FOURTH The total number of shares of all classes of stock which the Corporation shall have authority to issue is forty-one million (41,000,000) shares, consisting of:
SIXTH Meetings of stockholders may be held within or without the State of Delaware, as the By-Laws may provide. The books of the Corporation may be kept (subject to any provision contained in the DGCL) outside the State of Delaware at such place or places as may be designated from time to time by the Board of Directors or in the By-Laws of the Corporation.
FIFTH The Distributor shall act as an agent of the Company in connection with the sale and redemption of Shares. Except with respect to such sales and redemptions, the Distributor shall act as principal in all matters relating to the promotion of the sale of Shares and shall enter into all of its own engagements, agreements and contracts as principal on its own account. The Distributor shall enter into agreements with investment dealers and financial institutions selected by the Distributor, authorizing such investment dealers and financial institutions to offer and sell the Shares to the public upon the terms and conditions set forth therein, which shall not be inconsistent with the provisions of this Agreement. Each agreement shall provide that the investment dealer or financial institution shall act as a principal, and not as an agent, of the Company.
EIGHTH The Distributor may, from time to time, assign, transfer or pledge ("Transfer") to one or more designees (each an "Assignee"), its rights to all or a designated portion of (i) the Distributor's 12b-1 Share (but not the Distributor's duties and obligations pursuant hereto or pursuant to the Plan), and (ii) the Distributor's Earned CDSC, free and clear of any offsets or claims the Company may have against the Distributor. Each such Assignee's ownership interest in a Transfer of a designated portion of a Distributor's 12b-1 Share and a Distributor's Earned CDSC is hereinafter referred to as an "Assignee's 12b-1 Portion" and an "Assignee's CDSC Portion," respectively. A Transfer pursuant to this Section EIGHTH: (A) shall not reduce or extinguish any claim of the Company against the Distributor.
SEVENTH A copy of the Agreement of Merger will be furnished by the surviving corporation on request, without cost, to any stockholder of the constituent corporations.