As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 15, 2021
Registration No. 333-
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM F-3
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
RENESOLA LTD
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Not Applicable
(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)
| British Virgin Islands | Not Applicable |
| (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number) |
3rd Floor, 850 Canal St
Stamford, CT 06902
U.S.A
Tel: +1(347) 577 9055 x115.
Fax: +1 (347) 577-9985
(Address and telephone number of Registrant’s principal executive offices)
Copies
to:
David T. Zhang, Esq.
Benjamin W. James, Esq.
c/o Kirkland & Ellis International LLP
26th Floor, Gloucester Tower
The Landmark
15 Queen’s Road Central, Hong Kong
(852) 3761-3318
Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public: From time to time after the effective date of this registration statement.
If only securities being registered on this Form are being offered pursuant to dividend or interest reinvestment plans, please check the following box. ¨
If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. x
If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨
If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. ¨
If this Form is a registration statement pursuant to General Instruction I.C. or a post-effective amendment thereto that shall become effective upon filing with the Commission pursuant to Rule 462(e) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ¨
If this Form is a post-effective amendment to a registration statement filed pursuant to General Instruction I.C. filed to register additional securities or additional classes of securities pursuant to Rule 413(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933. Emerging Growth Company. ¨
If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. ¨
| † | The term “new or revised financial accounting standard” refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012. |
CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE
| Title of each class of securities to be registered | Proposed
maximum aggregate offering price(2)(3)(4)(5) | Amount of registration fee | ||||||
| Shares of no par value(1) | ||||||||
| Preferred shares | ||||||||
| Debt securities | ||||||||
| Total | $ | 250,000,000 | $ | 27,275 | ||||
| (1) | Shares may be represented by American Depositary Shares, each of which represents 10 of the registrant’s shares. American Depositary Shares issuable upon deposit of the shares registered hereby have been registered under separate registration statements on Form F-6 (Registration No. 333-148559 and Registration No. 333-162257), as amended. |
| (2) | The amount of securities registered also includes an indeterminate number of securities of the registrant that may be issued upon exercise, conversion or exchange of other securities. Separate consideration may or may not be received for securities that are issuable on exercise, conversion or exchange of other securities. |
| (3) | The proposed maximum aggregate offering price of each class of securities will be determined from time to time by the registrant in connection with the issuance by the registrant of the securities registered hereunder and is not specified as to each class of securities pursuant to the General Instruction II.C. of Form F-3 under the Securities Act of 1933. |
| (4) | The proposed maximum aggregate offering price has been estimated solely for purposes of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act and reflects the maximum offering price of securities registered hereunder. |
| (5) | Includes (i) securities initially offered and sold outside the United States that may be resold from time to time in the United States either as part of their distribution or within 40 days after the later of the effective date of this registration statement and the date the securities are first bona fide offered to the public, and (ii) securities that may be purchased by the underwriters pursuant to an over-allotment option. These securities are not being registered for the purposes of sales outside the United States. |
The Registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.
The information in this prospectus is not complete and may be changed. These securities may not be sold until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This prospectus is not an offer to sell nor does it seek an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.
Subject to Completion, dated January 15, 2021
PROSPECTUS
ReneSola Ltd
$250,000,000
Shares
Preferred Shares
Debt Securities
We may offer and sell from time to time shares, preferred shares and debt securities of ReneSola Ltd in any combination from time to time in one or more offerings. The securities offered by this prospectus will have an aggregate offering price of up to $250 million. The shares may be represented by American Depositary Shares, or the ADSs. Any preferred shares which have been authorized for issue and debt securities may be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for our shares, ADSs representing our shares or other securities. This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer. The ADSs are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and traded under the ticker symbol “SOL.”
Each time we sell the securities, we will provide a supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the offering and the terms of the securities. The supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should carefully read this prospectus and any supplement before you invest in any of our securities.
We may sell the securities independently or together with any other securities registered hereunder through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, or through a combination of these methods, on a continuous or delayed basis. See “Plan of Distribution.” If any underwriters, dealers or agents are involved in the sale of any of the securities, their names, and any applicable purchase price, fee, commission or discount arrangements between or among them, will be set forth, or will be calculable from the information set forth, in the applicable prospectus supplement.
Investing in our securities involves risks. See the “Risk Factors” section contained in the applicable prospectus supplement and in the documents we incorporate by reference in this registration statement to which this prospectus forms a part to read about factors you should consider before investing in our securities.
Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the disclosures in this prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.
The date of this prospectus is , 2021
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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You should read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information About Us” and “Incorporation of Documents by Reference.”
In this prospectus, unless otherwise indicated or unless the context otherwise requires,
| · | “we,” “us,” “our company,” “our” or “ReneSola” refers to ReneSola Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company, its predecessor entities and its subsidiaries; |
| · | “China” or “PRC” refers to the People’s Republic of China, excluding, for the purposes of this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, Taiwan and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau; |
| · | all references to “RMB” or “Renminbi” refer to the legal currency of China; all references to “$,” “dollars” or “U.S. dollars” refer to the legal currency of the United States; all references to “£” and “pounds sterling” refer to the legal currency of the United Kingdom; all references to “€” or “euro” refer to the official currency of the European Union and the currency that is used in certain of its member states; |
| · | “ADSs” refers to American depositary shares, each of which represents 10 of our shares, and “ADRs” refers to American depositary receipts that may evidence the ADSs; and |
| · | “shares” refers to shares of ReneSola Ltd with no par value. |
This prospectus is part of a shelf registration statement that we filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, using a “shelf” registration process. By using a shelf registration statement, we may sell our shares (including shares represented by ADSs), preferred shares and debt securities or any combination of any of the foregoing from time to time in one or more offerings on a continuous or delayed basis. This prospectus only provides you with a summary description of these securities. Each time we sell the securities, we will provide a supplement to this prospectus that contains specific information about the securities being offered and the specific terms of that offering. The supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. If there is any inconsistency between the information in this prospectus and any prospectus supplement, you should rely on the prospectus supplement. Before purchasing any of the securities, you should carefully read both this prospectus and any supplement, together with the additional information described under the heading “Where You Can Find More Information About Us” and “Incorporation of Documents by Reference.”
You should rely only on the information contained or incorporated by reference in this prospectus and in any prospectus supplement. We have not authorized any other person to provide you with different information. If anyone provides you with different or inconsistent information, you should not rely on it. We will not make an offer to sell the securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should assume that the information appearing in this prospectus and the applicable supplement to this prospectus is accurate as of the date on its respective cover, and that any information incorporated by reference is accurate only as of the date of the document incorporated by reference, unless we indicate otherwise. Our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects may have changed since those dates.
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WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT US
This prospectus and any prospectus supplement are part of a registration statement that we filed with the SEC and do not contain all of the information in the registration statement. The full registration statement may be obtained from the SEC or us, as indicated below. Forms of documents establishing the terms of the offered securities are filed as exhibits to the registration statement. Statements in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement about these documents are summaries and each statement is qualified in all respects by reference to the document to which it refers. You should refer to the actual documents for a more complete description of the relevant matters. You may inspect a copy of the registration statement at the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C., as well as through the SEC’s website.
We file reports and other information with the SEC. Information filed with the SEC by us can be inspected and copied at the Public Reference Room maintained by the SEC at 100F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You may also obtain copies of this information by mail from the Public Reference Section of the SEC at prescribed rates. Further information on the operation of the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. can be obtained by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330.
The SEC also maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other information about issuers, such as us, who file electronically with the SEC. The address of that site is http://www.sec.gov.
Our website address is http://www.renesolapower.com. The information on our website, however, is not, and should not be deemed to be, a part of this prospectus.
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INCORPORATION OF DOCUMENTS BY REFERENCE
The SEC allows us to “incorporate by reference” the information we file with them. This means that we can disclose important information to you by referring you to those documents. Each document incorporated by reference is current only as of the date of such document, and the incorporation by reference of such documents shall not create any implication that there has been no change in our affairs since the date thereof or that the information contained therein is current as of any time subsequent to its date. The information incorporated by reference is considered to be a part of this prospectus and should be read with the same care. When we update the information contained in documents that have been incorporated by reference by making future filings with the SEC, the information incorporated by reference in this prospectus is considered to be automatically updated and superseded. In other words, in the case of a conflict or inconsistency between information contained in this prospectus and information incorporated by reference into this prospectus, you should rely on the information contained in the document that was filed later.
We incorporate by reference the documents listed below:
| · | our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the SEC on April 28, 2020; |
| · | Exhibit 99.1 to our report on Form 6-K filed with SEC on December 16, 2020, containing our Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements for the six months ended June 30, 2020; |
| · | the description of our shares and American depositary shares contained in the registration statement on Form 8-A (File No. 001-33911) filed with the SEC on January 11, 2008, including any amendment and report subsequently filed for the purpose of updating that description; and |
| · | with respect to each offering of the securities under this prospectus, all our subsequent annual reports on Form 20-F and any report on Form 6-K that indicates that it is being incorporated by reference, in each case, that we file or furnish with the SEC on or after the date on which the registration statement is first filed with the SEC and until the termination or completion of the offering under this prospectus. |
Our annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019 filed on April 28, 2020 contains a description of our business and audited consolidated financial statements with a report by our independent auditors. These financial statements are prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.
Unless expressly incorporated by reference, nothing in this prospectus shall be deemed to incorporate by reference information furnished to, but not filed with, the SEC. Copies of all documents incorporated by reference in this prospectus, other than exhibits to those documents unless such exhibits are specifically incorporated by reference in this prospectus, will be provided at no cost to each person, including any beneficial owner, who receives a copy of this prospectus on the written or oral request of that person made to:
Ke Chen
Chief Financial Officer
3rd Floor, 850 Canal St
Stamford, CT 06902
U.S.A
Tel: +1(347) 577 9055 x115.
Fax: +1 (347) 577-9985
You should rely only on the information that we incorporate by reference or provide in this prospectus. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information. We are not making any offer of these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer is not permitted. You should not assume that the information in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate as of any date other than the date on the front of those documents.
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SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This prospectus, any accompanying prospectus supplement and the information incorporated herein and therein by reference may contain “forward-looking” statements intended to qualify for the safe harbor from liability established by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements, which are not statements of historical fact, may contain estimates, assumptions, projections and/or expectations regarding future events, which may or may not occur. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “should,” “will,” “would,” or similar expressions, which refer to future events and trends, identify forward-looking statements. We do not guarantee that the transactions and events described in this prospectus or in any prospectus supplement will happen as described or that they will happen at all. You should read this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement completely and with the understanding that actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement relate only to events as of the date on which the statements are made. We undertake no obligation, beyond that required by law, to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made, even though our situation may change in the future.
Whether actual results will conform with our expectations and predictions is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, and reflect future business decisions that are subject to change. Some of the assumptions, future results and levels of performance expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements we make inevitably will not materialize, and unanticipated events may occur which will affect our results. The “Risk Factors” section of this prospectus directs you to a description of the principal contingencies and uncertainties to which we believe we are subject.
This prospectus also contains or incorporates by reference data related to the solar power market in several countries. These market data, including industry demand and product pricing, include projections that are based on a number of assumptions. Demand for solar generated electricity may not ultimately increase at the rates expected, or at all. The failure of the market to grow at the projected rates may materially and adversely affect our business and the market price of our securities. In addition, the rapidly changing nature of the solar power market and related regulatory regimes subjects any projections or estimates relating to the growth prospects or future condition of our market to significant uncertainties. If any one or more of the assumptions underlying the market data proves to be incorrect, actual results may differ from the projections based on these assumptions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
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Overview
Prior to September 2017, we were a leading fully-integrated solar project developer and provider of energy-efficient products based in China. We provided high quality solar power products, including solar wafers, solar cells, solar modules and solar power projects, to a global network of suppliers and customers, which included leading global manufacturers of solar wafers, cells and modules and distributors, installers and end users of solar modules. We also provided processing services to our customers.
We completed a comprehensive corporate restructuring in September 2017, after which we have become a solar project developer and operator, a pure downstream player with robust pipeline projects around the world. We currently develop and sell solar power projects or sell project SPVs (project development business), and own and operate solar power projects and sell the electricity generated by our operated solar power plants (IPP business).
We are still in a multi-year transformation process from a negative cash flow equipment maker to a positive operating cash flow and asset-light solar project developer. We switched our long-term growth strategy from focusing on our traditional market in China to a global expansion roadmap. We now primarily focus on the promising markets in the United States and Europe. We already obtained a leading market share in Poland and Hungary, as well as some states in the United States such as Minnesota and New York. In 2019, we moved our headquarters to Connecticut, the United States where our senior management team will be based going forward.
As of December 31, 2019, we completed 779 megawatts (“MW”) of solar power projects, including about 11 MW of new installations in China, 17 MW of ground mounted projects in Europe, 24 MW of utility-scale projects in the U.S, and 7MW of Fit projects in Canada in 2019. We were operating approximately 216 MW solar power projects globally as of December 31, 2019, including 172 MW in China, and recorded electricity generation revenue from these projects. As of December 31, 2019, we had 417 MW within the late-stage pipeline, including 193 MW in the United States, with commercial operation date, or COD, within 2020 and 2022, of which 30MW of the solar power projects were under construction.
Our net revenue from continuing operations decreased from $103.0 million in 2017 to $96.9 million in 2018 and increased to $119 million in 2019. We recorded operating loss of $1.0 million and net loss of $11.7 million in 2019, compared to operating income of $15.5 million and net income of $5.1 million in 2018, and operating income of $6.6 million and net income of $3.2 million in 2017.
In addition, for the year ended December 31, 2019, we had generated positive operating cash flow of $55.9 million
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Please see the factors set forth under the heading “Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors” in our most recently filed annual report on Form 20-F, which is incorporated in this prospectus by reference, as updated by our subsequent filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and, if applicable, in any accompanying prospectus supplement before investing in any of the securities that may be offered or sold pursuant to this prospectus.
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We intend to use the net proceeds from the sale of the securities registered as set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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ENFORCEABILITY OF CIVIL LIABILITIES
We are incorporated in the British Virgin Islands to take advantage of certain benefits associated with being a British Virgin Islands company, such as political and economic stability, an effective judicial system, a favorable tax system, the absence of exchange control or currency restrictions and the availability of professional and support services. However, certain disadvantages accompany incorporation in the British Virgin Islands. These disadvantages include that the British Virgin Islands has a less developed body of securities laws as compared to the United States and provides significantly less protection to investors. In addition, British Virgin Islands companies do not have standing to sue before the federal courts of the United States.
Our organizational documents do not contain provisions requiring that disputes be submitted to arbitration, including those arising under the securities laws of the United States, between us, our officers, directors and shareholders. An important part of our operations is conducted and a significant portion of our assets is located outside the United States. Some of our directors and officers are nationals or residents of jurisdictions other than the United States, and some or all of their assets are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for a shareholder to bring an original action against us or such persons in a British Virgin Islands or China court in the event that a shareholder believes that his or her rights have been infringed under the U.S. federal securities laws or otherwise. It may also be difficult for a shareholder to enforce in U.S. courts judgments obtained in U.S. courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us and our officers and directors, some of whom are not residents of the United States and whose assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the British Virgin Islands or the PRC would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts against us or such persons predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state. There is no statutory recognition in the British Virgin Islands of judgments obtained in the United States, although the courts of the British Virgin Islands will generally recognize and enforce a non-penal judgment of a foreign court of competent jurisdiction without retrial on the merits. It is uncertain whether British Virgin Islands or PRC courts would be competent to hear original actions brought in the British Virgin Islands or the PRC against us or such persons predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state.
Our corporate affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, or Articles, and by the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 and common law of the British Virgin Islands. The rights of shareholders to take legal action against our directors and us, actions by minority shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors to us under British Virgin Islands law are to a large extent governed by the common law of the British Virgin Islands. The common law of the British Virgin Islands is derived in part from comparatively limited judicial precedent in the British Virgin Islands as well as from English common law, which has persuasive, but not binding, authority on a court in the British Virgin Islands. The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under British Virgin Islands law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedents in the United States. In particular, the British Virgin Islands has no securities laws as compared to the United States, and provides significantly less protection to investors. In addition, British Virgin Islands companies may not have standing to initiate a shareholder derivative action before the federal courts of the United States.
As a result of all of the above, our public shareholders may have more difficulties in protecting their interests through actions against our management, directors or major shareholders than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States.
Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP, our counsel as to British Virgin Islands law, and Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm, Shanghai Branch, our counsel as to PRC law, have advised us that there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the British Virgin Islands and PRC, respectively, would:
| · | recognize or enforce judgments of United States courts obtained against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the civil liability provisions of the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States; or |
| · | entertain original actions brought in each respective jurisdiction against us or our directors or officers predicated upon the securities laws of the United States or any state in the United States. |
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Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP has further advised us that the United States and the British Virgin Islands do not have a treaty providing for reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of U.S. courts in civil and commercial matters and that a final judgment for the payment of money rendered by any federal or state court in the United States based on civil liability, whether or not predicated solely upon the U.S. federal securities laws, would not be automatically enforceable in the British Virgin Islands. We have also been advised that any final and conclusive monetary judgment for a definite sum obtained against the company in U.S. federal or state courts would be treated by the courts of the British Virgin Islands as a cause of action in itself and sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary provided that:
| (i) | the U.S. federal or state court had jurisdiction in the matter and the company either submitted to such jurisdiction or was resident or carrying on business within such jurisdiction and was duly served with process; |
| (ii) | the judgment given by the U.S. federal or state court was not in respect of penalties, taxes, fines or similar fiscal or revenue obligations; |
| (iii) | the judgment was not procured by fraud; |
| (iv) | recognition or enforcement of the judgment in the British Virgin Islands would not be contrary to public policy; and |
| (v) | the proceedings pursuant to which judgment was obtained were not contrary to natural justice. |
A British Virgin Islands court may impose civil liability on us or our directors or officers in a suit brought in the courts of the British Virgin Islands against us or these persons with respect to a violation of U.S. federal securities laws, provided that the facts surrounding any violation constitute or give rise to a cause of action under British Virgin Islands law.
Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm, Shanghai Branch has advised us further that the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. Courts in the PRC may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based on treaties between PRC and the country where the judgment is made or on reciprocity between jurisdictions. As there is currently no treaty of reciprocity between PRC and the United States governing the recognition of a judgment, there is uncertainty as to whether a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered by a court in the United States.
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Material income tax consequences relating to the purchase, ownership and disposition of any of the securities offered by this prospectus will be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement relating to the offering of those securities.
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The following is a description of the terms and provisions of our shares, including shares represented by ADSs, preferred shares and debt securities that we may offer and sell using this prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement. These summaries are not meant to be a complete description of each security. This prospectus and any accompanying prospectus supplement will contain the material terms and conditions for each security. The accompanying prospectus supplement may add, update or change the terms and conditions of the securities as described in this prospectus.
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We are a British Virgin Islands company and our affairs are governed by our memorandum and articles of association, or Articles, and the British Virgin Islands Business Companies Act of 2004 (as amended), which is referred to as the Companies Law below.
As of December 31, 2020, we are authorized to issue a maximum of 800,000,000 no par value shares of a single class, and the number of shares issued and outstanding are 582,258,622 and 570,817,412, among which 8,478,780 shares represented by 847,878 ADSs were held by The Bank of New York Mellon, our depositary for the ADSs (the “Depositary”), for future exercise or vest of awards under our share incentive plan, and 2,962,430 shares represented by 296,243 ADSs were held by the Depositary, for potential at-the-market offering that we may conduct in the future.
The following are summaries of material provisions of our Articles and the Companies Law insofar as they relate to the material terms of our shares.
Shares
General. All of our outstanding shares are fully paid and non-assessable. Certificates representing the shares are issued in registered form. Our shareholders who are non-residents of the British Virgin Islands may freely hold and vote their shares.
Dividends. By a resolution of directors, we may declare and pay dividends in money, shares, or other property. Our directors may from time to time pay to the shareholders such interim dividends as appear to the directors to be justified by the profits of our company. No dividends shall be declared and paid unless the directors determine that immediately after the payment of the dividend the value of our assets will exceed our liabilities and we will be able to satisfy our liabilities as they fall due. The holders of our shares are entitled to such dividends as may be declared by our board of directors subject to the Companies Law.
Unissued Shares. Our unissued shares shall be at the disposal of the directors who may without prejudice to any rights previously conferred on the holders of any existing shares or class or series of shares offer, allot, grant options over or otherwise dispose of shares or other securities to such persons, at such times and upon such terms and conditions as we may by resolution of the directors determine. Before issuing shares for a consideration other than money, the directors shall pass a resolution stating the amount to be credited for the issue of the shares, their determination of the reasonable present cash value of the non-money consideration for the issue, and that, in their opinion, the present cash value of the non-money consideration for the issue is not less than the amount to be credited for the issue of the shares.
Voting Rights. Each share is entitled to one vote on all matters upon which the shares are entitled to vote. We are required by our Articles to hold an annual general meeting each year. Additionally, our directors may convene meetings of our shareholders at such times and in such-manner and places within or outside the British Virgin Islands as the directors consider necessary or desirable. Upon the written request of shareholders holding 10% or more of the outstanding voting rights attaching to our shares the directors shall convene a meeting of shareholders. The director shall give not less than 14 days’ notice of a meeting of shareholders to those persons whose names at the close of business on a day to be determined by the directors appear as shareholders in our share register and are entitled to vote at the meeting.
