EX-3.1 2 a10-12835_1ex3d1.htm EX-3.1

Exhibit 3.1

 

AMENDED AND RESTATED ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

OF

CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY BANCORP

 

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CERTIFICATE OF AMENDMENT OF

ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION

 

The undersigned certify that:

 

1.                                       They are the President and Chief Executive Officer, and Secretary, respectively, of CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY BANCORP, a California corporation.

 

2.                                       The Articles of Incorporation of CENTRAL VALLEY COMMUNITY BANCORP are amended and restated as follows:

 

I.

 

NAME

 

The name of this corporation is Central Valley Community Bancorp.

 

II.

 

PURPOSE

 

The purpose of the corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity for which a corporation may be organized under the General Corporation Law of California other than the banking business, the trust company business or the practice of a profession permitted to be incorporated by the California Corporations Code.

 

III.

 

AUTHORIZED STOCK

 

(a)                                  Central Valley Community Bancorp (hereinafter the “Corporation”) is authorized to issue two classes of shares designated “Preferred Stock” and “Common Stock” respectively.  The number of shares of Common Stock authorized to be issued is 81,000,000 and the number of shares of Preferred Stock authorized to be issued is 10,000,000.

 

(b)                                 The shares of Common Stock shall be divided into two series, 80,000,000 shares of which shall be designated “Common Stock,” and 1,000,000 shares of which shall be designated “Non-Voting Common Stock.”  The Non-Voting Common Stock shall not be entitled to cast votes for the election of directors, nor shall it vote on other matters except as provided by the California Corporations Code, but shall have all other rights of the voting Common Stock, including without limitation the same rights to dividends and distributions in cash or other property.  The Corporation shall not register the Non-Voting Common Stock for trading on any exchange.

 

(c)                                  Except as provided in Section (d), the shares of Preferred Stock may be divided into such number of series as the Board of Directors may determine.  The Board of Directors is authorized to determine and alter the rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions granted to and imposed upon any wholly unissued series of Preferred Stock, and to fix the number of shares of any series

 

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of Preferred Stock and the designation of any such series of Preferred Stock.  The Board of Directors, within the limits and restrictions stated in any resolution or resolutions of the Board of Directors originally fixing the number of shares constituting any series, may increase or decrease (but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding) the number of shares of any series subsequent to the issue of shares of that series.

 

(d)                                 The rights, preferences, privileges and restrictions of the Company’s existing series of Preferred Stock, created by previously filed Certificates of Determination, are as set forth in Articles IV and V below.

 

IV.

 

SERIES A FIXED RATE CUMULATIVE PERPETUAL PREFERRED STOCK

 

This Article IV restates, as an Article in these Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation pursuant to Section 910(c) of the California Corporations Code, that certain Certificate of Determination of the Corporation, filed January 20, 2009.

 

Designation and Number of Shares. The Corporation is authorized to issue a series of Preferred Stock designated as the “Series A Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock” (the “Designated Preferred Stock”).  The authorized number of shares of Designated Preferred Stock is 7,000.

 

Section 1. General Matters. Each share of Designated Preferred Stock shall be identical in all respects to every other share of Designated Preferred Stock. The Designated Preferred Stock shall be perpetual, subject to the provisions of Section 5 of this Article IV. The Designated Preferred Stock shall rank equally with Parity Stock and shall rank senior to Junior Stock with respect to the payment of dividends and the distribution of assets in the event of any dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the Corporation.

 

Section 2. Standard Definitions. As used herein with respect to Designated Preferred Stock:

 

(a)                                  Applicable Dividend Rate” means (i) during the period from the Original Issue Date to, but excluding, the first day of the first Dividend Period commencing on or after the fifth anniversary of the Original Issue Date, 5% per annum and (ii) from and after the first day of the first Dividend Period commencing on or after the fifth anniversary of the Original Issue Date, 9% per annum.

 

(b)                                 Appropriate Federal Banking Agency” means the “appropriate Federal banking agency” with respect to the Corporation as defined in Section 3(q) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. Section 1813(q)), or any successor provision.

 

(c)                                  Business Combination” means a merger, consolidation, statutory share exchange or similar transaction that requires the approval of the Corporation’s stockholders.

 

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(d)                                 Business Day” means any day except Saturday, Sunday and any day on which banking institutions in the State of New York generally are authorized or required by law or other governmental actions to close.

 

(e)                                  Bylaws” means the bylaws of the Corporation, as they may be amended from time to time.

 

(f)                                    Charter” means the Corporation’s certificate or articles of incorporation, articles of association, or similar organizational document.

 

(g)                                 Dividend Payment Date” means February 15, May 15, August 15 and November 15 of each year.

 

(h)                                 Dividend Period” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(a).

 

(i)                                     Dividend Record Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(a).

 

(j)                                     Junior Stock” means the Common Stock and any other class or series of stock of the Corporation the terms of which expressly provide that it ranks junior to Designated Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and/or as to rights on liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation.

 

(k)                                  Liquidation Amount” means $1,000 per share of Designated Preferred Stock.

 

(l)                                     Liquidation Preference” has the meaning set forth in Section 4(a).

 

(m)                               Original Issue Date” means the date on which shares of Designated Preferred Stock are first issued.

 

(n)                                 Minimum Amount” means $1,750,000.

 

(o)                                 Parity Stock” means any class or series of stock of the Corporation (other than Designated Preferred Stock) the terms of which do not expressly provide that such class or series will rank senior or junior to Designated Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and/or as to rights on liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation (in each case without regard to whether dividends accrue cumulatively or non-cumulatively). Without limiting the foregoing, Parity Stock shall include the Corporation’s authorized but unissued Preferred Stock.

 

(p)                                 Preferred Director” has the meaning set forth in Section 7(b).

 

(q)                                 Preferred Stock” means any and all series of preferred stock of the Corporation, including the Designated Preferred Stock.

 

(r)                                    Qualified Equity Offering” means the sale and issuance for cash by the Corporation to persons other than the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries after the Original Issue Date of shares of perpetual Preferred Stock, Common Stock or any combination of such stock, that, in each case, qualify as and may be included in Tier 1 capital of the Corporation at the time of issuance under the applicable risk-based capital guidelines of the Corporation’s Appropriate

 

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Federal Banking Agency (other than any such sales and issuances made pursuant to agreements or arrangements entered into, or pursuant to financing plans which were publicly announced, on or prior to October 13, 2008).

 

(s)                                  Share Dilution Amount” has the meaning set forth in Section 3(b).

 

(t)                                    Signing Date” means the Original Issue Date.

 

(u)                                 Successor Preferred Stock” has the meaning set forth in Section 5(a).

 

(v)                                 Voting Parity Stock” means, with regard to any matter as to which the holders of Designated Preferred Stock are entitled to vote as specified in Sections 7(a) and 7(b) of this Article IV, any and all series of Parity Stock upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable with respect to such matter.

