VIII.POTENTIAL PENALTIES AND DISCIPLINARY SANCTIONS
A.Civil and Criminal Penalties.
The consequences of prohibited insider trading or tipping can be severe. Persons violating insider trading or tipping rules may be required to disgorge the profit made or the loss avoided by the trading, pay the loss suffered by the person who purchased securities from or sold securities to the Insider or tippee, pay significant civil and/or criminal penalties, and serve a lengthy jail term. The Company in such circumstances may also be required to pay major civil or criminal penalties.
Violation of this Policy or federal or state insider trading or tipping laws by any Insider may, in the case of a director, subject the director to dismissal proceedings and, in the case of an officer or employee, subject the officer or employee to disciplinary action by the Company up to and including termination for cause.
C.Reporting of Violations.
Any Insider who violates this Policy or any federal or state law governing insider trading or tipping or knows of any such violation by any other Insider, must report the violation immediately to the Compliance Officer. Upon determining that any such violation has occurred, the Compliance Officer, in consultation with the Company’s Disclosure Committee and, where appropriate, the Chair of the Audit Committee of the Board, will determine whether the Company should release any material nonpublic information, and, when required by applicable law, shall cause the Company to report the violation to the SEC or other appropriate governmental authority.
This Policy will be delivered to all directors, officers, employees and designated outsiders upon its adoption by the Company and to all new directors, officers, employees and designated outsiders at the start of their employment or relationship with the Company.
Upon first receiving a copy of this Policy or any revised versions, each Section 16 Individual and Key Employee must sign an acknowledgment that he or she has received a copy of this Policy and agrees to comply with its terms.