A meeting of shareholders is duly constituted if, at the commencement of the meeting, there are present in person or by proxy not less than 50% of the votes of the shares entitled to vote on shareholder resolutions to be considered at the meeting. If a quorum is present, notwithstanding the fact that such quorum may be represented by only one person, then such person or persons may resolve any matter and a certificate signed by such person and accompanied, where such person be a proxy, by a copy of the proxy form shall constitute a valid resolution of shareholders.
If within two hours from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened upon the requisition of shareholders, shall be dissolved; in any other case it shall stand adjourned to the next business day at the same time and place or to such other time and place as the directors may determine, and if at the adjourned meeting there are present within one hour from the time appointed for the meeting in person or by proxy not less than one third of the votes of the shares of each class or series of shares entitled to vote on the resolutions to be considered by the meeting, those present shall constitute a quorum but otherwise the meeting shall be dissolved. The chairman, may, with the consent of the meeting, adjourn any meeting from time to time, and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place.
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An action that may be taken by the shareholders at a meeting may also be taken by a resolution of shareholders consented to in writing without the need for any notice, but if any resolution of shareholders is adopted otherwise than by the unanimous written consent of all shareholders, a copy of such resolution shall forthwith be sent to all shareholders not consenting to such resolution.
Mandatory Tender Offer. Except with the consent of our board of directors, when (a) any person acquires, whether or not by a series of transactions over a period of time, our shares which (taken together with shares held or acquired by persons acting in concert with that person) carry 30% or more of the voting rights of our company; or (b) any person who together with persons acting in concert with him, holds not less than 30% but not more than 50% of our voting rights and acquires additional shares resulting in an increase in the percentage of the voting rights held by that person or any person acting in concert with him, such person is required to extend an offer to holders of all the issued shares in our company pursuant to our Articles.
Transfer of Shares. Certificated shares in our company may be transferred by a written instrument of transfer signed by the transferor and containing the name and address of the transferee, but in the absence of such written evidence of transfer the directors may accept such evidence of a transfer of shares as they consider appropriate. We may also issue shares in uncertificated form. We shall not be required to treat a transferee of a registered share in our Company as a member until the transferee’s name has been entered in the share register.
The register of members may be closed at such times and for such periods as the board of directors may from time to time determine, not exceeding in whole thirty days in each year, upon notice being given by advertisement in a leading daily newspaper and in such other newspaper (if any) as may be required by the law of British Virgin Islands and the practice of the New York Stock Exchange.
The board of directors may decline to register a transfer of any share to a person known to be a minor, bankrupt or person who is mentally disordered or a patient for the purpose of any statute relating to mental health. The board of directors may also decline to register any transfer unless:
| (a) | any written instrument of transfer, duly stamped (if so required), is lodged with us at the registered office or such other place as the board of directors may appoint accompanied by the certificate for the shares to which it relates (except in the case of a transfer by a recognized person or a holder of such shares in respect of whom we are not required by law to deliver a certificate and to whom a certificate has not been issued in respect of such shares); |
| (b) | there is provided such evidence as the board of directors may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer and, if the instrument of transfer is executed by some other person on his behalf, the authority of that person to do so; |
| (c) | any instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class or series of share; and |
| (d) | in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the share is to be transferred does not exceed four. |
Liquidation. In the case of the distribution of assets by a voluntary liquidator on a winding-up of our company, subject to payment of, or to discharge of, all claims, debts, liabilities and obligations of our company any surplus assets shall then be distributed amongst the shareholders according to their rights and interests in our company according to our Articles. If the assets available for distribution to members shall be insufficient to pay the whole of the paid up capital, such assets shall be shared on a pro rata basis amongst members entitled to them by reference to the number of fully paid up shares held by such members respectively at the commencement of the winding up.
Calls on Shares and Forfeiture of Shares. Our board of directors may from time to time make calls upon shareholders for any amounts unpaid on their shares in a notice served to such shareholders at least 14 days prior to the specified time and place of payment. The shares that have been called upon and remain unpaid at the specified time are subject to forfeiture.
Redemption of Shares. The Companies Law provides that subject to the memorandum and articles of association of a company, shareholders holding 90% or more of all the voting shares in a company, may instruct the directors to redeem the shares of the remaining shareholders. The directors shall be required to redeem the shares of the minority shareholders, whether or not the shares are by their terms redeemable. The directors must notify the minority shareholders in writing of the redemption price to be paid for the shares and the manner in which the redemption is to be effected. In the event that a minority shareholder objects to the redemption price to be paid and the parties are unable to agree to the redemption amount payable, the Companies Law sets out a mechanism whereby the shareholder and the company may each appoint an appraiser, who will together appoint a third appraiser and all three appraisers will have the power to determine the fair value of the shares to be compulsorily redeemed. Pursuant to the Companies Law, the determination of the three appraisers shall be binding on the company and the minority shareholder for all purposes.
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Variations of Rights of Shares. If at any time the issued or unissued shares are divided into different classes of shares, the rights attached to any class may only be varied, whether or not we are in liquidation, with the consent in writing or by resolution passed at a meeting by the holders of not less than 50% of the issued shares of that class.
Inspection of Books and Records. Holders of our shares have a general right under British Virgin Islands law to inspect our books and records on giving written notice to our company. However, the directors have power to refuse the request on the grounds that the inspection would be contrary to our interests. However, we will provide our shareholders with annual audited financial statements.
Preferred Shares
Our company may from time to time amend and restate our Articles to create one or more classes or series of preferred shares. Pursuant to paragraph 12 of the Articles, a shareholder resolution or a director resolution is currently required to amend the Articles, which shall take effect upon the registration of the amended and restated Articles by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands. Prior to any issuance of preferred shares, our board of directors may, acting by resolutions of directors, amend the Articles to create one or more classes of preferred shares and authorize the registration of the amended and restated Articles by the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands. Our board of directors may, by resolutions of directors, determine the rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions attached to the preferred shares, including the designations, powers, preferences and relative, participating, optional and other rights, if any, and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof, if any, including, without limitation, the number of shares constituting each such class or series, dividend rights, conversion rights, redemption privileges, voting powers, full or limited or no voting powers, and liquidation preferences, of each series that we may sell under this prospectus and applicable prospectus supplements and to increase or decrease the size of any such class or series of preferred shares, but not below the number of any class or series of preferred shares then issued and outstanding plus the number of shares of such class reserved for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding options, rights or warrants or upon the conversion of any outstanding securities issued by our company convertible into such class of shares. The rights conferred upon the holders of the shares of any class shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further shares ranking pari passu therewith or superior thereto. The amended and restated Articles providing for the establishment of any class or series of preferred shares may, to the extent permitted by law, provide that such class or series shall be superior to, rank equally with, or be junior to the preferred shares of any other class or series.
Once the class of preferred shares has been created, preferred shares may then be issued at such times, to such persons, for such consideration and on such terms as our board of directors may by resolution determine. We will describe the terms of any class or series of preferred shares we offer in the applicable prospectus supplement.
Differences in Corporate Law
The Companies Law differs from laws applicable to United States corporations and their shareholders. Set forth below is a summary of the significant differences between the provisions of the Companies Law applicable to us and the laws applicable to companies incorporated in the United States and their shareholders.
Protection for Minority Shareholders
Under the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions, majority and controlling shareholders of a company generally have certain “fiduciary” responsibilities to the minority shareholders. Corporate actions taken by majority and controlling shareholders which are unreasonable and materially detrimental to the interest of minority shareholders may be declared null and void. Notwithstanding, the minority shareholders may have less protection for their rights under British Virgin Islands law than they would have under U.S. law.
Powers of Directors
Unlike most U.S. jurisdictions, the directors of a British Virgin Islands company, subject in certain cases to the approval of the court (which will generally require shareholder approval), may implement the sale, transfer, exchange or disposition of any asset, property, part of the business, or securities of the company, if the board determines such transaction to be in the best interests of the company, its creditors, or its shareholders, with the exception that shareholder approval is required for any sale, transfer, lease exchange or other disposition of more than 50% in value of the assets of the company other than in the usual or regular course of business of the company.
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Conflict of Interests
Similar to the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions, when a director becomes aware of the fact that he has an interest in a transaction which the company is to enter into, he must disclose it to the board. However, with sufficient disclosure of the interest in relation to that transaction, the director who is interested in a transaction entered into or to be entered into by us may (i) vote on a matter relating to the transaction; (ii) attend a meeting of directors at which a matter relating to the transaction arises and be included in the quorum; and (iii) sign a document on behalf of the company, or do any other thing in his capacity as a director, that relates to the transaction.
Written Consent and Cumulative Voting
Similar to the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions, under the British Virgin Islands law, shareholders are permitted to approve matters by way of written resolution in place of a formal meeting. The Companies Law does not make a specific reference to cumulative voting, and our current Articles of Association have no provisions authorizing cumulative voting.
Independent Directors
There is no requirement for a majority of the directors of the company to be independent as a matter of British Virgin Islands law.
Investigating Power and Suspension of Shareholder’s Rights
Regulation 24.3 of our Articles grants us investigating power with respect to the ownership of our shares. This is done by sending a written notice, or the section 793 notice, to any shareholder or other person whom we have reasonable cause to believe has, or had, an “interest” (e.g. owns, controls or has certain rights over shares) in our relevant shares at some time during the three years immediately preceding the date of issue of the section 793 notice. A person who receives a section 793 notice must respond with the required information within 14 days following the date of service of the notice. Default in complying with the notice in relation to any shares, or the default shares, either on the part of the shareholder or on the part of some other interested person, could result in the rights of the shares being suspended if our board of directors has served a disenfranchisement notice on the holder of the default shares.
Redemption
Our shares are not redeemable at the shareholders’ option. Subject to the Companies Law, we may redeem our shares only with the consent of the shareholders whose shares are to be redeemed, except that the consent from the shareholders is not needed under the circumstances of (i) the compulsory redemption with respect to fractional shares held by our shareholders in the circumstance of share division, and (ii) the compulsory redemption, at the request of the shareholders holding 90% of the votes of the outstanding shares entitled to vote, of the remaining issued shares.
Takeover Provisions
Our Articles do not alter the general provisions of the Companies Law or any other British Virgin Islands law and therefore measures such as a poison pill would have to be in place before a takeover offer is in contemplation, as, if not, the directors might be seen as exercising their powers for an improper purpose in trying to introduce such a measure.
Furthermore, prior to the issuance of any additional classes of shares there would need to be an amendment to our Articles to create the new class of shares and to set out the rights and obligations attaching to those shares in our Articles This may be done following a resolution of directors or a resolution of shareholders (as more particularly set out in the section “Preferred Shares” above). If at any time the shares of our company are divided into different classes, a variation of the rights of any such class will not be triggered by but note that the creation and issue of a further class with rights ranking pari passu therewith or superior thereto. The introduction of a poison pill mechanism involving the issue of a new class of shares would require an amendment to our Articles but such amendment could be approved by way of shareholder resolution or by a resolution of directors.
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Shareholder’s Access to Corporate Records
A shareholder is entitled, on giving written notice to the company, to inspect the company’s (i) memorandum and articles of association; (ii) register of members; (iii) register of directors; and (iv) minutes of meetings and resolutions of members and of those classes of members of which he is a member.
The directors may, if they are satisfied that it would be contrary to the company’s interests to allow a member to inspect any document listed above (or any part thereof), refuse the member to inspect the document or limit the inspection of the document. The board may also authorize a member to review the company’s account if requested.
Indemnification
British Virgin Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the British Virgin Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime.
Under our Articles, we may indemnify our directors or any person who is or was, at the request of the company, serving as a director of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another body corporate or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including legal fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such persons in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings to which they are a party or are threatened to be made a party by reason of their acting as our directors or agents. To be entitled to indemnification, these persons must have acted honestly and in good faith and in the best interest of the company, and they must have had no reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
Mergers and Similar Arrangements
Under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, two or more companies may merge or consolidate in accordance with Section 170 of the Companies Law. A merger means the merging of two or more constituent companies into one of the constituent companies, and a consolidation means the uniting of two or more constituent companies into a new company. In order to merge or consolidate, the directors of each constituent company must approve a written plan of merger or consolidation which must be authorized by a resolution of shareholders.
While a director may vote on the plan even if he has a financial interest in the plan of merger of consolidation, in order for the resolution to be valid, the interest must have been disclosed to the board forthwith upon him becoming aware of such interest. The transaction will not be avoidable if the shareholders approve it.
Shareholders not otherwise entitled to vote on the merger or consolidation may still acquire the right to vote if the plan of merger or consolidation contains any provision which, if proposed as an amendment to the memorandum or articles of association, would entitle them to vote as a class or series on the proposed amendment. In any event, all shareholders must be given a copy of the plan of merger or consolidation irrespective of whether they are entitled to vote at the meeting or consent to the written resolution to approve the plan of merger or consolidation.
The shareholders of the constituent companies are not required to receive shares of the surviving or consolidated company but may receive cash, debt obligations or other securities of the surviving or consolidated company, or other assets, or a combination thereof. Further, some or all of the shares of a class or series may be converted into a kind of asset while the other shares of the same class or series may receive a different kind of asset. As such, not all the shares of a class or series must receive the same kind of consideration.
After the plan of merger or consolidation has been approved by the directors and authorized by a resolution of the shareholders, articles of merger or consolidation are executed by each company and filed with the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands.
A shareholder may dissent from a mandatory redemption of his shares, an arrangement (if permitted by the court), a merger (unless the shareholder was a shareholder of the surviving company prior to the merger and continues to hold the same or similar shares after the merger) and a consolidation. A shareholder properly exercising his dissent rights is entitled to payment of the fair value of their shares.
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A shareholder dissenting from a merger or consolidation must object in writing to the merger or consolidation before the vote by the shareholders on the merger or consolidation, unless notice of the meeting was not given to the shareholder. If the merger or consolidation is approved by the shareholders, the company must within 20 days give notice of this fact to each shareholder who gave written objection, and to each shareholder who did not receive notice of the meeting. Such shareholders then have 20 days to give to the company their written election in the form specified by the Companies Law to dissent from the merger or consolidation, provided that in the case of a merger, the 20 days starts when the plan of merger is delivered to the shareholder.
Upon giving notice of his election to dissent, a shareholder ceases to have any rights of a shareholder except the right to be paid the fair value of his shares. As such, the merger or consolidation may proceed in the ordinary course notwithstanding the dissent.
Within seven days of the later of the delivery of the notice of election to dissent and the effective date of the merger or consolidation, the company must make a written offer to each dissenting shareholder to purchase his shares at a specified price that the company determines to be their fair value. The company and the shareholder then have 30 days to agree upon the price. If the company and the shareholder fail to agree on the price within the 30 days, then the company and the shareholder shall each designate an appraiser and these two appraisers shall designate a third appraiser. These three appraisers shall fix the fair value of the shares as of the close of business on the day before the shareholders approved the transaction without taking into account any change in value as a result of the transaction.
Shareholders’ Suits
Similar to the laws of most U.S. jurisdictions, British Virgin Islands law permits derivative actions against its directors. However, the circumstances under which such actions may be brought, and the procedures and defenses available may result in the rights of shareholders of a British Virgin Islands company being more limited than those of shareholders of a company incorporated and/or existing in the United States.
The BVI does not have provision for “class actions.” It does however provide for “representative action”, whereby a representative maybe appointed to represent parties with the same interest. In such cases those parties will typically be bound by any decision in the proceedings... Section 184C(1) of the Companies Law specifically provides for the process by which a claim may be brought “derivatively” on behalf of a company by one of its shareholders. Importantly, proceedings may not be brought by a shareholder without leave of the court. The courts of the British Virgin Islands may, on the application of a shareholder of a company, grant leave to that shareholder to bring proceedings in the name and on behalf of that company, or intervene in proceedings to which the company is a party for the purpose of continuing, defending or discontinuing the proceedings on behalf of the company. In determining whether to grant leave, the High Court of the British Virgin Islands must take into account (i) whether the shareholder is acting in good faith. (ii) whether the derivative action is in the interests of the company taking account of the views of the company’s directors on commercial matters. (iii) whether the proceedings are likely to succeed.(iv) the costs of the proceedings in relation to the relief likely to be obtained. and (v) whether an alternative remedy to the derivative claim is available.
Leave to bring or intervene in proceedings may be granted only if the High Court of the British Virgin Islands is satisfied that (i) the company does not intend to bring, diligently continue or defend, or discontinue the proceedings, as the case may be or (ii) it is in the interests of the company that the conduct of the proceedings should not be left to the directors or to the determination of the shareholders as a whole.
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DESCRIPTION OF AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARES
American Depositary Shares
The Bank of New York Mellon, as depositary, will register and deliver ADSs. Each ADS will represent ten shares deposited with The Bank of New York Mellon acting through an office located in the United Kingdom, as custodian for the depositary. Each ADS will also represent any other securities, cash or other property which may be held by the depositary. The depositary’s corporate trust office at which the ADSs will be administered and its principal executive office is located at 240 Greenwich Street, New York, New York 10286.
You may hold ADSs either (A) directly (i) by having an American Depositary Receipt, which is a certificate evidencing a specific number of ADSs, registered in your name, or (ii) by holding ADSs in the Direct Registration System, or DRS, or (B) indirectly through your broker or other financial institution. If you hold ADSs directly, you are an ADS holder. This description assumes you hold your ADSs directly. If you hold the ADSs indirectly, you must rely on the procedures of your broker or other financial institution to assert the rights of ADS holders described in this section. You should consult with your broker or financial institution to find out what those procedures are.
DRS, is a system administered by The Depository Trust Company, or DTC, pursuant to which the depositary may register the ownership of uncertificated ADSs, which ownership shall be confirmed by periodic statements sent by the depositary to the ADS holders entitled thereto.
As an ADS holder, we will not treat you as one of our shareholders and you will not have shareholder rights. British Virgin Islands law governs shareholder rights. The depositary will be the holder of the shares underlying your ADSs. As a holder of ADSs, you will have ADS holder rights. A deposit agreement among us, the depositary and you, as an ADS holder, and the beneficial owners of ADSs set out ADS holder rights as well as the rights and obligations of the depositary. New York law governs the deposit agreement and the ADSs.
The following is a summary of the material terms of the deposit agreement. Because it is a summary, it does not contain all the information that may be important to you. For more complete information, you should read the entire deposit agreement and the form of ADR which contains the terms of your ADSs. You can read a copy of the deposit agreement that we previously filed. You may also obtain a copy of the deposit agreement at the SEC’s Public Reference Room which is located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You may obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. You may also find the registration statement and the attached deposit agreement from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.
Dividends and Other Distributions
How will you receive dividends and other distributions on the shares?
The depositary has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it or the custodian receives on shares or other deposited securities, after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of shares your ADSs represent.
| · | Cash. The depositary will convert any cash dividend or other cash distribution we pay on the shares into U.S. dollars, if it can do so on a reasonable basis, and can transfer the U.S. dollars to the United States. If that is not possible or if any government approval is needed and cannot be obtained within a reasonable period, the deposit agreement allows the depositary to distribute the foreign currency only to those ADS holders to whom it is possible to do so. It will hold the foreign currency it cannot convert for the account of the ADS holders who have not been paid. It will not invest the foreign currency and it will not be liable for any interest. |
Before making a distribution, any withholding taxes or other governmental charges that must be paid will be deducted. See “Payment of Taxes.” The depositary will distribute only whole U.S. dollars and cents and will round fractional cents to the nearest whole cent. If the exchange rates fluctuate during a time when the depositary cannot convert the foreign currency, you may lose some or all of the value of the distribution.
| · | Shares. The depositary may distribute additional ADSs representing any shares we distribute as a dividend or free distribution. The depositary will only distribute whole ADSs. It will sell shares which would require it to deliver a fractional ADS and distribute the net proceeds in the same way as it does with cash. If the depositary does not distribute additional ADSs, the outstanding ADSs will also represent the new shares. The depositary may sell a portion of the distributed shares sufficient to pay its fees and expenses in connection with that distribution. |
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| · | Rights to purchase additional shares. If we offer holders of our securities any rights to subscribe for additional shares or any other rights, the depositary may make these rights available to you. If the depositary decides it is not legal and practical to make the rights available but that it is practical to sell the rights, the depositary will use reasonable efforts to sell the rights and distribute the proceeds in the same way as it does with cash. The depositary will allow rights that are not distributed or sold to lapse. In that case, you will receive no value for them. |
If the depositary makes rights available to you, it will exercise the rights and purchase the shares on your behalf. The depositary will then deposit the shares and deliver ADSs to you. It will only exercise rights if you pay it the exercise price and any other charges the rights require you to pay.
U.S. securities laws may restrict transfers and cancellation of the ADSs represented by shares purchased upon exercise of rights. For example, you may not be able to trade these ADSs freely in the United States. In this case, the depositary may deliver restricted depositary shares that have the same terms as the ADSs described in this section except for changes needed to put the necessary restrictions in place.
| · | Other Distributions. The depositary will send to you anything else we distribute on deposited securities by any means it thinks is legal, fair and practical. If it cannot make the distribution in that way, the depositary has a choice; it may decide to sell what we distributed and distribute the net proceeds, in the same way as it does with cash; or, it may decide to hold what we distributed, in which case ADSs will also represent the newly distributed property. However, the depositary is not required to distribute any securities (other than ADSs) to you unless it receives satisfactory evidence from us that it is legal to make that distribution. The depositary may sell a portion of the distributed securities or property sufficient to pay its fees and expenses in connection with that distribution. |
The depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any ADS holders. We have no obligation to register ADSs, shares, rights or other securities under the Securities Act. We also have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution of ADSs, shares, rights or anything else to ADS holders. This means that you may not receive the distributions we make on our shares or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you.