 

Section 3. Dividends.

 

(a)                                  Rate. Holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive, on each share of Designated Preferred Stock if, as and when declared by the Board of Directors or any duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors, but only out of assets legally available therefor, cumulative cash dividends with respect to each Dividend Period (as defined below) at a rate per annum equal to the Applicable Dividend Rate on (i) the Liquidation Amount per share of Designated Preferred Stock and (ii) the amount of accrued and unpaid dividends for any prior Dividend Period on such share of Designated Preferred Stock, if any. Such dividends shall begin to accrue and be cumulative from the Original Issue Date, shall compound on each subsequent Dividend Payment Date (i.e., no dividends shall accrue on other dividends unless and until the first Dividend Payment Date for such other dividends has passed without such other dividends having been paid on such date) and shall be payable quarterly in arrears on each Dividend Payment Date, commencing with the first such Dividend Payment Date to occur at least 20 calendar days after the Original Issue Date. In the event that any Dividend Payment Date would otherwise fall on a day that is not a Business Day, the dividend payment due on that date will be postponed to the next day that is a Business Day and no additional dividends will accrue as a result of that postponement. The period from and including any Dividend Payment Date to, but excluding, the next Dividend Payment Date is a “Dividend Period”, provided that the initial Dividend Period shall be the period from and including the Original Issue Date to, but excluding, the next Dividend Payment Date.

 

Dividends that are payable on Designated Preferred Stock in respect of any Dividend Period shall be computed on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months. The amount of dividends payable on Designated Preferred Stock on any date prior to the end of a Dividend Period, and for the initial Dividend Period, shall be computed on the basis of a 360-day year consisting of twelve 30-day months, and actual days elapsed over a 30-day month.

 

Dividends that are payable on Designated Preferred Stock on any Dividend Payment Date will be payable to holders of record of Designated Preferred Stock as they appear on the stock register of the Corporation on the applicable record date, which shall be the 15th calendar day immediately preceding such Dividend Payment Date or such other record date fixed by the Board of Directors or any duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors that is not more than 60 nor less than 10 days prior to such Dividend Payment Date (each, a “Dividend Record Date”). Any such day that is a Dividend Record Date shall be a Dividend Record Date whether or not such day is a Business Day.

 

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Holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall not be entitled to any dividends, whether payable in cash, securities or other property, other than dividends (if any) declared and payable on Designated Preferred Stock as specified in this Section 3 (subject to the other provisions of the this Article IV).

 

(b)                                 Priority of Dividends. So long as any share of Designated Preferred Stock remains outstanding, no dividend or distribution shall be declared or paid on the Common Stock or any other shares of Junior Stock (other than dividends payable solely in shares of Common Stock) or Parity Stock, subject to the immediately following paragraph in the case of Parity Stock, and no Common Stock, Junior Stock or Parity Stock shall be, directly or indirectly, purchased, redeemed or otherwise acquired for consideration by the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries unless all accrued and unpaid dividends for all past Dividend Periods, including the latest completed Dividend Period (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount), on all outstanding shares of Designated Preferred Stock have been or are contemporaneously declared and paid in full (or have been declared and a sum sufficient for the payment thereof has been set aside for the benefit of the holders of shares of Designated Preferred Stock on the applicable record date). The foregoing limitation shall not apply to (i) redemptions, purchases or other acquisitions of shares of Common Stock or other Junior Stock in connection with the administration of any employee benefit plan in the ordinary course of business (including purchases to offset the Share Dilution Amount (as defined below) pursuant to a publicly announced repurchase plan) and consistent with past practice, provided that any purchases to offset the Share Dilution Amount shall in no event exceed the Share Dilution Amount; (ii) purchases or other acquisitions by a broker-dealer subsidiary of the Corporation solely for the purpose of market-making, stabilization or customer facilitation transactions in Junior Stock or Parity Stock in the ordinary course of its business; (iii) purchases by a broker-dealer subsidiary of the Corporation of capital stock of the Corporation for resale pursuant to an offering by the Corporation of such capital stock underwritten by such broker-dealer subsidiary; (iv) any dividends or distributions of rights or Junior Stock in connection with a stockholders’ rights plan or any redemption or repurchase of rights pursuant to any stockholders’ rights plan; (v) the acquisition by the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries of record ownership in Junior Stock or Parity Stock for the beneficial ownership of any other persons (other than the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries), including as trustees or custodians; and (vi) the exchange or conversion of Junior Stock for or into other Junior Stock or of Parity Stock for or into other Parity Stock (with the same or lesser aggregate liquidation amount) or Junior Stock, in each case, solely to the extent required pursuant to binding contractual agreements entered into prior to the Signing Date or any subsequent agreement for the accelerated exercise, settlement or exchange thereof for Common Stock. “Share Dilution Amount” means the increase in the number of diluted shares outstanding (determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States, and as measured from the date of the Corporation’s consolidated financial statements most recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission prior to the Original Issue Date) resulting from the grant, vesting or exercise of equity-based compensation to employees and equitably adjusted for any stock split, stock dividend, reverse stock split, reclassification or similar transaction.

 

When dividends are not paid (or declared and a sum sufficient for payment thereof set aside for the benefit of the holders thereof on the applicable record date) on any Dividend Payment Date (or, in the case of Parity Stock having dividend payment dates different from the Dividend Payment Dates, on a dividend payment date falling within a Dividend Period related to such Dividend Payment Date) in full upon Designated Preferred Stock and any shares of Parity Stock, all dividends declared on Designated Preferred Stock and all such Parity Stock and payable on such Dividend

 

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Payment Date (or, in the case of Parity Stock having dividend payment dates different from the Dividend Payment Dates, on a dividend payment date falling within the Dividend Period related to such Dividend Payment Date) shall be declared pro rata so that the respective amounts of such dividends declared shall bear the same ratio to each other as all accrued and unpaid dividends per share on the shares of Designated Preferred Stock (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount) and all Parity Stock payable on such Dividend Payment Date (or, in the case of Parity Stock having dividend payment dates different from the Dividend Payment Dates, on a dividend payment date falling within the Dividend Period related to such Dividend Payment Date) (subject to their having been declared by the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors out of legally available funds and including, in the case of Parity Stock that bears cumulative dividends, all accrued but unpaid dividends) bear to each other. If the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors determines not to pay any dividend or a full dividend on a Dividend Payment Date, the Corporation will provide written notice to the holders of Designated Preferred Stock prior to such Dividend Payment Date.

 

Subject to the foregoing, and not otherwise, such dividends (payable in cash, securities or other property) as may be determined by the Board of Directors or any duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors may be declared and paid on any securities, including Common Stock and other Junior Stock, from time to time out of any funds legally available for such payment, and holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall not be entitled to participate in any such dividends.

 

Section 4. Liquidation Rights.

