Assignment; Subcontracting (a) Except as expressly provided in Section 12(b) below, this Agreement shall not be assignable or delegable, whether by merger, operation of law or otherwise, by any Fund without the written consent of BNY Mellon, or by BNY Mellon without the written consent of the affected Fund, in each case which consent may not be unreasonably withheld. This Agreement shall extend to and shall be binding upon the Parties hereto, and their permitted successors and assigns.
(b) Notwithstanding the foregoing: (i) BNY Mellon may assign or transfer this Agreement to any BNY Mellon Affiliate or transfer this Agreement in connection with a sale of a majority or more of its assets, equity interests or voting control, provided that BNY Mellon gives the relevant Funds ninety (90) days' prior written notice of such assignment or transfer and such assignment or transfer does not impair the provision of services under this Agreement in any material respect, and the assignee or transferee agrees in writing to be bound by all terms of this Agreement in place of BNY Mellon; (ii) BNY Mellon may subcontract with, hire, engage or otherwise outsource to any BNY Mellon Affiliate with respect to the performance of any one or more of the functions, services, duties or obligations of BNY Mellon under this Agreement but any such subcontracting, hiring, engaging or outsourcing shall not relieve BNY Mellon of any of its liabilities or obligations hereunder and BNY Mellon shall remain responsible for all activities, including all acts and omissions, of such BNY Mellon Affiliates to the same extent as if such activities were performed by BNY Mellon; (iii) BNY Mellon may subcontract with, hire, engage or otherwise outsource to an unaffiliated third party with respect to the performance of any one or more of the functions, services, duties or obligations of BNY Mellon under this Agreement but any such subcontracting, hiring, engaging or outsourcing shall (A) require the prior written consent of the relevant Funds and (B) not relieve BNY Mellon of any of its liabilities hereunder; and (iv) BNY Mellon, in the course of providing certain additional services requested by a Fund (“Vendor Eligible Services”) as further described in Schedule I attached hereto, may in its sole discretion, enter into an agreement or agreements with a financial printer or electronic services provider (“Vendor”) to provide BNY Mellon with the ability to generate certain reports or provide certain functionality; provided, however, that BNY Mellon shall ensure prior to any assignment, transfer, subcontracting, hiring, engaging or other outsourcing, as applicable, under subsections (i) through (iv) that the applicable BNY Mellon Affiliate, unaffiliated third party or Vendor is subject to written confidentiality, security and data protection obligations at least as restrictive as those set forth in this Agreement. BNY Mellon shall not be obligated to perform any of the Vendor Eligible Services unless an agreement between BNY Mellon and the Vendor for the provision of such services is then-currently in effect. Upon request, BNY Mellon will disclose the identity of the Vendor and the status of the contractual relationship, and a Fund is free to attempt to contract directly with the Vendor for the provision of the Vendor Eligible Services.
(c) As compensation for the Vendor Eligible Services rendered by BNY Mellon pursuant to this Agreement, the applicable Fund will pay to BNY Mellon such fees as may be agreed to in writing by the Fund and BNY Mellon. In turn, BNY Mellon will be responsible for paying the Vendor’s fees. For the avoidance of doubt, BNY Mellon anticipates that the fees it charges hereunder will be more than the fees charged to it by the Vendor, and BNY Mellon will retain the difference between the amount paid to BNY Mellon hereunder and the fees BNY Mellon pays to the Vendor as compensation for the additional services provided by BNY Mellon in the course of making the Vendor Eligible Services available to the Fund.