Deposit, Withdrawal and Cancellation
How are ADSs issued?
The depositary will deliver ADSs if you or your broker deposits shares or evidence of rights to receive shares with the custodian. Upon payment of its fees and expenses and of any taxes or charges, such as stamp taxes or stock transfer taxes or fees, the depositary will register the appropriate number of ADSs in the names you request and will deliver the ADSs to or upon the order of the person or persons entitled thereto.
How do ADS holders cancel an American Depositary Share?
You may turn in your ADSs at the depositary’s corporate trust office. Upon payment of its fees and expenses and of any taxes or charges, such as stamp taxes or stock transfer taxes or fees, the depositary will deliver the shares and any other deposited securities underlying the ADSs to you or a person you designate at the office of the custodian. Or, at your request, risk and expense, the depositary will deliver the deposited securities at its corporate trust office, if feasible.
How do ADS holders interchange between Certificated ADSs and Uncertificated ADSs?
You may surrender your ADR to the depositary for the purpose of exchanging your ADR for uncertificated ADSs. The depositary will cancel that ADR and will send you a statement confirming that you are the owner of uncertificated ADSs. Alternatively, upon receipt by the depositary of a proper instruction from a holder of uncertificated ADSs requesting the exchange of uncertificated ADSs for certificated ADSs, the depositary will execute and deliver to you an ADR evidencing those ADSs.
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Voting Rights
How do you vote?
You may instruct the depositary how to vote the deposited securities. Otherwise, you will not be able to exercise your right to vote unless you withdraw the shares your ADSs represent. However, you may not know about the meeting enough in advance to withdraw the shares.
If we ask for your instructions, the depositary will notify you of the upcoming vote and arrange to deliver our voting materials to you. The materials will (1) describe the matters to be voted on and (2) explain how you may instruct the depositary to vote the shares or other deposited securities underlying your ADSs as you direct, including an express indication that such instructions may be given or deemed given in accordance with the last sentence of this paragraph if no instruction is received, to the depositary to give a discretionary proxy to a person designated by us. For instructions to be valid, the depositary must receive them on or before the date specified. The depositary will try, as far as practicable, subject to the laws of the British Virgin Islands and the provisions of our Articles, to vote or to have its agents vote the shares or other deposited securities as you instruct. The depositary will only vote or attempt to vote as you instruct. If we timely asked for your instructions but no instructions are received by the depositary from an owner with respect to ADSs of that owner on or before the date established by the depositary for such purpose, the depositary shall deem that owner to have instructed the depositary to give a discretionary proxy to a person designated by us with respect to the amount of deposited securities represented by those ADSs, and the depositary shall give a discretionary proxy to a person designated by us to vote such deposited securities. No such instruction shall be deemed given and no such discretionary proxy shall be given with respect to any matter as to which we inform the depositary (i) we do not wish such proxy given, (ii) any matter as to which substantial opposition exists or (iii) any matter that materially and adversely affects the rights of holders of the shares.
We cannot assure you that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote your shares. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing to carry out voting instructions or for the manner of carrying out voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to vote and there may be nothing you can do if your shares are not voted as you requested.
In order to give you a reasonable opportunity to instruct the depositary as to the exercise of voting rights relating to deposited securities, if we request the depositary to act, we will give the depositary notice of any such meeting and details concerning the matters to be voted upon at least 45 days in advance of the meeting date.
Fees and Expenses
| Persons depositing or withdrawing shares or holders of ADSs must pay: |
For: | |
| $5.00 (or less) per 100 ADSs (or portion of 100 ADSs) | · Issuance of ADSs, including issuances resulting from a distribution of shares or rights or other property | |
| · Cancellation of ADSs for the purpose of withdrawal, including if the deposit agreement terminates | ||
| $.02 (or less) per ADSs | · Any cash distribution to ADS registered holders | |
| A fee equivalent to the fee that would be payable if securities distributed to you had been shares and the shares had been deposited for issuance of ADSs | · Distribution of securities distributed to holders of deposited securities which are distributed by the depositary to ADS registered holders | |
| $.02 (or less) per ADSs per calendar year | · Depositary services | |
| Registration or transfer fees | · Transfer and registration of shares on our share register to or from the name of the depositary or its agent when you deposit or withdraw shares |
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| Persons depositing or withdrawing shares or holders of ADSs must pay: |
For: | |
| Expenses of the depositary | · Cable (including SEIFT) and facsimile transmissions (when expressly provided in the deposit agreement) | |
| · Converting foreign currency to U.S. dollars | ||
| Taxes and other governmental charges the depositary or the custodian have to pay on any ADS or share underlying an ADS, for example, stock transfer taxes, stamp duty or withholding taxes | · As necessary | |
| Any charges incurred by the depositary or its agents for servicing the deposited securities | · As necessary |
The depositary collects its fees for issuance and cancellation of ADSs directly from investors depositing shares or surrendering ADSs for the purpose of withdrawal or from intermediaries acting for them. The depositary collects fees for making distributions to investors by deducting those fees from the amounts distributed or by selling a portion of distributable property to pay the fees. The depositary may collect its annual fee for depositary services by deduction from cash distributions, or by directly billing investors, or by charging the book-entry system accounts of participants acting for them. The depositary may collect any of its fees by deduction from any cash distribution payable to ADS holders that are obligated to pay those fees. The depositary may generally refuse to provide fee-attracting services until its fees for those services are paid.
From time to time, the depositary may make payments to us to reimburse and/or share revenue from the fees collected from ADS holders, or waive fees and expenses for services provided, generally relating to costs and expenses arising out of establishment and maintenance of the ADS program. In performing its duties under the deposit agreement, the depositary may use brokers, dealers, foreign currency dealers, or other service providers that are affiliates of the depositary and that may earn or share fees, spreads or commissions.
The depositary may convert currency itself or through any of its affiliates, or the custodian or we may convert currency and pay U.S. dollars to the depositary. Where the depositary converts currency itself or through any of its affiliates, the depositary acts as principal for its own account and not as agent, advisor, broker or fiduciary on behalf of any other person and earns revenue, including, without limitation, transaction spreads, that it will retain for its own account. The revenue is based on, among other things, the difference between the exchange rate assigned to the currency conversion made under the deposit agreement and the rate that the depositary or its affiliate receives when buying or selling foreign currency for its own account. The depositary makes no representation that the exchange rate used or obtained by it or its affiliate in any currency conversion under the deposit agreement will be the most favorable rate that could be obtained at the time or that the method by which that rate will be determined will be the most favorable to ADS holders, subject to the depositary's obligation to act without negligence or bad faith. The methodology used to determine exchange rates used in currency conversions made by the depositary is available upon request. Where the custodian converts currency, the custodian has no obligation to obtain the most favorable rate that could be obtained at the time or to ensure that the method by which that rate will be determined will be the most favorable to ADS holders, and the depositary makes no representation that the rate is the most favorable rate and will not be liable for any direct or indirect losses associated with the rate. In certain instances, the depositary may receive dividends or other distributions from the us in U.S. dollars that represent the proceeds of a conversion of foreign currency or translation from foreign currency at a rate that was obtained or determined by us and, in such cases, the depositary will not engage in, or be responsible for, any foreign currency transactions and neither it nor we make any representation that the rate obtained or determined by us is the most favorable rate and neither it nor we will be liable for any direct or indirect losses associated with the rate.
Payment of Taxes
You will be responsible for any taxes or other governmental charges payable on your ADSs or on the deposited securities represented by any of your ADSs. The depositary may refuse to register any transfer of your ADSs or allow you to withdraw the deposited securities represented by your ADSs until such taxes or other charges are paid. It may apply payments owed to you or sell deposited securities represented by your ADSs to pay any taxes owed and you will remain liable for any deficiency. If the depositary sells deposited securities, it will, if appropriate, reduce the number of ADSs to reflect the sale and pay to you any proceeds, or send to you any property, remaining after it has paid the taxes.
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Reclassifications, Recapitalizations and Mergers
| If we: | Then: | ||
| · | Change the nominal or par value of our shares | The cash, shares or other securities received by the depositary will become deposited securities. Each ADS will automatically represent its equal share of the new deposited securities. | |
| · | Reclassify, split up or consolidate any of the deposited securities | ||
| · | Distribute securities on the shares that are not distributed to you | The depositary may deliver new ADSs or ask you to surrender your outstanding ADSs in exchange for new ADSs identifying the new deposited securities. | |
| · | Recapitalize, reorganize, merge, liquidate, sell all or substantially all of our assets, or take any similar action | ||
Amendment and Termination
How may the deposit agreement be amended?
We may agree with the depositary to amend the deposit agreement and the ADSs without your consent for any reason. If an amendment adds or increases fees or charges, except for taxes and other governmental charges or expenses of the depositary for registration fees, facsimile costs, delivery charges or similar items, or prejudices a substantial right of ADS holders, such amendment will not become effective for outstanding ADSs until 30 days after the depositary notifies ADS holders of the amendment. At the time an amendment becomes effective, you are considered, by continuing to hold your ADS, to agree to the amendment and to be bound by the ADRs and the deposit agreement as amended.
How may the deposit agreement be terminated?
The depositary will terminate the deposit agreement at our direction by mailing notice of termination to the ADS holders then outstanding at least 30 days prior to the date fixed in such notice for such termination. The depositary may also terminate the deposit agreement by mailing notice of termination to us and the ADS holders then outstanding if at any time 60 days shall have expired after the depositary shall have delivered to us a written notice of its election to resign and a successor depositary shall not have been appointed and accepted its appointment.
After termination, the depositary and its agents will do the following under the deposit agreement but nothing else: collect distributions on the deposited securities, sell rights and other property, and deliver shares and other deposited securities upon cancellation of ADSs. Six months after termination, the depositary may sell any remaining deposited securities by public or private sale. After that, the depositary will hold the money it received on the sale, as well as any other cash it is holding under the deposit agreement for the pro rata benefit of the ADS holders that have not surrendered their ADSs. It will not invest the money and has no liability for interest. The depositary’s only obligations will be to account for the money and other cash. After termination our only obligations will be to indemnify the depositary and to pay fees and expenses of the depositary that we agreed to pay.
Limitations on Obligations and Liability
Limits on our Obligations and the Obligations of the Depositary; Limits on Liability to Holders of ADSs
The deposit agreement expressly limits our obligations and the obligations of the depositary. It also limits our liability and the liability of the depositary. We and the depositary:
| · | are only obligated to take the actions specifically set forth in the deposit agreement without negligence or bad faith; |
| · | are not liable if either of us is prevented or delayed by law or circumstances beyond our control from performing our obligations under the deposit agreement; |
| · | are not liable if either of us exercises discretion permitted under the deposit agreement; |
| · | are not liable for the inability of any ADS holder to benefit from any distribution, offering, right or other benefit which is made available to holders of deposited securities but is not, under the terms of the deposit agreement, made available to ADS holders; |
| · | are not liable for any special, consequential or punitive damages for any breach of the terms of the deposit agreement; |
| · | have no obligation to become involved in a lawsuit or other proceeding related to the ADSs or the deposit agreement on your behalf or on behalf of any other party; and |
| · | may rely upon the advice of, or information from, any person whom we believe in good faith to be competent to give such advice or information. |
In the deposit agreement, we and the depositary agree to indemnify each other under certain circumstances.
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Requirements for Depositary Actions
Before the depositary will deliver or register a transfer of an ADS, make a distribution on an ADS, or permit withdrawal of shares, the depositary may require:
| · | payment of stock transfer or other taxes or other governmental charges and transfer or registration fees charged by third parties for the transfer of any shares or other deposited securities; |
| · | satisfactory proof of the identity and genuineness of any signature or other information it deems necessary; and |
| · | compliance with regulations it may establish, from time to time, consistent with the deposit agreement, including presentation of transfer documents. |
The depositary may refuse to deliver ADSs or register transfers of ADSs generally when the transfer books of the depositary or our transfer books are closed or at any time if the depositary or we think it advisable to do so.
Your Right to Receive the Shares Underlying Your ADSs
You have the right to cancel your ADSs and withdraw the underlying shares at any time except:
| · | When temporary delays arise because: (i) the depositary has closed its transfer books or we have closed our transfer books; (ii) the transfer of shares is blocked to permit voting at a shareholders’ meeting; or (iii) we are paying a dividend on our shares. |
| · | When you or other ADS holders seeking to withdraw shares owe money to pay fees, taxes and similar charges. |
| · | When it is necessary to prohibit withdrawals in order to comply with any laws or governmental regulations that apply to ADSs or to the withdrawal of shares or other deposited securities. |
This right of withdrawal may not be limited by any other provision of the deposit agreement.
Direct Registration System
In the deposit agreement, all parties to the deposit agreement acknowledge that the DRS and Profile Modification System, or Profile, will apply to uncertificated ADSs upon acceptance thereof to DRS by DTC. DRS is the system administered by DTC pursuant to which the depositary may register the ownership of uncertificated ADSs, which ownership shall be evidenced by periodic statements issued by the depositary to the ADS holders entitled thereto. Profile is a required feature of DRS which allows a DTC participant, claiming to act on behalf of an ADS holder, to direct the depositary to register a transfer of those ADSs to DTC or its nominee and to deliver those ADSs to the DTC account of that DTC participant without receipt by the depositary of prior authorization from the ADS holder to register such transfer.
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In connection with and in accordance with the arrangements and procedures relating to DRS/Profile, the parties to the deposit agreement understand that the depositary will not verify, determine or otherwise ascertain that the DTC participant which is claiming to be acting on behalf of an ADS holder in requesting registration of transfer and delivery described in the paragraph above has the actual authority to act on behalf of the ADS holder (notwithstanding any requirements under the Uniform Commercial Code). In the deposit agreement, the parties agree that the depositary’s reliance on and compliance with instructions received by the depositary through DRS/Profile and in accordance with the deposit agreement, shall not constitute negligence or bad faith on the part of the depositary.
Shareholder communications; inspection of register of holders of ADSs
The depositary will make available for your inspection at its office all communications that it receives from us as a holder of deposited securities that we make generally available to holders of deposited securities. The depositary will send you copies of those communications if we ask it to. You have a right to inspect the register of holders of ADSs, but not for the purpose of contacting those holders about a matter unrelated to our business or the ADSs.
Jury Trial Waiver
The deposit agreement provides that, to the extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial of any claim they may have against us or the depositary arising out of or relating to our shares, the ADSs or the deposit agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws. If we or the depositary opposed a jury trial demand based on the waiver, the court would determine whether the waiver was enforceable in the facts and circumstances of that case in accordance with applicable case law.
You will not, by agreeing to the terms of the deposit agreement, be deemed to have waived our or the depositary's compliance with U.S. federal securities laws or the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.
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DESCRIPTION OF DEBT SECURITIES
We may issue series of debt securities, which may include debt securities exchangeable for or convertible into ordinary shares or preferred shares. When we offer to sell a particular series of debt securities, we will describe the specific terms of that series in a supplement to this prospectus. The following description of debt securities will apply to the debt securities offered by this prospectus unless we provide otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement. The applicable prospectus supplement for a particular series of debt securities may specify different or additional terms.
The debt securities offered by this prospectus may be secured or unsecured, and may be senior debt securities, senior subordinated debt securities or subordinated debt securities. The debt securities offered by this prospectus may be issued under an indenture between us and the trustee under the indenture. The indenture may be qualified under, subject to, and governed by, the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, as amended. We have summarized selected portions of the indenture below. The summary is not complete. The form of the indenture has been filed as an exhibit to the registration statement on Form F-3, of which this prospectus is a part, and you should read the indenture for provisions that may be important to you.
The terms of each series of debt securities will be established by or pursuant to a resolution of our board of directors and detailed or determined in the manner provided in a board of directors’ resolution, an officers’ certificate and by a supplemental indenture. The particular terms of each series of debt securities will be described in a prospectus supplement relating to the series, including any pricing supplement.
We may issue any amount of debt securities under the indenture, which may be in one or more series with the same or different maturities, at par, at a premium or at a discount. We will set forth in a prospectus supplement, including any related pricing supplement, relating to any series of debt securities being offered, the initial offering price, the aggregate principal amount offered and the terms of the debt securities, including, among other things, the following:
| · | the title of the debt securities; |
| · | the price or prices (expressed as a percentage of the aggregate principal amount) at which we will sell the debt securities; |
| · | any limit on the aggregate principal amount of the debt securities; |
| · | the date or dates on which we will repay the principal on the debt securities and the right, if any, to extend the maturity of the debt securities; |
| · | the rate or rates (which may be fixed or variable) per annum or the method used to determine the rate or rates (including any commodity, commodity index, stock exchange index or financial index) at which the debt securities will bear interest, the date or dates from which interest will accrue, the date or dates on which interest will be payable and any regular record date for any interest payment date; |
| · | the place or places where the principal of, premium, and interest on the debt securities will be payable, and where the debt securities of the series that are convertible or exchangeable may be surrendered for conversion or exchange; |
| · | any obligation or right we have to redeem the debt securities pursuant to any sinking fund or analogous provisions or at the option of holders of the debt securities or at our option, and the terms and conditions upon which we are obligated to or may redeem the debt securities; |
| · | any obligation we have to repurchase the debt securities at the option of the holders of debt securities, the dates on which and the price or prices at which we will repurchase the debt securities and other detailed terms and provisions of these repurchase obligations; |
| · | the denominations in which the debt securities will be issued; |
| · | whether the debt securities will be issued in the form of certificated debt securities or global debt securities; |
| · | the portion of principal amount of the debt securities payable upon declaration of acceleration of the maturity date, if other than the principal amount; |
| · | the currency of denomination of the debt securities; |
| · | the designation of the currency, currencies or currency units in which payment of principal of, premium and interest on the debt securities will be made; |
| · | if payments of principal of, premium or interest on, the debt securities will be made in one or more currencies or currency units other than that or those in which the debt securities are denominated, the manner in which the exchange rate with respect to these payments will be determined; |
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| · | the manner in which the amounts of payment of principal of, premium or interest on, the debt securities will be determined, if these amounts may be determined by reference to an index based on a currency or currencies other than that in which the debt securities are denominated or designated to be payable or by reference to a commodity, commodity index, stock exchange index or financial index; |
| · | any provisions relating to any security provided for the debt securities; |
| · | any addition to or change in the events of default described in the indenture with respect to the debt securities and any change in the acceleration provisions described in the indenture with respect to the debt securities; |
| · | any addition to or change in the covenants described in the indenture with respect to the debt securities; |
| · | whether the debt securities will be senior or subordinated and any applicable subordination provisions; |
| · | a discussion of material income tax considerations applicable to the debt securities; |
| · | any other terms of the debt securities, which may modify any provisions of the indenture as it applies to that series; and |
| · | any depositaries, interest rate calculation agents, exchange rate calculation agents or other agents with respect to the debt securities. |
We may issue debt securities that are exchangeable for and/or convertible into ordinary shares or preferred shares. The terms, if any, on which the debt securities may be exchanged and/or converted will be set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement. Such terms may include provisions for exchange or conversion, which can be mandatory, at the option of the holder or at our option, and the manner in which the number of ordinary shares, preferred shares or other securities to be received by the holders of debt securities would be calculated.
We may issue debt securities that provide for an amount less than their stated principal amount to be due and payable upon declaration of acceleration of their maturity pursuant to the terms of the indenture. We will provide you with information on the U.S. federal income tax considerations, and other special considerations applicable to any of these debt securities in the applicable prospectus supplement. If we denominate the purchase price of any of the debt securities in a foreign currency or currencies or a foreign currency unit or units, or if the principal of and any premium and interest on any series of debt securities is payable in a foreign currency or currencies or a foreign currency unit or units, we will provide you with information on the restrictions, elections, specific terms and other information with respect to that issue of debt securities and such foreign currency or currencies or foreign currency unit or units in the applicable prospectus supplement.
We may issue debt securities of a series in whole or in part in the form of one or more global securities that will be deposited with, or on behalf of, a depositary identified in the prospectus supplement. Global securities will be issued in registered form and in either temporary or definitive form. Unless and until it is exchanged in whole or in part for the individual debt securities, a global security may not be transferred except as a whole by the depositary for such global security to a nominee of such depositary or by a nominee of such depositary to such depositary or another nominee of such depositary or by such depositary or any such nominee to a successor of such depositary or a nominee of such successor. The specific terms of the depositary arrangement with respect to any debt securities of a series and the rights of and limitations upon owners of beneficial interests in a global security will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
The indenture and the debt securities will be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the internal laws of the State of New York, unless we otherwise specify in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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We may sell or distribute the securities offered by this prospectus, from time to time, in one or more offerings, as follows:
| · | through agents; |
| · | to dealers or underwriters for resale; |
| · | directly to purchasers; or |
| · | through a combination of any of these methods of sale. |
The prospectus supplement with respect to the securities may state or supplement the terms of the offering of the securities.
