters in our initial public offering. Our sponsor has entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which it has agreed to waive its redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by it in connection with the completion of our business combination. However, if our sponsor acquires public shares in or after our initial public offering, it will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to consummate an initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. Unlike many blank check companies that hold shareholder votes and conduct proxy solicitations in conjunction with their initial business combinations and provide for related redemptions of public shares for cash upon completion of such initial business combinations even when a vote is not required by law, if a shareholder vote is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will, pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, conduct the redemptions pursuant to the tender offer rules of the SEC, and file tender offer documents with the SEC prior to completing our initial business combination. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association requires these tender offer documents to contain substantially the same financial and other information about the initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under the SEC’s proxy rules. If, however, shareholder approval of the transaction is required by law, or we decide to obtain shareholder approval for business or other legal reasons, we will, like many blank check companies, offer to redeem shares in conjunction with a proxy solicitation pursuant to the proxy rules and not pursuant to the tender offer rules. If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. A quorum for such meeting will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of outstanding ordinary shares of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding ordinary shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting. However, the participation of our sponsor or its advisors or affiliates in privately-negotiated transactions, if any, could result in the approval of our business combination even if a majority of our public shareholders vote, or indicate their intention to vote, against such business combination. For purposes of seeking approval of the majority of our outstanding ordinary shares voted, non-votes will have no effect on the approval of our business combination once a quorum is obtained. We intend to give approximately 30 days (but not less than 10 days nor more than 60 days) prior written notice of any such meeting, if required, at which a vote shall be taken to approve our business combination. These quorum and voting thresholds, and the voting agreements of our sponsor, may make it more likely that we will consummate our initial business combination.
If we seek shareholder approval of our initial business combination and we do not conduct redemptions in connection with our business combination pursuant to the tender offer rules, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a public shareholder, together with any affiliate of such 
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shareholder or any other person with whom such shareholder is acting in concert or as a “group” (as defined under Section 13 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”)), will be restricted from redeeming its shares with respect to more than an aggregate of 15% of the ordinary shares sold in the initial public offering (“Excess Shares”). However, we would not be restricting our shareholders’ ability to vote all of their shares (including Excess Shares) for or against our business combination. Our shareholders’ inability to redeem the Excess Shares will reduce their influence over our ability to complete our business combination, and such shareholders could suffer a material loss in their investment if they sell such Excess Shares on the open market. Additionally, such shareholders will not receive redemption distributions with respect to the Excess Shares if we complete the business combination. And, as a result, such shareholders will continue to hold that number of shares exceeding 15% and, in order to dispose such shares would be required to sell their shares in open market transactions, potentially at a loss.
If we seek shareholder approval, we will complete our initial business combination only if we receive approval pursuant to an ordinary resolution under Cayman Islands law, which requires the affirmative vote of a majority of the shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company. In such case, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed to vote their founder shares and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination. Additionally, each public shareholder may elect to redeem its public shares irrespective of whether they vote for or against the proposed transaction (subject to the limitation described in the preceding paragraph).
Pursuant to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, if we are unable to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter subject to lawfully available funds therefor, redeem the public shares, at a per share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our franchise taxes, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), subject to applicable law, and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to our obligations under Delaware law to provide for claims of creditors and the requirements of other applicable law. Our sponsor, directors and executive officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering. However, if our sponsor, directors and executive officers acquire public shares in or after our initial public offering, they will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to such public shares if we fail to complete our business combination within the prescribed time period.
In the event of a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the company after a business combination, our shareholders are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining available for distribution to them after payment of liabilities and after provision is made for each class of shares, if any, having preference over the ordinary shares. Our shareholders have no preemptive or other subscription rights. There are no sinking fund provisions applicable to the ordinary shares, except that we will provide our shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares for cash equal to their pro rata share of the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, upon the completion of our initial business combination, subject to the limitations described herein.
