Exhibit (A)
ARTICLES OF INCORPORATION
OF
MERCURY SENIOR FLOATING RATE FUND, INC.
THE UNDERSIGNED, CLAUDIA DIGIACOMO, whose post-office address is c/o Brown
& Wood LLP, One World Trade Center, 56th Floor, New York, New York 10048, being
at least eighteen (18) years of age, does hereby act as incorporator, under and
by virtue of the General Laws of the State of Maryland authorizing the formation
of corporations and with the intention of forming a corporation.
ARTICLE I.
NAME
The name of the corporation is MERCURY SENIOR FLOATING RATE FUND, INC.
(the "Corporation").
ARTICLE II.
PURPOSES AND POWERS
The purpose or purposes for which the Corporation is formed are as
follows:
(1) To act as a closed-end, management investment company under the
federal Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and in effect from time to
time (the "Investment Company Act").
(2) To hold, invest and reinvest its assets in securities, and in
connection therewith, without limiting the foregoing, to hold part or all of its
assets (a) in cash and/or (b) in shares of another corporation known in the
investment company industry as a master fund in a
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master/feeder structure, which corporation holds securities and other assets for
investment purposes (the "Master Fund").
(3) To transfer all or substantially all the assets of the Corporation (or
the assets of any series thereof) to the Master Fund, in exchange for shares in
the Master Fund or for such other consideration as permitted by the General Laws
of the State of Maryland and the Investment Company Act (all without the vote or
consent of the stockholders of the Corporation), and all such actions,
regardless of the frequency with which they are pursued, shall be deemed in
furtherance of the ordinary, usual and customary business of the Corporation.
(4) To do any and all such further acts or things and to exercise any and
all such further powers or rights as may be necessary, incidental, relative,
conducive, appropriate or desirable for the accomplishment, carrying out or
attainment of all or any of the foregoing purposes or objects.
The Corporation shall be authorized to exercise and enjoy all of the
powers, rights and privileges granted to, or conferred upon, corporations by the
General Laws of the State of Maryland now or hereafter in force, and the
enumeration of the foregoing shall not be deemed to exclude any powers, rights
or privileges so granted or conferred.
ARTICLE III.
PRINCIPAL OFFICE AND RESIDENT AGENT
The post-office address of the principal office of the Corporation in the
State of Maryland is c/o The Corporation Trust Incorporated, 300 East Lombard
Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202. The name of the resident agent of the
Corporation in this State is The Corporation Trust
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Incorporated, a corporation of this State, and the post-office address of the
resident agent is The Corporation Trust Incorporated, 300 East Lombard Street,
Baltimore, Maryland 21202.
ARTICLE IV.
CAPITAL STOCK
(1) The total number of shares of capital stock which the Corporation
shall have authority to issue is 1,000,000,000 shares, all initially classified
as one class called Common Stock, of the par value of Ten Cents ($0.10) per
share, and of the aggregate par value of One Hundred Million Dollars
($100,000,000).
(2) The Board of Directors may classify and reclassify any unissued shares
of capital stock into one or more additional or other classes or series as may
be established from time to time by setting or changing in any one or more
respects the designations, preferences, conversion or other rights, voting
powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends, qualifications or terms or
conditions of redemption of such shares of stock and pursuant to such
classification or reclassification to increase or decrease the number of
authorized shares of any existing class or series; provided, however, that the
total amount of shares of all classes or series shall not exceed the total
number of shares of capital stock authorized in the Charter.
(3) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Charter of the Corporation,
including any Articles Supplementary creating any class or series of capital
stock, the holders of each class or series of capital stock shall be entitled to
dividends and distributions in such amounts and at such times as may be
determined by the Board of Directors, and the dividends and distributions paid
with respect to the various classes or series of capital stock may vary among
such classes and series.
