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Exhibit 10.1

 

 

 

 

 

BARNES GROUP

2009

DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN

 

IMPORTANT NOTE

This document has not been approved by the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service or any other governmental entity. An adopting Employer must determine whether the Plan is subject to the Federal securities laws and the securities laws of the various states. An adopting Employer may not rely on this document to ensure any particular tax consequences or to ensure that the Plan is “unfunded and maintained primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation to a select group of management or highly compensated employees” under Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, with respect to the Employer’s particular situation. Fidelity Employer Services Company, its affiliates and employees cannot provide you with legal advice in connection with the execution of this document. This document should be reviewed by the Employer’s attorney prior to execution.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREAMBLE

 

ARTICLE 1 – GENERAL

  

1.1

  

Plan

  

1.2

  

Effective Dates

  

1.3

  

Amounts Not Subject to Code Section 409A

  

ARTICLE 2 – DEFINITIONS

  

2.1

  

Account

  

2.2

  

Administrator

  

2.3

  

Adoption Agreement

  

2.4

  

Beneficiary

  

2.5

  

Board or Board of Directors

  

2.6

  

Bonus

  

2.7

  

Change in Control

  

2.8

  

Code

  

2.9

  

Compensation

  

2.10

  

Director

  

2.11

  

Disability

  

2.12

  

Eligible Employee

  

2.13

  

Employer

  

2.14

  

ERISA

  

2.15

  

Identification Date

  

2.16

  

Key Employee

  

2.17

  

Participant

  

2.18

  

Plan

  

2.19

  

Plan Sponsor

  

2.20

  

Plan Year

  

2.21

  

Related Employer

  

2.22

  

Retirement

  

2.23

  

Separation from Service

  

2.24

  

Unforeseeable Emergency

  

2.25

  

Valuation Date

  

2.26

  

Years of Service

  

ARTICLE 3 – PARTICIPATION

  

3.1

  

Participation

  

3.2

  

Termination of Participation

  

 

i


ARTICLE 4 – PARTICIPANT ELECTIONS

  

4.1

  

Deferral Agreement

  

4.2

  

Amount of Deferral

  

4.3

  

Timing of Election to Defer

  

4.4

  

Election of Payment Schedule and Form of Payment

  

ARTICLE 5 – EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS

  

5.1

  

Matching Contributions

  

5.2

  

Other Contributions

  

ARTICLE 6 – ACCOUNTS AND CREDITS

  

6.1

  

Establishment of Account

  

6.2

  

Credits to Account

  

ARTICLE 7 – INVESTMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS

  

7.1

  

Investment Options

  

7.2

  

Adjustment of Accounts

  

ARTICLE 8 – RIGHT TO BENEFITS

  

8.1

  

Vesting

  

8.2

  

Death

  

8.3

  

Disability

  

ARTICLE 9 – DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS

  

9.1

  

Amount of Benefits

  

9.2

  

Method and Timing of Distributions

  

9.3

  

Unforeseeable Emergency

  

9.4

  

Payment Election Overrides

  

9.5

  

Cashouts of Amounts Not Exceeding Stated Limit

  

9.6

  

Required Delay in Payment to Key Employees

  

9.7

  

Change in Control

  

9.8

  

Permissible Delays in Payment

  

9.9

  

Permitted Acceleration of Payment

  

 

ii


ARTICLE 10 – AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION

  

10.1

  

Amendment by Plan Sponsor

  

10.2

  

Plan Termination Following Change in Control or Corporate Dissolution

  

10.3

  

Other Plan Terminations

  

ARTICLE 11 – THE TRUST

  

11.1

  

Establishment of Trust

  

11.2

  

Grantor Trust

  

11.3

  

Investment of Trust Funds

  

ARTICLE 12 – PLAN ADMINISTRATION

  

12.1

  

Powers and Responsibilities of the Administrator

  

12.2

  

Claims and Review Procedures

  

12.3

  

Plan Administrative Costs

  

ARTICLE 13 – MISCELLANEOUS

  