Founder Shares
The founder shares are identical to the Class A ordinary shares, and our sponsor, directors and executive officers have the same shareholder rights as public shareholders, except that (i) the founder shares are subject to certain transfer restrictions, as described in more detail below, (ii) our sponsor, directors and executive officers have entered into a letter agreement with us, pursuant to which they have agreed (A) to waive their redemption rights with respect to any founder shares and any public shares held by them in connection with the completion of our business combination, (B) to waive their rights to liquidating distributions from the trust
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account with respect to any founder shares held by them if we fail to complete our business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, although our sponsor, directors and executive officers will be entitled to liquidating distributions from the trust account with respect to any public shares they hold if we fail to complete our business combination within such time period, (C) not to propose any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, unless we provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their shares, (iii) the founder shares are our Class B ordinary shares that will automatically convert into our Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination, or at any time prior thereto at the option of our sponsor, on a one-for-one basis, subject to adjustment pursuant to certain anti-dilution rights, as described herein and (iv) founder shares are subject to registration rights. If we submit our business combination to our public shareholders for a vote, our sponsor and our independent directors have agreed to vote any founder shares held by them and any public shares purchased during or after our initial public offering in favor of our initial business combination.
The Class B ordinary shares will automatically convert into Class A ordinary shares at the time of our initial business combination on a one-for-one basis (subject to adjustment for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like), and subject to further adjustment as provided herein. In the case that additional Class A ordinary shares, or equity-linked securities, are issued or deemed issued in connection with the closing of the business combination, including pursuant to a specified future issuance, the ratio at which Class B ordinary shares shall convert into Class A ordinary shares will be adjusted (unless our Class B ordinary shareholders agree to waive such adjustment with respect to any such issuance or deemed issuance, including a specified future issuance) so that the number of Class A ordinary shares issuable upon conversion of all Class B ordinary shares will equal, in the aggregate, 20% of the sum of the total number of Class A ordinary shares outstanding after such conversion plus all Class A ordinary shares and equity-linked securities issued or deemed issued in connection with the business combination (after giving effect to any redemptions of Class A ordinary shares by public shareholders) (excluding any Class A ordinary shares or equity-linked securities issued, or to be issued, to any seller in the business combination, the private placement shares, and any private placement shares issued to our sponsor, officers or directors upon conversion of working capital loans). Our Class B ordinary shareholders may also elect to convert their shares of Class B ordinary shares into an equal number of shares of Class A ordinary shares, subject to adjustment as provided above, at any time.
With certain limited exceptions, the founder shares are not transferable, assignable or salable (except to our officers and directors and other persons or entities affiliated with our sponsor, each of whom will be subject to the same transfer restrictions) until the earlier of (A) one year after the completion of our initial business combination or (B) subsequent to our initial business combination, (x) if the last sale price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per ordinary share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, or (y) the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property.
Register of Members
Under the Companies Act, we must keep a register of members and there should be entered therein:
(i) the names and addresses of the members of the company, a statement of the shares held by each member, which:
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(a) distinguishes each share by its number (so long as the share has a number);
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(b) confirms the amount paid, or agreed to be considered as paid, on the shares of each member; confirms the number and category of shares held by each member; and
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(c) confirms whether each relevant category of shares held by a member carries voting rights under the amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, and if so, whether such voting rights are conditional;
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(ii) the date on which the name of any person was entered on the register as a member; and
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(iii) the date on which any person ceased to be a member.
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For these purposes, “voting rights” means rights conferred on shareholders, including the right to appoint or remove directors, in respect of their shares to vote at general meetings of the company on all or substantially all matters. A voting right is conditional where the voting right arises only in certain circumstances.
Under Cayman Islands law, the register of members of our company is prima facie evidence of the matters set out therein (i.e. the register of members will raise a presumption of fact on the matters referred to above unless rebutted) and a member registered in the register of members will be deemed as a matter of Cayman Islands law to have legal title to the shares as set against its name in the register of members. However, there are certain limited circumstances where an application may be made to a Cayman Islands court for a determination on whether the register of members reflects the correct legal position.
