1. | THE PLAN |
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This grant is made under the Plan, the terms of which are incorporated into this Grant
Document. Capitalized terms used in this Grant Document that are not defined, shall have the
meanings as used or defined in the Plan, which is included in the Prospectus sent to you with
this grant. Merrill Lynch, as used in this Grant Document, shall mean ML&Co., its subsidiaries
and affiliates. References in this Grant Document to any specific Plan provision shall not be
construed as limiting that provision or the applicability of any other Plan provision. |
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2. | GRANT CONDITIONS |
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By accepting this grant, you acknowledge that you understand that the grant is subject to all of
the terms and conditions contained in the Plan and in this Grant Document and that you consent
to all grant terms and conditions, including without limitation, the covenants set forth in
paragraph 4 of this Grant Document. |
(a) | General. Participation Units represent a conditional right to shares of ML
& Co. Common Stock, dependent upon the attainment of certain goals for the Corporations
ROE (defined below), as determined on the Conversion Dates (defined below). |
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(b) | Voting-Dividends. Your Participation Units do not have voting rights. Prior
to the Conversion Dates for the relevant Participation Units, a holder of a Participation
Unit will be paid cash amounts equal to dividends paid on a share of ML&Co. Common Stock,
which shall cease when the Participation Units are no longer outstanding. |
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(c) | Conversion of Participation Units into Restricted Shares. One-third of the
Participation Units shall convert into Restricted Shares (described under RESTRICTED
SHARES below) on each of January 31, 2007, January 31, 2008 and January 31 2009 (each a
Conversion Date), based on ROE determined for the most recently completed fiscal year.
Participation Units converted on the Conversion Date will cease to be outstanding
immediately following conversion. |
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(d) | Conversion Ratio. The ratio for conversion of Participation Units to
Restricted Shares shall be as set forth in Schedule 1 to this Grant Document as may be |
(e) | Determination of ROE. In each of January 2007, January 2008 and January
2009, the MDCC shall review and confirm ROE, as defined below, for the immediately
proceeding fiscal year. |
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ROE with respect to any fiscal year shall mean the Return on Equity as reported by
the Corporation in its earnings press release in January with respect to the relevant
fiscal year subject to adjustments, if any, deemed appropriate in order to normalize ROE
to emphasize operating results. The MDCCs review and confirmation of the ROE and the
Conversion Ratio for a particular performance period shall be final and binding on
Participants. |
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(f) | Issuance of Restricted Shares. Upon confirmation by the MDCC, the Company
shall issue the appropriate number of Restricted Shares in accordance with the Conversion
Ratio on January 31 of the relevant year and the corresponding Participation Units shall
cease to be outstanding, immediately following conversion. |
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(g) | Conversion of Participation Units in Connection with a Change-in-Control.