13.1

  

Unsecured General Creditor of the Employer

  

13.2

  

Employer’s Liability

  

13.3

  

Limitation of Rights

  

13.4

  

Anti-Assignment

  

13.5

  

Facility of Payment

  

13.6

  

Notices

  

13.7

  

Tax Withholding

  

13.8

  

Indemnification

  

13.9

  

Successors

  

13.10

  

Disclaimer

  

13.11

  

Governing Law

  

13.12

  

Plan Addendums

  

 

iii


PREAMBLE

The Plan is intended to be a “plan which is unfunded and is maintained by an employer primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees” within the meaning of Sections 201(2), 301(a)(3) and 401(a)(1) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or an “excess benefit plan” within the meaning of Section 3(36) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, or a combination of both. The Plan is further intended to conform with the requirements of Internal Revenue Code Section 409A and the final regulations issued thereunder and shall be interpreted, implemented and administered in a manner consistent therewith.


ARTICLE 1 – GENERAL

 

1.1

Plan. The Plan will be referred to by the name specified in the Adoption Agreement.

 

1.2

Effective Dates.

 

 

(a)

Original Effective Date. The Original Effective Date is the date as of which the Plan was initially adopted.

 

 

(b)

Amendment Effective Date. The Amendment Effective Date is the date specified in the Adoption Agreement as of which the Plan is amended and restated. Except to the extent otherwise provided herein or in the Adoption Agreement, the Plan shall apply to amounts deferred and benefit payments made on or after the Amendment Effective Date.

 

 

(c)

Special Effective Date. A Special Effective Date may apply to any given provision if so specified in Appendix A of the Adoption Agreement. A Special Effective Date will control over the Original Effective Date or Amendment Effective Date, whichever is applicable, with respect to such provision of the Plan.

 

1.3

Amounts Not Subject to Code Section 409A

Except as otherwise indicated by the Plan Sponsor in Section 1.01 of the Adoption Agreement, amounts deferred before January 1, 2005 that are earned and vested on December 31, 2004 will be separately accounted for and administered in accordance with the terms of the Plan as in effect on December 31, 2004.

 

1-1


ARTICLE 2 – DEFINITIONS

Pronouns used in the Plan are in the masculine gender but include the feminine gender unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Wherever used herein, the following terms have the meanings set forth below, unless a different meaning is clearly required by the context:

 

2.1

“Account” means an account established for the purpose of recording amounts credited on behalf of a Participant and any income, expenses, gains, losses or distributions included thereon. The Account shall be a bookkeeping entry only and shall be utilized solely as a device for the measurement and determination of the amounts to be paid to a Participant or to the Participant’s Beneficiary pursuant to the Plan.

 

2.2

“Administrator” means the person or persons designated by the Plan Sponsor in Section 1.05 of the Adoption Agreement to be responsible for the administration of the Plan. If no Administrator is designated in the Adoption Agreement, the Administrator is the Plan Sponsor.

 

2.3

“Adoption Agreement” means the agreement adopted by the Plan Sponsor that establishes the Plan.

 

2.4

“Beneficiary” means the persons, trusts, estates or other entities entitled under Section 8.2 to receive benefits under the Plan upon the death of a Participant.

 

2.5

“Board” or “Board of Directors” means the Board of Directors of the Plan Sponsor.

 

2.6

“Bonus” means an amount of incentive remuneration payable by the Employer to a Participant.

 

2.7

“Change in Control” means a “change in control event” within the meaning of Treasury Regulation 1.409A-3(i)(5)(i) & (ii) that occurs with respect to a Participant on or after the date on which an event involving the Plan Sponsor that is described in Section 9.7(a), (b), (c) or (d) occurs.

 

2.8

“Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

 

2.9

“Compensation” has the meaning specified in Section 3.01 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2.10

“Director” means a non-employee member of the Board who has been designated by the Employer as eligible to participate in the Plan.

