11.
APPENDIX
A
–
SPECIAL
RESTRICTION
ON
TRANSACTIONS
IN
COMPANY
SECURITIES
BY
PRE-CLEARANCE OF TRADES BY SECTION
16 INSIDERS
All
purchases,
sales
and
trades
of
equity
securities
of
the
Company
by
Section
16
Insiders,
other
than
transactions
pursuant to a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan approved by Compliance
Officer,
must be pre-cleared by the Compliance Officer.
The intent of
this requirement
is to prevent
inadvertent violations of
the Policy,
avoid trades involving
the appearance of
improper insider trading, facilitate
timely Form 4 reporting
and avoid transactions
that are subject to disgorgement
under
Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.
Requests for
pre-clearance
must be
submitted
to the
Compliance Officer
at least
two (2)
business
days
in advance
of
each proposed
transaction.
All requests
should be
made in
writing and
sent to
the Compliance
Officer
via email.
If the
Section 16 Insider
submits the request
by email and
does not receive
a response from
the Compliance Officer
within 24
hours, the Section 16 Insider will be responsible for following
up to ensure that the message was received.
A request for pre-clearance should provide the following information:
●
The nature of proposed transaction and the expected
date of the transaction;
●
Number of shares involved;
●
If the transaction involves a stock option exercise, the
specific option to be exercised; and
●
Contact information for the broker who will execute the transaction.
Once the proposed transaction is pre-cleared, the
Section 16 Insider may proceed with
it on the approved terms, provided
that he or she complies with all other securities law requirements, such as Rule 144 and prohibitions regarding trading on
the basis of inside information,
and with any special trading
blackout imposed by the Company
prior to the completion
of
The Section 16 Insider and his or her broker will be responsible for immediately reporting the results of the transaction as
further described below. In
addition, pre-clearance is required for the establishment of
a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
However,
pre-clearance
will not
be required
for individual
transactions
effected
pursuant to
a Rule
10b5-1
trading plan
that specifies or
establishes a formula
for determining the
dates, prices and
amounts of planned
trades once the
applicable
cooling-off
period
has
expired.
No
trades
may
be
made
under
an
approved
10b5-1
trading
plan
until
expiration
of
the
applicable
cooling-off
period.
Of
course,
the
results
of
transactions
effected
under
a
trading
plan
must
be
reported
immediately to the Company since they will be reportable
on Form 4 within two (2) business days following the
execution
of the trade, subject to an extension of not more than two (2) additional business days where the Section 16 Insider is not
immediately aware of the execution of the trade.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, any transactions
by the Compliance Officer
shall be subject to pre-clearance
by the Chief
Executive Officer or,
in the event of his unavailability,
the Chief Financial Officer.
DESIGNATED BROKERS
Each market transaction
in the Company’s
stock by
a Section 16
Insider,
or any person
whose trades
must be reported
by that
Section 16
Insider on
Form 4
(such as
a member
of the
Section 16
Insider’s immediate
family who
lives in
the
Section 16 Insider’s household), must be executed by a broker designated by the Company unless the Section 16 Insider
has received authorization from the Compliance Officer
to use a different broker.
A Section
16 Insider
and
any broker
that
handles the
Section 16
Insider’s transactions
in the
Company’s
stock
will be
required to enter into an agreement whereby:
●
The
Section
16
Insider
authorizes
the
broker
to
immediately
report
directly
to
the
Company
the
details
of
all
transactions
in
Company
equity
securities
executed
by
the
broker
in
the
Section
16
Insider’s
account
and
the
accounts of all others designated by the Section 16 Insider whose transactions may
be attributed to the Section 16
Insider;
●
The
broker
agrees
not
to
execute
any
transaction
for
the
Section
16
Insider
or any
of
the
foregoing
designated
persons (other than under a pre-approved Rule 10b5-1 trading plan) until the broker has verified with the Company
that the transaction has been pre-cleared; and
●
The broker agrees
to immediately report
the transaction
details (including
transactions under
Rule 10b5-1
trading
plans) directly to the Company and to the Section 16 Insider
by telephone and in writing (by email).