In addition, we may issue the securities as a dividend or distribution or in a subscription rights offering to our existing security holders. In some cases, we or dealers acting for us or on our behalf may also repurchase securities and reoffer them to the public by one or more of the methods described above. This prospectus may be used in connection with any offering of our securities through any of these methods or other methods described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
Our securities distributed by any of these methods may be sold to the public, in one or more transactions, either:
| · | at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed; |
| · | at market prices prevailing at the time of sale; |
| · | at prices related to prevailing market prices; or |
| · | at negotiated prices. |
Sale through Underwriters or Dealers
If underwriters are used in the sale, the underwriters will acquire the securities for their own account, including through underwriting, purchase, security lending or repurchase agreements with us. The underwriters may resell the securities from time to time in one or more transactions, including negotiated transactions. Underwriters may sell the securities in order to facilitate transactions in any of our other securities (described in this prospectus or otherwise), including other public or private transactions and short sales. Underwriters may offer the securities to the public either through underwriting syndicates represented by one or more managing underwriters or directly by one or more firms acting as underwriters. Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the obligations of the underwriters to purchase the securities will be subject to certain conditions, and the underwriters will be obligated to purchase all the offered securities if they purchase any of them. The underwriters may change from time to time any initial public offering price and any discounts or concessions allowed or reallowed or paid to dealers.
If dealers are used in the sale of securities offered through this prospectus, we will sell the securities to them as principals. They may then resell those securities to the public at varying prices determined by the dealers at the time of resale. The applicable prospectus supplement will include the names of the dealers and the terms of the transaction.
In compliance with the guidelines of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., or FINRA, the maximum discount or commission to be received by any FINRA member or independent broker-dealer may not exceed 8% of the aggregate amount of the securities offered pursuant to this prospectus and any applicable prospectus supplement.
Direct Sales and Sales through Agents
We may sell the securities offered through this prospectus directly. In this case, no underwriters or agents would be involved. Such securities may also be sold through agents designated from time to time. The applicable prospectus supplement will name any agent involved in the offer or sale of the offered securities and will describe any commissions payable to the agent. Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, any agent will agree to use its commonly reasonable efforts to solicit purchases for the period of its appointment. We may sell the securities directly to institutional investors or others who may be deemed to be underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act with respect to any sale of those shares. The terms of any such sales will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
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Offered securities may be sold at a fixed price or prices, which may be changed, or at varying prices determined at the time of sale. Any agent involved in the offer or sale of the offered securities in respect of which this prospectus is delivered will be named, and any commissions payable by us to such agent will be set forth, in the supplement relating to that offering. Unless otherwise specified in connection with a particular offering of securities, any such agent will be acting on a best efforts basis for the period of its appointment.
As one of the means of direct issuance of offered securities, we may utilize the services of an entity through which it may conduct an electronic “dutch auction” or similar offering of the offered securities among potential purchasers who are eligible to participate in the auction or offering of such offered securities, if so described in the applicable prospectus supplement.
Delayed Delivery Contracts
If the applicable prospectus supplement indicates, we may authorize agents, underwriters or dealers to solicit offers from certain types of institutions to purchase securities at the public offering price under delayed delivery contracts. These contracts would provide for payment and delivery on a specified date in the future. The contracts would be subject only to those conditions described in the prospectus supplement. The applicable prospectus supplement will describe the commission payable for solicitation of those contracts.
Market Making, Stabilization and Other Transactions
Unless the applicable prospectus supplement states otherwise, each series of offered securities will be a new issue and will have no established trading market. We may elect to list any series of offered securities on an exchange. Any underwriters that we use in the sale of offered securities may make a market in such securities, but may discontinue such market making at any time without notice. Therefore, we cannot assure you that the securities will have a liquid trading market.
Any underwriter may also engage in stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids in accordance with Rule 104 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act. Stabilizing transactions involve bids to purchase the underlying security in the open market for the purpose of pegging, fixing or maintaining the price of the securities. Syndicate covering transactions involve purchases of the securities in the open market after the distribution has been completed in order to cover syndicate short positions.
Penalty bids permit the underwriters to reclaim a selling concession from a syndicate member when the securities originally sold by the syndicate member are purchased in a syndicate covering transaction to cover syndicate short positions. Stabilizing transactions, syndicate covering transactions and penalty bids may cause the price of the securities to be higher than it would be in the absence of the transactions. The underwriters may, if they commence these transactions, discontinue them at any time.
Derivative Transactions and Hedging
We and the underwriters may engage in derivative transactions involving the securities. These derivatives may consist of short sale transactions and other hedging activities. The underwriters may acquire a long or short position in the securities, hold or resell securities acquired and purchase options or futures on the securities and other derivative instruments with returns linked to or related to changes in the price of the securities. In order to facilitate these derivative transactions, we may enter into security lending or repurchase agreements with the underwriters. The underwriters may effect the derivative transactions through sales of the securities to the public, including short sales, or by lending the securities in order to facilitate short sale transactions by others. The underwriters may also use the securities purchased or borrowed from us or others (or, in the case of derivatives, securities received from us in settlement of those derivatives) to directly or indirectly settle sales of the securities or close out any related open borrowings of the securities.
Loans of Securities
We may loan or pledge securities to a financial institution or other third parties that in turn may sell the securities using this prospectus and an applicable prospectus supplement.
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General Information
Agents, underwriters, and dealers may be entitled, under agreements entered into with us, to indemnification by us, against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. Our agents, underwriters, and dealers, or their affiliates, may be customers of, engage in transactions with or perform services for us or our affiliates, in the ordinary course of business for which they may receive customary compensation.
Conflicts of Interest
Underwriters, dealers and agents may be entitled, under agreements with us, to indemnification by us relating to material misstatements and omissions in our offering documents. Underwriters, dealers and agents may engage in transactions with, or perform services for, us in their ordinary course of business.
Except for securities issued upon a reopening of a previous series, each series of offered securities will be a new issue of securities and will have no established trading market. Any underwriters to whom offered securities are sold for public offering and sale may make a market in such offered securities, but such underwriters will not be obligated to do so and may discontinue any market making at any time without notice. The offered securities may or may not be listed on a securities exchange. No assurance can be given that there will be a market for the offered securities.
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Except as otherwise set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement, certain legal matters in connection with the securities offered pursuant to this prospectus will be passed upon for us by Kirkland & Ellis International LLP, our special United States counsel, to the extent governed by the laws of the State of New York, and by Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP, our special legal counsel as to the British Virgin Islands law, to the extent governed by the laws of the British Virgin Islands. Legal matters as to PRC law will be passed upon for us by Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm, Shanghai Branch, our counsel as to PRC law.
The consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2019, incorporated by reference in this prospectus and elsewhere in the registration statement, have been so incorporated by reference in reliance upon the report of Grant Thornton, independent registered public accountants, upon the authority of said firm as experts in accounting and auditing.
The offices of Grant Thornton are located at 45th Floor, Raffles City, 268 Xizang Zhong Road, Huang Pu District Shanghai 200001.
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PART II. INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
| Item 8. | Indemnification of Directors and Officers. |
British Virgin Islands law does not limit the extent to which a company’s articles of association may provide for indemnification of officers and directors, except to the extent any such provision may be held by the British Virgin Islands courts to be contrary to public policy, such as to provide indemnification against civil fraud or the consequences of committing a crime.
Under our Articles of Association, we may indemnify our directors or any person who is or was, at the request of the company, serving as a director of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another body corporate or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise against expenses (including legal fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement actually and reasonably incurred by such persons in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings to which they are a party or are threatened to be made a party by reason of their acting as our directors or agents. To be entitled to indemnification, these persons must have acted honestly and in good faith and in the best interest of the company, and they must have had no reasonable cause to believe their conduct was unlawful.
Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, may be permitted to directors, officers or persons controlling us under the foregoing provisions, we have been advised that in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is therefore unenforceable.
| Item 9. | Exhibits |
See the Exhibit Index attached to this registration statement and incorporated herein by reference.
| Item 10. | Undertakings. |
(a) Rule 415 Offering. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes:
(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this registration statement:
| (i) | To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act; |
| (ii) | To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of this registration statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in this registration statement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of securities offered would not exceed that which was registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in the form of prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20% change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and |
| (iii) | To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in this registration statement or any material change to such information in this registration statement; |
provided, however, that paragraphs (a)(1)(i), (a)(1)(ii) and (a)(1)(iii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in reports filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference in this registration statement, or is contained in a form of prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) that is part of this registration statement;
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(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof;
(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering;
(4) That, for the purpose of determining liability under the Securities Act to any purchaser:
| (A) | Each prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3) shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the date the filed prospectus was deemed part of and included in this registration statement; and |
| (B) | Each prospectus required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(2), (b)(5) or (b)(7) as part of a registration statement in reliance on Rule 430B relating to an offering made pursuant to Rule 415(a)(1)(i), (vii) or (x) for the purpose of providing the information required by Section 10(a) of the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of and included in this registration statement as of the earlier of the date such form of prospectus is first used after effectiveness or the date of the first contract of sale of securities in the offering described in the prospectus. As provided in Rule 430B, for liability purposes of the issuer and any person that is at that date an underwriter, such date shall be deemed to be a new effective date of this registration statement relating to the securities in this registration statement to which the prospectus relates, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof. Provided, however, that no statement made in a registration statement or prospectus that is part of this registration statement or made in a document incorporated or deemed incorporated by reference into this registration statement or prospectus that is part of this registration statement will, as to a purchaser with a time of contract of sale prior to such effective date, supersede or modify any statement that was made in this registration statement or prospectus that was part of this registration statement or made in any such document immediately prior to such effective date; and |
(5) That, for the purpose of determining liability of the registrant under the Securities Act to any purchaser in the initial distribution of the securities, the undersigned registrant undertakes that in a primary offering of securities of the undersigned registrant pursuant to this registration statement, regardless of the underwriting method used to sell the securities to the purchaser, if the securities are offered or sold to such purchaser by means of any of the following communications, the undersigned registrant will be a seller to the purchaser and will be considered to offer or sell such securities to such purchaser:
| (i) | Any preliminary prospectus or prospectus of the undersigned registrant relating to the offering required to be filed pursuant to Rule 424; |
| (ii) | Any free writing prospectus relating to the offering prepared by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant or used or referred to by the undersigned registrant; |
| (iii) | The portion of any other free writing prospectus relating to the offering containing material information about the undersigned registrant or its securities provided by or on behalf of the undersigned registrant; and |
| (iv) | Any other communication that is an offer in the offering made by the undersigned registrant to the purchaser. |
(b) Filings Incorporating Subsequent Exchange Act Documents by Reference. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the registration statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
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(c) Request for Acceleration of Effective Date or Filing of Registration Statement Becoming Effective Upon Filing. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person of the registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.
(d) That, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, (i) the information omitted from the form of prospectus filed as part of this registration statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of prospectus filed by the registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h) under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this registration statement as of the time it was declared effective and (ii) each post-effective amendment that contains a form of prospectus shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.
33
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form F-3 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in Stamford, U.S.A. on January 15, 2021.
| RENESOLA LTD | ||
| By: | /s/ Ke Chen | |
| Name: Ke Chen Title: Director and Chief Financial Officer | ||
Each person whose signature appears below constitutes and appoints Yumin Liu and Ke Chen as his or her true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and resubstitution, for him or her and in his or her name, place and stead, in any and all capacities, to sign any or all amendments (including post-effective amendments) to this registration statement and any and all related registration statements pursuant to Rule 462(b) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and to file the same, with all exhibits thereto, and other documents in connection therewith, with the SEC, hereby ratifying and confirming all that said attorney-in-fact and agent, or its substitute or substitutes, may lawfully do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated below on January 15, 2021.
| Signature | Title | ||
| /s/ Martin Bloom | Director | ||
| Name: Martin Bloom | |||
| /s/ Tan Wee Seng | Director | ||
| Name: Tan Wee Seng | |||
| /s/ Julia Xu | Director | ||
| Name: Julia Xu | |||
| /s/ Sam (Kaiheng) Feng | Director | ||
| Name: Sam (Kaiheng) Feng | |||
| /s/ Ke Chen | Director and Chief Financial Officer | ||
| Name: Ke Chen | (principal financial and accounting officer) | ||
| /s/ Crystal (Xinhan) Li | Director | ||
| Name: Crystal (Xinhan) Li | |||
| /s/ Wade (Wenjun) Li | Director | ||
| Name: Wade (Wenjun) Li | |||
| /s/ Yumin Liu | Chief Executive Officer | ||
| Name: | Yumin Liu | (principal executive officer) | |
34
SIGNATURE OF AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE IN THE UNITED STATES
Pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933, the undersigned, the duly authorized representative in the United States of ReneSola Ltd, has signed this registration statement or amendment thereto in New York on January 15, 2021.
| COGENCY GLOBAL INC. | |||
| By: | /s/ Colleen A. De Vries | ||
| Name: | Colleen A. De Vries | ||
| Title: | Senior Vice President | ||
35
| * | To be filed as an exhibit to a post-effective amendment to this registration statement or as an exhibit to a report filed under the Exchange Act and incorporated herein by reference. |
36
Exhibit 3.1
| NO: 1016246 |  |
British Virgin Islands
BVI Business Companies Act, 2004
Memorandum of
Association
and
Articles
of Association
of
ReneSola Ltd
A COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
Incorporated on
the 17th day of March, 2006
Amended and Restated on the 11th day of March, 2009
Amended and Restated on the 9th day of
September, 2010
Amended and Restated on the 28th day of August, 2013
Amended and Restated on 11th day of December, 2020
HARNEYS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED
Craigmuir Chambers
Road Town
Tortola
British Virgin Islands
| - 1 - |
TERRITORY OF THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
THE BVI BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2004
AMENDED AND RESTATED
MEMORANDUM OF ASSOCIATION
OF
ReneSola Ltd
A COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
| 1 | DEFINITIONS AND INTERPRETATION |
| 1.1 | In this Memorandum of Association and the attached Articles of Association, if not inconsistent with the subject or context: |
“Act” means the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (No. 16 of 2004) and includes the regulations made under the Act;
“Articles” means the attached Articles of Association of the Company;
“Board” means the board of Directors of the Company or the Directors present at a duly convened meeting of the Directors at which a quorum is present;
“business day” means a weekday on which banks are generally open for business in the City of London;
“BVI Companies Act” means the BVI Business Companies Act 2004 (as amended);
“clear days” in relation to the period of a notice means that period excluding the day when the notice is given or deemed to be given and the day for which it is given or on which it is to take effect;
“Directors” mean those persons holding office as directors of the Company from time to time;
“Distribution” in relation to a distribution by the Company to a Shareholder means the direct or indirect transfer of an asset, other than Shares, to or for the benefit of the Shareholder, or the incurring of a debt to or for the benefit of a Shareholder, in relation to Shares held by a Shareholder, and whether by means of the purchase of an asset, the purchase, redemption or other acquisition of Shares, a transfer of indebtedness or otherwise, and includes a dividend;
“electronic” means actuated by electric, magnetic, electro-magnetic, electro-chemical or electro- mechanical energy and “by electronic means” means by any manner capable of being so actuated and shall include e-mail and/or other data transmission service;
“executed” includes any mode of execution;
| - 2 - |
“executive director” means an Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Director, Joint Chief Executive Director, Managing Director, Joint Managing Director, Assistant Managing Director or Chief Operations Officer of the Company or a Director who is the holder of any other employment or executive office with the Company;
“held” means, in relation to Shares, the Shares entered in the register of members as being held by a member and term “holds” and “holder” shall be construed accordingly;
“month” means a calendar month;
“Non Executive Director” means any Director other than an Executive Director;
“paid up” means paid up or credited as paid up and includes any sum paid by way of premium;
“recognised” clearing house shall have the meaning ascribed by Section 285 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
“Person” means individuals, corporations, trusts, the estates of deceased individuals, partnerships and unincorporated associations of persons;
“Preferred Shares” means the preferred shares of no par value of any class that the Company creates or has created;
“present in person” means, in the case of an individual, that individual or his lawfully appointed attorney being present in person and, in the case of a corporation, being present by duly authorised representative or lawfully appointed attorney and, in relation to meetings, “in person” shall be construed accordingly;
“recognized clearing house” shall have the meaning ascribed by section 285 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
“recognised investment exchange” shall have the meaning ascribed by section 285 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;
“recognised person” means a recognised clearing house or a nominee of a recognised clearing house or of a recognised investment exchange;
“Regulations” means the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3755);
“relevant system” means a relevant system as referred to in the Regulations to include Crest;
“Memorandum” means this Memorandum of Association of the Company;
“Registrar” means the Registrar of Corporate Affairs appointed under section 229 of the Act; “Resolution of Directors” means either:
| (a) | a resolution approved at a duly convened and constituted meeting of directors of the Company or of a committee of directors of the Company by the affirmative vote of a majority of the directors present at the meeting who voted except that where a director is given more than one vote, he shall be counted by the number of votes he casts for the purpose of establishing a majority; or |
| - 3 - |
| (b) | a resolution consented to in writing by all directors or by all members of a committee of directors of the Company, as the case may be; |
“Resolution of Shareholders” means either:
| (a) | a resolution approved at a duly convened and constituted meeting of the Shareholders of the Company by the affirmative vote of a majority of in excess of 50% of the votes of the Shares entitled to vote thereon which were present at the meeting and were voted; or |
| (b) | a resolution consented to in writing by a majority of in excess of 50% of the votes of Shares entitled to vote thereon; |
“Seal” means any seal which has been duly adopted as the common seal of the Company;
“Securities” means Shares and debt obligations of every kind of the Company, and including without limitation options, warrants and rights to acquire Shares or debt obligations;
“Share” means a share issued or to be issued by the Company;
“Shareholder” means a Person whose name is entered in the register of members of the Company as the holder of one or more Shares or fractional Shares;
“Stock Exchanges” means London Stock Exchange Plc and the New York Stock Exchange or any successor bodies carrying on their functions;
“Treasury Share” means a Share that was previously issued but was repurchased, redeemed or otherwise acquired by the Company and not cancelled;
“UK CA 2006” means the United Kingdom Companies Act 2006 including any modification, extension, re-enactment or renewal thereof and any regulations made thereunder;
“UK Companies Act” means the United Kingdom Companies Act 1985 including any modification, extension, re-enactment or renewal thereof and any regulations made thereunder;
“United Kingdom” means Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
“written” or any term of like import includes information generated, sent, received or stored by electronic, electrical, digital, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, biometric or photonic means, including electronic data interchange, electronic mail, telegram, telex or telecopy, and “in writing” shall be construed accordingly.
| 1.2 | In the Memorandum and the Articles, unless the context otherwise requires a reference to: |
| (a) | a “Regulation” is a reference to a regulation of the Articles; |
| (b) | a “Clause” is a reference to a clause of the Memorandum; |
| (c) | voting by Shareholders is a reference to the casting of the votes attached to the Shares held by the Shareholder voting; |
| (d) | the Act, the Memorandum or the Articles is a reference to the Act or those documents as amended or, in the case of the Act any re-enactment thereof; and |
| (e) | the singular includes the plural and vice versa. |
| - 4 - |
| 1.3 | Any words or expressions defined in the Act unless the context otherwise requires bear the same meaning in the Memorandum and the Articles unless otherwise defined herein. |
| 1.4 | Headings are inserted for convenience only and shall be disregarded in interpreting the Memorandum and the Articles. |
| 2 | NAME |
The name of the Company is ReneSola Ltd.
| 3 | STATUS |
The Company is a company limited by shares.
| 4 | REGISTERED OFFICE AND REGISTERED AGENT |
| 4.1 | The first registered office of the Company is at Craigmuir Chambers, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, the office of the first registered agent. |
| 4.2 | The first registered agent of the Company is Harneys Corporate Services Limited of Craigmuir Chambers, P.O. Box 71, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands. |
| 4.3 | The Company may by Resolution of Shareholders or by Resolution of Directors change the location of its registered office or change its registered agent. |
| 4.4 | Any change of registered office or registered agent will take effect on the registration by the Registrar of a notice of the change filed by the existing registered agent or a legal practitioner in the British Virgin Islands acting on behalf of the Company. |
| 5 | CAPACITY AND POWERS |
| 5.1 | Subject to the Act and any other British Virgin Islands legislation, the Company has, irrespective of corporate benefit: |
| (a) | full capacity to carry on or undertake any business or activity, do any act or enter into any transaction; and |
| (b) | for the purposes of paragraph (a), full rights, powers and privileges. |
| 5.2 | For the purposes of section 9(4) of the Act, there are no limitations on the business that the Company may carry on. |
| 6 | NUMBER AND CLASSES OF SHARES |
| 6.1 | The Company is authorised to issue a maximum of 800,000,000 no par value Shares of a single class. |
| 6.2 | The Company may issue fractional Shares and a fractional Share shall have the corresponding fractional rights, obligations and liabilities of a whole Share of the same class or series of Shares. |
| 6.3 | Shares may be issued in one or more series of Shares as the directors may by Resolution of Directors determine from time to time. |
| - 5 - |
| 6.4 | The directors of the Company may, subject to section 9 of the Act, by amending this Memorandum of Association and, where necessary, the Articles, create additional classes of Shares and determine the rights, privileges, restrictions and conditions thereof including without limitation, new classes of Preferred Shares or other Shares issued by the Company from time to time. To the extent legally permitted, such number of Shares may be increased or decreased by Resolution of Directors, provided that no decrease shall reduce the number of Shares of a class to a number less than the number of Shares of such class then issued and outstanding plus the number of Shares of such class reserved for issuance upon the exercise of outstanding options, rights or warrants or upon the conversion of any outstanding securities issued by the Company convertible into such class of Shares. |
| 7 | RIGHTS OF SHARES |
| 7.1 | Each Share in the Company confers upon the Shareholder: |
| (a) | the right to one vote at a meeting of the Shareholders or on any Resolution of Shareholders; |
| (b) | the right to an equal share in any dividend paid by the Company; and |
| (c) | the right to an equal share in the distribution of the surplus assets of the Company on its liquidation. |
| 7.2 | The Company may by Resolution of Directors redeem, purchase or otherwise acquire all or any of the Shares in the Company subject to Regulation 3 of the Articles. |
| 8 | VARIATION OF RIGHTS |
If at any time the Shares are divided into different classes, the rights attached to any class may only be varied, whether or not the Company is in liquidation, with the consent in writing of or by a resolution passed at a meeting by the holders of not less than 50% of the issued Shares in that class.