Further, the Cayman Islands court has the power to order that the register of members maintained by a company should be rectified where it considers that the register of members does not reflect the correct legal position. If an application for an order for rectification of the register of members were made in respect of our ordinary shares, then the validity of such shares may be subject to re-examination by a Cayman Islands court.
Preference Shares
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association authorizes 1,000,000 preference shares and provides that preference shares may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Our board of directors is authorized to fix the voting rights, if any, designations, powers, preferences, the relative, participating, optional or other special rights and any qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, applicable to the shares each series. Our board of directors is able to, without shareholder approval, issue preference shares with voting and other rights that could adversely affect the voting power and other rights of the holders of the ordinary shares and could have anti-takeover effects. The ability of our board of directors to issue preference shares without shareholder approval could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of us or the removal of our management team.
Dividends
We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares to date and do not intend to pay cash dividends prior to the completion of a business combination. The payment of cash dividends in the future will be dependent upon our revenues and earnings, if any, capital requirements and general financial condition subsequent to completion of a business combination. The payment of any cash dividends subsequent to a business combination will be within the discretion of our board of directors at such time, and we will only pay such dividend out of our profits or share premium (subject to solvency requirements) as permitted under Cayman Islands law
If we incur any indebtedness, our ability to declare dividends may be limited by restrictive covenants we may agree to in connection therewith.
Our Transfer Agent
The transfer agent for our ordinary shares is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company. We have agreed to indemnify Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company in its roles as transfer agent, its agents and each of its shareholders, directors, officers and employees against all claims and losses that may arise out of acts performed or omitted for its activities in that capacity, except for any claims and losses due to any gross negligence, bad faith or willful misconduct of the indemnified person or entity.
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Certain Differences in Corporate Law
Cayman Islands companies are governed by the Companies Act. The Companies Act is modeled on English Law but does not follow recent English Law statutory enactments, and differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of certain differences between the provisions of the Companies Act applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements. In certain circumstances, the Companies Act allows for mergers or consolidations between two Cayman Islands companies, or between a Cayman Islands exempted company and a company incorporated in another jurisdiction (provided that is facilitated by the laws of that other jurisdiction).
Where the merger or consolidation is between two Cayman Islands companies, the directors of each company must approve and enter into a written plan of merger or consolidation containing certain prescribed information. That plan or merger or consolidation must then be authorized by either (a) a special resolution (usually a majority of two-thirds in value of the voting shares voted at a general meeting) of the shareholders of each company; or (b) such other authorization, if any, as may be specified in such constituent company’s articles of association. No shareholder resolution is required for a merger between a parent company (i.e., a company that owns at least 90% of the issued ordinary shares of each class in a subsidiary company) and its subsidiary company. The consent of each holder of a fixed or floating security interest of a constituent company must be obtained, unless the court waives such requirement. If the Cayman Islands Registrar of Companies is satisfied that the requirements of the Companies Act (which includes certain other formalities) have been complied with, the Registrar of Companies will register the plan of merger or consolidation.
Where the merger or consolidation involves a foreign company, the procedure is similar, save that with respect to the foreign company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the merger or consolidation is permitted or not prohibited by the constitutional documents of the foreign company and by the laws of the jurisdiction in which the foreign company is incorporated, and that those laws and any requirements of those constitutional documents have been or will be complied with; (ii) that no petition or other similar proceeding has been filed and remains outstanding or order made or resolution adopted to wind up or liquidate the foreign company in any jurisdictions; (iii) that no receiver, trustee, administrator or other similar person has been appointed in any jurisdiction and is acting in respect of the foreign company, its affairs or its property or any part thereof; and (iv) that no scheme, order, compromise or other similar arrangement has been entered into or made in any jurisdiction whereby the rights of creditors of the foreign company are and continue to be suspended or restricted.
