Successor Administrative Agent The Administrative Agent may resign as Administrative Agent upon thirty (30) days’ notice to the Lenders; provided, that any such resignation by Bank of America shall also constitute its resignation as L/C Issuer and Swing Line Lender. If the Administrative Agent resigns under this Credit Agreement, the Required Lenders shall appoint from among the Lenders a successor administrative agent for the Lenders, which successor administrative agent shall be consented to by the Borrower at all times other than during the existence of an Event of Default (which consent of the Borrower shall not be unreasonably withheld or delayed). If no successor administrative agent is appointed prior to the effective date of the resignation of the Administrative Agent, the Administrative Agent may appoint, after consulting with the Lenders and the Borrower, a successor administrative agent from among the Lenders. Upon the acceptance of its appointment as successor administrative agent hereunder, the Person acting as such successor administrative agent shall succeed to all the rights, powers and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, L/C Issuer and Swing Line Lender and the respective terms “Administrative Agent,” “L/C Issuer” and “Swing Line Lender” thereafter shall mean such successor administrative agent, Letter of Credit issuer and swing line lender, and the retiring Administrative Agent’s appointment, powers and duties as Administrative Agent shall be terminated and the retiring L/C Issuer’s and Swing Line Lender’s rights, powers and duties as such shall be terminated, without any other or further act or deed on the part of such retiring L/C Issuer or Swing Line Lender or any other Lender, other than the obligation of the successor L/C Issuer to issue letters of credit in substitution for the Letters of Credit, if any, outstanding at the time of such succession or to make other arrangements satisfactory to the retiring L/C Issuer to effectively assume the obligations of the retiring L/C Issuer with respect to such Letters of Credit. After any retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation hereunder as Administrative Agent, the provisions of this Article IX and Sections 10.04 and 10.05 shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it while it was Administrative Agent under this Credit Agreement. If no successor administrative agent has accepted appointment as Administrative Agent by the date thirty (30) days following a retiring Administrative Agent’s notice of resignation, the retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation shall nevertheless thereupon become effective and the Lenders shall perform all of the duties of the Administrative Agent hereunder until such time, if any, as the Required Lenders appoint a successor agent as provided for above.
SPV Lender Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained herein, any Lender (a “Granting Lender”) may grant to a special purpose funding vehicle (a “SPV”), identified as such in writing from time to time by the Granting Lender to the Administrative Agent and the Borrower, the option to provide to the Borrower all or any part of any Loan that such Granting Lender would otherwise be obligated to make the Borrower pursuant to this Agreement; provided that (i) nothing herein shall constitute a commitment by any SPV to make any Loan and (ii) if an SPV elects not to exercise such option or otherwise fails to provide all or any part of such Loan, the Granting Lender shall be obligated to make such Loan pursuant to the terms hereof. The making of a Loan by an SPV hereunder shall utilize the Commitment of the Granting Lender to the same extent, and as if, such Loan were made by such Granting Lender. Each party hereto hereby agrees that no SPV shall be liable for any indemnity or similar payment obligation under this Agreement (all liability for which shall remain with the Granting Lender). In furtherance of the foregoing, each party hereto hereby agrees (which agreement shall survive the termination of this Agreement) that, prior to the date that is one year and one day after the payment in full of all outstanding commercial paper or other senior indebtedness of any SPV, it shall not institute against, or join any other person in instituting against, such SPV any bankruptcy, reorganization, arrangement, insolvency or liquidation proceedings under the laws of the United States or any State thereof. In addition, notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this Section 13.6, any SPV may (i) with notice to, but without the prior written consent of, the Borrower and the Administrative Agent and without paying any processing fee therefor, assign all or a portion of its interests in any Loans to the Granting Lender or to any financial institutions (consented to by the Borrower and Administrative Agent) providing liquidity and/or credit support to or for the account of such SPV to support the funding or maintenance of Loans and (ii) disclose on a confidential basis any non-public information relating to its Loans to any rating agency, commercial paper dealer or provider of any surety, guarantee or credit or liquidity enhancement to such SPV. This Section 13.6(g) may not be amended without the written consent of the SPV. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, (x) no SPV shall be entitled to any greater rights under Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 than its Granting Lender would have been entitled to absent the use of such SPV and (y) each SPV agrees to be subject to the requirements of Sections 2.10, 2.11 and 5.4 as though it were a Lender and has acquired its interest by assignment pursuant to clause (b) of this Section 13.6.
Successor Administrative Agents An Administrative Agent may resign at any time by giving written notice thereof to the Lenders and Altria and may be removed at any time with or without cause by the Required Lenders. Upon the resignation or removal of JPMCB, as Administrative Agent, Citibank, as Administrative Agent, shall succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, discretion, privileges and duties of JPMCB, as Administrative Agent, and JPMCB, as Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement. Upon any other such resignation or removal which results in there being no Administrative Agent hereunder, the Required Lenders shall have the right to appoint a successor Administrative Agent. If no successor Administrative Agent shall have been so appointed by the Required Lenders, and shall have accepted such appointment, within 30 days after the retiring Administrative Agent’s giving of notice of resignation or the Required Lenders’ removal of the retiring Administrative Agent, then the retiring Administrative Agent may, on behalf of the Lenders, appoint a successor Administrative Agent, which shall be a commercial bank organized under the laws of the United States of America or of any State thereof and having a combined capital and surplus of at least $500,000,000. Upon the acceptance of any appointment as Administrative Agent hereunder by a successor Administrative Agent, such successor Administrative Agent shall thereupon succeed to and become vested with all the rights, powers, discretion, privileges and duties of the retiring Administrative Agent, and the retiring Administrative Agent shall be discharged from its duties and obligations under this Agreement. After any retiring Administrative Agent’s resignation or removal hereunder as Administrative Agent, the provisions of this Article VII shall inure to its benefit as to any actions taken or omitted to be taken by it while it was Administrative Agent under this Agreement.
