Exhibit (H)(15)
FUND ACCOUNTING SERVICES AGREEMENT
THIS AGREEMENT is made on the 13th day of November, 2000 between SCUDDER
SECURITIES TRUST (the "Fund"), a registered open-end management investment
company with its principal place of business in Boston, Massachusetts, on behalf
of Scudder Health Care Fund (hereinafter called the "Portfolio"), and Scudder
Fund Accounting Corporation, with its principal place of business in Boston,
Massachusetts (hereinafter called "FUND ACCOUNTING").
WHEREAS, the Portfolio has need for certain accounting services which FUND
ACCOUNTING is willing and able to provide;
NOW THEREFORE in consideration of the mutual promises herein made, the Fund and
FUND ACCOUNTING agree as follows:
Section 1. Duties of FUND ACCOUNTING - General
FUND ACCOUNTING is authorized to act under the terms of this Agreement
as the Portfolio's fund accounting agent, and as such FUND ACCOUNTING
shall:
a. Maintain and preserve all accounts, books, financial records
and other documents as are required of the Fund, on behalf of
the Portfolio under Section 31 of the Investment Company Act
of 1940 (the "1940 Act") and Rules 31a-1, 31a-2 and 31a-3
thereunder, applicable federal and state laws and any other
law or administrative rules or procedures which may be
applicable to the Fund on behalf of the Portfolio, other than
those accounts, books and financial records required to be
maintained by the Fund's custodian or transfer agent and/or
books and records maintained by all other service providers
necessary for the Fund to conduct its business as a registered
open-end management investment company. All such books and
records shall be the property of the Fund and shall at all
times during regular business hours be open for inspection by,
and shall be surrendered promptly upon request of, duly
authorized officers of the Fund. All such books and records
shall at all times during regular business hours be open for
inspection, upon request of duly authorized officers of the
Fund, by employees or agents of the Fund and employees and
agents of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
b. Record the current day's trading activity and such other
proper bookkeeping entries as are necessary for determining
that day's net asset value and net income.
c. Render statements or copies of records as from time to time
are reasonably requested by the Fund.
d. Facilitate audits of accounts by the Fund's independent public
accountants or by any other auditors employed or engaged by
the Fund or by any regulatory body with jurisdiction over the
Fund.
e. Compute the Portfolio's net asset value per share, and, if
applicable, its public offering price and/or its daily
dividend rates and money market yields, in accordance with
Section 3 of this Agreement and notify the Fund and such other
persons as the Fund may reasonably request of the net asset
value per share, the public offering price and/or its daily
dividend rates and money market yields.
Section 2. Valuation of Securities
<PAGE>
Securities shall be valued in accordance with (a) the Fund's
Registration Statement, as amended or supplemented from time to time
(hereinafter referred to as the "Registration Statement"); (b) the
resolutions of the Board of Trustees of the Fund at the time in force
and applicable, as they may from time to time be delivered to FUND
ACCOUNTING, and (c) Proper Instructions from such officers of the Fund
or other persons as are from time to time authorized by the Board of
Trustees of the Fund to give instructions with respect to computation
and determination of the net asset value. FUND ACCOUNTING may use one
or more external pricing services, including broker-dealers, provided
that an appropriate officer of the Fund shall have approved such use in
advance.
Section 3. Computation of Net Asset Value, Public Offering Price, Daily
Dividend Rates and Yields
FUND ACCOUNTING shall compute the Portfolio's net asset value,
including net income, in a manner consistent with the specific
provisions of the Registration Statement. Such computation shall be
made as of the time or times specified in the Registration Statement.
FUND ACCOUNTING shall compute the daily dividend rates and money market
yields, if applicable, in accordance with the methodology set forth in
the Registration Statement.
Section 4. FUND ACCOUNTING's Reliance on Instructions and Advice
In maintaining the Portfolio's books of account and making the
necessary computations, FUND ACCOUNTING shall be entitled to receive,
and may rely upon, information furnished it by means of Proper
Instructions (as defined in Section 5 hereof), including but not
limited to:
a. The manner and amount of accrual of expenses to be recorded on
the books of the Portfolio;
b. The source of quotations to be used for such securities as may
not be available through FUND ACCOUNTING's normal pricing
services;
c. The value to be assigned to any asset for which no price
quotations are readily available;
d. If applicable, the manner of computation of the public
offering price and such other computations as may be
necessary;
e. Transactions in portfolio securities;
f. Transactions in capital shares.