Where the surviving company is the Cayman Islands exempted company, the directors of the Cayman Islands exempted company are further required to make a declaration to the effect that, having made due enquiry, they are of the opinion that the requirements set out below have been met: (i) that the foreign company is able to pay its debts as they fall due and that the merger or consolidated is bona fide and not intended to defraud unsecured creditors of the foreign company; (ii) that in respect of the transfer of any security interest granted by the foreign company to the surviving or consolidated company (a) consent or approval to the transfer has been obtained, released or waived; (b) the transfer is permitted by and has been approved in accordance with the constitutional documents of the foreign company; and (c) the laws of the jurisdiction of the foreign company with respect to the transfer have been or will be complied with; (iii) that the foreign company will, upon the merger or consolidation becoming effective, cease to be incorporated, registered or exist under the laws of the relevant foreign jurisdiction; and (iv) that there is no other reason why it would be against the public interest to permit the merger or consolidation.
Where the above procedures are adopted, the Companies Act provides certain limited appraisal rights for dissenting shareholders to be paid a payment of the fair value of his shares upon their dissenting to the merger or consolidation if they follow a prescribed procedure. In essence, that procedure is as follows: (a) the shareholder must give his written objection to the merger or consolidation to the constituent company before the vote on the merger or consolidation, including a statement that the shareholder proposes to demand payment for his shares if the merger or consolidation is authorized by the vote; (b) within 20 days following
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the date on which the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the constituent company must give written notice to each shareholder who made a written objection; (c) a shareholder must within 20 days following receipt of such notice from the constituent company, give the constituent company a written notice of his intention to dissent including, among other details, a demand for payment of the fair value of his shares; (d) within seven days following the date of the expiration of the period set out in paragraph (b) above or seven days following the date on which the plan of merger or consolidation is filed, whichever is later, the constituent company, the surviving company or the consolidated company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a price that the company determines is the fair value and if the company and the shareholder agree the price within 30 days following the date on which the offer was made, the company must pay the shareholder such amount; and (e) if the company and the shareholder fail to agree a price within such 30 day period, within 20 days following the date on which such 30 day period expires, the company (and any dissenting shareholder) must file a petition with the Cayman Islands Grand Court to determine the fair value and such petition must be accompanied by a list of the names and addresses of the dissenting shareholders with whom agreements as to the fair value of their shares have not been reached by the company. At the hearing of that petition, the court has the power to determine the fair value of the shares together with a fair rate of interest, if any, to be paid by the company upon the amount determined to be the fair value. Any dissenting shareholder whose name appears on the list filed by the company may participate fully in all proceedings until the determination of fair value is reached. These rights of a dissenting shareholder are not available in certain circumstances, for example, to dissenters holding ordinary shares of any class in respect of which an open market exists on a recognized stock exchange or recognized interdealer quotation system at the relevant date or where the consideration for such ordinary shares to be contributed are shares of any company listed on a national securities exchange or ordinary shares of the surviving or consolidated company.
Moreover, Cayman Islands law has separate statutory provisions that facilitate the reconstruction or amalgamation of companies in certain circumstances, schemes of arrangement will generally be more suited for complex mergers or other transactions involving widely held companies, commonly referred to in the Cayman Islands as a “scheme of arrangement” which may be tantamount to a merger.
In the event that a merger was sought pursuant to a scheme of arrangement (the procedures for which are more rigorous and take longer to complete than the procedures typically required to consummate a merger in the United States), the arrangement in question must be approved by a majority in number of each class of shareholders and creditors with whom the arrangement is to be made and who must in addition represent three-fourths in value of each such class of shareholders or creditors, as the case may be, that are present and voting either in person or by proxy at an annual general meeting, or extraordinary general meeting summoned for that purpose. The convening of the meetings and subsequently the terms of the arrangement must be sanctioned by the Grand Court of the Cayman Islands. While a dissenting shareholder would have the right to express to the court the view that the transaction should not be approved, the court can be expected to approve the arrangement if it satisfies itself that:
· we are not proposing to act illegally or beyond the scope of our corporate authority and the statutory provisions as to majority vote have been complied with;
· the shareholders have been fairly represented at the meeting in question;
· the arrangement is such as a businessman would reasonably approve; and
· the arrangement is not one that would more properly be sanctioned under some other provision of the Companies Act or that would amount to a “fraud on the minority.”