 

2-1


2.11

“Disability” means that the Social Security Administration has determined that a Participant is disabled under the Social Security Act. A Participant shall be considered as incurring a Disability on the last day of the month in which the Participant first becomes eligible for and begins to receive Social Security disability benefits.

 

2.12

“Eligible Employee” means an employee of the Employer who satisfies the requirements in Section 2.01 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2.13

“Employer” means the Plan Sponsor and any other entity which is authorized by the Plan Sponsor to participate in and, in fact, does adopt the Plan.

 

2.14

“ERISA” means the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended.

 

2.15

“Identification Date” means the date as of which Key Employees are determined which is specified in Section 1.06 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2.16

“Key Employee” means an employee who satisfies the conditions set forth in Section 9.6.

 

2.17

“Participant” means an Eligible Employee or Director who commences participation in the Plan in accordance with Article 3.

 

2.18

“Plan” means the unfunded plan of deferred compensation set forth herein, including the Adoption Agreement and any trust agreement, as adopted by the Plan Sponsor and as amended from time to time.

 

2.19

“Plan Sponsor” means the entity identified in Section 1.03 of the Adoption Agreement or any successor by merger, consolidation or otherwise.

 

2.20

“Plan Year” means the period identified in Section 1.02 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2-2


2.21

“Related Employer” means the Employer and (a) any corporation that is a member of a controlled group of corporations as defined in Code Section 414(b) that includes the Employer and (b) any trade or business that is under common control as defined in Code Section 414(c) that includes the Employer.

 

2.22

“Retirement” has the meaning specified in 6.01(f) of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2.23

“Separation from Service” means the date that the Participant retires or otherwise has a termination of employment (other than by death) with respect to all entities comprising the Related Employer. A Separation from Service does not occur if the Participant is on military leave, sick leave or other bona fide leave of absence if the period of leave does not exceed six months or such longer period during which the Participant’s right to re-employment is provided by statute or contract. If the period of leave exceeds six months and the Participant’s right to re-employment is not provided either by statute or contract, a Separation from Service will be deemed to have occurred on the first day following the six-month period. If the period of leave is due to any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than six months, where the impairment causes the Participant to be unable to perform the duties of his or her position of employment or any substantially similar position of employment, a 29 month period of absence shall be substituted for the six month period.

Whether a termination of employment has occurred is based on whether the facts and circumstances indicate that the Related Employer and the Participant reasonably anticipated that no further services would be performed after a certain date or that the level of bona fide services the Participant would perform after such date (whether as an employee or as an independent contractor) would permanently decrease to no more than 20 percent of the average level of bona fide services performed (whether as an employee or an independent contractor) over the immediately preceding 36 month period (or the full period of services to the Related Employer if the employee has been providing services to the Related Employer for less than 36 months.

The foregoing will be interpreted, and all determinations of whether a Separation from Service has occurred will be made, in a manner consistent with Code Section 409A and the final regulations thereunder.

 

2.24

“Unforeseeable Emergency” means a severe financial hardship of the Participant resulting from an illness or accident of the Participant, the Participant’s spouse, the Participant’s Beneficiary, or the Participant’s dependent (as defined in Code Section 152, without regard to Code section 152(b)(i), (b)(2) and (d)(i)(B); loss of the Participant’s property due to casualty; or other similar extraordinary and unforeseeable

 

2-3


 

circumstances arising as a result of events beyond the control of the Participant.

 

2.25

“Valuation Date” means each business day of the Plan Year.

 

2.26

“Years of Service” means each one year period for which the Participant receives service credit in accordance with the provisions of Section 7.01(d) of the Adoption Agreement.

 

2-4


ARTICLE 3 – PARTICIPATION

 

3.1

Participation. The Participants in the Plan shall be those Directors and employees of the Employer who satisfy the requirements of Section 2.01 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

3.2

Termination of Participation. The Administrator may terminate a Participant’s participation in the Plan in a manner consistent with Code Section 409A. If the Employer terminates a Participant’s participation before the Participant experiences a Separation from Service the Participant’s vested Accounts shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of Article 9.