 

(a)                                  Voluntary or Involuntary Liquidation. In the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the affairs of the Corporation, whether voluntary or involuntary, holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive for each share of Designated Preferred Stock, out of the assets of the Corporation or proceeds thereof (whether capital or surplus) available for distribution to stockholders of the Corporation, subject to the rights of any creditors of the Corporation, before any distribution of such assets or proceeds is made to or set aside for the holders of Common Stock and any other stock of the Corporation ranking junior to Designated Preferred Stock as to such distribution, payment in full in an amount equal to the sum of (i) the Liquidation Amount per share and (ii) the amount of any accrued and unpaid dividends (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount), whether or not declared, to the date of payment (such amounts collectively, the “Liquidation Preference”).

 

(b)                                 Partial Payment. If in any distribution described in Section 4(a) above the assets of the Corporation or proceeds thereof are not sufficient to pay in full the amounts payable with respect to all outstanding shares of Designated Preferred Stock and the corresponding amounts payable with respect of any other stock of the Corporation ranking equally with Designated Preferred Stock as to such distribution, holders of Designated Preferred Stock and the holders of such other stock shall share ratably in any such distribution in proportion to the full respective distributions to which they are entitled.

 

(c)                                  Residual Distributions. If the Liquidation Preference has been paid in full to all holders of Designated Preferred Stock and the corresponding amounts payable with respect of any other stock of the Corporation ranking equally with Designated Preferred Stock as to such distribution has been paid in full, the holders of other stock of the Corporation shall be entitled to receive all remaining assets of the Corporation (or proceeds thereof) according to their respective rights and preferences.

 

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(d)                                 Merger, Consolidation and Sale of Assets Not Liquidation. For purposes of this Section 4, the merger or consolidation of the Corporation with any other corporation or other entity, including a merger or consolidation in which the holders of Designated Preferred Stock receive cash, securities or other property for their shares, or the sale, lease or exchange (for cash, securities or other property) of all or substantially all of the assets of the Corporation, shall not constitute a liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation.

 

Section 5. Redemption.

 

(a)                                  Optional Redemption. Except as provided below, the Designated Preferred Stock may not be redeemed prior to the first Dividend Payment Date falling on or after the third anniversary of the Original Issue Date. On or after the first Dividend Payment Date falling on or after the third anniversary of the Original Issue Date, the Corporation, at its option, subject to the approval of the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency, may redeem, in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time, out of funds legally available therefor, the shares of Designated Preferred Stock at the time outstanding, upon notice given as provided in Section 5(c) below, at a redemption price equal to the sum of (i) the Liquidation Amount per share and (ii) except as otherwise provided below, any accrued and unpaid dividends (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount) (regardless of whether any dividends are actually declared) to, but excluding, the date fixed for redemption.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, prior to the first Dividend Payment Date falling on or after the third anniversary of the Original Issue Date, the Corporation, at its option, subject to the approval of the Appropriate Federal Banking Agency, may redeem, in whole or in part, at any time and from time to time, the shares of Designated Preferred Stock at the time outstanding, upon notice given as provided in Section 5(c) below, at a redemption price equal to the sum of (i) the Liquidation Amount per share and (ii) except as otherwise provided below, any accrued and unpaid dividends (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount) (regardless of whether any dividends are actually declared) to, but excluding, the date fixed for redemption; provided that (x) the Corporation (or any successor by Business Combination) has received aggregate gross proceeds of not less than the Minimum Amount (plus the “Minimum Amount” as defined in the relevant certificate of determination for each other outstanding series of preferred stock of such successor that was originally issued to the United States Department of the Treasury (the “Successor Preferred Stock”) in connection with the Troubled Asset Relief Program Capital Purchase Program) from one or more Qualified Equity Offerings (including Qualified Equity Offerings of such successor), and (y) the aggregate redemption price of the Designated Preferred Stock (and any Successor Preferred Stock) redeemed pursuant to this paragraph may not exceed the aggregate net cash proceeds received by the Corporation (or any successor by Business Combination) from such Qualified Equity Offerings (including Qualified Equity Offerings of such successor).

 

The redemption price for any shares of Designated Preferred Stock shall be payable on the redemption date to the holder of such shares against surrender of the certificate(s) evidencing such shares to the Corporation or its agent. Any declared but unpaid dividends payable on a redemption date that occurs subsequent to the Dividend Record Date for a Dividend Period shall not be paid to the holder entitled to receive the redemption price on the redemption date, but rather shall be paid to the holder of record of the redeemed shares on such Dividend Record Date relating to the Dividend Payment Date as provided in Section 3 above.

 

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(b)           No Sinking Fund. The Designated Preferred Stock will not be subject to any mandatory redemption, sinking fund or other similar provisions. Holders of Designated Preferred Stock will have no right to require redemption or repurchase of any shares of Designated Preferred Stock.

 

(c)           Notice of Redemption. Notice of every redemption of shares of Designated Preferred Stock shall be given by first class mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the holders of record of the shares to be redeemed at their respective last addresses appearing on the books of the Corporation. Such mailing shall be at least 30 days and not more than 60 days before the date fixed for redemption. Any notice mailed as provided in this Subsection shall be conclusively presumed to have been duly given, whether or not the holder receives such notice, but failure duly to give such notice by mail, or any defect in such notice or in the mailing thereof, to any holder of shares of Designated Preferred Stock designated for redemption shall not affect the validity of the proceedings for the redemption of any other shares of Designated Preferred Stock.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, if shares of Designated Preferred Stock are issued in book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company or any other similar facility, notice of redemption may be given to the holders of Designated Preferred Stock at such time and in any manner permitted by such facility. Each notice of redemption given to a holder shall state: (1) the redemption date; (2) the number of shares of Designated Preferred Stock to be redeemed and, if less than all the shares held by such holder are to be redeemed, the number of such shares to be redeemed from such holder; (3) the redemption price; and (4) the place or places where certificates for such shares are to be surrendered for payment of the redemption price.

 

(d)           Partial Redemption. In case of any redemption of part of the shares of Designated Preferred Stock at the time outstanding, the shares to be redeemed shall be selected either pro rata or in such other manner as the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee thereof may determine to be fair and equitable. Subject to the provisions hereof, the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee thereof shall have full power and authority to prescribe the terms and conditions upon which shares of Designated Preferred Stock shall be redeemed from time to time. If fewer than all the shares represented by any certificate are redeemed, a new certificate shall be issued representing the unredeemed shares without charge to the holder thereof.