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If a scheme of arrangement or takeover offer (as described below) is approved, any dissenting shareholder would have no rights comparable to appraisal rights (providing rights to receive payment in cash for the judicially determined value of the shares), which would otherwise ordinarily be available to dissenting shareholders of United States corporations.
Squeeze-out Provisions. When a tender offer is made and accepted by holders of 90% of the shares to whom the offer relates within four months, the offeror may, within a two-month period, require the holders of the remaining shares to transfer such shares on the terms of the offer. An objection can be made to the Grand
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Court of the Cayman Islands, but this is unlikely to succeed unless there is evidence of fraud, bad faith, collusion or inequitable treatment of the shareholders.
Further, transactions similar to a merger, reconstruction and/or an amalgamation may in some circumstances be achieved through means other than these statutory provisions, such as a share capital exchange, asset acquisition or control, or through contractual arrangements of an operating business.
Shareholders’ Suits. Maples and Calder (Cayman) LLP, our Cayman Islands legal counsel, is not aware of any reported class action having been brought in a Cayman Islands court. Derivative actions have been brought in the Cayman Islands courts, and the Cayman Islands courts have confirmed the availability for such actions. In most cases, we will be the proper plaintiff in any claim based on a breach of duty owed to us, and a claim against (for example) our officers or directors usually may not be brought by a shareholder. However, based both on Cayman Islands authorities and on English authorities, which would in all likelihood be of persuasive authority and be applied by a court in the Cayman Islands, exceptions to the foregoing principle apply in circumstances in which:
· a company is acting, or proposing to act, illegally or ultra vires (beyond the scope of its authority);
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· the act complained of, although not beyond the scope of the authority, could be effected if duly authorized by more than the number of votes which have actually been obtained; or
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· those who control the company are perpetrating a “fraud on the minority.”
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A shareholder may have a direct right of action against us where the individual rights of that shareholder have been infringed or are about to be infringed.
Enforcement of Civil Liabilities. The Cayman Islands has a different body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides less protection to investors. Additionally, Cayman Islands companies may not have standing to sue before the Federal courts of the United States.
We have been advised by our Cayman Islands legal counsel that the courts of the Cayman Islands are unlikely (i) to recognize or enforce against us judgments of courts of the United States predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state; and (ii) in original actions brought in the Cayman Islands, to impose liabilities against us predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the federal securities laws of the United States or any state, so far as the liabilities imposed by those provisions are penal in nature. In those circumstances, although there is no statutory enforcement in the Cayman Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, the courts of the Cayman Islands will recognize and enforce a foreign money judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits based on the principle that a judgment of a competent foreign court imposes upon the judgment debtor an obligation to pay the sum for which judgment has been given provided certain conditions are met. For a foreign judgment to be enforced in the Cayman Islands, such judgment must be final and conclusive and for a liquidated sum, and must not be in respect of taxes or a fine or penalty, inconsistent with a Cayman Islands judgment in respect of the same matter, impeachable on the grounds of fraud or obtained in a manner, and or be of a kind the enforcement of which is, contrary to natural justice or the public policy of the Cayman Islands (awards of punitive or multiple damages may well be held to be contrary to public policy). A Cayman Islands Court may stay enforcement proceedings if concurrent proceedings are being brought elsewhere.
