CHAPMAN AND CUTLER
111 WEST MONROE STREET
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60603
July 26, 2000
Nike Securities L.P.
1001 Warrenville Road
Lisle, Illinois 60532
The Chase Manhattan Bank
4 New York Plaza, 6th Floor
New York, New York 10004-2447
Re: FT 447
Gentlemen:
We have acted as counsel for Nike Securities L.P., Depositor
of FT 447 (the "Fund"), in connection with the issuance of units
of fractional undivided interest in certain of the Trusts of said
Fund (the "Trust"), under a Trust Agreement, dated July 26, 2000
(the "Indenture"), among Nike Securities L.P., as Depositor, The
Chase Manhattan Bank, as Trustee and First Trust Advisors L.P.,
as Evaluator and Portfolio Supervisor.
In this connection, we have examined the Registration
Statement, the form of Prospectus proposed to be filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the Indenture and such other
instruments and documents we have deemed pertinent. The opinions
expressed herein assume that the Trusts will be administered, and
investments by a Trust from proceeds of subsequent deposits, if
any, will be made, in accordance with the terms of the Indenture.
Each Trust holds Equity Securities as such term is defined in the
Prospectus. For purposes of the following discussion and
opinion, it is assumed that each Equity Security is equity for
Federal income tax purposes.
Based upon the foregoing and upon an investigation of such
matters of law as we consider to be applicable, we are of the
opinion that, under existing United States Federal income tax
law:
I. Each Trust is not an association taxable as a
corporation for Federal income tax purposes; each Unit holder
will be treated as the owner of a pro rata portion of each of the
assets of the Trust under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the
"Code") in the proportion that the number of Units held by him
bears to the total number of Units outstanding; under Subpart E,
Subchapter J of Chapter 1 of the Code, income of a Trust will be
treated as income of the Unit holders in the proportion described
above; and an item of Trust income will have the same character
in the hands of a Unit holder as it would have in the hands of
the Trustee. Each Unit holder will be considered to have
received his pro rata share of income derived from each Trust
asset when such income is considered to be received by a Trust.
II. The price a Unit holder pays for his Units, generally
including sales charges, is allocated among his pro rata portion
of each Equity Security held by a Trust (in proportion to the
fair market values thereof on the valuation date closest to the
date the Unit holder purchases his Units) in order to determine
his tax basis for his pro rata portion of each Equity Security
held by a Trust. For Federal income tax purposes, a Unit
holder's pro rata portion of distributions of cash or property by
a corporation with respect to an Equity Security ("dividends" as
defined by Section 316 of the Code) is taxable as ordinary income
to the extent of such corporation's current and accumulated
"earnings and profits." A Unit holder's pro rata portion of
dividends paid on such Equity Security which exceeds such current
and accumulated earnings and profits will first reduce a Unit
holder's tax basis in such Equity Security, and to the extent
that such dividends exceed a Unit holder's tax basis in such
Equity Security shall be treated as gain from the sale or
exchange of property.
III. Gain or loss will be recognized to a Unit holder
(subject to various nonrecognition provisions under the Code)
upon redemption or sale of his Units, except to the extent an in
kind distribution of stock is received by such Unit holder from a
Trust as discussed below. Such gain or loss is measured by
comparing the proceeds of such redemption or sale with the
adjusted basis of his Units. Before adjustment, such basis would
normally be cost if the Unit holder had acquired his Units by
purchase. Such basis will be reduced, but not below zero, by the
Unit holder's pro rata portion of dividends with respect to each
Equity Security which is not taxable as ordinary income.
IV. If the Trustee disposes of a Trust asset (whether by
sale, taxable exchange, liquidation, redemption, payment on
maturity or otherwise) gain or loss will be recognized to the
Unit holder (subject to various nonrecognition provisions under
the Code) and the amount thereof will be measured by comparing
the Unit holder's aliquot share of the total proceeds from the
transaction with his basis for his fractional interest in the
asset disposed of. Such basis is ascertained by apportioning the
tax basis for his Units (as of the date on which his Units were
acquired) among each of a Trust's assets (as of the date on which
his Units were acquired) ratably according to their values as of
the valuation date nearest the date on which he purchased such
Units. A Unit holder's basis in his Units and of his fractional
interest in each Trust asset must be reduced, but not below zero,
by the Unit holder's pro rata portion of dividends with respect
to each Equity Security which is not taxable as ordinary income.