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(4) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the charter of the Corporation,
including those matters set forth in Article II, Sections (2) and (3) hereof and
including any Articles Supplementary creating any class or series of capital
stock, on each matter submitted to a vote of stockholders, each holder of a
share of capital stock of the Corporation shall be entitled to one vote for each
share standing in such holder's name on the books of the Corporation,
irrespective of the class or series thereof, and all shares of all classes and
series shall vote together as a single class; provided, however, that (a) as to
any matter with respect to which a separate vote of any class or series is
required by the Investment Company Act, or any rules, regulations or orders
issued thereunder, or by the Maryland General Corporation Law, such requirement
as to a separate vote by that class or series shall apply in lieu of a general
vote of all classes and series as described above, (b) in the event that the
separate vote requirements referred to in (a) above apply with respect to one or
more classes or series, then, subject to paragraph (c) below, the shares of all
other classes and series not entitled to a separate class vote shall vote as a
single class, (c) as to any matter which does not affect the interest of a
particular class or series, such class or series shall not be entitled to any
vote and only the holders of shares of the affected classes and series, if any,
shall be entitled to vote and (d) the shares of capital stock of the Corporation
shall have no voting rights in connection with the transfer of all or
substantially all the assets of the Corporation (or the assets of any series
thereof) to the Master Fund in exchange for shares in such Master Fund or for
such other consideration as permitted by Maryland General Corporation Law and
the Investment Company Act.
(5) Notwithstanding any provision of the Maryland General Corporation Law
requiring a greater proportion than a majority of the votes of all classes or
series of capital stock of the Corporation (or of any class or series entitled
to vote thereon as a separate class or series)
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to take or authorize any action, the Corporation is hereby authorized (subject
to the requirements of the Investment Company Act, and any rules, regulations
and orders issued thereunder) to take such action upon the concurrence of a
majority of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of capital stock of the
Corporation (or a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of a
class or series as a separate class or series) unless a greater proportion is
specified in the Charter.
(6) Unless otherwise expressly provided in the Charter of the Corporation,
including any Articles Supplementary creating any class or series of capital
stock, in the event of any liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the
Corporation, whether voluntary or involuntary, the holders of each class or
series of capital stock of the Corporation shall be entitled, after payment or
provision for payment of the debts and other liabilities of the Corporation, to
share ratably in the remaining net assets of the Corporation.
(7) Any fractional shares shall carry proportionately all of the rights of
a whole share, excepting any right to receive a certificate evidencing such
fractional share, but including, without limitation, the right to vote and the
right to receive dividends.
(8) The presence in person or by proxy of the holders of shares entitled
to cast one-third of the votes entitled to be cast shall constitute a quorum at
any meeting of stockholders, except with respect to any matter which requires
approval by a separate vote of one or more classes or series of stock, in which
case the presence in person or by proxy of the holders of shares entitled to
cast one-third of the votes entitled to be cast by each class or series entitled
to vote as a separate class shall constitute a quorum.
(9) All persons who shall acquire stock in the Corporation shall acquire
the same subject to the provisions of the Charter and the By-Laws of the
Corporation. As used in the
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Charter of the Corporation, the terms "Charter" and "Articles of Incorporation"
shall mean and include the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation as
amended, supplemented and restated from time to time by Articles of Amendment,
Articles Supplementary, Articles of Restatement or otherwise.
ARTICLE V.
PROVISIONS FOR DEFINING, LIMITING AND
REGULATING CERTAIN POWERS OF THE CORPORATION
AND OF THE DIRECTORS AND STOCKHOLDERS
(1) The initial number of directors of the Corporation shall be three (3),
which number may be increased or decreased pursuant to the By-Laws of the
Corporation but shall never be less than the minimum number permitted by the
General Laws of the State of Maryland. The names of the directors who shall act
until the first annual meeting or until their successors are duly elected and
qualify are:
Bradly J. Lucido
Philip S. Gillespie
Alice A. Pellegrino
(2) The Board of Directors of the Corporation is hereby empowered to
authorize the issuance from time to time of shares of capital stock of any class
or series, whether now or hereafter authorized, for such consideration as the
Board of Directors may deem advisable, without any action by the stockholders,
subject to such limitations as may be set forth in these Articles of
Incorporation or in the By-Laws of the Corporation or in the General Laws of the
State of Maryland.
(3) No holder of stock of the Corporation shall, as such holder, have any
right to purchase or subscribe for any shares of the capital stock of the
Corporation or any other security
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of the Corporation which it may issue or sell (whether out of the number of
shares authorized by these Articles of Incorporation, or out of any shares of
the capital stock of the Corporation acquired by it after the issue thereof, or
otherwise) other than such right, if any, as the Board of Directors, in its
discretion, may determine.
