The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. Exhibit to Item 77Q1(a) THE GABELLI EQUITY TRUST INC. ARTICLES OF AMENDMENT TO THE ARTICLES SUPPLEMENTARY CREATING AND FIXING THE RIGHTS OF 6.20% SERIES F CUMULATIVE PREFERRED STOCK The Gabelli Equity Trust Inc., a Maryland corporation (hereinafter called the "Corporation"), hereby certifies to the State Department of Assessments and Taxation of the State of Maryland that: FIRST: Article I of the Articles Supplementary Creating and Fixing the Rights of 6.20% Series F Cumulative Preferred Stock ("Articles Supplementary") is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Bank Loans": "Bank Loans" means direct purchases of, assignments of, participations in and other interests in (a) any bank loan or (b) any loan made by an investment bank, investment fund or other financial institution, provided that such loan under this clause (b) is similar to those typically made, syndicated, purchased or participated by a commercial bank or institutional loan investor in the ordinary course of business. SECOND: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Business Development Company" "Business Development Company" (BDCs) means a type of closed-end fund regulated under the 1940 Act whose shares are typically listed for trading on a U.S. securities exchange. BDCs are publicly-traded funds that typically invest in and lend to small and medium-sized private and certain public companies that may not have access to public equity markets for capital raising. BDCs invest in such diverse industries as healthcare, chemical and manufacturing, technology and service companies. THIRD: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Discount Factor": "Discount Factor" means (a) so long as Moody's is rating the Series F Preferred Stock at the Corporation's request, the Moody's Discount Factor, or (b) any applicable discount factor established by any Other Rating Agency, whichever is applicable. FOURTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Fitch": "Fitch" means Fitch Ratings. FIFTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Foreign Currency Transactions": "Foreign Currency Transactions" means any technique used by the Corporation to hedge its exposure to foreign currencies, including forward foreign currency exchange contracts. SIXTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Foreign Sovereign Debt": "Foreign Sovereign Debt" means debt issued by a national government other than the United States. SEVENTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by deleting the definition of "Market Value" in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Market Value" means the market value of an asset of the Corporation as computed as follows: (i) Equity securities listed or traded on a nationally recognized securities exchange or traded in the U.S. over-the-counter market where trades are reported contemporaneously and for which market quotations are readily available, are valued at the last quoted sale or a market's official closing price at the close of the exchange's or other market's regular trading hours, as of or prior to the time and day as of which such value is being determined. Portfolio securities traded on more than one national securities exchange or market are valued according to the broadest and most representative market as determined by the Adviser. If there has been no sale on the day the valuation is made, the securities are valued at the closing bid price on the principal market for such security on such day. If no asked prices are quoted on such day, then the security is valued at the closing bid price on the principal market for such security on such day. If no bid or asked prices are quoted on such day, the security is valued at the most recently available price. (ii) Debt instruments are valued based upon (a) the basis of prices provided by a pricing service or (b) the lower of the value set forth in bids from two independent dealers in securities, one of which bids will be in writing. EIGHTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Master Limited Partnership Securities": "Master Limited Partnership Securities" means the following securities, restricted or unrestricted, issued by a Master Limited Partnership (MLP) or an affiliate of an MLP: (1) common units, (2) convertible subordinated units, (3) I-Shares, (4) I-units and (5) debt securities. NINTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by inserting the definition of "Moody's Derivatives Transactions": "Moody's Derivatives Transactions" means, for so long as any Series F Preferred Stock is rated by Moody's, the Corporation may, notwithstanding the limitations in paragraph 7 of Article II, buy or sell financial futures contracts, write, purchase or sell call options on financial futures contracts or purchase put options on financial futures contracts or write call options on portfolio securities, swaps and securities lending unless it receives written confirmation from Moody's that engaging in such transactions would impair the ratings then assigned to the preferred stock by Moody's, subject to the following limitations: (a) Futures and call options: For purposes of the Basic Maintenance Amount, futures held by the Corporation and call options sold by the Corporation shall not be included as Moody's Eligible Assets. However, such assets shall be valued at Market Value by subtracting the good faith margin and the maximum daily trading variance as of a Valuation Date. For call options