 

(e)           Effectiveness of Redemption. If notice of redemption has been duly given and if on or before the redemption date specified in the notice all funds necessary for the redemption have been deposited by the Corporation, in trust for the pro rata benefit of the holders of the shares called for redemption, with a bank or trust company doing business in the Borough of Manhattan, The City of New York, and having a capital and surplus of at least $500 million and selected by the Board of Directors, so as to be and continue to be available solely therefor, then, notwithstanding that any certificate for any share so called for redemption has not been surrendered for cancellation, on and after the redemption date dividends shall cease to accrue on all shares so called for redemption, all shares so called for redemption shall no longer be deemed outstanding and all rights with respect to such shares shall forthwith on such redemption date cease and terminate, except only the right of the holders thereof to receive the amount payable on such redemption from such bank or trust company, without interest. Any funds unclaimed at the end of three years from the redemption date shall, to the extent permitted by law, be released to the Corporation, after which time the holders of the shares so called for redemption shall look only to the Corporation for payment of the redemption price of such shares.

 

(f)            Status of Redeemed Shares. Shares of Designated Preferred Stock that are redeemed, repurchased or otherwise acquired by the Corporation shall revert to authorized but unissued shares of Preferred Stock (provided that any such cancelled shares of Designated Preferred Stock may be reissued only as shares of any series of Preferred Stock other than Designated Preferred Stock).

 

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Section 6. Conversion. Holders of Designated Preferred Stock shares shall have no right to exchange or convert such shares into any other securities.

 

Section 7. Voting Rights.

 

(a)           General. The holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall not have any voting rights except as set forth below or as otherwise from time to time required by law.

 

(b)           Preferred Stock Directors. Whenever, at any time or times, dividends payable on the shares of Designated Preferred Stock have not been paid for an aggregate of six quarterly Dividend Periods or more, whether or not consecutive, the holders of the Designated Preferred Stock shall have the right, with holders of shares of any one or more other classes or series of Voting Parity Stock outstanding at the time, voting together as a class, to elect two directors (hereinafter the Preferred Directorsand each a Preferred Director) at the Corporation’s next annual meeting of stockholders (or at a special meeting called for that purpose prior to such next annual meeting) and at each subsequent annual meeting of stockholders until all accrued and unpaid dividends for all past Dividend Periods, including the latest completed Dividend Period (including, if applicable as provided in Section 3(a) above, dividends on such amount), on all outstanding shares of Designated Preferred Stock have been declared and paid in full at which time such right shall terminate with respect to the Designated Preferred Stock, except as herein or by law expressly provided, subject to revesting in the event of each and every subsequent default of the character above mentioned; provided that it shall be a qualification for election for any Preferred Director that the election of such Preferred Director shall not cause the Corporation to violate any corporate governance requirements of any securities exchange or other trading facility on which securities of the Corporation may then be listed or traded that listed or traded companies must have a majority of independent directors. Upon any termination of the right of the holders of shares of Designated Preferred Stock and Voting Parity Stock as a class to vote for directors as provided above, the Preferred Directors shall cease to be qualified as directors and the term of office of all Preferred Directors then in office shall terminate immediately. Any Preferred Director may be removed at any time, with or without cause, and any vacancy created thereby may be filled, only by the affirmative vote of the holders a majority of the shares of Designated Preferred Stock at the time outstanding voting separately as a class together with the holders of shares of Voting Parity Stock, to the extent the voting rights of such holders described above are then exercisable. If the office of any Preferred Director becomes vacant for any reason other than removal from office as aforesaid, the remaining Preferred Director may choose a successor who shall hold office for the unexpired term in respect of which such vacancy occurred.

 

(c)           Class Voting Rights as to Particular Matters. So long as any shares of Designated Preferred Stock are outstanding, in addition to any other vote or written consent of stockholders required by law or by the Charter, the vote or written consent of the holders of at least 66 2/3% of the shares of Designated Preferred Stock at the time outstanding, voting as a separate class, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary for effecting or validating:

 

(i) Authorization of Senior Stock. Any amendment or alteration of this Article IV for the Designated Preferred Stock or the Charter to authorize or create or increase the authorized amount of, or any issuance of, any shares of, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for shares of, any class or series of capital stock of the Corporation ranking senior to Designated Preferred Stock with respect to either or both the payment of dividends and/or the distribution of assets on any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation;

 

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(ii)           Amendment of Designated Preferred Stock. Any amendment, alteration or repeal of any provision of this Article IV for the Designated Preferred Stock or the Charter (including, unless no vote on such merger or consolidation is required by Section 7(c)(iii) below, any amendment, alteration or repeal by means of a merger, consolidation or otherwise) so as to adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Designated Preferred Stock; or

 

(iii)          Share Exchanges, Reclassifications, Mergers and Consolidations. Any consummation of a binding share exchange or reclassification involving the Designated Preferred Stock, or of a merger or consolidation of the Corporation with another corporation or other entity, unless in each case (x) the shares of Designated Preferred Stock remain outstanding or, in the case of any such merger or  consolidation with respect to which the Corporation is not the surviving or resulting entity, are converted into or exchanged for preference securities of the surviving or resulting entity or its ultimate parent, and (y) such shares remaining outstanding or such preference securities, as the case may be, have such rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and limitations and restrictions thereof, taken as a whole, as are not materially less favorable to the holders thereof than the rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and limitations and restrictions thereof, of Designated Preferred Stock immediately prior to such consummation, taken as a whole;

 

provided, however, that for all purposes of this Section 7(c), any increase in the amount of the authorized Preferred Stock, including any increase in the authorized amount of Designated Preferred Stock necessary to satisfy preemptive or similar rights granted by the Corporation to other persons prior to the Signing Date, or the creation and issuance, or an increase in the authorized or issued amount, whether pursuant to preemptive or similar rights or otherwise, of any other series of Preferred Stock, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for any other series of Preferred Stock, ranking equally with and/or junior to Designated Preferred Stock with respect to the payment of dividends (whether such dividends are cumulative or non-cumulative) and the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation will not be deemed to adversely affect the rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers, and shall not require the affirmative vote or consent of, the holders of outstanding shares of the Designated Preferred Stock.

 

(d)           Changes after Provision for Redemption. No vote or consent of the holders of Designated Preferred Stock shall be required pursuant to Section 7(c) above if, at or prior to the time when any such vote or consent would otherwise be required pursuant to such Section, all outstanding shares of the Designated Preferred Stock shall have been redeemed, or shall have been called for redemption upon proper notice and sufficient funds shall have been deposited in trust for such redemption, in each case pursuant to Section 5 above.

 

(e)           Procedures for Voting and Consents. The rules and procedures for calling and conducting any meeting of the holders of Designated Preferred Stock (including, without limitation, the fixing of a record date in connection therewith), the solicitation and use of proxies at such a meeting, the obtaining of written consents and any other aspect or matter with regard to such a meeting or such consents shall conform to the requirements of the Charter, the Bylaws, and applicable law and the rules of any national securities exchange or other trading facility on which Designated Preferred Stock is listed or traded at the time.

 

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Section 8. Record Holders. To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the Corporation and the transfer agent for Designated Preferred Stock may deem and treat the record holder of any share of Designated Preferred Stock as the true and lawful owner thereof for all purposes, and neither the Corporation nor such transfer agent shall be affected by any notice to the contrary.