| 9 | RIGHTS NOT VARIED BY THE ISSUE OF SHARES PARI PASSU |
The rights conferred upon the holders of the Shares of any class shall not, unless otherwise expressly provided by the terms of issue of the Shares of that class, be deemed to be varied by the creation or issue of further Shares ranking pari passu therewith or superior thereto.
| 10 | REGISTERED SHARES |
| 10.1 | The Company shall issue registered Shares only. |
| 10.2 | The Company is not authorised to issue bearer Shares, convert registered Shares to bearer Shares or exchange registered Shares for bearer Shares. |
| 11 | TRANSFER OF SHARES |
| 11.1 | Subject to the provisions of Sub-Regulations 6.2 and 6.3 of the Articles, the Company shall, on receipt of an instrument of transfer complying with Sub-Regulation 6.1 of the Articles, enter the name of the transferee of a Share in the register of members unless the directors resolve to refuse or delay the registration of the transfer for reasons that shall be specified in a Resolution of Directors. |
| 11.2 | The directors may not resolve to refuse or delay the transfer of a Share unless the Shareholder has failed to pay an amount due in respect of the Share. |
| - 6 - |
| 12 | AMENDMENT OF THE MEMORANDUM AND THE ARTICLES |
| 12.1 | Subject to paragraphs 6.4, 8 and 9, the Company may amend the Memorandum or the Articles by Resolution of Shareholders or Resolution of Directors. |
| 12.2 | Any amendment of the Memorandum or the Articles will take effect on the registration by the Registrar of a notice of amendment, or restated Memorandum and Articles, filed by the registered agent. |
Signed for HARNEYS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED of Craigmuir Chambers, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands for the purpose of incorporating a BVI Business Company under the laws of the British Virgin Islands on 17 March 2006:
Incorporator
Sgd: Andrew Swapp
Andrew Swapp
Authorised Signatory
HARNEYS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED
[ This page has been intentionally left blank ]
TERRITORY OF THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
THE BVI BUSINESS COMPANIES ACT, 2004
AMENDED AND RESTATED
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION
OF
ReneSola Ltd
A COMPANY LIMITED BY SHARES
| 1. | REGISTERED SHARES |
| 1.1 | Every Shareholder is entitled to a certificate signed by a director or officer of the Company, or any other person authorised by Resolution of Directors, or under the Seal specifying the number of Shares held by him and the signature of the director, officer or authorised person and the Seal may be facsimiles. |
| 1.2 | Any Shareholder receiving a certificate shall indemnify and hold the Company and its directors and officers harmless from any loss or liability which it or they may incur by reason of any wrongful or fraudulent use or representation made by any person by virtue of the possession thereof. If a certificate for Shares is worn out or lost it may be renewed on production of the worn out certificate or on satisfactory proof of its loss together with such indemnity as may be required by Resolution of Directors. |
| 1.3 | If several Persons are registered as joint holders of any Shares, any one of such Persons may give an effectual receipt for any Distribution. |
| 2. | SHARES |
| 2.1 | Shares and other Securities may be issued at such times, to such Persons, for such consideration and on such terms as the directors may by Resolution of Directors determine. |
| 2.2 | Section 46 of the Act (Pre-emptive rights) does not apply to the Company. |
| 2.3 | A Share may be issued for consideration in any form, including money, a promissory note, or other written obligation to contribute money or property, real property, personal property (including goodwill and know-how), services rendered or a contract for future services. |
| 2.4 | No Shares may be issued for a consideration other than money, unless a Resolution of Directors has been passed stating: |
| (a) | the amount to be credited for the issue of the Shares; |
| (b) | the determination of the directors of the reasonable present cash value of the non-money consideration for the issue; and |
| - 2 - |
| (c) | that, in the opinion of the directors, the present cash value of the non-money consideration for the issue is not less than the amount to be credited for the issue of the Shares. |
| 2.5 | The Company shall keep a register (the “register of members”) containing: |
| (a) | the names and addresses of the Persons who hold Shares; |
| (b) | the number of each class and series of Shares held by each Shareholder; |
| (c) | the date on which the name of each Shareholder was entered in the register of members; and |
| (d) | the date on which any Person ceased to be a Shareholder. |
| 2.6 | The register of members may be in any such form as the directors may approve, but if it is in magnetic, electronic or other data storage form, the Company must be able to produce legible evidence of its contents. Until the directors otherwise determine, the magnetic, electronic or other data storage form shall be the original register of members. |
| 2.7 | A Share is deemed to be issued when the name of the Shareholder is entered in the register of members. |
| 2.8 | Nothing in these Articles shall require title to any shares or other securities of the Company to be evidenced by a certificate if the BVI Companies Act and the rules of the Stock Exchanges permit otherwise. |
| 2.9 | Subject to the BVI Companies Act and the rules of the Stock Exchanges, the Board without further consultation with the holders of any Shares or securities of the Company may resolve that any class or series of Shares or other securities of the Company from time to time in issue or to be issued (including shares in issue at the date of the adoption of these Articles) may be issued, held, registered, converted to, transferred or otherwise dealt with in uncertificated form in accordance with the Regulations and practices instituted by the operator of the relevant system and no provision of these Articles will apply to any uncertificated share or other securities of the Company to the extent that they are inconsistent with the holding of such shares or other securities in uncertificated form or the transfer of title to any such shares or other securities by means of a relevant system or any provision of the Regulations. |
| 2.10 | Conversion of shares held in certificated form into shares held in uncertificated form, and vice versa, may be made in such manner as the Board may, in its absolute discretion, thinks fit (subject always to the Regulations and the requirements of the relevant system concerned). The Company shall enter on the register of members how many Shares are held by each Shareholder in uncertificated form and in certificated form and shall maintain the register of members in each case as is required by the Regulations and the relevant system concerned. Notwithstanding any provision of these Articles, a class or series of Shares shall not be treated as two classes by virtue only of that class or series comprising both certificated Shares and uncertificated Shares or as a result of any provision of these Articles or the Regulations which apply only in respect of certificated or uncertificated Shares. |
| 2.11 | If a share certificate for certificated Shares is defaced, worn out, lost or destroyed it may be replaced without fee but on such terms (if any) as to evidence and indemnity and to payment of any exceptional out-of-pocket expenses of the Company in investigating such evidence and preparing such indemnity as the Board may think fit and, in case of defacement or wearing out, on delivery up of the old certificate to the Company. |
| 2.12 | All forms of certificate for share or loan capital or other securities of the Company (other than letters of allotment, scrip certificates and other like documents) shall be issued under the Seal or in such other manner as the Board may authorise. The Board may by Resolution of Directors determine, either generally or in any particular case or cases, that any signatures on any such certificate need not be autographic but may be affixed to such certificate by some mechanical or electronic means or may be printed thereon or that such certificate need not be signed by any person. |
| - 3 - |
| 2.13 | Any Shareholder receiving a share certificate for certificated Shares shall indemnify and hold the Company and its Directors and officers harmless from any loss or liability which it or they may incur by reason of any wrongful or fraudulent use or representation made by any person by virtue of the possession thereof. |
| 2.14 | If several persons are registered as joint holders of any Shares, any one of such persons may give an effectual receipt for any dividend payable in respect of such Shares. |
| 3. | REDEMPTION OF SHARES AND TREASURY SHARES |
| 3.1 | The Company may purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire and hold its own Shares save that the Company may not, except pursuant to Sub-Regulation 3.7, purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire its own Shares without the consent of Shareholders whose Shares are to be purchased, redeemed or otherwise acquired unless the Company is permitted by the Act or any other provision in the Memorandum or Articles to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire the Shares without their consent. |
| 3.2 | The Company may only offer to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire Shares if the Resolution of Directors authorising the purchase, redemption or other acquisition contains a statement that the directors are satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that immediately after the acquisition the value of the Company’s assets will exceed its liabilities and the Company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due. |
| 3.3 | Sections 60 (Process for acquisition of own shares), 61 (Offer to one or more shareholders) and 62 (Shares redeemed otherwise than at the option of company) of the Act shall not apply to the Company. |
| 3.4 | Shares that the Company purchases, redeems or otherwise acquires pursuant to this Regulation may be cancelled or held as Treasury Shares except to the extent that such Shares are in excess of 50% of the issued Shares in which case they shall be cancelled but they shall be available for reissue. |
| 3.5 | All rights and obligations attaching to a Treasury Share are suspended and shall not be exercised by the Company while it holds the Share as a Treasury Share. |
| 3.6 | Treasury Shares may be transferred by the Company on such terms and conditions (not otherwise inconsistent with the Memorandum and the Articles) as the Company may by Resolution of Directors determine. |
| 3.7 | Where: |
| (a) | the Company undertakes any division of the issued Shares pursuant to section 40A of the Act, and |
| (b) | pursuant such division a Shareholder holds a total number of Shares which includes a fractional Share, |
the Company may compulsorily redeem such fractional Share so that (subsequent to such redemption) the Shareholder holds a whole number of Shares. Where the Company compulsorily redeems a fractional Share under this Regulation, the price at which such fractional Share is redeemed shall be calculated on the basis of US$1.50 per Share (rounded up to the nearest 1¢).
| 4. | MORTGAGES AND CHARGES OF SHARES |
| 4.1 | Shareholders may mortgage or charge their Shares. |
| - 4 - |
| 4.2 | There shall be entered in the register of members at the written request of the Shareholder: |
| (a) | a statement that the Shares held by him are mortgaged or charged; |
| (b) | the name of the mortgagee or chargee; and |
| (c) | the date on which the particulars specified in subparagraphs (a) and (b) are entered in the register of members. |
| 4.3 | Where particulars of a mortgage or charge are entered in the register of members, such particulars may be cancelled: |
| (a) | with the written consent of the named mortgagee or chargee or anyone authorised to act on his behalf; or |
| (b) | upon evidence satisfactory to the directors of the discharge of the liability secured by the mortgage or charge and the issue of such indemnities as the directors shall consider necessary or desirable. |
| 4.4 | Whilst particulars of a mortgage or charge over Shares are entered in the register of members pursuant to this Regulation: |
| (a) | no transfer of any Share the subject of those particulars shall be effected; |
| (b) | the Company may not purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any such Share; and |
| (c) | no replacement certificate shall be issued in respect of such Shares, without the written consent of the named mortgagee or chargee. |
| 5. | FORFEITURE |
| 5.1 | Shares that are not fully paid on issue are subject to the forfeiture provisions set forth in this Regulation and for this purpose Shares issued for a promissory note, other written obligation to contribute money or property or a contract for future services are deemed to be not fully paid. |
| 5.2 | A written notice of call specifying the date for payment to be made shall be served on the Shareholder who defaults in making payment in respect of the Shares. |
| 5.3 | The written notice of call referred to in Sub-Regulation 5.2 shall name a further date not earlier than the expiration of 14 days from the date of service of the notice on or before which the payment required by the notice is to be made and shall contain a statement that in the event of non-payment at or before the time named in the notice the Shares, or any of them, in respect of which payment is not made will be liable to be forfeited. |
| 5.4 | Where a written notice of call has been issued pursuant to Sub-Regulation 5.3 and the requirements of the notice have not been complied with, the directors may, at any time before tender of payment, forfeit and cancel the Shares to which the notice relates. |
| 5.5 | The Company is under no obligation to refund any moneys to the Shareholder whose Shares have been cancelled pursuant to Sub-Regulation 5.4 and that Shareholder shall be discharged from any further obligation to the Company. |
| - 5 - |
| 6. | TRANSFER AND TRANSMISSION OF SHARES |
| 6.1 | Subject to any limitations in the Memorandum, certificated Shares in the Company may be transferred by a written instrument of transfer signed by the transferor and containing the name and address of the transferee, but in the absence of such written instrument of transfer the Directors may accept such evidence of a transfer of Shares as they consider appropriate. |
| 6.2 | In the case of uncertificated Shares, and subject to the BVI Companies Act, a Shareholder shall be entitled to transfer his Shares and other securities by means of a relevant system and the operator of the relevant system shall act as agent of the Shareholders for the purposes of the transfer of Shares or other securities. |
| 6.3 | Any provision in these Articles in relation to the Shares shall not apply to any uncertified Shares to the extent that they are inconsistent with the holding of any Shares in uncertificated form, the transfer of title to any Shares by means of a relevant system and any provision of the Regulations. |
| 6.4 | The transferor of any Shares shall remain the holder of those Shares until the name of the transferee is entered in the register as the holder of those Shares. |
| 6.5 | The Register may be closed at such times and for such periods as the Board may from time to time determine, not exceeding in whole thirty days in each year, upon notice being given by advertisement in a leading daily newspaper and in such other newspaper (if any) as may be required by the BVI Companies Act and the practice of the Stock Exchanges. |
| 6.6 | The Board may decline to register a transfer of any Share to a person known to be a minor, bankrupt or person who is mentally disordered or a patient for the purpose of any statute relating to mental health. |
| 6.7 | The Board may also decline to register any transfer unless:-. |
| (a) | any written instrument of transfer, duly stamped (if so required), is lodged with the Company at the registered office or such other place as the Board may appoint accompanied by the certificate for the Shares to which it relates (except in the case of a transfer by a recognised person or a holder of such Shares in respect of whom the Company is not required by law to deliver a certificate and to whom a certificate has not been issued in respect of such Shares); |
| (b) | there is provided such evidence as the Board may reasonably require to show the right of the transferor to make the transfer and, if the instrument of transfer is executed by some other person on his behalf, the authority of that person to do so; |
| (c) | any instrument of transfer is in respect of only one class or series of Share; and |
| (d) | in the case of a transfer to joint holders, the number of joint holders to whom the Share is to be transferred does not exceed four. |
The Company may retain an instrument of transfer which is registered but a transfer which the Directors refuse to register shall (except in the case of known or suspected fraud) be returned to the person lodging it when notice of the refusal is given.
| 6.8 | If the Board declines to register a transfer it shall, within ten business days or such other period (if any) as may be prescribed by the BVI Companies Act, send to the transferee notice of the refusal. |
| 6.9 | No fee shall be charged by the Company for registering any transfer, probate, letters of administration, certificate of death or marriage, power of attorney, distringas or stop notice, order of court or other instrument relating to or affecting the title of any Share, or otherwise making any entry in the Register relating to any Share. |
| - 6 - |
| 6.10 | The executor or administrator of a deceased Shareholder, the guardian of an incompetent member or the trustee of a bankrupt Shareholder shall be the only person recognised by the Company as having any title to his Share but they shall not be entitled to exercise any rights as a Shareholder of the Company until they have proceeded as set forth in the next following three regulations. |
| 6.11 | The production to the Company of any document which is evidence of probate of the will, or letters of administration of the estate, or confirmation as executor, of a deceased Shareholder or of the appointment of a guardian of an incompetent Shareholder or the trustee of a bankrupt Shareholder shall be accepted by the Company even if the deceased, incompetent or bankrupt Shareholder is domiciled outside the British Virgin Islands if the document evidencing the grant of probate or letters of administration, confirmation as executor, appointment as guardian or trustee in bankruptcy is issued by a foreign court which had competent jurisdiction in the matter. For the purpose of establishing whether or not a foreign court had competent jurisdiction in such a matter the Directors may obtain appropriate legal advice. The Directors may also require an indemnity to be given by the executor, administrator, guardian or trustee in bankruptcy. |
| 6.12 | Any person becoming entitled by operation of law or otherwise to a Share or Shares in consequence of the death, incompetence or bankruptcy of any Shareholder may be registered as a Shareholder upon such evidence being produced as may reasonably be required by the Directors and in the case of uncertificated Shares subject also to the facilities and requirements of the relevant system concerned. An application by any such person to be registered as a Shareholder shall for all purposes be deemed to be a transfer of Shares of the deceased, incompetent or bankrupt Shareholder and the Directors shall treat it as such. |
| 6.13 | Any person who has become entitled to a Share or Shares in consequence of the death, incompetence or bankruptcy of any Shareholder may, instead of being registered himself, request in writing that some person to be named by him be registered as the transferee of such Share or Shares and such request shall likewise be treated as if it were a transfer. |
| 6.14 | What amounts to incompetence on the part of a person is a matter to be determined by the court having regard to all the relevant evidence and the circumstances of the case. |
| 7. | MEETINGS AND CONSENTS OF SHAREHOLDERS |
| 7.1 | Any director of the Company may convene meetings of the Shareholders at such times and in such manner and places within or outside the British Virgin Islands as the director considers necessary or desirable provided that once in every year the directors shall convene an annual meeting of shareholders. |
| 7.2 | Upon the written request of Shareholders entitled to exercise 10% or more of the voting rights in respect of the matter for which the meeting is requested the directors shall convene a meeting of Shareholders. |
| 7.3 | The director convening a meeting shall give not less than 14 days’ notice of a meeting of Shareholders to: |
| (a) | those Shareholders whose names on the date the notice is given appear as Shareholders in the register of members of the Company and are entitled to vote at the meeting on a date to be determined by the directors; and |
| (b) | the other directors. |
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| 7.4 | The director convening a meeting of Shareholders may fix as the record date for determining those Shareholders that are entitled to vote at the meeting the date notice is given of the meeting, or such other date as may be specified in the notice, being a date not earlier than the date of the notice. |
| 7.5 | A meeting of Shareholders held in contravention of the requirement to give notice is valid if Shareholders holding at least 90% of the total voting rights on all the matters to be considered at the meeting have waived notice of the meeting and, for this purpose, the presence of a Shareholder at the meeting shall constitute waiver in relation to all the Shares which that Shareholder holds. |
| 7.6 | The inadvertent failure of a director who convenes a meeting to give notice of a meeting to a Shareholder or another director, or the fact that a Shareholder or another director has not received notice, does not invalidate the meeting. |
| 7.7 | A Shareholder may be represented at a meeting of Shareholders by a proxy who may speak and vote on behalf of the Shareholder. |
| 7.8 | The instrument appointing a proxy shall be produced at the place designated for the meeting before the time for holding the meeting at which the person named in such instrument proposes to vote. The notice of the meeting may specify an alternative or additional place or time at which the proxy shall be presented. |
| 7.9 | The instrument appointing a proxy shall be in substantially the following form or such other form as the chairman of the meeting shall accept as properly evidencing the wishes of the Shareholder appointing the proxy. |
|
ReneSola Ltd.
I/We being a Shareholder of the above Company HEREBY APPOINT …………………………… of …………………………… or failing him ………..……………… of ………………………..…… to be my/our proxy to vote for me/us at the meeting of Shareholders to be held on the …… day of …………..…………, 20…… and at any adjournment thereof.
(Any restrictions on voting to be inserted here.)