In the event of a Change-in-Control of the Corporation as defined in LTICP, then
immediately prior to the consummation of the Change-in-Control, one third of the
Participation Units (relating to the year in which the transaction occurs) shall be
converted into Restricted Shares (or Restricted Units) at a ratio of 2.5:1 and the
remaining outstanding Participation Units (relating to subsequent years) shall be
converted at a ratio of 1:1. The vesting and payment of the converted Restricted Shares
shall occur in accordance with paragraph 5 hereof. |
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(h) | Termination of Your Rights to Participation Units under Certain
Circumstances. Except as provided in paragraph 3 hereof, if, prior to the Conversion
Date for the relevant Participation Units, (1) your employment terminates for any reason
other than death, Career Retirement (as defined in paragraph 3) or Disability (as defined
in paragraph 3) or as a result of a job elimination (as determined by Merrill Lynch), (2)
you violate any of the covenants outlined in paragraph 4 of this Grant Document (the
Covenants), or (3) following termination for Career Retirement, you fail to deliver the
Annual Certification described below, your right to outstanding Participation Units shall
terminate and they will be cancelled. |
(a) | General. A Restricted Share is a share of ML&Co. Common Stock that is
beneficially owned by you but held by ML&Co. on your behalf until the end of the Vesting
Period described below. Your Restricted Shares have voting rights and pay quarterly
dividends, when regular dividends are paid on ML & Co. Common Stock. |
(b) | Vesting Period. Except as described in paragraph 3, of this Grant Document,
your rights to Restricted Shares shall terminate and the Restricted Shares will be
cancelled if you terminate employment or otherwise violate any of the terms and
conditions of your grant during the Vesting Period ending on January 31, 2010 (Vesting
Date). Restricted Shares may not be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged or otherwise
encumbered during the Vesting Period. Following the end of the Vesting Period,
Restricted Shares will be delivered to you, subject to the Companys right to reduce the
number of shares to be delivered by an amount of shares necessary to satisfy Merrill
Lynchs applicable tax withholding requirements. |
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(c) | Termination of Your Rights to Restricted Shares under Certain
Circumstances. Except as provided in paragraph 3 hereof, if (1) your employment
terminates for any reason other than death, Career Retirement (as defined in paragraph 3)
or Disability (as defined in paragraph 3) or as a result of a job elimination, (2) you
violate any of the covenants outlined in paragraph 4 of this Grant Document (the
Covenants), (3) following termination for Career Retirement, you fail to deliver the
Annual Certification described in sub-paragraph (b) under Effect of Termination of
Employment on Restricted Shares in paragraph 3, your right to unvested Restricted Shares
shall terminate, Restricted Shares will be cancelled and will not be delivered to you. |
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(d) | Delivery Merrill Lynch Account Designation. |
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(i) | Once your Restricted Shares have vested in accordance with the terms of this Grant
Document, you will be entitled to have those shares delivered, as soon as practicable, to
a Merrill Lynch account. |
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(ii) | As a participant in the Plan, you must designate a Merrill Lynch account into which
shares of ML&Co. Common Stock will be deposited when they are released to you. This
account cannot be a Trust Account, Individual Retirement Account or other tax-deferred
account. You may use a joint account if you are the primary owner of the account.
Account designations can be made on the Payroll Self Service Web Site at
http://hr.worldnet.ml.com/edf2. (From the HR Intranet homepage, click on Payroll
Self Service.) If you do not designate an account, Merrill Lynch will mail certificates
representing shares released to you. |
3. | EFFECT OF TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT. |
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Prior to Conversion of Participation Units. |
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In general, if, prior to the conversion of your Participation Unit for your grant, your
employment terminates or you fail to comply with the covenants contained in paragraph 4 of this
Grant Document, your rights to your Participation Units will cease and they will be cancelled.
In the case of termination of employment, if your termination occurs in connection with the
limited circumstances outlined below a portion of your grant will convert to Restricted Shares
(as described below) and |
continue to vest notwithstanding termination, provided that you continue to satisfy the
conditions described below. If you fail to comply with these conditions, your rights to your
Restricted Shares will cease and they will be cancelled. |
(a) | Death. One-third of the Participation Units (relating to the year in which
Death occurs) will be converted into Restricted Shares at a 1:1 Conversion Ratio and the
resulting Restricted Shares will vest immediately and shares will be delivered to a