 

3-1


ARTICLE 4 – PARTICIPANT ELECTIONS

 

4.1

Deferral Agreement. If permitted by the Plan Sponsor in accordance with Section 4.01 of the Adoption Agreement, each Eligible Employee and Director may elect to defer his Compensation within the meaning of Section 3.01 of the Adoption Agreement by executing in writing or electronically, a deferral agreement in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Administrator and the provisions of this Article 4.

A new deferral agreement must be timely executed for each Plan Year during which the Eligible Employee or Director desires to defer Compensation. An Eligible Employee or Director who does not timely execute a deferral agreement shall be deemed to have elected zero deferrals of Compensation for such Plan Year.

A deferral agreement may be changed or revoked during the period specified by the Administrator. Except as provided in Section 9.3 or in Section 4.01(c) of the Adoption Agreement, a deferral agreement becomes irrevocable at the close of the specified period.

 

4.2

Amount of Deferral. An Eligible Employee or Director may elect to defer Compensation in any amount permitted by Section 4.01(a) of the Adoption Agreement.

 

4.3

Timing of Election to Defer. Each Eligible Employee or Director who desires to defer Compensation otherwise payable during a Plan Year must execute a deferral agreement within the period preceding the Plan Year specified by the Administrator. Each Eligible Employee who desires to defer Compensation that is a Bonus must execute a deferral agreement within the period preceding the Plan Year during which the Bonus is earned that is specified by the Administrator, except that if the Bonus can be treated as performance based compensation as described in Code Section 409A(a)(4)(B)(iii), the deferral agreement may be executed within the period specified by the Administrator, which period, in no event, shall end after the date which is six months prior to the end of the period during which the Bonus is earned, provided the Participant has performed services continuously from the later of the beginning of the performance period or the date the performance criteria are established through the date the Participant executed the deferral agreement and provided further that the compensation has not yet become ‘readily ascertainable’ within the meaning of Reg. Sec 1.409A-2(a)(8). In addition, if the Compensation qualifies as ‘fiscal year compensation’ within the meaning of Reg. Sec. 1.409A -2(a)(6), the deferral agreement may be made not later than the end of the Employer’s taxable year immediately preceding the first taxable year of the Employer in which any services are performed for which such Compensation is payable.

 

4-1


Except as otherwise provided below, an employee who is classified or designated as an Eligible Employee during a Plan Year or a Director who is designated as eligible to participate during a Plan Year may elect to defer Compensation otherwise payable during the remainder of such Plan Year in accordance with the rules of this Section 4.3 by executing a deferral agreement within the thirty (30) day period beginning on the date the employee is classified or designated as an Eligible Employee or the date the Director is designated as eligible, whichever is applicable, if permitted by Section 4.01(b)(ii) of the Adoption Agreement. If Compensation is based on a specified performance period that begins before the Eligible Employee or Director executes his deferral agreement, the election will be deemed to apply to the portion of such Compensation equal to the total amount of Compensation for the performance period multiplied by the ratio of the number of days remaining in the performance period after the election becomes irrevocable and effective over the total number of days in the performance period. The rules of this paragraph shall not apply unless the Eligible Employee or Director can be treated as initially eligible in accordance with Reg. Sec. 1.409A-2(a)(7).

 

4.4

Election of Payment Schedule and Form of Payment.

All elections of a payment schedule and a form of payment will be made in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Administrator and the provisions of this Section 4.4.

(a)    If the Plan Sponsor has elected to permit annual distribution elections in accordance with Section 6.01(h) of the Adoption Agreement the following rules apply. At the time an Eligible Employee or Director completes a deferral agreement, the Eligible Employee or Director must elect a distribution event (which includes a specified time) and a form of payment for the Compensation subject to the deferral agreement from among the options the Plan Sponsor has made available for this purpose and which are specified in 6.01(b) of the Adoption Agreement. Prior to the time required by Reg. Sec. 1.409A-2, the Eligible Employee or Director shall elect a distribution event (which includes a specified time) and a form of payment for any Employer contributions that may be credited to the Participant’s Account during the Plan Year. If an Eligible Employee or Director fails to elect a distribution event, he shall be deemed to have elected Separation from Service as the distribution event. If he fails to elect a form of payment, he shall be deemed to have elected a lump sum form of payment.