Signed this …… day of ………………………..……, 20……
…………………………… Shareholder |
| 7.10 | The following applies where Shares are jointly owned: |
| (a) | if two or more persons hold Shares jointly each of them may be present in person or by proxy at a meeting of Shareholders and may speak as a Shareholder; |
| (b) | if only one of the joint owners is present in person or by proxy he may vote on behalf of all joint owners; and |
| (c) | if two or more of the joint owners are present in person or by proxy they must vote as one. |
| 7.11 | A Shareholder shall be deemed to be present at a meeting of Shareholders if he participates by telephone or other electronic means and all Shareholders participating in the meeting are able to hear each other. |
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| 7.12 | A meeting of Shareholders is duly constituted if, at the commencement of the meeting, there are present in person or by proxy not less than 50% of the votes of the Shares entitled to vote on Resolutions of Shareholders to be considered at the meeting. A quorum may comprise a single Shareholder or proxy and then such person may pass a Resolution of Shareholders and a certificate signed by such person accompanied where such person be a proxy by a copy of the proxy instrument shall constitute a valid Resolution of Shareholders. |
| 7.13 | If within two hours from the time appointed for the meeting a quorum is not present, the meeting, if convened upon the requisition of Shareholders, shall be dissolved; in any other case it shall stand adjourned to the next business day in the jurisdiction in which the meeting was to have been held at the same time and place or to such other time and place as the directors may determine, and if at the adjourned meeting there are present within one hour from the time appointed for the meeting in person or by proxy not less than one third of the votes of the Shares or each class or series of Shares entitled to vote on the matters to be considered by the meeting, those present shall constitute a quorum but otherwise the meeting shall be dissolved. |
| 7.14 | At every meeting of Shareholders, the Chairman of the Board shall preside as chairman of the meeting. If there is no Chairman of the Board or if the Chairman of the Board is not present at the meeting, the Shareholders present shall choose one of their number to be the chairman. If the Shareholders are unable to choose a chairman for any reason, then the person representing the greatest number of voting Shares present in person or by proxy at the meeting shall preside as chairman failing which the oldest individual Shareholder or representative of a Shareholder present shall take the chair. |
| 7.15 | The chairman may, with the consent of the meeting, adjourn any meeting from time to time, and from place to place, but no business shall be transacted at any adjourned meeting other than the business left unfinished at the meeting from which the adjournment took place. |
| 7.16 | At any meeting of the Shareholders the chairman is responsible for deciding in such manner as he considers appropriate whether any resolution proposed has been carried or not and the result of his decision shall be announced to the meeting and recorded in the minutes of the meeting. If the chairman has any doubt as to the outcome of the vote on a proposed resolution, he shall cause a poll to be taken of all votes cast upon such resolution. If the chairman fails to take a poll then any Shareholder present in person or by proxy who disputes the announcement by the chairman of the result of any vote may immediately following such announcement demand that a poll be taken and the chairman shall cause a poll to be taken. If a poll is taken at any meeting, the result shall be announced to the meeting and recorded in the minutes of the meeting. |
| 7.17 | Subject to the specific provisions contained in this Regulation for the appointment of representatives of Persons other than individuals the right of any individual to speak for or represent a Shareholder shall be determined by the law of the jurisdiction where, and by the documents by which, the Person is constituted or derives its existence. In case of doubt, the directors may in good faith seek legal advice from any qualified person and unless and until a court of competent jurisdiction shall otherwise rule, the directors may rely and act upon such advice without incurring any liability to any Shareholder or the Company. |
| 7.18 | Any Person other than an individual which is a Shareholder may by resolution of its directors or other governing body authorise such individual as it thinks fit to act as its representative at any meeting of Shareholders or of any class of Shareholders, and the individual so authorised shall be entitled to exercise the same rights on behalf of the Shareholder which he represents as that Shareholder could exercise if it were an individual. |
| 7.19 | The chairman of any meeting at which a vote is cast by proxy or on behalf of any Person other than an individual may call for a notarially certified copy of such proxy or authority which shall be produced within 7 days of being so requested or the votes cast by such proxy or on behalf of such Person shall be disregarded. |
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| 7.20 | Directors of the Company may attend and speak at any meeting of Shareholders and at any separate meeting of the holders of any class or series of Shares. |
| 7.21 | An action that may be taken by the Shareholders at a meeting may also be taken by a resolution consented to in writing, without the need for any notice, but if any Resolution of Shareholders is adopted otherwise than by the unanimous written consent of all Shareholders, a copy of such resolution shall forthwith be sent to all Shareholders not consenting to such resolution. The consent may be in the form of counterparts, each counterpart being signed by one or more Shareholders. If the consent is in one or more counterparts, and the counterparts bear different dates, then the resolution shall take effect on the earliest date upon which Shareholders holding a sufficient number of votes of Shares to constitute a Resolution of Shareholders have consented to the resolution by signed counterparts. |
| 8. | DIRECTORS |
| 8.1 | The first directors of the Company shall be appointed by the first registered agent within 6 months of the date of incorporation of the Company; and thereafter, the directors shall be elected by Resolution of Shareholders. |
| 8.2 | No person shall be appointed as a director, or nominated as a reserve director, of the Company unless he has consented in writing to be a director or to be nominated as a reserve director. |
| 8.3 | Subject to Sub-Regulation 8.1, the minimum number of directors shall be one and the maximum number shall be ten. |
| 8.4 | Each director holds office for the term, if any, fixed by the Resolution of Shareholders appointing him, or until his earlier death, resignation, removal or retirement at the age of 70 years. If no term is fixed on the appointment of a director, the director serves indefinitely until his earlier death, resignation, retirement or removal. |
| 8.5 | The directors may at any time appoint any person to be a director either to fill a vacancy or as an addition to the existing directors. Where the directors appoint a person as a director to fill a vacancy or as an additional director the term shall not exceed the term that remained when the person who has ceased to be a director ceased to hold office or until the next annual general meeting (where such appointment shall be approved by the Shareholders) whenever is earlier. |
| 8.6 | A vacancy in relation to directors occurs if a director dies or otherwise ceases to hold office prior to the expiration of his term of office. |
| 8.7 | Where the Company only has one Shareholder who is an individual and that Shareholder is also the sole director of the Company, the sole Shareholder/director may, by instrument in writing, nominate a person who is not disqualified from being a director of the Company as a reserve director of the Company to act in the place of the sole director in the event of his death. |
| 8.8 | The nomination of a person as a reserve director of the Company ceases to have effect if: |
| (a) | before the death of the sole Shareholder/director who nominated him, |
| (i) | he resigns as reserve director, or |
| (ii) | the sole Shareholder/director revokes the nomination in writing; or |
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| (b) | the sole Shareholder/director who nominated him ceases to be able to be the sole Shareholder/director of the Company for any reason other than his death. |
| 8.9 | The Company shall keep a register of directors containing: |
| (a) | the names and addresses of the persons who are directors of the Company or who have been nominated as reserve directors of the Company; |
| (b) | the date on which each person whose name is entered in the register was appointed as a director, or nominated as a reserve director, of the Company; |
| (c) | the date on which each person named as a director ceased to be a director of the Company; |
| (d) | the date on which the nomination of any person nominated as a reserve director ceased to have effect; and |
| (e) | such other information as may be prescribed by the Act. |
| 8.10 | The register of directors may be kept in any such form as the directors may approve, but if it is in magnetic, electronic or other data storage form, the Company must be able to produce legible evidence of its contents. Until a Resolution of Directors determining otherwise is passed, the magnetic, electronic or other data storage shall be the original register of directors. |
| 8.11 | A director is not required to hold a Share as a qualification to office. |
| 8.12 | Without prejudice to the provisions of retirement by rotation hereinafter contained, the office of a Director shall be vacated in any of the events following, namely: |
| (a) | if (not being an Executive Director whose contract precludes resignation) he resigns his office by notice in writing delivered to the registered office or tendered at a meeting of the Board; or |
| (b) | if the Board resolves that he is through physical or mental incapacity or mental disorder no longer able to perform the functions of a Director; or |
| (c) | if he fails, without leave, to attend (whether or not an alternate Director appointed by him attends) three successive Board meetings or four Board meetings in any consecutive period of 12 months despite a notice being given to him prior to such third or fourth meeting (as the case may be) that the provisions of this paragraph might apply and not less than two-thirds of all the other Directors (excluding the Director concerned and, in his capacity as such, any alternate director appointed by the Director concerned) resolving that his office should be vacated; or |
| (d) | if he becomes bankrupt or insolvent or makes an arrangement or composition with his creditors or applies to the Court for an interim order under section 253 of the United Kingdom Insolvency Act 1986 in connection with a voluntary arrangement; or |
| (e) | any event analogous to those listed in Regulation 8.15 under the laws of any other jurisdiction occurs in relation to a Director; or |
| (f) | if he is prohibited by law from being a Director; or |
| (g) | if he ceases to be a Director by virtue of the BVI Companies Act or is removed from office pursuant to these Articles. |
In the case of Regulation 8.15 (b) to (e) inclusive above, the Director shall be removed from office.
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| 8.13 | A resolution of Directors declaring that a Director has vacated office under regulation 8.12 shall be conclusive as to that fact and as to the ground of vacation as stated in the resolution. |
| 8.14 | Without prejudice to any of the provisions for disqualification of Directors or for the retirement by rotation hereinafter contained, the office of a Director shall be vacated if by notice in writing delivered to the registered office or tendered at a meeting of the Board his resignation is requested by all of the other Directors (being not less than three in number) excluding the Director concerned and, in his capacity as such, any alternate Director appointed by the Director concerned. |
| 8.15 | At every annual meeting of Shareholders one-third of the Directors for the time being or, if their number is not a multiple of three, then the number nearest to and not exceeding one-third shall retire from office. |
| 8.16 | The Directors to retire on each occasion shall be those subject to retirement by rotation who have been longest in office since their last election, but as between persons who became or were re-elected Directors on the same day those to retire shall (unless they otherwise agree amongst themselves) be determined by lot. The Directors to retire on each occasion both as to number and identity) shall be determined by the composition of the Board at the date of the notice convening the annual meeting of Shareholders, and no Director shall be required to retire or be relieved from retiring by reason of any change in the number or identity of the Directors after the date of such notice but before the close of the meeting. |
| 8.17 | A Director who retires at the annual meeting of Shareholders shall be eligible for re-election. If he is not re-elected he shall retain office until the meeting elects someone in his place, or if it does not do so, until the end of the meeting. |
| 8.18 | Subject to the provisions of these Articles, the Company may by a Resolution of Shareholders at the meeting at which a Director retires in the manner aforesaid fill the vacated office by electing a person and in default the retiring Director shall, if willing to continue to act, be deemed to have been re- elected, unless at such meeting it is expressly resolved not to fill such vacated office or unless a resolution for the re-election of such Director shall have been put to the meeting and lost. |
| 8.19 | A Director may hold the office of an Executive Director or a Non Executive Director. |
| 8.20 | An Executive Director shall receive such remuneration (whether by way of salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise) as the Board may determine, and either in addition to or in lieu of his remuneration as a Director. |
| 8.21 | Each Director shall have the power to appoint any person to be his alternate Director and may at his discretion remove such alternate Director. If such alternate Director is not another Director, such appointment, unless previously approved by the Board, shall have effect only upon and subject to it being so approved. Any appointment or removal of an alternate Director shall be effected by notice in writing signed by the appointor and delivered to the registered office or tendered at a meeting of the Board. An alternate Director shall, if his appointor so requests, be entitled to receive notices of meetings of the Board or of committees of the Board to the same extent as, but in lieu of, the Director appointing him and shall be entitled to such extent to attend at and vote as a Director at any such meeting at which the Director appointing him is not personally present and to exercise and discharge all the functions, powers and duties of his appointor as a Director and for the purposes of the proceedings at such meeting the provisions of these Articles shall apply as if he were a Director. |
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| 8.22 | Every person acting as an alternate Director shall (except as regards power to appoint an alternate Director and remuneration) be subject in all respects to the provisions of these Articles relating to Directors and shall alone be responsible to the Company for his acts and defaults and shall not be deemed to be the agent of or for the Director appointing him. An alternate Director may be paid expenses and shall be entitled to be indemnified by the Company to the same extent mutatis mutandis as if he were a Director but shall not be entitled to receive from the Company any fee in his capacity as an alternate Director except only such part (if any) of the remuneration otherwise payable to the Director appointing him as such Director may by notice in writing to the Company from time to time direct. |
| 8.23 | Every person acting as an alternate Director shall have one vote for each Director for whom he acts as alternate (in addition to his own vote if he is also a Director). The signature of an alternate Director to any resolution in writing of the Board or a committee of the Board shall, unless the notice of his appointment provides to the contrary, be as effective as the signature of his appointor. |
| 8.24 | An alternate Director shall ipso facto cease to be an alternate Director if his appointor ceases for any reason to be a Director provided that, if at any meeting any Director retires by rotation or otherwise but is re-elected at the same meeting, any appointment made by him pursuant to this regulation which was in force immediately before his retirement shall remain in force as though he had not retired. |
| 8.25 | Each of the Directors shall be paid a fee at such rate as may from time to time be determined by the Board provided that the aggregate of all such fees so paid to Directors (excluding amounts payable under any other regulation and any amount payable under any service contract) shall not exceed |
$1,000,000 per annum, or such higher amount as may from time to time be determined by Resolution of Shareholders.
| 8.26 | Each Director may be paid his reasonable travelling, hotel and incidental expenses of attending and returning from meetings of the Board or committees of the Board or meetings of Shareholders or separate meetings of the holders of any class or series of Shares or of debentures of the Company and shall be paid all expenses properly and reasonably incurred by him in the conduct of the Company's business or in the discharge of his duties as a Director. Any Director who, by request, goes or resides abroad for any purposes of the Company or who performs services which in the opinion of the Board go beyond the ordinary duties of a Director may be paid such extra remuneration (whether by way of salary, commission, participation in profits or otherwise) as the Board may determine and such extra remuneration shall be in addition to any remuneration provided for by or pursuant to any other regulation. |
| 9. | POWERS OF DIRECTORS |
| 9.1 | The business and affairs of the Company shall be managed by, or under the direction or supervision of, the directors of the Company. The directors of the Company have all the powers necessary for managing, and for directing and supervising, the business and affairs of the Company. The directors may pay all expenses incurred preliminary to and in connection with the incorporation of the Company and may exercise all such powers of the Company as are not by the Act or by the Memorandum or the Articles required to be exercised by the Shareholders. |
| 9.2 | Each director shall exercise his powers for a proper purpose and shall not act or agree to the Company acting in a manner that contravenes the Memorandum, the Articles or the Act. Each director, in exercising his powers or performing his duties, shall act honestly and in good faith in what the director believes to be the best interests of the Company. |
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| 9.3 | If the Company is the wholly owned subsidiary of a holding company, a director of the Company may, when exercising powers or performing duties as a director, act in a manner which he believes is in the best interests of the holding company even though it may not be in the best interests of the Company. |
| 9.4 | Any director which is a body corporate may appoint any individual as its duly authorised representative for the purpose of representing it at meetings of the directors, with respect to the signing of consents or otherwise. |
| 9.5 | The continuing directors may act notwithstanding any vacancy in their body. |
| 9.6 | The directors may by Resolution of Directors exercise all the powers of the Company to incur indebtedness, liabilities or obligations and to secure indebtedness, liabilities or obligations whether of the Company or of any third party. |
| 9.7 | All cheques, promissory notes, drafts, bills of exchange and other negotiable instruments and all receipts for moneys paid to the Company shall be signed, drawn, accepted, endorsed or otherwise executed, as the case may be, in such manner as shall from time to time be determined by Resolution of Directors. |
| 9.8 | For the purposes of Section 175 (Disposition of assets) of the Act, the directors may by Resolution of Directors determine that any sale, transfer, lease, exchange or other disposition is in the usual or regular course of the business carried on by the Company and such determination is, in the absence of fraud, conclusive. |
| 10. | PROCEEDINGS OF DIRECTORS |
| 10.1 | Any one director of the Company may call a meeting of the directors by sending a written notice to each other director. |
| 10.2 | The directors of the Company or any committee thereof may meet at such times and in such manner and places within or outside the British Virgin Islands as the directors may determine to be necessary or desirable. |
| 10.3 | A director is deemed to be present at a meeting of directors if he participates by telephone or other electronic means and all directors participating in the meeting are able to hear each other. |
| 10.4 | A director shall be given not less than 3 days’ notice of meetings of directors, but a meeting of directors held without 3 days’ notice having been given to all directors shall be valid if all the directors entitled to vote at the meeting who do not attend waive notice of the meeting, and for this purpose the presence of a director at a meeting shall constitute waiver by that director. The inadvertent failure to give notice of a meeting to a director, or the fact that a director has not received the notice, does not invalidate the meeting. |
| 10.5 | A director may by a written instrument appoint an alternate who need not be a director and the alternate shall be entitled to attend meetings in the absence of the director who appointed him and to vote in place of the director until the appointment lapses or is terminated. |
| 10.6 | A meeting of directors is duly constituted for all purposes if at the commencement of the meeting there are present in person or by alternate not less than one-half of the total number of directors, unless there are only 2 directors in which case the quorum is 2. |
| 10.7 | If the Company has only one director the provisions herein contained for meetings of directors do not apply and such sole director has full power to represent and act for the Company in all matters as are not by the Act, the Memorandum or the Articles required to be exercised by the Shareholders. In lieu of minutes of a meeting the sole director shall record in writing and sign a note or memorandum of all matters requiring a Resolution of Directors. Such a note or memorandum constitutes sufficient evidence of such resolution for all purposes. |
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| 10.8 | At meetings of directors at which the Chairman of the Board is present, he shall preside as chairman of the meeting. If there is no Chairman of the Board or if the Chairman of the Board is not present, the directors present shall choose one of their number to be chairman of the meeting. |
| 10.9 | An action that may be taken by the directors or a committee of directors at a meeting may also be taken by a Resolution of Directors or a resolution of a committee of directors consented to in writing by all directors or by all members of the committee, as the case may be, without the need for any notice. The consent may be in the form of counterparts each counterpart being signed by one or more directors. If the consent is in one or more counterparts, and the counterparts bear different dates, then the resolution shall take effect on the date upon which the last director has consented to the resolution by signed counterparts. |
| 11. | COMMITTEES |
| 11.1 | The directors may, by Resolution of Directors, designate one or more committees, each consisting of one or more directors, and delegate one or more of their powers, including the power to affix the Seal, to the committee. |
| 11.2 | The directors have no power to delegate to a committee of directors any of the following powers: |
| (a) | to amend the Memorandum or the Articles; |
| (b) | to designate committees of directors; |
| (c) | to delegate powers to a committee of directors; |
| (d) | to appoint or remove directors (which does not include the power to nominate a director to the board or recommend the removal of a director from the board); |
| (e) | to appoint or remove an agent; |
| (f) | to approve a plan of merger, consolidation or arrangement; |
| (g) | to make a declaration of solvency or to approve a liquidation plan; or |
| (h) | to make a determination that immediately after a proposed Distribution the value of the Company’s assets will exceed its liabilities and the Company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due. |
| 11.3 | Sub-Regulation 11.2(b) and (c) do not prevent a committee of directors, where authorised by the Resolution of Directors appointing such committee or by a subsequent Resolution of Directors, from appointing a sub-committee and delegating powers exercisable by the committee to the sub-committee. |
| 11.4 | The meetings and proceedings of each committee of directors consisting of 2 or more directors shall be governed mutatis mutandis by the provisions of the Articles regulating the proceedings of directors so far as the same are not superseded by any provisions in the Resolution of Directors establishing the committee. |
| 11.5 | Where the directors delegate their powers to a committee of directors they remain responsible for the exercise of that power by the committee, unless they believed on reasonable grounds at all times before the exercise of the power that the committee would exercise the power in conformity with the duties imposed on directors of the Company under the Act. |
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| 12. | OFFICERS AND AGENTS |
| 12.1 | The Company may by Resolution of Directors appoint officers of the Company at such times as may be considered necessary or expedient. Any number of offices may be held by the same person. |
| 12.2 | The officers shall perform such duties as are prescribed at the time of their appointment subject to any modification in such duties as may be prescribed thereafter by Resolution of Directors. In the absence of any specific prescription of duties it shall be the responsibility of the Chairman of the Board to preside at meetings of directors and Shareholders, the president to manage the day to day affairs of the Company, the vice-presidents to act in order of seniority in the absence of the president but otherwise to perform such duties as may be delegated to them by the president, the secretaries to maintain the register of members, minute books and records (other than financial records) of the Company and to ensure compliance with all procedural requirements imposed on the Company by applicable law, and the treasurer to be responsible for the financial affairs of the Company. |
| 12.3 | The emoluments of all officers shall be fixed by Resolution of Directors. |
| 12.4 | The officers of the Company shall hold office until their successors are duly appointed, but any officer elected or appointed by the directors may be removed at any time, with or without cause, by Resolution of Directors. Any vacancy occurring in any office of the Company may be filled by Resolution of Directors. |
| 12.5 | The directors may, by Resolution of Directors, appoint any person, including a person who is a director, to be an agent of the Company. |
| 12.6 | An agent of the Company shall have such powers and authority of the directors, including the power and authority to affix the Seal, as are set forth in the Articles or in the Resolution of Directors appointing the agent, except that no agent has any power or authority with respect to the following: |
| (a) | to amend the Memorandum or the Articles; |
| (b) | to change the registered office or agent; |
| (c) | to designate committees of directors; |
| (d) | to delegate powers to a committee of directors; |
| (e) | to appoint or remove directors; |
| (f) | to appoint or remove an agent; |
| (g) | to fix emoluments of directors; |
| (h) | to approve a plan of merger, consolidation or arrangement; |
| (i) | to make a declaration of solvency or to approve a liquidation plan; |
| (j) | to make a determination that immediately after a proposed Distribution the value of the Company’s assets will exceed its liabilities and the Company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due; or |
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| (k) | to authorise the Company to continue as a company incorporated under the laws of a jurisdiction outside the British Virgin Islands. |
| 12.7 | The Resolution of Directors appointing an agent may authorise the agent to appoint one or more substitutes or delegates to exercise some or all of the powers conferred on the agent by the Company. |
| 12.8 | The directors may remove an agent appointed by the Company and may revoke or vary a power conferred on him. |
| 13 | TAKEOVER PROVISIONS |
| 13.1 | Except with the consent of the Board, when:- |
| (a) | any person acquires, whether by a series of transactions over a period of time or not, Shares which (taken together with Shares held or acquired by persons acting in concert with him) carry 30% or more of the voting rights of the Company; or |
| (b) | any person who, together with persons acting in concert with him, holds not less than 30% but not more than 50% of the voting rights and such person, or any person acting in concert with him, acquires additional Shares which increase his percentage of the voting rights; |
such person (“the offeror”) shall extend an offer, on the basis set out in this Regulation 13, to the holders of all the issued shares in the Company.