 

Section 9. Notices. All notices or communications in respect of Designated Preferred Stock shall be sufficiently given if given in writing and delivered in person or by first class mail, postage prepaid, or if given in such other manner as may be permitted in this Article IV, in the Charter or Bylaws or by applicable law. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if shares of Designated Preferred Stock are issued in book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company or any similar facility, such notices may be given to the holders of Designated Preferred Stock in any manner permitted by such facility.

 

Section 10. No Preemptive Rights. No share of Designated Preferred Stock shall have any rights of preemption whatsoever as to any securities of the Corporation, or any warrants, rights or options issued or granted with respect thereto, regardless of how such securities, or such warrants, rights or options, may be designated, issued or granted.

 

Section 11. Replacement Certificates. The Corporation shall replace any mutilated certificate at the holder’s expense upon surrender of that certificate to the Corporation. The Corporation shall replace certificates that become destroyed, stolen or lost at the holder’s expense upon delivery to the Corporation of reasonably satisfactory evidence that the certificate has been destroyed, stolen or lost, together with any indemnity that may be reasonably required by the Corporation.

 

Section 12. Other Rights. The shares of Designated Preferred Stock shall not have any rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers or relative, participating, optional or other special rights, or qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, other than as set forth herein or in the Charter or as provided by applicable law.

 

V.

 

SERIES B ADJUSTABLE RATE NON-CUMULATIVE PERPETUAL PREFERRED

 

This Article V restates, as an Article in these Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation pursuant to Section 910(c) of the California Corporations Code, that certain Certificate of Determination of the Corporation, filed December 22, 2009.

 

Section 1. Designation of Series and Number of Shares.

 

(a) The Corporation is authorized to issue a series of Preferred Stock designated as the “Series B Adjustable Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock” (the “Series B Preferred Stock”), and the authorized number of shares that shall constitute such series shall be 1,359 shares, which may be decreased (but not below the number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock then issued and outstanding) from time to time by the Board of Directors. Shares of outstanding Series B Preferred Stock that are purchased or otherwise acquired by the

 

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Corporation shall be cancelled and, if the Board of Directors so expressly provides by resolution, shall revert to authorized but unissued shares of Preferred Stock of the Corporation undesignated as to series; provided, nevertheless, that, except to the extent a statement of designations adopted by resolution of the Board of Directors in accordance with applicable law and the Articles of Incorporation expressly reduces the authorized number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock, cancelled shares may be reissued as Series B Preferred Stock up to a maximum aggregate of 1,000 at any time issued and outstanding as Series B Preferred Stock shall remain 1,000.

 

(b) The number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock may be increased or decreased (but not below the number of shares thereof then outstanding) by a further statement of designations hereafter adopted by resolution of the Board of Directors in accordance with applicable law and the Articles of Incorporation. In case the authorized number of shares of Series B Preferred Stock shall be so decreased, any excess shares shall revert to authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock of the Corporation undesignated as to series.

 

Section 2. Ranking. The Series B Preferred Stock will rank, with respect to the payment of dividends and distributions and upon liquidation, dissolution or winding-up, (1) on a parity with the Corporation’s Series A Fixed Rate Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock issued on January 30, 2009 (the “EESA Preferred Shares”), and each class or series of capital stock the Corporation may issue in the future the terms of which expressly provide that such class or series will rank on a parity with the Series B Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and rights on liquidation, winding up or dissolution of the Corporation (collectively, the “Parity Securities”), and (2) senior to Common Stock and each other class or series of capital stock, not referred to in clauses (1) or (2) above, that the Corporation may issue in the future the terms of which do not expressly provide that it ranks on a parity with or senior to the Series B Preferred Stock as to dividend rights and rights on liquidation, winding-up or dissolution of the Corporation (the “Junior Securities”).

 

Section 3. Definitions. As used herein with respect to the Series B Preferred Stock:

 

(a) “Articles of Incorporation” shall mean the articles of incorporation of the Corporation, as they may be amended from time to time.

 

(b) “Board of Directors” means the board of directors of the Corporation or any committee thereof duly authorized to act on behalf of such board of directors.

 

(c) “Business Day” means any day that is not Saturday or Sunday and that, in California, is not a day on which banking institutions generally are authorized or obligated by law or executive order to be closed.

 

(d) “Bylaws” means the Amended and Restated Bylaws of the Corporation, as may be amended from time to time.

 

(e) “Common Stock” means the common stock of the Corporation.

 

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(f) “Corporation” means Central Valley Community Bancorp, a California business corporation.

 

(g) “Depositary” means DTC or its nominee or any successor depositary appointed by the Corporation.

 

(h) “Dividend Payment Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 4(b).

 

(i) “Dividend Period” has the meaning set forth in Section 4(b).

 

(j) “DTC” means The Depository Trust Company and its successors or assigns.

 

(k) “Exchange Election” means the proper election by the Corporation of any contractual right it may have to cause the holders of the outstanding shares of Series B Preferred exchange all of their respective shares of Series A Preferred into other shares of capital stock of the Corporation.

 

(l) “Holder” means the Person in whose name the shares of the Series B Preferred Stock are registered, which may be treated by the Corporation, Transfer Agent, Registrar, and paying agent as the absolute owner of the shares of Series B Preferred Stock for the purpose of making payment and settling the related conversions and for all other purposes.

 

(m) “Issue Date” means the date on which shares of the Series B Preferred Stock are first issued.

 

(n) “Junior Securities” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.

 

(o) “Liquidation Preference” means, as to the Series B Preferred Stock, $1,000.00 per share.

 

(p) “Mandatory Exchange Date” means the date upon which all of the shares of Series B Preferred Stock are exchanged, at the Corporation’s election, for capital stock of the Corporation in accordance with a proper Exchange Election.

 

(q) “Officer” means the President, the Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, any Senior Executive Vice President, any Executive Vice President, any Senior Vice President, the Chief Financial Officer, the Treasurer or the Secretary of the Corporation.

 

(r) “Officer’s Certificate” means a certificate of the Corporation, signed by any duly authorized Officer of the Corporation.

 

(s) “Parity Securities” has the meaning set forth in Section 2.

 

(t) “Person” means a legal person, including any individual, corporation, estate, partnership, joint venture, association, joint-stock company, limited liability company or trust.

 

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(u) “Record Date” has the meaning set forth in Section 4(b).

 

(v) “Registrar” shall mean the Transfer Agent acting in its capacity as registrar for the Series B Preferred Stock, and its successors and assigns or any other registrar duly appointed by the Corporation.

 

(w) “Transfer Agent” means the Corporation, acting as Transfer Agent, Registrar, and paying agent for the Series B Preferred Stock, and its successors and assigns, including any successor transfer agent appointed by the Corporation.  The Corporation may act as its own transfer agent.