FUND ACCOUNTING shall be entitled to receive, and shall be entitled to
rely upon, as conclusive proof of any fact or matter required to be
ascertained by it hereunder, a certificate, letter or other instrument
signed by an authorized officer of the Fund or any other person
authorized by the Fund's Board of Trustees.
FUND ACCOUNTING shall be entitled to receive and act upon advice of
Counsel (which may be Counsel for the Fund) at the reasonable expense
of the Portfolio and shall be without liability for any action taken or
thing done in good faith in reliance upon such advice.
2
<PAGE>
FUND ACCOUNTING shall be entitled to receive, and may rely upon,
information received from the Transfer Agent.
Section 5. Proper Instructions
"Proper Instructions" as used herein means any certificate, letter or
other instrument or telephone call reasonably believed by FUND
ACCOUNTING to be genuine and to have been properly made or signed by
any authorized officer of the Fund or person certified to FUND
ACCOUNTING as being authorized by the Board of Trustees. The Fund, on
behalf of the Portfolio, shall cause oral instructions to be confirmed
in writing. Proper Instructions may include communications effected
directly between electro-mechanical or electronic devices as from time
to time agreed to by an authorized officer of the Fund and FUND
ACCOUNTING.
The Fund, on behalf of the Portfolio, agrees to furnish to the
appropriate person(s) within FUND ACCOUNTING a copy of the Registration
Statement as in effect from time to time. FUND ACCOUNTING may
conclusively rely on the Fund's most recently delivered Registration
Statement for all purposes under this Agreement and shall not be liable
to the Portfolio or the Fund in acting in reliance thereon.
Section 6. Standard of Care and Indemnification
FUND ACCOUNTING shall exercise reasonable care and diligence in the
performance of its duties hereunder. The Fund agrees that FUND
ACCOUNTING shall not be liable under this Agreement for any error of
judgment or mistake of law made in good faith and consistent with the
foregoing standard of care, provided that nothing in this Agreement
shall be deemed to protect or purport to protect FUND ACCOUNTING
against any liability to the Fund, the Portfolio or its shareholders to
which FUND ACCOUNTING would otherwise be subject by reason of willful
misfeasance, bad faith or negligence in the performance of its duties,
or by reason of its reckless disregard of its obligations and duties
hereunder.
The Fund agrees, on behalf of the Portfolio, to indemnify and hold
harmless FUND ACCOUNTING and its employees, agents and nominees from
all taxes, charges, expenses, assessments, claims and liabilities
(including reasonable attorneys' fees) incurred or assessed against
them in connection with the performance of this Agreement, except such
as may arise from their own negligent action, negligent failure to act
or willful misconduct. The foregoing notwithstanding, FUND ACCOUNTING
will in no event be liable for any loss resulting from the acts,
omissions, lack of financial responsibility, or failure to perform the
obligations of any person or organization designated by the Fund to be
the authorized agent of the Portfolio as a party to any transactions.
FUND ACCOUNTING's responsibility for damage or loss with respect to the
Portfolio's records arising from fire, flood, Acts of God, military
power, war, insurrection or nuclear fission, fusion or radioactivity
shall be limited to the use of FUND ACCOUNTING's best efforts to
recover the Portfolio's records determined to be lost, missing or
destroyed.
Section 7. Compensation and FUND ACCOUNTING Expenses
3
<PAGE>
FUND ACCOUNTING shall be paid as compensation for its services pursuant
to this Agreement such compensation as may from time to time be agreed
upon in writing by the two parties. FUND ACCOUNTING shall be entitled
to recover its reasonable telephone, courier or delivery service, and
all other reasonable out-of-pocket, expenses as incurred, including,
without limitation, reasonable attorneys' fees and reasonable fees for
pricing services.
Fund Accounting shall be contractually bound hereunder by the terms of
any publicly announced fee cap or waiver of its fee or by the terms of
any written document provided to the Board of Trustees of the Fund
announcing a fee cap or waiver of its fee, or any limitation of the
Fund's expenses, as if such fee cap, fee waiver or expense limitation
were fully set forth herein.