Special Considerations for Exempted Companies. We are an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Act. The Companies Act distinguishes between ordinary resident companies and exempted companies. Any company that is registered in the Cayman Islands but conducts business mainly outside of the Cayman Islands may apply to be registered as an exempted company. The requirements for an exempted company are essentially the same as for an ordinary company except for the exemptions and privileges listed below:
· an exempted company does not have to file an annual return of its shareholders with the Registrar of Companies;
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· an exempted company’s register of members is not open to inspection;
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· an exempted company does not have to hold an annual general meeting;
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· an exempted company may issue shares with no par value;
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· an exempted company may obtain an undertaking against the imposition of any future taxation (such undertakings are usually given for 20 years in the first instance);
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· an exempted company may register by way of continuation in another jurisdiction and be deregistered in the Cayman Islands;
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· an exempted company may register as a limited duration company; and an exempted company may register as a segregated portfolio company.
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“Limited liability” means that the liability of each shareholder is limited to the amount unpaid by the shareholder on the ordinary shares of the company (except in exceptional circumstances, such as involving fraud, the establishment of an agency relationship or an illegal or improper purpose or other circumstances in which a court may be prepared to pierce or lift the corporate veil).
Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association contains provisions designed to provide certain rights and protections that apply to us until the completion of our initial business combination. These provisions cannot be amended without a special resolution. As a matter of Cayman Islands law, a resolution is deemed to be a special resolution where it has been approved by either (i) the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (or any higher threshold specified in a company’s articles of association) of a company’s shareholders entitled to vote and so voting at a general meeting for which notice specifying the intention to propose the resolution as a special resolution has been given; or (ii) if so authorized by a company’s articles of association, by a unanimous written resolution of all of the company’s shareholders. Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that special resolutions must be approved either by at least two-thirds of our shareholders who attend and vote at a general meeting of the company (i.e., the lowest threshold permissible under Cayman Islands law), or by a unanimous written resolution of all of our shareholders.
Further, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that a quorum at our general meetings will consist of the holders present in person or by proxy of outstanding ordinary shares of the company representing a majority of the voting power of all outstanding ordinary shares of the company entitled to vote at such meeting; provided that a quorum in connection with any meeting that is convened to vote on a business combination or any amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association (A) that would modify the substance or timing of our obligation to allow redemption in connection with our initial business combination or to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or during any extended time that we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months as a result of a shareholder vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association or (B) with respect to any other provision relating to the rights of holders of our Class A ordinary shares or pre-initial business combination activity shall be a majority of the ordinary shares entitled to vote at such meeting being individuals present in person or by proxy or if a corporation or other non-natural person by its duly authorized representative or proxy.
Our sponsor and its permitted transferees, if any, will participate in any vote to amend our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association and will have the discretion to vote in any manner they choose. Specifically, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides, among other things, that:
· If we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, we will (i) cease all operations except for the purpose of winding up, (ii) as promptly as reasonably possible but no more than ten business days thereafter, redeem the public shares, at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest
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earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to fund our working capital requirements (less taxes payable and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses), divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, which redemption will completely extinguish public shareholders’ rights as shareholders (including the right to receive further liquidating distributions, if any), and (iii) as promptly as reasonably possible following such redemption, subject to the approval of our remaining shareholders and our board of directors, liquidate and dissolve, subject in each case, to our obligations under Cayman Islands law to provide for claims of creditors and in all cases subject to the requirements of other applicable law;
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· Prior to our initial business combination, we may not issue additional securities that would entitle the holders thereof to (i) receive funds from the trust account or (ii) vote as a class with our public shares (a) on our initial business combination or (b) to approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to (x) extend the time we have to consummate a business combination beyond 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering or (y) amend the foregoing provisions;