| 13.2 | Any offer made under this Regulation must be conditional only upon the offeror having received acceptances in respect of Shares which, together with Shares acquired or agreed to be acquired before or during the offer, will result in the offeror and any person acting in concert with it holding Shares carrying more than 50% of the voting rights. |
| 13.3 | No acquisition of Shares which would give rise to a requirement for any offer under this Regulation may be made or registered if the making or implementation of such offer would or might be dependent on the passing of a resolution at any meeting of Shareholders of the Company or upon any other conditions, consents or arrangements. |
| 13.4 | Offers made under this Regulation must, in respect of each class of Share capital involved, be in cash or be accompanied by a cash alternative at not less than the highest price paid by the offeror or any person acting in concert with it for Shares of that class during the offer period and within 12 months prior to its commencement. The cash offer or the cash alternative must remain open after the offer has become or is declared unconditional as to acceptances for not less than 14 days after the date on which it would otherwise have expired. |
| 13.5 | No nominee of an offeror or persons acting in concert with it may be appointed as a Director, nor may an offeror and persons acting in concert with it exercise the votes attaching to any Shares held in the Company until the offer document has been posted. |
| 13.6 | Any offer required to be made pursuant to this Reglation 13 shall be made on terms that would be required by the then current United Kingdom City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (“the City Code”), save to the extent that the board otherwise determines. In relation to any offer required to be made pursuant to this Regulation 13, any matter which under the City Code would fall to be determined by the Panel shall be determined by the board in its absolute discretion or by such person appointed by the board to make such determination. |
| - 17 - |
| 13.7 | Except with the consent of the board, Shareholders shall comply with the requirements of the City Code, as may from time to time be published by the United Kingdom Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (“the Panel”), in relation to any dealings in any Shares of the Company and in relation to their dealings with the Company in relation to all matters. Any matter which under the City Code would fall to be determined by the Panel shall be determined by the Board in its absolute discretion or by such person appointed by the Board to make such determination. Any notice which under the City Code is required to be given to the Panel or any person (other than the Company) shall be given to the Company at its registered office. |
| 13.8 | If at any time the Board is satisfied that any Shareholder having incurred an obligation under this Regulation 13 to extend an offer to the holders of all the issued Shares shall have failed so to do, or that any Shareholders is in default of any other obligation imposed upon Shareholders pursuant to this Regulation 13, then the Board may, in its absolute discretion at any time thereafter by notice (a “direction notice”) to such Shareholders and any other Shareholders acting in concert with such Shareholders (together “the defaulters”) direct that: |
| (a) | in respect of the Shares held by the defaulters (the “default shares”) the defaulters shall not be entitled to vote at a general meeting either personally or by proxy or to exercise any other right conferred by membership in relation to meetings of the Company; |
| (b) | except in a liquidation of the Company, no payment shall be made of any sums due from the Company on the default shares, whether in respect of capital or dividend or otherwise, and the Company shall not meet any liability to pay interest on any such payment when it is finally paid to the Shareholders; |
| (c) | no other distribution shall be made on the default shares. |
The Board may at any time give notice cancelling a direction notice.
| 13.9 | In construing this Regulation 13, words and expressions used in or defined in the City Code shall bear the same meanings given by the City Code. |
| 14. | CONFLICT OF INTERESTS |
| 14.1 | A director of the Company shall, forthwith after becoming aware of the fact that he is interested in a transaction entered into or to be entered into by the Company, disclose the interest to all other directors of the Company. |
| 14.2 | For the purposes of Sub-Regulation 14.1, a disclosure to all other directors to the effect that a director is a member, director or officer of another named entity or has a fiduciary relationship with respect to the entity or a named individual and is to be regarded as interested in any transaction which may, after the date of the entry into the transaction or disclosure of the interest, be entered into with that entity or individual, is a sufficient disclosure of interest in relation to that transaction. |
| 14.3 | A director of the Company who is interested in a transaction entered into or to be entered into by the Company may: |
| 14.4 | vote on a matter relating to the transaction; |
| 14.5 | attend a meeting of directors at which a matter relating to the transaction arises and be included among the directors present at the meeting for the purposes of a quorum; and |
| - 18 - |
| 14.6 | sign a document on behalf of the Company, or do any other thing in his capacity as a director, that relates to the transaction,
and, subject to compliance with the Act shall not, by reason of his office be accountable to the Company for any benefit which he derives from such transaction and no such transaction shall be liable to be avoided on the grounds of any such interest or benefit. |
| 15. | INDEMNIFICATION |
| 15.1 | Subject to the limitations hereinafter provided the Company shall indemnify against all expenses, including legal fees, and against all judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement and reasonably incurred in connection with legal, administrative or investigative proceedings any person who: |
| (a) | is or was a party or is threatened to be made a party to any threatened, pending or completed proceedings, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative, by reason of the fact that the person is or was a director of the Company; or |
| (b) | is or was, at the request of the Company, serving as a director of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another body corporate or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise. |
| (c) | The indemnity in Sub-Regulation 15.1 only applies if the person acted honestly and in good faith with a view to the best interests of the Company and, in the case of criminal proceedings, the person had no reasonable cause to believe that their conduct was unlawful. |
| 15.2 | For the purposes of Sub-Regulation 15.1(c), a director acts in the best interests of the Company if he acts in the best interests of |
| (a) | the Company’s holding company; or |
| (b) | a Shareholder or Shareholders of the Company; |
in either case, in the circumstances specified in Sub-Regulation 15.1 or the Act, as the case may be.
| 15.3 | The decision of the directors as to whether the person acted honestly and in good faith and with a view to the best interests of the Company and as to whether the person had no reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful is, in the absence of fraud, sufficient for the purposes of the Articles, unless a question of law is involved. |
| 15.4 | The termination of any proceedings by any judgment, order, settlement, conviction or the entering of a nolle prosequi does not, by itself, create a presumption that the person did not act honestly and in good faith and with a view to the best interests of the Company or that the person had reasonable cause to believe that his conduct was unlawful. |
| 15.5 | Expenses, including legal fees, incurred by a director in defending any legal, administrative or investigative proceedings may be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such proceedings upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the director to repay the amount if it shall ultimately be determined that the director is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company in accordance with Sub-Regulation 15.1. |
| 15.6 | Expenses, including legal fees, incurred by a former director in defending any legal, administrative or investigative proceedings may be paid by the Company in advance of the final disposition of such proceedings upon receipt of an undertaking by or on behalf of the former director to repay the amount if it shall ultimately be determined that the former director is not entitled to be indemnified by the Company in accordance with Sub-Regulation 15.1 and upon such terms and conditions, if any, as the Company deems appropriate. |
| - 19 - |
| 15.7 | The indemnification and advancement of expenses provided by, or granted pursuant to, this section is not exclusive of any other rights to which the person seeking indemnification or advancement of expenses may be entitled under any agreement, Resolution of Shareholders, resolution of disinterested directors or otherwise, both as acting in the person’s official capacity and as to acting in another capacity while serving as a director of the Company. |
| 15.8 | If a person referred to in Sub-Regulation 15.1 has been successful in defence of any proceedings referred to in Sub-Regulation 15.1, the person is entitled to be indemnified against all expenses, including legal fees, and against all judgments, fines and amounts paid in settlement and reasonably incurred by the person in connection with the proceedings. |
| 15.9 | The Company may purchase and maintain insurance in relation to any person who is or was a director, officer or liquidator of the Company, or who at the request of the Company is or was serving as a director, officer or liquidator of, or in any other capacity is or was acting for, another body corporate or a partnership, joint venture, trust or other enterprise, against any liability asserted against the person and incurred by the person in that capacity, whether or not the Company has or would have had the power to indemnify the person against the liability as provided in the Articles. |
| 16 | RECORDS |
| 16.1 | The Company shall keep the following documents at the office of its registered agent: |
| (a) | the Memorandum and the Articles; |
| (b) | the register of members, or a copy of the register of members; |
| (c) | the register of directors, or a copy of the register of directors; and |
| (d) | copies of all notices and other documents filed by the Company with the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the previous 10 years. |
| 16.2 | Until the directors determine otherwise by Resolution of Directors the Company shall keep the original register of members and original register of directors at the office of its registered agent. |
| 16.3 | If the Company maintains only a copy of the register of members or a copy of the register of directors a at the office of its registered agent, it shall: |
| (a) | within 15 days of any change in either register, notify the registered agent in writing of the change; and |
| (b) | provide the registered agent with a written record of the physical address of the place or places at which the original register of members or the original register of directors is kept. |
| 16.4 | The Company shall keep the following records at the office of its registered agent or at such other place or places, within or outside the British Virgin Islands, as the directors may determine: |
| (a) | minutes of meetings and Resolutions of Shareholders and classes of Shareholders; and |
| (b) | minutes of meetings and Resolutions of Directors and committees of directors. |
| - 20 - |
| 16.5 | Where any original records referred to in this Regulation are maintained other than at the office of the registered agent of the Company, and the place at which the original records is changed, the Company shall provide the registered agent with the physical address of the new location of the records of the Company within 14 days of the change of location. |
| 16.6 | The records kept by the Company under this Regulation shall be in written form or either wholly or partly as electronic records complying with the requirements of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2001 (No. 5 of 2001) as from time to time amended or re-enacted. |
| 17 | REGISTER OF CHARGES |
The Company shall maintain at the office of its registered agent a register of charges in which there shall be entered the following particulars regarding each mortgage, charge and other encumbrance created by the Company:
| 17.1 | the date of creation of the charge; |
| 17.2 | a short description of the liability secured by the charge; |
| 17.3 | a short description of the property charged; |
| 17.4 | the name and address of the trustee for the security or, if there is no such trustee, the name and address of the chargee; |
| 17.5 | unless the charge is a security to bearer, the name and address of the holder of the charge; and |
| 17.6 | details of any prohibition or restriction contained in the instrument creating the charge on the power of the Company to create any future charge ranking in priority to or equally with the charge. |
| 18 | SEAL |
The Company shall have a Seal an impression of which shall be kept at the office of the registered agent of the Company. The Company may have more than one Seal and references herein to the Seal shall be references to every Seal which shall have been duly adopted by Resolution of Directors. The directors shall provide for the safe custody of the Seal and for an imprint thereof to be kept at the registered office. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein the Seal when affixed to any written instrument shall be witnessed and attested to by the signature of any one director or other person so authorised from time to time by Resolution of Directors. Such authorisation may be before or after the Seal is affixed, may be general or specific and may refer to any number of sealings. The directors may provide for a facsimile of the Seal and of the signature of any director or authorised person which may be reproduced by printing or other means on any instrument and it shall have the same force and validity as if the Seal had been affixed to such instrument and the same had been attested to as hereinbefore described.
| 19 | DISTRIBUTIONS BY WAY OF DIVIDEND |
| 19.1 | The directors of the Company may, by Resolution of Directors, authorise a Distribution by way of dividend at a time and of an amount they think fit if they are satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that, immediately after the Distribution, the value of the Company’s assets will exceed its liabilities and the Company will be able to pay its debts as they fall due. |
| 19.2 | Dividends may be paid in money, shares, or other property. |
| - 21 - |
| 19.3 | Notice of any dividend that may have been declared shall be given to each Shareholder as specified in Sub-Regulation 22 and all dividends unclaimed for 3 years after having been declared may be forfeited by Resolution of Directors for the benefit of the Company. |
| 19.4 | No dividend shall bear interest as against the Company and no dividend shall be paid on Treasury Shares. |
| 20 | ACCOUNTS AND AUDIT |
| 20.1 | The Company shall keep records that are sufficient to show and explain the Company’s transactions and that will, at any time, enable the financial position of the Company to be determined with reasonable accuracy. |
| 20.2 | The Company may by Resolution of Shareholders call for the directors to prepare periodically and make available a profit and loss account and a balance sheet. The profit and loss account and balance sheet shall be drawn up so as to give respectively a true and fair view of the profit and loss of the Company for a financial period and a true and fair view of the assets and liabilities of the Company as at the end of a financial period. |
| 20.3 | The first auditors shall be appointed by Resolution of Directors; subsequent auditors shall be appointed by Resolution of Shareholders or by Resolution of Directors. |
| 20.4 | The auditors may be Shareholders, but no director or other officer shall be eligible to be an auditor of the Company during their continuance in office. |
| 20.5 | The remuneration of the auditors of the Company may be fixed by Resolution of Directors. |
| 20.6 | The auditors shall examine each profit and loss account and balance sheet required to be laid before a meeting of the Shareholders or otherwise given to Shareholders and shall state in a written report whether or not: |
| (a) | in their opinion the profit and loss account and balance sheet give a true and fair view respectively of the profit and loss for the period covered by the accounts, and of the assets and liabilities of the Company at the end of that period; and |
| (b) | all the information and explanations required by the auditors have been obtained. |
| 20.7 | The report of the auditors shall be annexed to the accounts and shall be read at the meeting of Shareholders at which the accounts are laid before the Company or shall be otherwise given to the Shareholders. |
| 20.8 | Every auditor of the Company shall have a right of access at all times to the books of account and vouchers of the Company, and shall be entitled to require from the directors and officers of the Company such information and explanations as he thinks necessary for the performance of the duties of the auditors. |
| 20.9 | The auditors of the Company shall be entitled to receive notice of, and to attend any meetings of Shareholders at which the Company’s profit and loss account and balance sheet are to be presented. |
| 21 | NOTICES |
| 21.1 | Any notice, information or written statement to be given by the Company to Shareholders may be given by personal service or by mail addressed to each Shareholder at the address shown in the register of members. |
| - 22 - |
| 21.2 | Any summons, notice, order, document, process, information or written statement to be served on the Company may be served by leaving it, or by sending it by registered mail addressed to the Company, at its registered office, or by leaving it with, or by sending it by registered mail to, the registered agent of the Company. |
| 21.3 | Service of any summons, notice, order, document, process, information or written statement to be served on the Company may be proved by showing that the summons, notice, order, document, process, information or written statement was delivered to the registered office or the registered agent of the Company or that it was mailed in such time as to admit to its being delivered to the registered office or the registered agent of the Company in the normal course of delivery within the period prescribed for service and was correctly addressed and the postage was prepaid. |
| 22 | VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION |
The Company may by Resolution of Shareholders or by Resolution of Directors appoint a voluntary liquidator.
| 23 | CONTINUATION |
The Company may by Resolution of Shareholders or by a resolution passed unanimously by all directors of the Company continue as a company incorporated under the laws of a jurisdiction outside the British Virgin Islands in the manner provided under those laws.
| 24 | DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN SHARES AND FAILURE TO DISCLOSE |
| 24.1 | Subject to any requirement under the Act, the provisions of Chapter 5 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules which relate to the requirement of persons to disclose their interests in shares, shall apply to the Company as if its Home State (as defined in such rules) was the United Kingdom and such rules shall be deemed to be incorporated into these Regulations and shall bind the Company and the Shareholders (other than the Depository). |
| 24.2 | Subject to any requirement under the Act, the provisions of section 793 of the UK CA 2006 shall be deemed to be incorporated into these Regulations and shall bind the Company and the Shareholders and references in such section to “a public company” shall be deemed to be references to the Company. |
| 24.3 | Where notice is served by the Company under section 793 of the UK CA 2006 (a “section 793 notice”) on a Shareholder, or another person whom the Company knows or has reasonable cause to believe to be interested in shares held by that Shareholder, and the Shareholder or other person has failed in relation to any shares (the “default shares”, which expression includes any shares issued to such Shareholder after the date of the section 793 notice in respect of those shares) to give the Company the information required within 14 days following the date of service of the section 793 notice, the Board may serve on the holder of such default shares a notice (a "disenfranchisement notice") whereupon the following sanctions apply, unless the Board otherwise decides: |
| 24.3.1 | the Shareholder shall not be entitled in respect of the default shares to be present or to vote (either in person or by proxy) at a General Meeting or at a separate meeting of the holders of a class of shares or on a poll or to exercise other rights conferred by membership in relation to the meeting or poll; and |
| - 23 - |
| 24.3.2 | where the default shares represent at least 0.25 per cent in nominal value of the issued shares of their class (calculated exclusive of any shares held as Treasury Shares): |
| (a) | a dividend (or any part of a dividend) or other amount payable in respect of the default shares shall be withheld by the Company, which has no obligation to pay interest on it; and |
| (b) | no transfer of any of the default shares shall be registered unless: |
| (i) | the transfer is an excepted transfer; or |
| (ii) | the Shareholder is not himself in default in supplying the information required and the Shareholder proves to the satisfaction of the Board that no person in default in supplying the information required is interested in any of the shares the subject of the transfer; or |
| (iii) | registration of the transfer is required by any Relevant System, |
(and, for the purpose of ensuring this Regulation 24.3.2(b) can apply to all shares held by the holder, the Company may, in accordance with the regulations of any Relevant System, issue written notification to the operator of the Relevant System requiring the conversion into certificated form of any shares held by the holder in uncertificated form).
| 25 | REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS |
The sanctions under Regulation 24 shall cease to apply seven days after the receipt by the Company of:
| 25.1 | notice of registration of an excepted transfer, in relation to the default shares the subject of the excepted transfer; and |
| 25.2 | all information required by the section 793 notice, in a form satisfactory to the Board, in relation to any default shares. |
| 26 | NOTICE TO PERSON OTHER THAN A SHAREHOLDER |
Where, on the basis of information obtained from a Shareholder in respect of a share held by him, the Company issues a section 793 notice to another person, it shall at the same time send a copy of the section 793 notice to the Shareholder, but the accidental omission to do so, or the non-receipt by the Shareholder of the copy, does not invalidate or otherwise affect the application of Regulation 25.