(4) Each director and each officer of the Corporation shall be indemnified
and advanced expenses by the Corporation to the full extent permitted by the
General Laws of the State of Maryland now or hereafter in force, including the
advance of expenses under the procedures and to the full extent permitted by law
subject to the requirements of the Investment Company Act. The foregoing rights
of indemnification shall not be exclusive of any other rights to which those
seeking indemnification may be entitled. No amendment of these Articles of
Incorporation or repeal of any provision hereof shall limit or eliminate the
benefits provided to directors and officers under this provision in connection
with any act or omission that occurred prior to such amendment or repeal.
(5) To the fullest extent permitted by the General Laws of the State of
Maryland or decisional law, as amended or interpreted, subject to the
requirements of the Investment Company Act, no director or officer of the
Corporation shall be personally liable to the Corporation or its security
holders for money damages. No amendment of these Articles of Incorporation or
repeal of any provision hereof shall limit or eliminate the benefits provided to
directors and officers under this provision in connection with any act or
omission that occurred prior to such amendment or repeal.
(6) The Board of Directors of the Corporation is vested with the sole
power, to the exclusion of the stockholders, to make, alter or repeal from time
to time any of the By-Laws of
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the Corporation except any particular By-Law which is specified as not subject
to alteration or repeal by the Board of Directors, subject to the requirements
of the Investment Company Act.
(7) A director elected by the holders of capital stock may be removed
(with or without cause), but only by action taken by the holders of at least
sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the shares of capital stock then
entitled to vote in an election to fill that directorship.
(8) The enumeration and definition of the particular powers of the Board
of Directors included in the Charter shall in no way be limited or restricted by
reference to or inference from the terms of any other clause of this or any
other Article of the Charter of the Corporation, or construed as or deemed by
inference or otherwise in any manner to exclude or limit any powers conferred
upon the Board of Directors under the General Laws of the State of Maryland now
or hereinafter in force.
(9) Notwithstanding any other provision of these Articles of Incorporation
or the By-Laws of the Corporation, or the General Laws of the State of Maryland,
the transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Corporation (or
the assets of any series thereof) to the Master Fund shall be deemed to be in
the ordinary course of business of the Corporation, and the Board of Directors
of the Corporation is vested with the sole power, to the exclusion of the
stockholders, upon the affirmative vote of the majority of the entire Board of
Directors, to transfer all or substantially all the assets of the Corporation
(or the assets of any series thereof) to the Master Fund in exchange for shares
in such Master Fund or for such other consideration as permitted by the General
Laws of the State of Maryland and the Investment Company Act.
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ARTICLE VI.
DENIAL OF PREEMPTIVE RIGHTS
No stockholder of the Corporation shall by reason of his holding shares of
capital stock have any preemptive or preferential right to purchase or subscribe
to any shares of capital stock of the Corporation, now or hereafter to be
authorized, or any notes, debentures, bonds or other securities convertible into
shares of capital stock, now or hereafter to be authorized, whether or not the
issuance of any such shares, or notes, debentures, bonds or other securities
would adversely affect the dividend or voting rights of such stockholder; except
that the Board of Directors, in its discretion, may issue shares of any class of
the Corporation, or any notes, debentures, bonds, other securities convertible
into shares of any class, either in whole or in part, to the existing
stockholders or holders of any class, series or type of stock or other
securities at the time outstanding to the exclusion of any or all of the holders
of any or all of the classes, series or types of stock or other securities at
the time outstanding.
ARTICLE VII.
