Item 6. Indemnification of Directors and Officers.
Section 19.2 of our Articles provides that, to the extent not prohibited by the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the “Act”), we will indemnify each person (each, an “eligible party”) who:
(a) is or was a director or officer of Vista,
(b) is or was a director or officer of another corporation,
(i) at a time when the corporation is or was an affiliate of ours, or
(ii) at our request, or
(c) at our request, is or was, or holds or held a position equivalent to that of, a director or officer of a partnership, trust, joint venture or other unincorporated entity,
against all judgments, penalties or fine awarded or imposed in, or amounts paid in settlement of, any proceeding in which any such person (or any of their heirs and legal representatives) is or may be joined as a party or is or may be liable in respect of a judgment, penalty or fine in, or expenses related to such proceeding, by reason of holding or having held such position with us, our affiliates or at our request. In addition, we must, after the final disposition of any such proceeding, pay the costs, charges and expenses actually and reasonably incurred by such eligible parties in respect of such proceedings.
Section 19.4 of our Articles provides that unless prohibited by applicable law or court order, we must pay, as they are incurred, in advance of the final disposition of an eligible proceeding, the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by an eligible party in respect of the eligible proceeding, provided that we shall not make such payments unless we first receive from the person being indemnified a written undertaking that, if it is ultimately determined that the payment of expenses is prohibited by applicable law, that person must repay us the amounts advanced.
Section 19.5 of our Articles provides that despite any other provision of Part 19, we are not obligated to make any payment that is prohibited by the Act or by court order in force at the date the payment was made. Subsection 163(1) of the Act provides that a company must not indemnify or pay the expenses of an eligible party if any of the following circumstances apply:
(a) if the indemnity or payment is made under an earlier agreement to indemnify or pay expenses and, at the time that the agreement to indemnify or pay expenses was made, the company was prohibited from giving the indemnity or paying the expenses by its memorandum or articles;
(b) if the indemnity or payment is made otherwise than under an earlier agreement to indemnify or pay expenses and, at the time that the indemnity or payment is made, the company is prohibited from giving the indemnity or paying the expenses by its memorandum or articles;
(c) if, in relation to the subject matter of the eligible proceeding, the eligible party did not act honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the company or the associated corporation, as the case may be;
(d) in the case of an eligible proceeding other than a civil proceeding, if the eligible party did not have reasonable grounds for believing that the eligible party's conduct in respect of which the proceeding was brought was lawful.
Subsection 163(2) of the Act further provides that if a proceeding is brought against an eligible party by or on our behalf or by or on behalf of corporation associated to us, we must not indemnify or pay the expenses of such eligible party in respect of that proceeding.
Section 164 of the Act provides that despite the indemnity provisions of the Act and whether or not payment of expenses or indemnification has been sought, authorized or declined, on our application or the application of an eligible party, the British Columbia Supreme Court may do one or more of the following:
(a) order a company to indemnify an eligible party against any liability incurred by the eligible party in respect of an eligible proceeding;
(b) order a company to pay some or all of the expenses incurred by an eligible party in respect of an eligible proceeding;
(c) order the enforcement of, or any payment under, an agreement of indemnification entered into by a company;
(d) order a company to pay some or all of the expenses actually and reasonably incurred by any person in obtaining an order under this section;
(e) make any other order the court considers appropriate.
Section 19.6 of our Articles provides that we may purchase and maintain insurance for the eligible parties or their heirs and personal or other legal representatives against any liability that may be incurred by reason of their acting as eligible parties. We maintain such insurance.
We indemnify our directors and executive officers, as well as their heirs and representatives, pursuant to indemnification agreements we have entered into with each such director and executive officer, against all liabilities and obligations, including legal fees and costs of investigation and defense of claims, as well as amounts paid to settle claims or satisfy judgments, that these directors and officers may incur in such capacities. While these agreements provide that we will indemnify such director or officer regardless of conduct or fault of that person, the agreements also provide that we may only make such indemnification payments as permitted by applicable law. The agreements provide that our obligations under the agreements are not diminished or otherwise affected by, among other things, any officers’ liability insurance placed by or for the benefit of the indemnitee, us or any entity related to either.
Item 9. Undertakings.
(a)
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:
(1)
To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
(i)
To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “
Securities Act
”);
(ii)
To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represents no more than 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” tabl
e in the effective registration
statement;
(iii)
To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the registration statement or any material change to such information in the registration statement;
provided, however,
that paragraphs (a)(1)(i) and (a)(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “
Exchange Act
”) that are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement.
(2)
That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide
offering thereof.
(3)
To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.
(b)
The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the Registrant's annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act, (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan's annual report pursuant to section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial
bona fide
offering thereof.
(c)
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the Registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.