 

(x) “Voting Preferred Stock” means any and all series of preferred stock of the Corporation that rank equally with Series B Preferred Stock either or both as to the payment of dividends and/or the distribution of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation and upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable.

 

Section 4. Dividends.

 

(a) From and after the Issue Date, Holders shall be entitled to receive, when, as and if authorized and declared by the Board of Directors, out of legally available funds, on a non-cumulative basis, cash dividends in the amount determined as set forth in Section 4(c), and no more.

 

(b) Subject to Section 4(a), dividends shall be payable in semi-annual installments commencing on the six (6) month anniversary of the Series B Issuance Date and continuing on each six (6) month anniversary thereafter (each, a “Dividend Payment Date”). Each dividend will be payable to Holders of record as they appear in the stock register of the Corporation at the close of business on the first day of the month, whether or not a Business Day, in which the relevant Dividend Payment Date occurs (each, a “Record Date”). Each period from and including a Dividend Payment Date (or the date of the issuance of the Series B Preferred Stock (the “Series B Issuance Date”)) to but excluding the following Dividend Payment Date is herein referred to as a “Dividend Period.”

 

(c) Dividends, if, when and as authorized and declared by the Board of Directors, will be payable, for each outstanding share of Series B Preferred Stock, at the following respective rates during each of the following respective periods (each rate expressed as an annual rate on the $1,000.00 per share liquidation preference):

 

(i) 10% per annum for the Dividend Period beginning on the Series B Issuance Date and ending on the six (6) month anniversary of the Series B Issuance Date (the “First Period End Date”);

 

(ii) 15% per annum for the Dividend Period beginning on the First Period End Date and ending on the six (6) month anniversary of the First Period End Date (the “Second Period End Date”); and

 

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(iii) 20% per annum for the dividends accruing during all Dividend Periods subsequent to the Second Period End Date.

 

Dividends payable for a Dividend Period will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months. If a scheduled Dividend Payment Date falls on a day that is not a Business Day, the dividend will be paid on the next Business Day as if it were paid on the scheduled Dividend Payment Date, and no interest or other amount will accrue on the dividend so payable for the period from and after that Dividend Payment Date to the date the dividend is paid. No interest or sum of money in lieu of interest will be paid on any dividend payment on shares of Series B Preferred Stock paid later than the scheduled Dividend Payment Date.

 

(d) Dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock are non-cumulative. If the Board of Directors does not authorize and declare a dividend on the Series B Preferred Stock or if the Board of Directors authorizes and declares less than a full dividend in respect of any Dividend Period, the Holders will have no right to receive any dividend or a full dividend, as the case may be, for the Dividend Period, and the Corporation will have no obligation to pay a dividend or to pay full dividends for that Dividend Period, whether or not dividends are authorized, declared and paid for any future Dividend Period with respect to the Series B Preferred Stock or the Common Stock or any other class or series of the Corporation’s preferred stock.

 

(e) So long as any share of Series B Preferred Stock remains outstanding, (1) no dividend shall be declared and paid or set aside for payment and no distribution shall be declared and made or set aside for payment on any Junior Securities (other than a dividend payable solely in shares of Junior Securities) and (2) no shares of Junior Securities shall be purchased, redeemed or otherwise acquired for consideration by the Corporation, directly or indirectly (other than (a) as a result of a reclassification of Junior Securities for or into other Junior Securities or the exchange or conversion of one share of Junior Securities for or into another share of Junior Securities, (b) repurchases in support of the Corporation’s employee benefit and compensation programs and (c) through the use of the proceeds of a substantially contemporaneous sale of other shares of Junior Securities), unless, in each case, the full dividends for the most recent Dividend Payment Date on all outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock and Parity Securities have been paid or declared and a sum sufficient for the payment thereof has been set aside.

 

Subject to the succeeding sentence, for so long as any shares of Series B Preferred Stock remain outstanding, no dividends shall be declared or paid or set aside for payment on any Parity Securities for any period unless full dividends on all outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock for the then-current Dividend Period have been paid in full or declared and a sum sufficient for the payment thereof set aside for all outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock. To the extent the Corporation declares dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock and on any Parity Securities but does not make full payment of such declared dividends, the Corporation shall allocate the dividend payments on a pro rata basis among the holders of the shares of Series B Preferred Stock and the holders of any Parity Securities then outstanding. For purposes of calculating the pro rata allocation of partial dividend payments, the Corporation shall allocate those payments so that the respective amounts of those payments bear the same ratio to each other as all accrued and unpaid dividends per share on the Series B Preferred Stock and all Parity Securities bear to each other.

 

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The Corporation is not obligated to pay Holders of the Series B Preferred Stock any dividend in excess of the dividends on the Series B Preferred Stock that are payable as described herein. Subject to the foregoing, and not otherwise, such dividends (payable in cash, stock or otherwise) as may be determined by the Board of Directors or any duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors may be declared and paid on any Junior Securities from time to time out of any assets legally available therefor, and the shares of Series B Preferred Stock shall not be entitled to participate in any such dividend.

 

(f) Payments of cash for dividends will be delivered to the Holder by check or, at any time that shares of Series B Preferred Stock are held by book-entry with DTC or any successor Depositary, through a book-entry transfer through DTC or such successor Depositary.

 

(g) If the shares of Series B Preferred Stock are cancelled or reaquired by the Corporation by any means (including share exchanges) (a “Termination Event”) on or prior to the Record Date for any declared dividend for the Dividend Period, the Holder will not have the right to receive any declared dividends for that Dividend Period.  If a Termination Event occurs after the Record Date for any declared dividend and prior to the Dividend Payment Date, such Holder shall receive that dividend on the relevant Dividend Payment Date if such Holder was the Holder of record on the Record Date for that dividend.

 

Section 5. Liquidation.

 

(a) In the event the Corporation voluntarily or involuntarily liquidates, dissolves or winds up, the Holders at the time shall be entitled to receive liquidating distributions in the amount of $1,000.00 per share of Series B Preferred Stock, plus an amount equal to any authorized and declared but unpaid dividends thereon to and including the date of such liquidation, out of assets legally available for distribution to the Corporation’s stockholders, before any distribution of assets is made to the holders of the Common Stock or any other Junior Securities. After payment of the full amount of such liquidating distributions, the Holders will not be entitled to any further participation in any distribution of assets by, and shall have no right or claim to any remaining assets of, the Corporation.

 

(b) In the event the assets of the Corporation available for distribution to stockholders upon any liquidation, dissolution or winding-up of the affairs of the Corporation, whether voluntary or involuntary, shall be insufficient to pay in full the amounts payable with respect to all outstanding shares of the Series B Preferred Stock and the corresponding amounts payable on any Parity Securities, Holders and the holders of such Parity Securities shall share ratably in any distribution of assets of the Corporation in proportion to the full respective liquidating distributions to which they would otherwise be respectively entitled.