New Lender Cornerstone Capital Bank, SSB has become a Lender (in such capacity, the “New Lender”) by its execution of this Amendment. As of the date hereof, the Commitment of each Lender is now as set forth on Schedule 2.1 attached to this Amendment, and the existing Lenders hereby assign to the New Lender so much of their Commitments and Loans as necessary to effectuate such reallocation, without representation, warranty or recourse. The New Lender represents and warrants to Administrative Agent as follows: (a) it has full power and authority, and has taken all action necessary, to execute and deliver this Amendment and to become a Lender under the Credit Agreement; (b) it has received a copy of the Credit Agreement and other documents and information as it has deemed appropriate to make its own credit analysis and decision to execute this Amendment and become a Lender under the Credit Agreement; (c) it has, independently and without reliance upon Administrative Agent or any Lender and based on such documents and information as it has deemed appropriate, made its own appraisal of and investigation into the business, prospects, operations, property, financial and other condition and creditworthiness of the Loan Parties, and all applicable bank or other regulatory Laws relating to the transactions contemplated by the Credit Agreement, and made its own decision to enter into the Credit Agreement and to extend credit to Borrower under the Credit Agreement; (d) it will, independently and without reliance upon Administrative Agent or any Lender and based on such documents and information as it shall deem appropriate at the time, continue to make its own credit analysis, appraisals and decisions in taking or not taking action under the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents, and to make such investigations as it deems necessary to inform itself as to the business, prospects, operations, property, financial and other condition and creditworthiness of the Loan Parties; and (e) it will perform, in accordance with their terms, all of the obligations which by the terms of the Loan Documents are required to be performed by it as a Lender. The New Lender acknowledges as follows: (i) neither Administrative Agent nor any Lender has made any representation or warranty to it, and no act by Administrative Agent or any Lender hereafter taken, including any consent to and acceptance of any assignment or review of the affairs of any Loan Party or any Affiliate thereof, shall be deemed to constitute any representation or warranty by Administrative Agent or any Lender to any other Lender as to any matter, including whether Administrative Agent or any Lender has disclosed material information in its possession; (ii) except for notices, reports and other documents expressly required to be furnished to the Lenders by Administrative Agent pursuant to the Credit Agreement, Administrative Agent shall not have any duty or responsibility to provide any Lender with any credit or other information concerning the business, prospects, operations, property, financial and other condition and creditworthiness of any Loan Party or any of its Affiliates which may come into the possession of Administrative Agent; and (iii) on the date hereof, it shall be deemed automatically to have become a party to the Credit Agreement and have all rights and obligations of a Lender under the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents as if it were an original Lender signatory thereto. On the date hereof, the New Lender agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions set forth in the Credit Agreement and the other Loan Documents applicable to Lenders as if it were an original Lender signatory thereto (and expressly makes the appointment set forth in, and agrees to the obligations imposed under, Article 10 of the Credit Agreement). New Lender’s execution of this Amendment constitutes its execution of a joinder agreement pursuant to Section 2.10(a)(iii) of the Credit Agreement.
Additional Borrowers (a) The Parent may from time to time designate one or more wholly-owned Subsidiaries of Parent organized in the United States as an Additional Borrower by delivering to the Agent: (i) all documentation and other customary information required by regulatory authorities under applicable “know your customer” and anti-money laundering rules and regulations, including, without limitation, the Patriot Act, that the Agent or any Lender has reasonably requested, including, if such Subsidiary qualifies as a “legal entity customer” under the Beneficial Ownership Regulation, a Beneficial Ownership Certification in relation to such Subsidiary, without any written objection submitted by any Lender or the Agent within five (5) Business Days of its receipt of such documentation and other information; (ii) solely to the extent such Subsidiary is not already a Loan Party, (A) all documents, joinders, supplements, updated schedules, instruments, certificates and agreements and all other actions and information, then required by or in respect of such Subsidiary by Section 5.11 or by the Guaranty and Security Agreement (without giving effect to any grace periods for delivery of such items, the updating of such information or the taking of such actions), (B) a customary opinion of counsel of such Subsidiary and (C) a customary secretary’s certificate attaching such documents as were delivered by the existing Borrowers on the Closing Date; (iii) promissory notes in respect of such Subsidiary in its capacity as Additional Borrower in favor of any Lender requesting such promissory notes, in form and substance consistent with the notes (if any) provided by the existing Borrowers as of the Closing Date; and (iv) a joinder agreement in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to the Agent whereby such Subsidiary becomes party hereto as a Borrower. (b) The designation of any wholly-owned Subsidiary of Parent organized in the United States as an Additional Borrower shall only be effective two (2) Business Days following the delivery of the documents set forth in, and satisfaction of the requirements of, Section 2.2(a).