Except as provided herein, the terms and provisions of the Agreement
shall remain in full force and effect without amendment.
Section 8. Amendment and Termination
This Agreement shall continue in full force and effect until terminated
as hereinafter provided, may be amended at any time by mutual agreement
of the parties hereto and may be terminated without penalty by an
instrument in writing delivered or mailed to the other party. Such
termination shall take effect not sooner than ninety (90) days after
the date of delivery or mailing of such notice of termination. Any
termination date is to be no earlier than four months from the
effective date hereof. Upon termination, FUND ACCOUNTING will turn over
to the Fund or its designee and cease to retain in FUND ACCOUNTING
files, records of the calculations of net asset value and all other
records pertaining to its services hereunder; provided, however, FUND
ACCOUNTING in its discretion may make and retain copies of any and all
such records and documents which it determines appropriate or for its
protection.
Section 9. Services Not Exclusive
FUND ACCOUNTING's services pursuant to this Agreement are not to be
deemed to be exclusive, and it is understood that FUND ACCOUNTING may
perform fund accounting services for others. In acting under this
Agreement, FUND ACCOUNTING shall be an independent contractor and not
an agent of the Fund or the Portfolio.
Section 10. Limitation of Liability for Claims
The Fund's Declaration of Trust, dated December 21, 1987, as amended to
date (the "Declaration"), a copy of which, together with all amendments
thereto, is on file in the Office of the Secretary of State of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, provides that the name "Scudder
Securities Trust" refers to the Trustees under the Declaration
collectively as trustees and not as individuals or personally, and that
no shareholder of the Fund or the Portfolio, or Trustee, officer,
employee or agent of the Fund shall be subject to claims against or
obligations of the Fund or of the Portfolio to any extent whatsoever,
but that the Fund estate only shall be liable.
FUND ACCOUNTING is expressly put on notice of the limitation of
liability as set forth in the Declaration and FUND ACCOUNTING agrees
that the obligations assumed by the
4
<PAGE>
Fund and/or the Portfolio under this Agreement shall be limited in all
cases to the Portfolio and its assets, and FUND ACCOUNTING shall not
seek satisfaction of any such obligation from the shareholders or any
shareholder of the Fund or the Portfolio or any other series of the
Fund, or from any Trustee, officer, employee or agent of the Fund.
FUND ACCOUNTING understands that the rights and obligations of the
Portfolio under the Declaration are separate and distinct from those of
any and all other series of the Fund.
Section 11. Notices
Any notice shall be sufficiently given when delivered or mailed to the
other party at the address of such party set forth below or to such
other person or at such other address as such party may from time to
time specify in writing to the other party.
If to FUND ACCOUNTING: Scudder Fund Accounting Corporation
Two International Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
Attn: Vice President
If to the Fund - Portfolio: SCUDDER SECURITIES TRUST
Scudder Health Care Fund
Two International Place
Boston, Massachusetts 02110
Attn: President, Secretary or Treasurer
Section 12. Miscellaneous
This Agreement may not be assigned by FUND ACCOUNTING without the
consent of the Fund as authorized or approved by resolution of its
Board of Trustees.
In connection with the operation of this Agreement, the Fund and FUND
ACCOUNTING may agree from time to time on such provisions interpretive
of or in addition to the provisions of this Agreement as in their joint
opinions may be consistent with this Agreement. Any such interpretive
or additional provisions shall be in writing, signed by both parties
and annexed hereto, but no such provisions shall be deemed to be an
amendment of this Agreement.
This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the
laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This Agreement may be
executed simultaneously in two or more counterparts, each of which
shall be deemed an original, but all of which together shall constitute
one and the same instrument.
This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties
concerning the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all prior
understandings.
5
<PAGE>
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have caused this Agreement to be executed
by their respective officers thereunto duly authorized and its seal to be
hereunder affixed as of the date first written above.
[SEAL] SCUDDER SECURITIES TRUST
on behalf of Scudder Health Care Fun
By:
-----------------------------------------
John Millette
Vice President
[SEAL] SCUDDER FUND ACCOUNTING CORPORATION
By:-----------------------------------------
John R. Hebble
Vice President
6