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· Although we do not intend to enter into a business combination with (a) a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor or any of our officers or directors or (b) a target business that we know or should reasonably know is affiliated with a member of our sponsor owning at least 5% of the membership interests in the sponsor, we are not prohibited from doing so. In the event (a) we enter into such a transaction, we, or a committee of independent and disinterested directors, will obtain an opinion from an independent investment banking firm which is a member of FINRA or a valuation or appraisal firm that such a business combination is fair to our company from a financial point of view;
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· If a shareholder vote on our initial business combination is not required by law and we do not decide to hold a shareholder vote for business or other legal reasons, we will offer to redeem our public shares pursuant to Rule 13e-4 and Regulation 14E of the Exchange Act, and will file tender offer documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) prior to completing our initial business combination which contain substantially the same financial and other information about our initial business combination and the redemption rights as is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act. Whether or not we maintain our registration under the Exchange Act or our listing on Nasdaq, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares by one of the two methods listed above;
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· We must complete one or more business combinations having an aggregate fair market value of at least 80% of the assets held in the trust account (excluding the deferred underwriting commissions and taxes payable on the income earned on the trust account) at the time of the agreement to enter into the initial business combination;
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· If our shareholders approve an amendment to our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association to modify the substance or timing of our obligation to redeem 100% of our public shares if we do not complete our initial business combination within 24 months from the closing of our initial public offering, or with respect to any other material provisions relating to shareholders’ rights or pre-initial business combination activity, we will provide our public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem all or a portion of their Class A common share upon such approval at a per-share price, payable in cash, equal to the aggregate amount then on deposit in the trust account, including interest earned on the funds held in the trust account and not previously released to us to pay our taxes and up to $100,000 of interest to pay dissolution expenses, divided by the number of then outstanding public shares, subject to the limitations described herein; and
· We will not effectuate our initial business combination with another blank check company or a similar company with nominal operations.
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In addition, our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that under no circumstances will we redeem our public shares in an amount that would cause our net tangible assets to be less than $5,000,001.
The Companies Act permits a company incorporated in the Cayman Islands to amend its memorandum and articles of association with the approval of a special resolution, which requires the approval of the holders of at least two-thirds of such company’s issued and outstanding ordinary shares who attend and vote at a general
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meeting or by way of unanimous written resolution. A company’s articles of association may specify that the approval of a higher majority is required but, provided the approval of the required majority is obtained, any Cayman Islands exempted company may amend its memorandum and articles of association regardless of whether its memorandum and articles of association provides otherwise. Accordingly, although we could amend any of the provisions relating to our structure and business plan which are contained in our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association, we view all of these provisions as binding obligations to our shareholders and neither we, nor our officers or directors, will take any action to amend or waive any of these provisions unless we provide dissenting public shareholders with the opportunity to redeem their public shares.
Anti-Money Laundering - Cayman Islands
If any person in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects, or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting, that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist financing and property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands, pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the Financial Reporting Authority, pursuant to the Terrorism Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands, if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.
Certain Anti-Takeover Provisions of our Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association
Our amended and restated memorandum and articles of association provides that our board of directors is classified into three classes of directors. As a result, in most circumstances, a person can gain control of our board only by successfully engaging in a proxy contest at two or more annual general meetings.
Our authorized but unissued Class A ordinary shares and preference shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved Class A ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Authorized but Unissued Ordinary Shares and Preference Shares
Our authorized but unissued ordinary shares and preference shares are available for future issuances without shareholder approval and could be utilized for a variety of corporate purposes, including future offerings to raise additional capital, acquisitions and employee benefit plans. The existence of authorized but unissued and unreserved ordinary shares and preference shares could render more difficult or discourage an attempt to obtain control of us by means of a proxy contest, tender offer, merger or otherwise.
Securities Eligible for Future Sale
The 27,500,000 Class A ordinary shares sold in our initial public offering are freely tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act, except for any Class A ordinary shares purchased by one of our affiliates within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act. All of the outstanding founder shares (6,875,000 founder shares) and all of the outstanding private placement shares (907,000 private placement shares) are restricted securities under Rule 144, in that they were issued in private transactions not involving a public offering.