 

(c) The Corporation’s consolidation or merger with or into any other entity, the consolidation or merger of any other entity with or into the Corporation, or the sale of all or substantially all of the Corporation’s property or business will not constitute its liquidation, dissolution or winding up.

 

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Section 6. Perpetual; No Maturity. The Series B Preferred Stock shall be perpetual and shall be without maturity.

 

Section 7. Non-Redeemable. The Series B Preferred Stock shall not be redeemable either at the Corporation’s option or at the option of Holders at any time. The Series B Preferred Stock shall not be subject to any sinking fund or other obligation to redeem, repurchase or retire the Series B Preferred Stock.

 

Section 8. Voting Rights. The holders of Series B Preferred Stock shall not have any voting rights except as set forth in this Section 8 or as otherwise from time to time required by law.

 

(a) Voting Rights. So long as any shares of Series B Preferred Stock are outstanding, in addition to any other vote or consent of stockholders required by law or by the Articles of Incorporation, the vote or consent of the holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of Series B Preferred Stock and any Voting Preferred Stock then outstanding (subject to the last paragraph of this Section 8(a)) at the time outstanding and entitled to vote thereon, voting together as a single class, given in person or by proxy, either in writing without a meeting or by vote at any meeting called for the purpose, shall be necessary for effecting or validating:

 

(i) Authorization of Senior Stock. Any amendment or alteration of the Articles of Incorporation or this Article V to authorize or create, or increase the authorized amount of, any shares of any specific class or series of capital stock of the Corporation ranking senior to the Series B Preferred Stock with respect to either or both the payment of dividends or the distribution of assets on any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, provided, however, that no vote, approval or consent of the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock shall be required in any event to authorize, or in any way as a condition to the issuance of, the EESA Preferred Shares even if the EESA Preferred Shares rank senior to the Series B Preferred Stock, and regardless of whether the terms of the EESA Preferred Shares are consistent with, or less favorable to the holders of Series B Preferred Stock than, proposed terms of the EESA Preferred Shares as may have been disclosed to the holders of Series B Preferred Stock in connection with their subscriptions for Series B Preferred Stock or as may have been otherwise published or disclosed in any manner;

 

(ii) Amendment of Series B Preferred Stock. Any amendment, alteration or repeal of any provision of the Articles of Incorporation or this Article V so as to materially and adversely affect the special rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series B Preferred Stock, taken as a whole; or

 

(iii) Share Exchanges, Reclassifications, Mergers and Consolidations. Any consummation of a binding share exchange or reclassification involving the Series B

 

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Preferred Stock, or of a merger or consolidation of the Corporation with another corporation or other entity, unless in each case (x) the shares of Series B Preferred Stock remain outstanding or, in the case of any such merger or consolidation with respect to which the Corporation is not the surviving or resulting entity, are converted into or exchanged for preference securities of the surviving or resulting entity or its ultimate parent, in each case, that is an entity organized and existing under the laws of the United States of America, any state thereof of the District of Columbia and (y) such shares of Series B Preferred Stock remaining outstanding or such preference securities, as the case may be, have such rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and limitations and restrictions thereof, taken as a whole, as are not materially less favorable to the holders thereof than the rights, preferences, privileges and voting powers, and limitations and restrictions thereof, of the Series B Preferred Stock immediately prior to such consummation, taken as a whole;

 

provided, however, that for all purposes of this Section 8(a), (1) any increase in the amount of the Corporation’s authorized but unissued shares of Preferred Stock, (2) any increase in the amount of the Corporation’s authorized or issued Series B Preferred Stock, and (3) the creation and issuance, or an increase in the authorized or issued amount, of other series of preferred stock of the Corporation ranking equally with or junior to the Series B Preferred Stock either or both with respect to the payment of dividends (whether such dividends are cumulative or non-cumulative) and/or the distribution of assets upon the liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation, will not be deemed to materially and adversely affect the special rights, preferences, privileges or voting powers of the Series B Preferred Shares.

 

The Series B Preferred Stock shall rank at least equally with any other series of Preferred Stock that may be issued (except for the EESA Preferred Stock and any other senior series that may be issued with the requisite consent of the holders of the Series B Preferred Stock), and will rank senior to the shares of Common Stock and any other stock that ranks junior to the Series B Preferred Stock either or both with respect to the payment of dividends and/or the distributions of assets upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the Corporation.

 

If any amendment, alteration, repeal, share exchange, reclassification, merger or consolidation specified in this Section 8(a) would materially and adversely affect one or more but not all series of Voting Preferred Stock (including the Series B Preferred Stock for the purpose of this paragraph), then only the series of Voting Preferred Stock materially and adversely affected and entitled to vote shall vote as a class in lieu of all other series of Voting Preferred Stock.

 

(b) Procedures for Voting and Consents. The rules and procedures for calling and conducting any meeting of the holders of Series B Preferred Stock (including, without limitation, the fixing of a record date in connection therewith), the solicitation and use of proxies at such a meeting, the obtaining of written consents and any other aspect or matter with regard to such a meeting or such consents shall be governed by any rules the Board of Directors or a duly authorized committee of the Board of Directors, in its discretion, may adopt from time to time, which rules and procedures shall conform to the requirements of the Articles of Incorporation, the Bylaws, applicable law and any national securities exchange or other trading facility, if any, on which the Series B Preferred Stock is listed or traded at the time. Whether the vote or consent

 

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of the holders of a plurality, majority or other portion of the shares of Series B Preferred Stock and any Voting Preferred Stock has been cast or given on any matter on which the holders of shares of Series B Preferred Stock are entitled to vote shall be determined by the Corporation by reference to the specified liquidation preference amounts of the Series B Preferred Stock and such other Voting Preferred Stock voted or covered by the consent.

 

Section 9. Transfer Agent, Registrar and Paying Agent. The duly appointed Transfer Agent, Registrar, and paying agent for the Series B Preferred Stock shall initially be the Corporation. The Corporation may, in its sole discretion, remove the Transfer Agent; provided that the Corporation shall appoint a successor transfer agent who shall accept such appointment prior to the effectiveness of such removal.

 

Section 10. Miscellaneous. All notices referred to herein shall be in writing, and, unless otherwise specified herein, all notices hereunder shall be deemed to have been given upon the earlier of receipt thereof or three Business Days after the mailing thereof if sent by registered or certified mail (unless first-class mail shall be specifically permitted for such notice under the terms of this Article V) with postage prepaid, addressed: (i) if to the Corporation, to the principal executive office of the Corporation or to the Transfer Agent at its principal office in the United States of America, or other agent of the Corporation designated as permitted by this Article V, or (ii) if to any Holder or holder of shares of Common Stock, as the case may be, to such Holder at the address of such Holder as listed in the stock record books of the Corporation (which may include the records of any transfer agent for the Series B Preferred Stock or the Common Stock, as the case may be), or (iii) to such other address as the Corporation or any such Holder, as the case may be, shall have designated by notice similarly given.

