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This excerpt taken from the CB DEF 14A filed Mar 23, 2006. however, that, unless the Committee
determines otherwise, no such modification shall be made if the effect would be
to cause an Award intended to qualify for the performance-based compensation
exception to Section 162(m) of the Code to fail to so qualify.
A-3 4. ELIGIBILITY. Awards under the Plan for any Fiscal Year may be granted to those Employees who shall be selected by the Committee after consideration of managements recommendations. 5. TERMS OF AWARDS. The Committee shall specify with respect to a Fiscal Year the Performance Goals applicable to each Award. Award levels may be expressed as a dollar amount or as a percentage of a Participants base salary or as a percentage of a bonus pool. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, in no event shall the maximum Award payable with respect to a Fiscal Year to any Participant exceed $7,500,000. The Committee may reduce or eliminate any Award under the Plan, but in no event may the Committee increase the amount of an Award payable to a Covered Employee upon attainment of the applicable Performance Goals and no reduction of any Award shall operate to increase an Award payable to a Covered Employee. The Committee may grant Awards to Employees who become new Participants during a Fiscal Year and such Awards may be contingent upon the achievement of Performance Goals over a period of less than a Fiscal Year. In the case of any Employee who becomes a Participant during a Fiscal Year, the maximum Award payable of $7,500,000 for the Fiscal Year shall be prorated based upon the portion of the Fiscal Year remaining after the Employee becomes a Participant. 6. AWARD DETERMINATION. As soon as administratively practicable after the completion of a Fiscal Year (but in no case later than March 31st of the calendar year immediately following the completion of the Fiscal Year), the Committee shall certify the achievement of the Performance Goals with respect to the Covered Employees and approve Award payments to Participants based upon the achievement of the Performance Goals and upon managements assessment of the Participants individual performance during the Fiscal Year. The Committee shall have the authority to increase the Awards payable to Participants other than Covered Employees in excess of the amounts that would be payable based upon the achievement of the Performance Goals, but in no case may the Committee increase a Covered Employees Award over the amount payable to such Covered Employee based on the achievement of the Performance Goals. Except as provided in Section 8 with respect to deferred Awards, Participants must be employed by an Employer as of the Award payment date or will forfeit the Award, provided, that if the Participants employment is terminated prior to the payment date by reason of death, Retirement, Disability, or any other reason with the consent of the Committee, the Committee, in its sole discretion, may provide for an Award payment to that Participant or the Participants Designated Beneficiary, if applicable. 7. FORM OF PAYMENT. All Awards approved by the Committee for payment, unless deferred under Section 8, shall be paid in cash. 8. DEFERRALS. (a) From time to time, Participants may be offered the opportunity to defer, in a manner intended to comply with Section 409A of the Code, receipt of all or a portion of their Award, if any, into a deferred compensation plan. (b) Any Award (or portion thereof) deferred shall be governed by the terms of the deferred compensation plan once deferred. (c) Any Award which is deferred shall not be funded, but shall constitute a general, unsecured obligation of the Corporation. 9. EFFECT OF A CHANGE IN CONTROL. Upon or immediately preceding the occurrence of a Change in Control, notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the following provisions shall apply: (a) If the Change in Control occurs after the end of a Fiscal Year but prior to the determination and/or payment of Awards pursuant to Section 6 for such Fiscal Year, each Participant employed by an Employer as of the date of the Change in Control shall be entitled to a payment, or shall be credited with a payment under the applicable deferred compensation plan if the Participant elected to A-4 defer payment of his or her Award, in respect of his or her Award for such Fiscal Year within 10 days following the Change in Control, and shall be notified immediately prior to the Change in Control of the payment or credit to be made, if any, in respect of his or her Award for such Fiscal Year. (b) In respect of the Fiscal Year in which the Change in Control occurs, each Participant employed by an Employer as of the date of the Change in Control shall be entitled to a pro-rated payment, or shall be credited with a payment under the applicable deferred compensation plan if the Participant elected to defer payment of his or her Award, in respect of his or her Award for such Fiscal Year equal to the product of (i) the greater of (A) the Participants target Award in respect of such Fiscal Year or (B) the actual Award projected by the Committee to be earned by the Participant in respect of such Fiscal Year, based on the results achieved for the portion of such Fiscal Year through the date of the Change in Control, in either case, multiplied by (ii) a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of days the Participant has been employed during such Fiscal Year prior to the Change in Control, and the denominator of which is 365. If a Participants target Award for the Fiscal Year has not been established by the Committee prior to the occurrence of the Change in Control, then for purposes of this Section 9(b), the Participants target Award in respect of the Fiscal Year in which the Change in Control occurs shall be deemed to be equal to the Participants target Award for the preceding Fiscal Year. Payments of Awards made pursuant to this Section 9(b), or credits under a deferred compensation plan if the Participant elected to defer payment of his or her Award, shall be made within 10 days following the Change in Control. (c) Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Committee has provided for an Award payment to be made to Participant who has terminated employment prior to the occurrence of the Change in Control, such payment shall not be made on an accelerated basis as a result of the Change in Control if such payment would result in taxation to the Participant under Section 409A of the Code. In such case, the payment shall be made at the time previously determined by the Committee or at such earlier time that would not result in taxation to the Participant under Section 409A of the Code. 10. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS. The following miscellaneous provisions are applicable to this Plan: (a) The rights and interests of a Participant under the Plan may not be assigned, encumbered or transferred, except to the Participants Designated Beneficiary in the event of the death of a Participant. (b) No employee or other person shall have any claim or right to be granted an Award under the Plan, and there is no obligation for uniformity of treatment for Participants. Neither the Plan nor any action taken thereunder shall be construed as giving any employee or other person any right to be retained in the employ of the Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries or Affiliates. (c) The Corporation shall have the right to deduct from all payments made under the Plan any taxes or other amounts required by law to be withheld with respect to such payments. (d) The validity, construction, interpretation, administration and effect of the Plan and of its rules and regulations, and rights relating to the Plan, shall be determined solely in accordance with the laws of the State of New Jersey (without reference to the principles of conflicts of law). 11. COMPLIANCE WITH 162(m). With regard to all Covered Employees, the Plan shall for all purposes be interpreted and construed in accordance with Section 162(m) of the Code. Unless otherwise specifically determined by the Committee, if any provision of the Plan would cause the Awards granted to a Covered Employee to fail to qualify for the performance-based compensation exception under Section 162(m) of the Code, that provision, insofar as it pertains to the Covered Employee, shall be severed from, and shall be deemed not to be a part of this Plan, but the other provisions hereof shall remain in full force and effect. A-5 12. AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION. The Board of Directors may amend, suspend, or terminate any or all provisions of the Plan at any time, provided that no such amendment, suspension or termination shall adversely affect, without a Participants consent, any Award previously granted to such Participant. Unless specifically determined otherwise by the Board of Directors, no amendment to the Plan shall be made that would cause the compensation payable under the Plan to fail to satisfy the requirements of the performance-based compensation exception of Section 162(m) of the Code and no amendment to the Plan or any Award shall be made without shareholder approval to the extent shareholder approval is necessary to satisfy the performance-based compensation exception of Section 162(m) of the Code. 13. OTHER PLANS OR PAYMENTS. Nothing in the Plan shall be construed as limiting the authority of the Committee, the Board of Directors, the Corporation or any Subsidiary or Affiliate, to establish any other deferred compensation plan or as in any way limiting their authority to pay bonuses or other supplemental compensation to any persons employed by the Corporation or a Subsidiary or Affiliate, whether or not such person is a Participant in this Plan and regardless of how the amount of such compensation or bonus is determined. A-6 |
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