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Rule 144
Pursuant to Rule 144, a person who has beneficially owned restricted shares for at least six months would be entitled to sell their securities provided that (i) such person is not deemed to have been one of our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale and (ii) we are subject to the Exchange Act periodic reporting requirements for at least three months before the sale and have filed all required reports under Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the 12 months (or such shorter period as we were required to file reports) preceding the sale.
Persons who have beneficially owned restricted shares for at least six months but who are our affiliates at the time of, or at any time during the three months preceding, a sale, would be subject to additional restrictions, by which such person would be entitled to sell within any three-month period only a number of securities that does not exceed the greater of:
· 1% of the total number of ordinary shares then outstanding; or
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· the average weekly reported trading volume of the Class A ordinary shares during the four calendar weeks preceding the filing of a notice on Form 144 with respect to the sale.
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Sales by our affiliates under Rule 144 are also limited by manner of sale provisions and notice requirements and to the availability of current public information about us.
Restrictions on the Use of Rule 144 by Shell Companies or Former Shell Companies
Rule 144 is not available for the resale of securities initially issued by shell companies (other than business combination related shell companies) or issuers that have been at any time previously a shell company. However, Rule 144 also includes an important exception to this prohibition if the following conditions are met:
· the issuer of the securities that was formerly a shell company has ceased to be a shell company;
· the issuer of the securities is subject to the reporting requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act;
· the issuer of the securities has filed all Exchange Act reports and material required to be filed, as applicable, during the preceding 12 months (or such shorter period that the issuer was required to file such reports and materials), other than Form 8-K reports; and
· at least one year has elapsed from the time that the issuer filed current Form 10 type information with the SEC reflecting its status as an entity that is not a shell company.
As a result, our sponsor will be able to sell their founder shares and our sponsor will be able to sell its private placement shares pursuant to Rule 144 without registration one year after we have completed our initial business combination.
Registration and Shareholder Rights
The holders of the founder shares and private placement shares that may be issued upon conversion of working capital loans (including shares issuable upon conversion of the founder shares), private placement shares issued to our sponsor simultaneously with the closing of our initial public offering are entitled to registration rights pursuant to a registration and shareholder rights agreement signed in conjunction with our initial public offering. The holders of these securities are entitled to make up to three demands, excluding short form demands, that the Company register such securities. In addition, the holders have certain “piggy-back” registration rights with respect to registration statements filed subsequent to our completion of our initial business combination. However, the registration and shareholder rights agreement provides that we will not permit any registration statement filed under the Securities Act to become effective until termination of the applicable lock-up period, which occurs (i) in the case of the founder shares, as described in the following paragraph, and (ii) in the case of the private placement shares, 30 days after the completion of our initial
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business combination. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.
Except as described herein, our sponsor and our directors and executive officers have agreed not to transfer, assign or sell any of their founder shares until (a) one year after the completion of our initial business combination, or (b) following the completion of the company’s initial business combination, the date on which we complete a liquidation, merger, share exchange, reorganization or other similar transaction that results in all of our shareholders having the right to exchange their Class A ordinary shares for cash, securities or other property. Any permitted transferees will be subject to the same restrictions and other agreements of our sponsor with respect to any founder shares. We refer to such transfer restrictions throughout this document as the lock-up. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the closing price of our Class A ordinary shares equals or exceeds $12.00 per ordinary share (as adjusted for share sub-divisions, share capitalizations, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after our initial business combination, the founder shares will be released from the lock-up.
In addition, pursuant to the registration and shareholder rights agreement, upon consummation of an initial business combination and for so long as our sponsor and its permitted transferees collectively hold at least 50% of the number of ordinary shares held by the sponsor upon the completion of our initial public offering (after giving appropriate effect to any share sub-divisions, reverse share sub-divisions or other similar corporate transactions, or any adjustment to the conversion rate of the founder shares in connection with an initial business combination) our sponsor, Fifth Wall, will be entitled to nominate one person for appointment to our board of directors.

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