designated beneficiary or estate as soon as possible. Any unconverted Participation
Units will be cancelled. |
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(b) | Disability, Career Retirement; Job Elimination. If (1) employment is
terminated as a result of Disability, (2) upon termination, you qualify for Career
Retirement (as defined below) or (3) you are terminated due to a job elimination then a
portion of the Participation Units representing your annual contribution for the year in
which the termination occurs will be converted at a Conversion Ratio of 1:1, effective
upon termination provided that, (1) following termination that qualifies for Career
Retirement, you do not compete with the business of, or recruit employees from, Merrill
Lynch, (2) you do not violate the covenants contained in paragraph 4; (3) you sign and
return an Agreement and Release in the form prescribed by Merrill Lynch and comply
thereafter with the terms of the Agreement and Release and (4) following termination for
Career Retirement, you to deliver the Annual Certification described in sub-paragraph (b)
under Effect of Termination of Employment on Restricted Shares. All unconverted
Participation Units will be cancelled effective upon termination of employment. |
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(c) | Termination of Employment for Other Reasons. In the event employment is
terminated for any other reason, rights to Participation Units that have not converted
shall terminate and they will be cancelled effective upon termination of employment. |
(a) | Death. If your death occurs prior to the Vesting Date for your Restricted
Shares, any unvested Restricted Shares will vest immediately and shares (net of any
withholding requirements) will be delivered to your designated beneficiary or estate as
soon as possible. |
(b) | Disability or Career Retirement. If your employment is terminated as a
result of Disability or if you qualify for Career Retirement (as defined below), your
Restricted Shares will continue to vest notwithstanding your termination provided that,
(1) you do not compete with, or recruit employees from, Merrill Lynch and provide Merrill
Lynch with a certification upon your termination and at least annually thereafter (the
Annual Certification) that you are not engaged in or employed by a business which is in
competition with Merrill Lynch and have not solicited or recruited employees from Merrill
Lynch and (2) you do not violate the covenants contained in paragraph 4. If you compete
with the business of or recruit employees from Merrill Lynch, fail to return the Annual
Certification to Merrill Lynch or violate the covenants contained in paragraph 4 during
the Vesting Period for your Restricted Shares, your rights to your unvested Restricted
Shares will terminate and the Restricted Shares will be cancelled. |
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(c) | Termination of Employment Due to
Job Elimination. If your employment is
terminated in connection with a job elimination, your Restricted Shares will continue to
vest notwithstanding your termination; provided that, (i) you sign and return an
Agreement and Release in the form prescribed by Merrill Lynch and (ii) you comply
thereafter with its terms and with the covenants contained in this Grant Document. |
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(d) | Termination of Employment for Other Reasons: In the event your employment
is terminated for any other reason than those specified in subparagraphs (a), (b) or (c)
under the heading Effect of Termination on Your Restricted Shares, your rights to your
unvested Restricted Shares shall terminate and the Restricted Shares will be cancelled. |
4. | CONDITIONS. |
(a) | Notice Period. You agree that for the remainder of your employment, you
shall provide ML&Co. with at least six months advance written notice (the Notice
Period) prior to the termination of your employment. During this Notice Period, you
shall remain employed by Merrill Lynch (and receive base salary and certain benefits,
but will not receive any payments or distributions or accrue any rights to a bonus or
any payments or distributions under the Variable Incentive Compensation Program,
pro-rata or otherwise) and shall not commence employment with any other employer. You
further agree that during the Notice Period, you shall not directly or indirectly
induce or solicit any client of Merrill Lynch to terminate or modify its relationship
with Merrill Lynch. |
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(b) | Employment by a Competitor. You agree that, during the period beginning on
the date of the termination of your employment and ending on the Vesting Date for
Restricted Shares issued upon conversion of the Participation Units, you will not,
without prior written consent from ML&Co., engage in any employment, accept or maintain
any directorship or other position, own an interest in, or, as principal, agent,
employee, consultant or otherwise, provide any services to anyone, whether or not for
compensation, in any business that is engaged in competition with the business of the
ML&Co. or its affiliates (a Competitive Business). |
(c) | Non-Solicitation. You agree that you will not directly or indirectly
solicit for employment any person who is or was an employee of ML&Co. or any of its
affiliates at any time during the six-month period immediately preceding the date of such
solicitation. |