 

4-2


 

(b)

If the Plan Sponsor has elected not to permit annual distribution elections in accordance with Section 6.01(h) of the Adoption Agreement but does allow elections of the time and/or form of payment of amounts credited to a Participant’s Account, the following rules apply. At the time an Eligible Employee or Director first completes a deferral agreement but in no event later than the time required by Reg. Sec. 1.409A-2, the Eligible Employee or Director must elect a distribution event (which includes a specified time) and a form of payment for amounts credited to his Account from among the options the Plan Sponsor has made available for this purpose and which are specified in Section 6.01(b) of the Adoption Agreement. If an Eligible Employee or Director fails to elect a distribution event, he shall be deemed to have elected Separation from Service in the distribution event. If he fails to elect a form of payment, he shall be deemed to have elected a lump sum form of payment.

 

 

(c)

If the Plan Sponsor has elected not to permit any distribution elections to be made by a Participant the following rule shall apply. The amount credited to a Participant’s Account shall be paid at the time and in the form specified in Section 6.01 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

4-3


ARTICLE 5 – EMPLOYER CONTRIBUTIONS

 

5.1

Matching Contributions. If elected by the Plan Sponsor in Section 5.01(a) of the Adoption Agreement, the Employer will credit the Participant’s Account with a matching contribution determined in accordance with the formula specified in Section 5.01(a) of the Adoption Agreement. The matching contribution will be treated as allocated to the Participant’s Account at the time specified in Section 5.01(a)(iii) of the Adoption Agreement.

 

5.2

Other Contributions. If elected by the Plan Sponsor in Section 5.01(b) of the Adoption Agreement, the Employer will credit the Participant’s Account with a contribution determined in accordance with the formula or method specified in Section 5.01(b) of the Adoption Agreement. The contribution will be treated as allocated to the Participant’s Account at the time specified in Section 5.01(b)(iii) of the Adoption Agreement.

 

5-1


ARTICLE 6 – ACCOUNTS AND CREDITS

 

6.1

Establishment of Account. For accounting and computational purposes only, the Administrator will establish and maintain an Account on behalf of each Participant which will reflect the credits made pursuant to Section 6.2, distributions or withdrawals, along with the earnings, expenses, gains and losses allocated thereto, attributable to the hypothetical investments made with the amounts in the Account as provided in Article 7. The Administrator will establish and maintain such other records and accounts, as it decides in its discretion to be reasonably required or appropriate to discharge its duties under the Plan.

 

6.2

Credits to Account. A Participant’s Account will be credited for each Plan Year with the amount of his elective deferrals under Section 4.1 at the time the amount subject to the deferral election would otherwise have been payable to the Participant and the amount of Employer contributions treated as allocated on his behalf under Article 5.

 

6-1


ARTICLE 7 – INVESTMENT OF CONTRIBUTIONS

 

7.1

Investment Options. The amount credited to each Account shall be treated as invested in the investment options designated for this purpose by the Administrator.

 

7.2

Adjustment of Accounts. The amount credited to each Account shall be adjusted for hypothetical investment earnings, expenses, gains or losses in an amount equal to the earnings, expenses, gains or losses attributable to the investment options selected by the party designated in Section 9.01 of the Adoption Agreement from among the investment options provided in Section 7.1. If permitted by Section 9.01 of the Adoption Agreement, a Participant (or the Participant’s Beneficiary after the death of the Participant) may, in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Administrator, select the investments from among the options provided in Section 7.1 to be used for the purpose of calculating future hypothetical investment adjustments to the Account or to future credits to the Account under Section 6.2 effective as of the Valuation Date coincident with or next following notice to the Administrator. Each Account shall be adjusted as of each Valuation Date to reflect: (a) the hypothetical earnings, expenses, gains and losses described above; (b) amounts credited pursuant to Section 6.2; and (c) distributions or withdrawals. In addition, each Account may be adjusted for its allocable share of the hypothetical costs and expenses associated with the maintenance of the hypothetical investments provided in Section 7.1.

