NDAQ » Topics » Additional Reimbursement Payment by the Company

This excerpt taken from the NDAQ 10-K filed Feb 28, 2007.

Additional Reimbursement Payment by the Company

 

(a) Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, in the event it shall be determined that any payment, award, benefit or distribution (or any acceleration of any payment, award, benefit or distribution) by the Company (or any of its affiliated entities) or any entity which effectuates a Change in Control (or any of its affiliated entities) to or for the benefit of Executive (whether pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise, but determined without regard to any additional payments required under this Exhibit D) (the “Payments”) would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), or any interest or penalties are incurred by Executive with respect to such excise tax (such excise tax, together with any such interest and penalties, are hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Excise Tax”), then the Company shall pay to Executive an additional payment (a “Reimbursement Payment”) in an amount such that after payment by Executive of all taxes (including, without limitation, any income taxes and any interest and penalties imposed with respect thereto, and any excise tax) imposed upon the Reimbursement Payment, Executive retains an amount of the Reimbursement Payment equal to the Excise Tax imposed upon the Payments. For purposes of determining the amount of the Reimbursement Payment, Executive shall be deemed to (i) pay federal income taxes at the highest marginal rates of federal income taxation for the calendar year in which the Reimbursement Payment is to be made and (ii) pay applicable state and local income taxes at the highest marginal rate of taxation for the calendar year in which the Reimbursement Payment is to be made, net of the maximum reduction in federal income taxes which could be obtained from deduction of such state and local taxes. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the amount of the Reimbursement Payment exceed 300% of the amount that is equal to the sum of (A) the Base Salary paid to the Executive with respect to the calendar year immediately preceding the Executive’s Date of Termination and (B) the Annual Bonus for the calendar year immediately preceding the Executive’s Date of Termination.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, if it shall be determined that Executive is entitled to a Reimbursement Payment, but that the portion of the Payments that would be treated as “parachute payments” under Section 280G of the Code are less than 330% of the “base amount” as defined under Section 280G of the Code, then the amounts payable to Executive under this Agreement shall be reduced (but not below zero) to the maximum amount that could be paid to Executive without giving rise to the Excise Tax (the “Safe Harbor Cap”), and no Reimbursement Payment shall be made to Executive. The reduction of the amounts payable hereunder, if applicable, shall be made by reducing first the payments under Section 8(g)(i)(A), unless an alternative method of reduction is elected by Executive. For purposes of reducing the Payments to the Safe Harbor Cap, only amounts payable under this Agreement (and no other Payments) shall be reduced. If the reduction of the amounts payable hereunder would not result in a reduction of the Payments to the Safe Harbor Cap, no amounts payable under this Agreement shall be reduced pursuant to this provision.

 

 

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(b) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (a), all determinations required to be made under this Exhibit D, including whether and when a Reimbursement Payment is required, the amount of such Reimbursement Payment, the amount of any Option Redetermination (as defined below), the reduction of the Payments to the Safe Harbor Cap and the assumptions to be utilized in arriving at such determinations, shall be made by the public accounting firm that is retained by the Company as of the date immediately prior to the Change in Control (the “Accounting Firm”) which shall provide detailed supporting calculations both to the Company and Executive within ten (10) business days of the receipt of notice from the Company or Executive that there has been a Payment, or such earlier time as is requested by the Company (collectively, the “Determination”). Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event (i) the Board shall determine prior to the Change in Control that the Accounting Firm is precluded from performing such services under applicable auditor independence rules or (ii) the Audit Committee of the Board determines that it does not want the Accounting Firm to perform such services because of auditor independence concerns or (iii) the Accounting Firm is serving as accountant or auditor for the person(s) effecting the Change in Control, the Board shall appoint another nationally recognized public accounting firm to make the determinations required hereunder (which accounting firm shall then be referred to as the Accounting Firm hereunder). All fees and expenses of the Accounting Firm shall be borne solely by the Company and the Company shall enter into any agreement requested by the Accounting Firm in connection with the performance of the services hereunder.

 

The Reimbursement Payment under this Exhibit D with respect to any Payments shall be made no later than thirty (30) days following such Payment. If the Accounting Firm determines that no Excise Tax is payable by Executive, it shall furnish Executive with a written opinion to such effect, and to the effect that failure to report the Excise Tax, if any, on Executive’s applicable federal income tax return will not result in the imposition of a negligence or similar penalty. In the event the Accounting Firm determines that the Payments shall be reduced to the Safe Harbor Cap, it shall furnish Executive with a written opinion to such effect. The Determination by the Accounting Firm shall be binding upon the Company and Executive.

 

As a result of the uncertainty in the application of Section 4999 of the Code at the time of the Determination, it is possible that Reimbursement Payments which will not have been made by the Company should have been made (“Underpayment”) or Reimbursement Payments are made by the Company which should not have been made (“Overpayment”), consistent with the calculations required to be made hereunder. In the event the amount of the Reimbursement Payment is less than the amount necessary to reimburse Executive for the Excise Tax, the Accounting Firm shall determine the amount of the Underpayment that has occurred and any such Underpayment (together with interest at the rate provided in Section 1274(b)(2)(B) of the Code) shall be promptly paid by the Company to or for the benefit of Executive. In the event the amount of the Reimbursement Payment exceeds the amount necessary to reimburse Executive for the Excise Tax, the Accounting Firm shall determine the amount of the Overpayment that has been made and any such Overpayment (together with interest at the rate provided in Section 1274(b)(2) of the Code) shall be promptly paid by Executive (to the extent Executive has received a refund if the applicable Excise Tax has been paid to the Internal Revenue Service) to or for the benefit of the Company. Executive shall cooperate, to the extent Executive’s expenses are reimbursed by the Company, with any reasonable requests by the Company in connection

 

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with any contests or disputes with the Internal Revenue Service in connection with the Excise Tax.

 

(c) In the event that the Company makes a Reimbursement Payment to Executive and subsequently the Company determines that the value of any accelerated vesting of stock options held by Executive shall be redetermined pursuant to Treasury Regulation §1.280G-1 Q/A 33 (the “Option Redetermination”), Executive shall (i) file with the Internal Revenue Service an amended federal income tax return that claims a refund of the overpayment of the Excise Tax attributable to such Option Redetermination and (ii) promptly pay to the Company any excise tax which is refunded to Executive; provided, that the Company shall pay all reasonable professional fees incurred in the preparation of Executive’s amended federal income tax return. If the Option Redetermination occurs in the same year that the Reimbursement Payment is included in the Executive’s taxable income, then in addition to returning the refund to the Company, Executive will also promptly return to the Company any tax benefit realized by the return of such refund and the return of the additional tax benefit payment. In the event that amounts payable to Executive under this Agreement were reduced pursuant to the third sentence of this Exhibit D and subsequently Executive determines there has been an Option Redetermination that reduces the value of the Payments attributable to such options, the Company shall promptly pay to Executive any amounts payable under this Agreement that were not previously paid solely as a result of such third sentence of Exhibit D up to the Safe Harbor Cap. All determinations pursuant to this paragraph (c) shall be made by the Accounting Firm.

 

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