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(d) | No Hire. You agree that during a period of six months following your
termination, you will not hire or otherwise engage, directly or indirectly (including,
without limitation, through an entity with which the you are associated), as an employee
or independent contractor, any person who is or was an employee of the ML&Co. or any of
its affiliates and who, as of the date of your termination of employment, had the title
First Vice President or Managing Director or higher and reported directly to the
Executive or to the Chief Executive Officer or President of the Company (Executive, CEO
or President Direct Reports) or any person with the title First Vice President or
Managing Director or higher who, at the time of your termination, reported directly to
the Executive, CEO or President Direct Reports, provided, however, that this paragraph
4(iv) shall not apply to you, if at the time of your termination you are not a direct
report to the CEO, or, the President, if any, of ML&Co. and provided further that the
hiring of any person whose employment was involuntarily terminated by ML&Co. or any of
its affiliates shall not be a violation of this covenant. |
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(e) | Non-Disparagement. You agree that you will not disparage, portray in a
negative light, or make any statement which would be harmful to, or lead to unfavorable
publicity for, ML&Co. or any of its affiliates, or any of its or their current or former
directors, officers or employees, including without limitation, in any and all
interviews, oral statements, written materials, electronically displayed materials and
materials or information displayed on internet- or intranet-related sites; provided
however, that this Grant Document will not apply to the extent you are making truthful
statements required by law or by order of a court or other legal body having jurisdiction
or when responding to any inquiry from any governmental agency or regulatory or
self-regulatory organization. |
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(f) | Confidential Information. You agree that following any termination of
employment, you will not without prior written consent or as otherwise required by law,
disclose or publish (directly or indirectly) any Confidential Information (as defined
below) to any person or copy, transmit or remove or attempt to use, copy, transmit or
remove any Confidential Information for any purpose. Confidential Information means any
information concerning ML&Co. or any of its affiliates business or affairs which is not
generally known to the public and includes, but is not limited to, any file, document,
book, account, list, process, patent, specification, drawing, design, computer program or
file, computer disk, method of operation, recommendation, report, plan, survey, data,
manual, strategy, financial data, client information or data, or contract which comes to
your knowledge in the course of your employment or which is generated by you in the
course of performing the obligations related to your employment whether alone or with
others. |
(g) | Confidentiality. You also agree that in the event your employment is
terminated you will not disclose the circumstances of your termination to any other
party, except that you may make such disclosure: on a confidential basis to your tax,
financial or legal advisors, your immediate family members, or any prospective employer
or business partner, provided that, in each case, such third party agrees to keep such
circumstances confidential. |
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(h) | Cooperation. You agree to (i) provide truthful and reasonable cooperation,
including but not limited to your appearance at interviews and depositions, in all legal
matters, including but not limited to regulatory and litigation proceedings relating to
your employment or area of responsibility at Merrill Lynch or its affiliates, whether or
not such matters have already been commenced and through the conclusion of such matters
or proceedings, and (ii) to provide Merrill Lynchs counsel all documents in yours
possession or control relating to such regulatory or litigation matters. |
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(i) | Injunctive Relief. Without limiting any remedies available, you
acknowledge and agree that a breach of the covenants contained in
subparagraphs (a)
(d), (f) and (g) of this paragraph 4 will result in material and irreparable injury to
Merrill Lynch and its affiliates for which there is no adequate remedy at law and that it
will not be possible to measure damages for such injuries precisely. Therefore, you agree
that, in the event of such a breach or threat thereof, Merrill Lynch shall be entitled to
seek a temporary restraining order and a preliminary and permanent injunction, without
bond or other security, restraining him or her from engaging in activities prohibited by
subparagraphs (a) (d), (f) and (g) of this paragraph 4 or such other relief as may be
required specifically to enforce any of the covenants in
subparagraphs (a) (d), (f)
and (g) of this paragraph 4, provided however, that Merrill Lynch shall be entitled to
seek injunctive relief for violations of subparagraph (c) of this paragraph 4 only during
the period beginning on the date of your termination of employment and ending on the
first anniversary of that date. |
5. | EFFECT OF A CHANGE IN CONTROL OF ML&CO. |