 

7-1


ARTICLE 8 – RIGHT TO BENEFITS

 

8.1

Vesting. A Participant, at all times, has the 100% nonforfeitable interest in the amounts credited to his Account attributable to his elective deferrals made in accordance with Section 4.1.

Subject to the amendment and termination provisions of Article 10, a Participant’s right to the amounts credited to his Account attributable to Employer contributions made in accordance with Article 5 shall be determined in accordance with the relevant schedule and provisions in Section 7.01 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

8.2

Death. The Plan Sponsor may elect to accelerate vesting upon the death of the Participant in accordance with Section 7.01(c) of the Adoption Agreement and/or to make distributions upon Death in accordance with Section 6.01(b) or Section 6.01(d) of the Adoption Agreement

A Participant may designate a Beneficiary or Beneficiaries, or change any prior designation of Beneficiary or Beneficiaries in accordance with rules and procedures established by the Administrator and subject to the Administrator’s approval. Although the rules of the Administrator may permit a Participant to designate one or more alternative Beneficiaries (for example, an individual who shall become a Participant’s Beneficiary in case the Participant’s first choice of a Beneficiary dies before benefits become payable), a Participant may not designate persons who shall jointly receive benefits as Beneficiaries (for example, the designation of two or more children to jointly receive benefits as Beneficiaries is prohibited). Subject to the approval of the Administrator as provided above, a Participant may designate a trust as a Beneficiary.

A copy of the death notice or other sufficient documentation must be filed with and approved by the Administrator. If upon the death of the Participant there is, in the opinion of the Administrator, no designated Beneficiary for part or all of the Participant’s vested Account, the Administrator shall apply default rules determined by it, in its sole discretion, but generally following a priority list of living persons in the following order: Spouse, children, parents, siblings, estate.

The term “Spouse” shall mean the individual to whom the Participant is legally married by civil or religious ceremony under the laws of the state in which the Participant is legally domiciled on the date the determination of whether there is a Spouse is being made. After a Participant’s death, his or her “Spouse” shall be the individual, if any, who met these criteria as of the date of the Participant’s death.

 

8.3

Disability. If the Plan Sponsor has elected to accelerate vesting upon the occurrence of a Disability in accordance with Section 7.01(c) of the Adoption Agreement and/or to permit distributions upon Disability in

 

9-1


 

accordance with Section 6.01(b) or Section 6.01(d) of the Adoption Agreement, the determination of whether a Participant has incurred a Disability shall be made in accordance with Section 2.11 of this Plan.

 

9-2


ARTICLE 9 – DISTRIBUTION OF BENEFITS

 

9.1

Amount of Benefits. The vested amount credited to a Participant’s Account as determined under Articles 6, 7 and 8 shall determine and constitute the basis for the value of benefits payable to the Participant under the Plan.

 

9.2

Method and Timing of Distributions. Distributions under the Plan shall be made in accordance with the terms of this Plan and the Adoption Agreement. Subject to the provisions of Section 9.6 requiring a six month delay for certain distributions to Key Employees, distributions following a distribution event shall commence at the time specified in Section 6.01 of the Adoption Agreement. If permitted by Section 6.01(g) of the Adoption Agreement, a Participant may elect, at least twelve months before a scheduled distribution event, to delay the payment date for a minimum period of sixty months from the originally scheduled date of payment, provided the election does not take effect for at least twelve months from the date on which the election is made. The distribution election change must be made in accordance with procedures and rules established by the Administrator. The Participant may, at the same time the date of payment is deferred, change the form of payment but such change in the form of payment may not effect an acceleration of payment in violation of Code Section 409A or the provisions of Reg. Sec. 1.409A-2(b). For purposes of this Section 9.2, a series of installment payments is always treated as a single payment and not as a series of separate payments.