 

VI.

 

LIABILITY LIMITATION

 

The liability of the directors of the Corporation for monetary damages shall be eliminated to the fullest extent permissible under California law.

 

VI.

 

INDEMNIFICATION

 

The Corporation is authorized to provide indemnification of agents (as defined in Section 317 of the California Corporations Code) through bylaws, agreements with agents, vote of shareholders or disinterested directors or otherwise, in excess of the indemnification otherwise permitted by Section 317 of the California Corporations Code, subject only to the applicable limits set forth in Section 204 of the California Corporations Code.

 

VII.

 

BUSINESS COMBINATIONS

 

Section 1.  The provisions of this Article shall apply to any of the following transactions (hereinafter referred to as “Business Combinations”):

 

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(a)                                  any merger of the Corporation with or into any other corporation, person or other entity which is the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation; or

 

(b)                                 any sale, lease, exchange or other disposition (in one transaction or series of related transactions) of all or substantially all of the assets of the Corporation to any other corporation, person or other entity which is the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation; or

 

(c)                                  any sale, lease, exchange or other disposition (in one transaction or a series of related transactions) to the Corporation or any subsidiary of the Corporation of any assets in exchange for voting securities (or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities, or options, warrants or rights to purchase voting securities or securities convertible into or exchangeable for voting securities) constituting 5% or more of the outstanding securities of the Corporation after such exchange by any other corporation, person or entity which is the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation; or

 

(d)                                 any reclassification of securities, recapitalization or other transaction designed to decrease the number of holders of the Corporation’s voting securities remaining after any other corporation, person or other entity has acquired 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation.

 

A corporation, person or other entity which is the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation is herein referred to as the “Acquiring Entity.”

 

Section 2.  Without the affirmative vote in person or by proxy of the holders of not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation, no Business Combination may be effected unless all of the following conditions, to the extent applicable, are fulfilled:

 

(a)                                  The Acquiring Entity shall not have acquired any voting securities, directly or indirectly, from the Corporation except in a Business Combination to which this Article did not apply or in a Business Combination to which this Article did apply and which satisfied all of the requirements of this Article.

 

(b)                                 After the time when the Acquiring Entity became the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation, the Acquiring Entity shall not have (i) received the benefit, directly or indirectly, of any loans, advances, extensions of credit, guarantees, pledges or other financial assistance or tax benefits provided, directly or indirectly, by the Corporation, or (ii) made or caused to be made any major change in the Corporation’s business or equity capital structure without the unanimous approval of the directors of the Corporation then in office.

 

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(c)                                  A proxy statement complying with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or any similar or superseding federal statute, as at the time in effect (whether or not the provisions of such act or statute shall be applicable to the Corporation) shall be mailed to shareholders of the Corporation for the purpose of soliciting shareholder approval of the Business Combination and shall contain at the front thereof, in a prominent place, any recommendations as to the advisability (or inadvisability) of the Business Combination which any of the directors may choose to state and an opinion of a reputable investment banking firm stating that the terms of the Business Combination are fair from the point of view of both the Corporation and the shareholders of the Corporation other than an Acquiring Entity.

 

Section 3.  No Business Combination shall be effected unless it is approved at an annual meeting or a special meeting of the Corporation’s shareholders called for that purpose.  The affirmative vote in person or by proxy of the holders of not less than eighty percent (80%) of the voting power of the outstanding securities of the Corporation shall be required for approval of any such Business Combination.  No Business Combination may be approved by action by written consent of the shareholders of the Corporation.

 

Section 4.  For the purpose of this Article, any corporation, person or entity will be deemed to be the beneficial owner of any voting securities of the Corporation:

 

(a)                                  which it owns directly, whether or not of record; or

 

(b)                                 which it has the right to acquire pursuant to any agreement or arrangement or understanding or upon exercise of conversion rights, exchange rights, warrants or options or otherwise, or

 

(c)                                  which are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly (including shares deemed to be owned through application of clause (b) above), by any “affiliate” or “associate” as those terms as defined in the Regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as in effect on the date hereof; or

 

(d)                                 which are beneficially owned, directly or indirectly (including shares deemed owned through application of clause (b) above), by any other corporation, person or entity with which it or any of its “affiliates” or “associates” has any agreement or arrangement or understanding for the purpose of acquiring, holding, voting or disposing of voting securities of the Corporation.

 

For the purposes only of determining whether a corporation, person or other entity owned beneficially, directly or indirectly, 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation, the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation will be deemed to include any voting securities that may be issuable pursuant to any agreement, arrangement or understanding or upon exercise of conversion rights, exchange rights, warrants, options or otherwise which are deemed to be beneficially owned by such corporation, person or other entity pursuant to the foregoing provisions of this Section 4.

 

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Section 5.  The provisions of this Article shall not apply to a Business Combination which (a) (i) does not change any voting security holder’s percentage ownership of voting power in any successor to the Corporation from the percentage of voting power beneficially owned by such holder in the Corporation, (ii) provides for the provisions of this Article, without any amendment, change, alteration or deletion, to apply to any successor to the Corporation, and (iii) does not transfer all or substantially all of the Corporation’s assets other than to a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Corporation, or (b) shall have been authorized by the Board of Directors of the Corporation prior to the time that the Acquiring Entity became the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 5% or more of the total voting power of the outstanding voting securities of the Corporation.

 

Section 6.  The affirmative vote required by this Article will he in addition to the vote of the holders of any class or series of stock of the Corporation otherwise required by law, or these Articles of Incorporation, or the resolution providing for the issuance of a class or series of stock which has been adopted by the Board of Directors, or any agreement between the Corporation and any national securities exchange.

 

Section 7.  The Board of Directors of the Corporation shall make all determinations pursuant to this Article, including, without limitation, (i) the amount of voting power beneficially owned directly or indirectly, by any corporation, person or entity, and (ii) the status of any corporation, person or entity as an affiliate or associate of another.  Any such determination reasonably made in good faith by the Board of Directors on the basis of available information shall he conclusive and binding.

 

3.               The foregoing amendment and restatement of Articles of Incorporation has been duly approved by the board of directors.

 

4.               The foregoing amendment and restatement of Articles of Incorporation has been duly approved by the required vote of shareholders in accordance with Section 902, California Corporations Code. The total number of outstanding shares of the corporation eligible to vote on the foregoing amendment was 8,876,518 shares of Common Stock. The number of shares voting in favor of the amendment equaled or exceeded the vote required. The percentage vote required was more than 50 percent.

 

[Certificate Signature Page To Follow]

 

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We further declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the matters set forth in this certificate are true and correct of our own knowledge.

 

 

DATE: June 10, 2010

/s/ Daniel J. Doyle

 

Daniel J. Doyle, President

 

 

 

 

 

/s/ Cathy Ponte

 

Cathy Ponte, Assistant Secretary

 

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