purchased by the Corporation, the Market Value of the call option will be included as Moody's Eligible Assets subject to a Moody's Discount Factor mutually agreed to between the Corporation and Moody's based on the characteristics of the option contract such as its maturity and the underlying security of the contract. (b) Securities lending: To increase income, the Corporation may lend its portfolio securities to securities broker-dealers or financial institutions if (i) the loan is collateralized in accordance with applicable regulatory requirements and (ii) no loan will cause the value of all loaned securities to exceed 20% of the value of its total assets. For purposes of calculating the Basic Maintenance Amount, such securities lent shall be included as Moody's Eligible Assets with the appropriate Moody's Discount Factor applied to such lent security. The obligation to return such collateral shall not be included as an obligation/liability for purposes of calculating the Basic Maintenance Amount. However, the Corporation may reinvest cash collateral for securities lent in conformity with its investment objectives and policies and the provisions of these Articles Supplementary. In such event, the Corporation may reinvest cash collateral to the extent that securities lending collateral received is invested by the Corporation in assets that otherwise would be Moody's Eligible Assets and the value of such assets exceeds the amount of the Corporation's Moody's Eligible Assets by applying the applicable Moody's Discount Factor to this amount and adding the product to total Moody's Eligible Assets. Conversely, if the value of assets in which securities lending collateral has been invested is less then the amount of the Corporation's obligation to return the collateral on a Valuation Date, such difference shall be included as an obligation/liability of the Corporation for purposes of calculating the Basic Maintenance Amount. Collateral received by the Corporation in a securities lending transaction and maintained by the Corporation in the form received shall not be included as a Moody's Eligible Asset for purposes of calculating the Basic Maintenance Amount. (c) Interest rate swaps: Only the cumulative unsettled profit and loss from an interest rate swap transaction will be calculated when determining the Basic Maintenance Amount. If the Corporation has an outstanding gain from an interest rate swap transaction on a Valuation Date, the gain will be included as a Moody's Eligible Asset subject to the Moody's Discount Factor on the counterparty to the interest rate swap transaction. If the Corporation has an outstanding liability from an interest rate swap transaction on a Valuation Date, the Corporation will subtract the outstanding liability from the total Moody's Eligible Assets in calculating the Basic Maintenance Amount. If not otherwise provided for in (a)-(c) above, derivative instruments will be included as Moody's Eligible Assets subject to a Moody's Discount Factor as mutually agreed to between the Corporation and Moody's. TENTH: Article I of the Articles Supplementary is hereby amended by deleting the definition of "Moody's Discount Factor" in its entirety and inserting in lieu thereof the following: "Moody's Discount Factor" means, with respect to a Moody's Eligible Asset specified below, the following applicable number: (a) Corporate debt securities: The percentage determined by reference to the rating on such asset with reference to the remaining term to maturity of such asset, in accordance with the table set forth below (non convertibles). Moody's Rating Category Term to Maturity of Corporate Debt Security(1) Aaa Aa A Baa Ba B Unrated(2) 1 year or less 109% 112% 115% 118% 137% 150% 250% 1 - 2 years 115 118 122 125 146 160 250 2 - 3 years 120 123 127 131 153 168 250 3 - 4 years 126 129 133 138 161 176 250 4 - 5 years 132 135 139 144 168 185 250 5 - 7 years 139 143 147 152 179 197 250 7 - 10 years 145 150 155 160 189 208 250 10 - 15 years 150 155 160 165 196 216 250 15 - 20 years 150 155 160 165 196 228 250 20 - 30 years 150 155 160 165 196 229 250 Greater than 30 years 165 173 181 189 205 240 250 (1) The Moody's Discount Factors above for corporate debt securities shall also be applied to any interest rate swap or cap, in which case the rating of the counterparty shall determine the appropriate rating category. (2) Unless conclusions regarding liquidity risk as well as estimates of both the probability and severity of default for the Corporation's assets can be derived from other sources, securities rated below B by Moody's and unrated securities, which are securities rated by neither Moody's, S&P nor Fitch, are limited to 10% of Moody's Eligible Assets. If a corporate debt security is unrated by Moody's, S&P or Fitch, the Corporation will use the percentage set forth under "Unrated" in this table. Ratings assigned by S&P or Fitch are generally accepted by Moody's at face value. However, adjustments to face value may be made to particular categories of credits for which the S&P and/or Fitch rating does not seem to approximate a Moody's rating equivalent. Split rated securities assigned by S&P and Fitch will be accepted at the lower of the two ratings. For corporate debt securities that do not pay interest in U.S. dollars, the fund sponsor will contact Moody's to obtain the applicable currency conversion rates. (b) Preferred stock: The Moody's Discount Factor for taxable preferred stock shall be: Aaa 150% Aa 155% A 160% Baa 165% Ba 196% B 216%