 

9.3

Unforeseeable Emergency. A Participant may request a distribution due to an Unforeseeable Emergency if the Plan Sponsor has elected to permit Unforeseeable Emergency withdrawals under Section 8.01(a) of the Adoption Agreement. The request must be in writing and must be submitted to the Administrator along with evidence that the circumstances constitute an Unforeseeable Emergency. The Administrator has the discretion to require whatever evidence it deems necessary to determine whether a distribution is warranted, and may require the Participant to certify that the need cannot be met from other sources reasonably available to the Participant. Whether a Participant has incurred an Unforeseeable Emergency will be determined by the Administrator on the basis of the relevant facts and circumstances in its sole discretion, but, in no event, will an Unforeseeable Emergency be deemed to exist if the hardship can be relieved: (a) through reimbursement or compensation by insurance or otherwise, (b) by liquidation of the Participant’s assets to the extent such liquidation would not itself cause severe financial hardship, or (c) by cessation of deferrals under the Plan.

 

9-3


A distribution due to an Unforeseeable Emergency must be limited to the amount reasonably necessary to satisfy the emergency need and may include any amounts necessary to pay any federal, state, foreign or local income taxes and penalties reasonably anticipated to result from the distribution. The distribution will be made in the form of a single lump sum cash payment. If permitted by Section 8.01(b) of the Adoption Agreement, a Participant’s deferral elections for the remainder of the Plan Year will be cancelled upon a withdrawal due to an Unforeseeable Emergency. If the payment of all or any portion of the Participant’s vested Account is being delayed in accordance with Section 9.6 at the time he experiences an Unforeseeable Emergency, the amount being delayed shall not be subject to the provisions of this Section 9.3 until the expiration of the six month period of delay required by Section 9.6.

 

9.4

Payment Election Overrides. If the Plan Sponsor has elected one or more payment election overrides in accordance with Section 6.01(d) of the Adoption Agreement, the following provisions apply. Upon the occurrence of the first event selected by the Plan Sponsor, the remaining vested amount credited to the Participant’s Account shall be paid in the form designated to the Participant or his Beneficiary regardless of whether the Participant had made different elections of time and /or form of payment or whether the Participant was receiving installment payments at the time of the event.

 

9.5

Cashouts Except as provided in Section 9.9(c) of this Plan, lump sum cashouts shall not be made under the Plan,

 

9.6

Required Delay in Payment to Key Employees . Except as otherwise provided in this Section 9.6, a distribution made on account of Separation from Service (or Retirement, if applicable) to a Participant who is a Key Employee as of the date of his Separation from Service (or Retirement, if applicable) shall not be made before the date which is six months after the Separation from Service (or Retirement, if applicable).

 

9-4


 

(a)

A Participant is treated as a Key Employee if (i) he is employed by a Related Employer any of whose stock is publicly traded on an established securities market, and (ii) he satisfies the requirements of Code Section 416(i)(1)(A)(i), (ii) or (iii), determined without regard to Code Section 416(i)(5), at any time during the twelve month period ending on the Identification Date.

 

 

(b)

A Participant who is a Key Employee on an Identification Date shall be treated as a Key Employee for purposes of the six month delay in distributions for the twelve month period beginning on the first day of a month no later than the fourth month following the Identification Date. The Identification Date and the effective date of the delay in distributions shall be determined in accordance with Section 1.06 of the Adoption Agreement.

 

 

(c)

The Plan Sponsor may elect to apply an alternative method to identify Participants who will be treated as Key Employees for purposes of the six month delay in distributions if the method satisfies each of the following requirements. The alternative method is reasonably designed to include all Key Employees, is an objectively determinable standard providing no direct or indirect election to any Participant regarding its application, and results in either all Key Employees or no more than 200 Key Employees being identified in the class as of any date. Use of an alternative method that satisfies the requirements of this Section 9.6(c) will not be treated as a change in the time and form of payment for purposes of Reg. Sec. 1.409A-2(b).

 

 

(d)

The six month delay does not apply to payments descr


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