DETERMINATION BINDING
Any determination made in good faith and consistent with applicable law,
so far as accounting matters are involved, in accordance with accepted
accounting practice by or pursuant to the direction of the Board of Directors,
as to the amount of assets, obligations or liabilities of the Corporation, as to
the amount of net income of the Corporation from dividends and interest for any
period or amounts at any time legally available for the payment of dividends, as
to the amount of any reserves or charges set up and the propriety thereof, as to
the time of or purpose for creating reserves or as to the use, alteration or
cancellation of any reserves or charges (whether or not any obligation or
liability for which such reserves or as to the use, alteration or
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cancellation of any reserves or charges shall have been created, shall have been
paid or discharged or shall be then or thereafter required to be paid or
discharged), as to the price of any security owned by the Corporation or as to
any other matters relating to the issuance, sale, redemption or other
acquisition or disposition of securities or shares of capital stock of the
Corporation, and any reasonable determination made in good faith by the Board of
Directors as to whether any transaction constitutes a purchase of securities on
"margin," a sale of securities "short," or an underwriting or the sale of, or a
participation in any underwriting or selling group in connection with the public
distribution of, any securities, shall be final and conclusive, and shall be
binding upon the Corporation and all holders of its capital stock, past, present
and future, and shares of the capital stock of the Corporation are issued and
sold on the condition and understanding, evidenced by the purchase of shares of
capital stock or acceptance of share certificates, that any and all such
determinations shall be binding as aforesaid. No provision in this Charter shall
be effective to (a) require a waiver of compliance with any provision of the
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Investment Company Act, or of any
valid rule, regulation or order of the Securities and Exchange Commission
thereunder or (b) protect or purport to protect any director or officer of the
Corporation against any liability to the Corporation or its security holders to
which he would otherwise be subject by reason of willful misfeasance, bad faith,
gross negligence or reckless disregard of the duties involved in the conduct of
his office.
ARTICLE VIII.
PRIVATE PROPERTY OF STOCKHOLDERS
The private property of stockholders shall not be subject to the payment
of corporate debts to any extent whatsoever.
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ARTICLE IX.
CONVERSION TO OPEN-END COMPANY
Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Articles of Incorporation or
the By-Laws of the Corporation, a favorable vote of the holders of at least
sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the outstanding shares of capital
stock of the Corporation entitled to be voted on the matter shall be required to
approve, adopt or authorize an amendment to these Articles of Incorporation of
the Corporation that makes the Common Stock a "redeemable security" (as that
term is defined in section 2(a) (32) the Investment Company Act) unless such
action has previously been approved, adopted or authorized by the affirmative
vote of at least two-thirds of the total number of directors fixed in accordance
with the By-Laws of the Corporation, in which case the affirmative vote of the
holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the
Corporation entitled to vote thereon shall be required.
ARTICLE X.
MERGER, SALE OF ASSETS, LIQUIDATION
Notwithstanding any other provisions of these Articles of Incorporation or
the By-Laws of the Corporation, a favorable vote of the holders of at least
sixty-six and two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the outstanding shares of capital
stock of the Corporation entitled to be voted on the matter shall be required to
approve, adopt or authorize (i) a merger or consolidation or statutory share
exchange of the Corporation with any other corporation, (ii) a sale of all or
substantially all of the assets of the Corporation (other than in the regular
course of its investment activities), or (iii) a liquidation or dissolution of
the Corporation, unless such action has previously been approved, adopted or
authorized by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the total number of
directors fixed in accordance with the By-Laws of the Corporation, in which case
the
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affirmative vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of
capital stock of the Corporation entitled to vote thereon shall be required.
ARTICLE XI.
PERPETUAL EXISTENCE
The duration of the Corporation shall be perpetual.
ARTICLE XII.
AMENDMENT
The Corporation reserves the right to amend, alter, change or repeal any
provision contained in its Charter, in any manner now or hereafter prescribed by
statute, including any amendment which alters the contract rights, as expressly
set forth in the Charter, of any outstanding stock and substantially adversely
affects the stockholders' rights, and all rights conferred upon stockholders
herein are granted subject to this reservation. Notwithstanding any other
provisions of these Articles of Incorporation or the By-Laws of the Corporation
(and notwithstanding the fact that a lesser percentage may be specified by law,
these Articles of Incorporation or the By-Laws of the Corporation), the
amendment or repeal of Section (5) of Article IV, Section (1), Section (4),
Section (5), Section (6) and Section (7) of Article V, Article VIII, Article IX,
Article X, Article XI or this Article XII, of these Articles of Incorporation
shall require the affirmative vote of the holders of at least sixty-six and
two-thirds percent (66 2/3%) of the outstanding shares of capital stock of the
Corporation entitled to be voted on the matter.
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned incorporator of MERCURY SENIOR
FLOATING RATE FUND, INC. hereby executes the foregoing Articles of Incorporation
and acknowledges the same to be her act.
Dated: May 4, 2000
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CLAUDIA DIGIACOMO
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