V. Under the Indenture, under certain circumstances, a
Unit holder tendering Units for redemption may request an in kind
distribution of Equity Securities upon the redemption of Units or
upon the termination of a Trust. As previously discussed, prior
to the redemption of Units or the termination of a Trust, a Unit
holder is considered as owning a pro rata portion of each of a
Trust's assets. The receipt of an in kind distribution will
result in a Unit holder receiving an undivided interest in whole
shares of stock and possibly cash. The potential federal income
tax consequences which may occur under an in kind distribution
with respect to each Equity Security owned by a Trust will depend
upon whether or not a Unit holder receives cash in addition to
Equity Securities. An "Equity Security" for this purpose is a
particular class of stock issued by a particular corporation. A
Unit holder will not recognize gain or loss if a Unit holder only
receives Equity Securities in exchange for his or her pro rata
portion of the Equity Securities held by a Trust. However, if a
Unit holder also receives cash in exchange for a fractional share
of an Equity Security held by a Trust, such Unit holder will
generally recognize gain or loss based upon the difference
between the amount of cash received by the Unit holder and his
tax basis in such fractional share of an Equity Security held by
a Trust. The total amount of taxable gains (or losses)
recognized upon such redemption will generally equal the sum of
the gain (or loss) recognized under the rules described above by
the redeeming Unit holder with respect to each Equity Security
owned by a Trust.
A domestic corporation owning Units in a Trust may be
eligible for the 70% dividends received deduction pursuant to
Section 243(a) of the Code with respect to such Unit holder's pro
rata portion of dividends received by such Trust (to the extent
such dividends are taxable as ordinary income, as discussed
above, and are attributable to domestic corporations), subject to
the limitations imposed by Sections 246 and 246A of the Code.
To the extent dividends received by a Trust are attributable
to foreign corporations, a corporation that owns Units will not
be entitled to the dividends received deduction with respect to
its pro rata portion of such dividends since the dividends
received deduction is generally available only with respect to
dividends paid by domestic corporations.
Section 67 of the Code provides that certain miscellaneous
itemized deductions, such as investment expenses, tax return
preparation fees and employee business expenses will be
deductible by an individual only to the extent they exceed 2% of
such individual's adjusted gross income. Unit holders may be
required to treat some or all of the expenses of a Trust as
miscellaneous itemized deductions subject to this limitation.
A Unit holder will recognize taxable gain (or loss) when all
or part of the pro rata interest in an Equity Security is either
sold by a Trust or redeemed or when a Unit holder disposes of his
Units in a taxable transaction, in each case for an amount
greater (or less) than his tax basis therefor; subject to various
nonrecognition provisions of the Code.
It should be noted that payments to a Trust of dividends on
Equity Securities that are attributable to foreign corporations
may be subject to foreign withholding taxes and Unit holders
should consult their tax advisers regarding the potential tax
consequences relating to the payment of any such withholding
taxes by a Trust. Any dividends withheld as a result thereof
will nevertheless be treated as income to the Unit holders.
Because under the grantor trust rules, an investor is deemed to
have paid directly his share of foreign taxes that have been paid
or accrued, if any, an investor may be entitled to a foreign tax
credit or deduction for United States tax purposes with respect
to such taxes. The Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 imposes a required
holding period for such credits.
Any gain or loss recognized on a sale or exchange will,
under current law, generally be capital gain or loss.
The scope of this opinion is expressly limited to the
matters set forth herein, and, except as expressly set forth
above, we express no opinion with respect to any other taxes,
including foreign, state or local taxes or collateral tax
consequences with respect to the purchase, ownership and
disposition of Units.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an
exhibit to the Registration Statement (File No. 333-41734)
relating to the Units referred to above and to the use of our
name and to the reference to our firm in said Registration
Statement and in the related Prospectus.
Very truly yours,
CHAPMAN AND CUTLER
EFF/erg