| 27 | INTEREST IN SHARES, FAILURE TO GIVE INFORMATION AND EXCEPTED TRANSFERS |
| 27.1 | For the purpose of Regulations 24 to 26: |
| 27.1.1 | “interested” has the same meaning as in Part 22 of the UK CA 2006; |
| 27.1.2 | reference to a person having failed to give the Company the information required by a section 793 notice, or being in default in supplying such information, includes: |
| (a) | reference to his having failed or refused to give all or any part of it; and |
| (b) | reference to his having given information which he knows to be false in a material particular or having recklessly given information which is false in a material particular; and |
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| 27.1.3 | “excepted transfer” means, in relation to shares held by a Shareholder: |
| (a) | a transfer pursuant to acceptance of a takeover offer for the Company (within the meaning of section 428(1) of the UK Companies Act or section 974 of the UK CA 2006, whichever is in force at the relevant date); or |
| (b) | a transfer where the Directors are satisfied that the transfer is made pursuant to a bona fide sale of the whole of the beneficial ownership of the shares to a party unconnected with the member or with any person appearing to be interested in such shares including any such sale made through a recognised investment exchange (as defined in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000) (being a statute in force in the UK as may be amended or re-enacted from time to time) or another stock exchange outside the United Kingdom on which shares in the capital of the Company are normally traded. For the purposes of this sub-paragraph any associate (as that term is defined in Section 435 of the UK Insolvency Act 1986) shall be included amongst the persons who are connected with the member or any person appearing to be interested in such shares. |
| 27.2 | Regulations 24 to 27 are in addition to and without prejudice to the BVI Companies Act. |
Signed for HARNEYS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED of Craigmuir Chambers, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands for the purpose of incorporating a BVI Business Company under the laws of the British Virgin Islands on 17 March 2006:
Incorporator
Sgd: Andrew Swapp
Andrew Swapp
Authorised Signatory
HARNEYS CORPORATE SERVICES LIMITED
Exhibit 5.1
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|
Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP |
| 3rd Floor, 1 Pemberton Row | |
| London | |
| EC4A 3BG | |
| United Kingdom | |
| Tel: +44 (0) 20 3752 3600 | |
| Fax: +44 (0) 20 3752 3695 |
| 15 January 2021 | |
| BY EMAIL | |
| rachel.graham@harneys.com | |
| +44 (0) 20 3752 3604 | |
| 039181.0062.RAG |
ReneSola Ltd
3rd Floor, 850 Canal St
Stamford, CT 06902
United States
Dear Sir or Madam
Renesola Ltd – Form F-3 Registration Statement
| 1 | We are lawyers qualified to practise in the British Virgin Islands and have been asked to advise in connection with the Company’s preparation of a Registration Statement (the Registration Statement) on Form F-3 to be filed on the date hereof by the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the Commission) under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, relating to the registration under the Securities Act of shares of no par value (the Shares) including Shares represented by American Depositary Shares, each of which represents ten Shares (ADSs), preference shares (the Preference Shares and, together with the Shares (including Shares represented by ADSs) and the Preference Shares, the Equity Securities, which term includes any shares or preference shares to be issued pursuant to the conversion, exchange or exercise of any other securities registered under the Registration Statement) and of debt securities of the Company, and any combination of the foregoing. |
| 2 | The Registration Statement contains a base prospectus covering the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of up to US$250,000,000 of our Equity Securities and debt securities (the Prospectus); and additional prospectus supplements may be issued by the Company pursuant to the Registration Statement in the future covering the offering, issuance and sale by the Company of Shares (the Placement Shares) that may be issued and sold under pursuant to sales or underwriting agreements entered into by the Company (the Agreements). |
| 3 | Based on the foregoing, and subject to the qualifications expressed below, our opinion is as follows: |
| (a) | Existence and Good Standing. The Company is a company duly registered with limited liability for an unlimited duration under the BVI Business Companies Act, 2004 (as amended), and is validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. It is a separate legal entity and is subject to suit in its own name. |
Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England & Wales. Reg. No. OC302285, VAT No. 795563084. A list of partners is available for inspection at our offices. Bermuda legal services provided through an association with Zuill & Co. GB:5405279_1 |
Anguilla | Bermuda | British Virgin Islands | Cayman Islands Cyprus | Hong Kong | London | Luxembourg | Montevideo São Paulo | Shanghai | Singapore | Vancouver harneys.com |
| (b) | Shares. The Company is authorised to issue a maximum of 800,000,000 no par value shares of a single class. When Equity Securities are issued as contemplated by the Registration Statement, the Resolutions each Equity Security will, (i) once consideration per share is received by the Company, and (ii) once the name of the shareholder is entered on the register of members of the Company as the holder of such share, be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable (which term means when used herein that no further sums are required to be paid by the holders thereof). |
| (c) | Placement Shares. The Placement Shares, to be issued and sold by the Company pursuant to the terms of the Agreements, have been duly authorized for issuance and when issued in the manner contemplated by the Agreements and the Resolutions, each Placement Share will, (i) once consideration per share is received by the Company, and (ii) once the name of the shareholder is entered on the register of members of the Company as the holder of such share, be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable (which term means when used herein that no further sums are required to be paid by the holders thereof). |
| (d) | Description of Share Capital. The statements contained under the heading “Description of Share Capital” in the Prospectus insofar and to the extent that they constitute a summary or description of the laws of the British Virgin Islands and a summary of the terms of the Shares and the memorandum and articles of association of the Company, are true and correct in all respects and nothing has been omitted from such statements which would make them misleading in any material respect. |
| (e) | Taxation. The statements relating to certain British Virgin Islands tax matters set forth under the heading “Item 10.E — Additional Information — Taxation” in the Company’s annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 filed with the Commission on April 28, 2020 (the Annual Report), which is incorporated by reference into and forms part of the Registration Statement, to the extent that they constitute statements of British Virgin Islands law, are accurate in all material respects and that such statements constitute our opinion. |
| (f) | Capacity and Power. The execution and delivery of the Agreements by the Company and the performance of its obligations thereunder, including the issue of the Placement Shares are within the corporate capacity and power of the Company and have been duly authorised and approved by all necessary corporate action of the Company. |
| (g) | No Conflict. The execution, performance and delivery of the Agreements do not violate, conflict with or result in a breach of: |
| a. | any of the provisions of the Company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association; |
| b. | any law or regulation applicable to the Company in the British Virgin Islands currently in force; or |
| c. | any existing order or decree of any governmental or regulatory authority or agency in the British Virgin Islands. |
| (h) | Due Execution. The Agreements when executed in accordance with the Resolutions will be duly executed for and on behalf of the Company. |
| (i) | Enforceability. Once executed and dated, the Agreements will be treated by the courts of the British Virgin Islands as the legally binding and valid obligations of the Company, enforceable in accordance with its terms. |
| (j) | Authorisation and Approvals. No authorisations, consents, orders, permissions or approvals are required from any governmental, regulatory or judicial authority or agency in the British Virgin Islands and no notice to or other filing with or action by any British Virgin Islands governmental, regulatory or judicial authority is required in connection with: |
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| a. | the execution and delivery of the Agreements; |
| b. | the exercise of any of the Company’s rights under the Agreements; |
| c. | the performance of any of the Company’s obligations under the Agreements; or |
| d. | the payment of any amount under the Agreements. |
| (k) | Filings. It is not necessary to ensure the legality, validity, enforceability or admissibility in evidence of the Agreements that any document be filed, recorded or enrolled with any governmental, regulatory or judicial authority in the British Virgin Islands. |
| (l) | Judgment Currency. Any monetary judgment in a court of the British Virgin Islands in respect of a claim brought in connection with the Agreements is likely to be expressed in the currency in which such claim is made as such courts have discretion to grant a monetary judgment expressed otherwise than in the currency of the British Virgin Islands. |
| (m) | Taxes. There are no stamp duties, income taxes, withholdings, levies, registration taxes, or other duties or similar taxes or charges now imposed, or which under the present laws of the British Virgin Islands could in the future become imposed, in connection with the enforcement or admissibility in evidence of the Agreements or on any payment to be made by the Company or any other person pursuant to the Agreements. |
| (n) | Interest. There is no applicable usury or interest limitation law in the British Virgin Islands which would restrict the recovery of payments or performance by the Company of its obligations under the Agreements. |
| (o) | Enforcement of Judgments. Any final and conclusive monetary judgment for a definite sum obtained against the Company in the courts of the State of New York in the United States of America (the Court) would be treated by the courts of the British Virgin Islands as a cause of action in itself and sued upon as a debt at common law so that no retrial of the issues would be necessary provided that: |
| a. | the Court had jurisdiction in the matter and the Company either submitted to such jurisdiction or was resident or carrying on business within such jurisdiction and was duly served with process; |
| b. | the judgment given by the Court was not in respect of penalties, fines, taxes or similar fiscal or revenue obligations; |
| c. | in obtaining judgment there was no fraud on the part of the person in whose favour judgment was given or on the part of the Court; |
| d. | recognition or enforcement in the British Virgin Islands would not be contrary to public policy; and |
| e. | the proceedings pursuant to which judgment was obtained were not contrary to the principles of natural justice. |
| (p) | Adverse Consequences. Under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, none of the parties to the Agreements (other than the Company) will be deemed to be resident, domiciled or carrying on any commercial activity in the British Virgin Islands or subject to any tax in the British Virgin Islands by reason only of the execution and performance of the Agreements, nor is it necessary for the execution, performance and enforcement of the Agreements that any such party be authorised or qualified to carry on business in the British Virgin Islands. |
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| (q) | Choice of Law and Jurisdiction. The choice of the law of the State of New York in the United States of America (New York) as the proper law of the Agreements would be upheld as a valid choice of law by the courts of the British Virgin Islands and applied by such courts in proceedings in relation to the Agreements as the proper law thereof and the submission by the Company to the jurisdiction of the courts of New York is valid and binding as a matter of British Virgin Islands law. |
| (r) | Pari Passu Obligations. The obligations of the Company under the Agreements constitute direct obligations that (save as expressly subordinated thereby) rank at least pari passu with all its other unsecured obligations (other than those preferred by law). |
| (s) | Exchange Controls. There are no foreign exchange controls or foreign exchange regulations under the currently applicable laws of the British Virgin Islands. |
| (t) | Sovereign Immunity. The Company is not entitled to claim immunity from suit or enforcement of a judgment on the ground of sovereignty or otherwise in the courts of the British Virgin Islands in respect of proceedings against it in relation to the Agreements and the execution of the Agreements and performance of its obligations under the Agreements by the Company constitute private and commercial acts. |
| (u) | Searches. No court proceedings pending against the Company are indicated by our searches of the British Virgin Islands High Court Registry referred to at paragraph 3(d) of Schedule 1 |
On the basis of our searches of the British Virgin Islands Registry of Corporate Affairs and the British Virgin Islands High Court Registry referred to at paragraphs 3(c) and (d) of Schedule 1, no currently valid order or resolution for liquidation of the Company and no current notice of appointment of a receiver over the Company or any of its assets appears on the records maintained in respect of the Company at the Registry of Corporate Affairs.
| 4 | This opinion is confined to the matters expressly opined on herein and given on the basis of the laws of the British Virgin Islands as they are in force and applied by the British Virgin Islands courts at the date of this opinion. We have made no investigation of, and express no opinion on, the laws of any other jurisdiction. We express no opinion as to matters of fact. Except as specifically stated herein, we make no comment with respect to any representations and warranties which may be made by or with respect to the Company in the Agreements. We express no opinion with respect to the commercial terms of the transactions the subject of this opinion. |
| 5 | We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion with the Commission as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the references made to us in the Registration Statement and to references to us under the headings “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities” and “Legal Matters” in the Prospectus. |
| Yours faithfully | |
| Harney Westwood & Riegels LLP |
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SCHEDULE 1
Documents Examined
For the purpose of this opinion, we have examined the following documents and records:
| 1 | a copy of the Amended and Restated Memorandum and Articles of Association and Certificate of Incorporation of the Company as registered with the British Virgin Islands Registry of Corporate Affairs on 11 December 2020 which our searches dated 13 January 2021 indicated were not subsequently amended; |
| 2 | a copy of the minutes of a meeting of the directors containing unanimous resolutions of the directors of the Company (the Board) dated 15 January 2021 approving, among other things, the form and filing of the Registration Statement and the entry into and execution of the Agreements (the Board Resolutions); |
| 3 | information revealed by our searches of: |
| (a) | the records and information certified by Harneys Corporate Services Limited, the registered agent of the Company, on 8 January 2021 of the statutory documents and records maintained by the Company at its registered office; |
| (b) | a copy of a certified copy of the share register of the Company as on 8 January 2021 certified as a true copy of the original share register on behalf of the Company’s registrars (the Share Register); |
| (c) | the public records of the Company on file and available for inspection at the Registry of Corporate Affairs, Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands on 6 August 2020; and |
| (d) | the records of proceedings on file with, and available for inspection on 6 August 2020 at the High Court of Justice, British Virgin Islands, |
(the Searches),
(1 to 3 above are the Corporate Documents); and
| 4 | a final draft copy of the Registration Statement; and |
| 5 | a final draft copy of the Prospectus. |
The Corporate Documents, the Registration Statement and the Base Prospectus are collectively referred to in this opinion as the Documents.
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SCHEDULE 2
Assumptions
| (a) | Validity under Foreign Laws. That (i) each party to the Agreements (other than the Company) has the necessary capacity, power and authority to enter into the Agreements and perform its obligations thereunder, and each such party has duly executed the Agreements (ii) the Agreements constitute or will constitute valid, legally binding and enforceable obligations of each of the parties thereto under the laws of New York by which law they are expressed to be governed; (iii) all formalities required under the laws of New York and any other applicable laws (other than the laws of the British Virgin Islands) have been complied with; and (iv) no other matters arising under any foreign law will affect the views expressed in this opinion. |
| (b) | Choice of Laws. The choice of the laws of New York selected to govern the Agreements has been made in good faith and will be regarded as a valid and binding selection which will be upheld in the courts of that jurisdiction and all other relevant jurisdictions (other than the British Virgin Islands) and the entry into and performance of the Agreements will not cause any of the parties thereto to be in breach of any agreement or undertaking. |
| (c) | Directors. The board of directors of the Company considers the execution of the Agreements and the transactions contemplated thereby to be in the best interests of the Company and no director has a financial interest in or other relationship to a party or the transactions contemplated by the Agreements which has not been properly disclosed in the Resolutions. |
| (d) | Bona Fide Transaction. No disposition of property effected by the Agreements is made for an improper purpose or wilfully to defeat an obligation owed to a creditor. |
| (e) | Solvency. The Company was on the date of execution of the Agreements able to pay its debts as they fall due, and entering into the Agreements will not cause the Company to become unable to pay its debts as they fall due. |
| (f) | Authenticity of Documents. All original Documents are authentic, all signatures, initials and seals are genuine, all copies of Documents are true and correct copies and the Agreements conform in every material respect to the latest drafts of the same produced to us and, where the Agreements have been provided to us in successive drafts marked-up to indicate changes to such documents, all such changes have been so indicated. |
| (g) | Corporate Documents. All matters required by law to be recorded in the Corporate Documents are so recorded, and all corporate minutes, resolutions, certificates, documents and records which we have reviewed are accurate and complete, and all facts expressed in or implied thereby are accurate and complete, and the information recorded in the Registered Agent’s Certificate was accurate as at the date of the passing of the Resolutions. |
| (h) | Stamp Duty. The Company does not own (directly or indirectly) an interest in land in the British Virgin Islands. |
| (i) | No Steps to Wind-up. The directors and shareholders of the Company have not taken any steps to appoint a liquidator of the Company and no receiver has been appointed over any of the property or assets of the Company. |
| (j) | Resolutions. The Resolutions remain in full force and effect. |
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| (k) | Unseen Documents. Save for the Documents provided to us there are no resolutions, agreements, documents or arrangements which materially affect, amend or vary the transactions envisaged in the Documents. |
| (l) | Issuance of Shares. That the Company will have sufficient authorised but unissued shares to effect the issue of any of the Equity Securities at the time of issuance, whether as a principal issue or on the conversion, exchange or exercise of any securities. |
| (m) | Preference Shares. That all necessary corporate action will be taken to authorise and approve any issuance of Preference Shares including, all necessary corporate action to establish one or more series of Preference Shares and fix the designation, powers, preferences, rights, qualifications, limitations and restrictions thereof and, without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the Registrar of Corporate Affairs in the British Virgin Islands will approve and register any and all required amendments to the memorandum and articles of association of the Company to reflect the creation of the Preference Shares along with any and all filings made to register the increase in the number of shares the Company is authorised to issue. |
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SCHEDULE 3
Qualifications
| 1 | Enforceability. The term enforceable as used above means that the obligations assumed by the Company under the relevant instrument are of a type which the courts of the British Virgin Islands enforce. It does not mean that those obligations will necessarily be enforced in all circumstances in accordance with their terms. In particular: |
| (a) | Insolvency. Rights and obligations may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, liquidation, winding-up, reorganisation, moratorium, readjustment of debts, arrangements and other similar laws of general application affecting the rights of creditors. |
| (b) | Limitation Periods. Claims under the Agreements may become barred under the Limitation Act 1961 relating to the limitation of actions in the British Virgin Islands or may be or become subject to defences of set-off, estoppel or counterclaim. |
| (c) | Equitable Rights and Remedies. Equitable rights may be defeated by a bona fide purchaser for value without notice. Equitable remedies such as injunctions and orders for specific performance are discretionary and will not normally be available where damages are considered an adequate remedy. |
| (d) | Fair Dealing. Strict legal rights may be qualified by doctrines of good faith and fair dealing - for example a certificate or calculation as to any matter might be held by a British Virgin Islands court not to be conclusive if it could be shown to have an unreasonable or arbitrary basis, or in the event of manifest error. |
| (e) | Prevention of Enforcement. Enforcement may be prevented by reason of fraud, coercion, duress, undue influence, unreasonable restraint of trade, misrepresentation, public policy or mistake or limited by the doctrine of frustration of contracts. |
| (f) | Penal Provisions. Provisions, for example, for the payment of additional interest in certain circumstances, may be unenforceable to the extent a court of the British Virgin Islands determines such provisions to be penal. |
| (g) | Currency. A British Virgin Islands court retains a discretion to denominate any judgment in US dollars. |
| (h) | Confidentiality. Provisions imposing confidentiality obligations may be overridden by the requirements of legal process. |
| (i) | Award of costs. In principle the courts of the British Virgin Islands will award costs and disbursements in litigation in accordance with the relevant contractual provisions but there remains some uncertainty as to the way in which the rules of the High Court will be applied in practice. |
| (j) | Inappropriate Forum. The courts of the British Virgin Islands may decline to exercise jurisdiction in relation to substantive proceedings brought under or in relation to the Agreements in matters where they determine such proceedings may be tried in a more appropriate forum. |
| (k) | Financial Services Business. An agreement made by a person in the course of carrying on unlicensed financial services business is unenforceable against the other party to the agreement under section 50F of the Financial Services Commission Act 2001. |
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| 2 | Public Records. Records reviewed by us may not be complete for various reasons. In particular you should note that: |
| (a) | in special circumstances the court may order the sealing of the court record, which would mean that a record of the court action would not appear on the High Court register; |
| (b) | failure to file notice of appointment of a receiver with the Registry of Corporate Affairs does not invalidate the receivership but merely gives rise to penalties on the part of the receiver; |
| (c) | a liquidator of a British Virgin Islands company has 14 days after their appointment within which they must file notice of their appointment at the Registry of Corporate Affairs; and |
| (d) | although amendments to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of a company are normally effective from the date of registration with the Registry of Corporate Affairs, it is possible for a British Virgin Islands court to order that they be treated as being effective from an earlier date, and searches would not reveal the amendments until the court order was subsequently filed, |
and accordingly our searches would not indicate such issues.
| 3 | Severability. The courts in the British Virgin Islands will determine in their discretion whether or not an illegal or unenforceable provision may be severed. |
| 4 | Several Remedies. In certain circumstances provisions in the Agreements that (i) the election of a particular remedy does not preclude recourse to one or more others, or (ii) delay or failure to exercise a right or remedy will not operate as a waiver of any such right or remedy, may not be enforceable. |
| 5 | Foreign Statutes. We express no opinion in relation to provisions making reference to foreign statutes in the Agreements. |
| 6 | Amendment. A British Virgin Islands court would not treat as definitive a statement in a contract that it could only be amended or waived in writing but would be able to consider all the facts of the case particularly where consideration had passed to determine whether a verbal amendment or waiver had been effected and if it found that it had such verbal amendment or waiver would be deemed to have also amended the stated requirement for a written agreement. |
| 7 | Good Standing. To maintain the Company in good standing under the laws of the British Virgin Islands, annual licence fees must be paid to the Registrar of Corporate Affairs. |
| 8 | Conflict of Laws. An expression of an opinion on a matter of British Virgin Islands law in relation to a particular issue in this opinion should not necessarily be construed to imply that the British Virgin Islands courts would treat British Virgin Islands law as the proper law to determine that issue under its conflict of laws rules. |
| 9 | Sanctions. The obligations of the Company may be subject to restrictions pursuant to United Nations and European Union sanctions as implemented under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. |
| 10 | Shares. A Share is deemed to be issued when the name of the Shareholder is entered into the register of member of the Company. |
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Exhibit 5.2
26th Floor, Gloucester Tower
The Landmark
15 Queen’s Road Central
Hong Kong
Telephone: +852 3761 3300
Facsimile: +852 3761 3301
www.kirkland.com
January 15, 2021
ReneSola Ltd
3rd Floor, 850 Canal St
Stamford, CT 06902
U.S.A
| Re: | ReneSola Ltd Registration Statement on Form F-3 |
Ladies and Gentlemen:
We have acted as special United States counsel to ReneSola Ltd, a British Virgin Islands company (the “Company”), in connection with the filing of the shelf registration statement on Form F-3 on the date hereof (the “Registration Statement”) by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), with respect to the issuance and sale from time to time by the Company, pursuant to Rule 415 of the General Rules and Regulations promulgated under the Act, of (i) ordinary shares of the Company with no par value (the “Shares”), including Shares represented by American Depositary Shares (the “ADSs”), (ii) one or more series of preferred shares of the Company (the “Preferred Shares”), and (iii) debt securities, which may be secured or unsecured, in one or more series (the “Debt Securities”). The Debt Securities will be issued under an indenture between the Company and a trustee (the “Trustee”), the form of which is filed as an exhibit to the Registration Statement, as such indenture may be supplemented from time to time (the “Indenture”). The Shares, Preferred Shares and Debt Securities are herein collectively called the “Securities.”
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PARTNERS: Pierre-Luc Arsenault3 | Lai Yi Chau | Justin M. Dolling6 | David Patrick Eich1,5,6 | Liu Gan2 | Karen K.Y. Ho | Damian C. Jacobs6 | Ka Man Lau | Guang Li3 | Neil E.M. McDonald | Kelly Naphtali | Ram Narayan3 | Amy Y.M. Ngan9 | Nicholas A. Norris6 | Paul S. Quinn | Richard C.C. Sharpe | Jesse D. Sheley# | Arthur K.H. Tso | Tarun R. Warriar6 | Li Chien Wong | David Yun6 | Jacqueline B.N. Zheng3,6 REGISTERED FOREIGN LAWYERS: Michelle Cheh8 | Daniel Dusek3 | Jennifer Y.Y. Feng6 | James A. Hill6 | David M. Irvine6 | Benjamin W. James4 | Cori A. Lable2 | Wei Yang Lim6 | Xiaoxi Lin3 | Yazhe Liu3 | Daniel A. Margulies6 | Michael D. Rackham6 | Tzi Yang Seow7 | Mi Tang3 | Wenchen Tang3 | Liyong Xing3 | David Zhang3
ADMITTED IN: 1 State of Illinois (U.S.A.); 2 Commonwealth of Massachusetts (U.S.A.); 3 State of New York (U.S.A.); 4 State of Texas (U.S.A.); 5 State of Wisconsin (U.S.A.); 6 England and Wales; 7 Singapore; 8 Victoria (Australia); 9 New South Wales (Australia); # non-resident
Beijing Boston Chicago Dallas Houston London Los Angeles Munich New York Palo Alto Paris San Francisco Shanghai Washington, D.C. |
ReneSola Ltd January 15, 2021 Page 2 |
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Based on the foregoing and subject to the qualifications set forth herein and in the Registration Statement, we are of the opinion as follows:
With respect to the Debt Securities to be issued in one or more series under the Indenture to be entered into by the Company and the Trustee, (i) when the specific terms of any particular series of Debt Securities have been duly established in accordance with the Indenture and applicable law and authorized by all necessary corporate action of the Company (including the adoption by the board of directors of the Company of resolutions duly authorizing the issuance and delivery of such Debt Securities and the Securities that such Debt Securities may be exchangeable for and/or convertible into), and (ii) when any such Debt Securities have been duly executed and issued by the Company, duly authenticated by the Trustee and duly delivered by or on behalf of the Company against payment therefor in accordance with the Indenture and in the manner contemplated by the Registration Statement and/or the related prospectus and by such corporate action, such Debt Securities will be the legally valid and binding obligations of the Company, enforceable against the Company in accordance with their terms.
For purposes of this letter, we have examined originals, or copies certified or otherwise identified to our satisfaction, of the Registration Statement, the Indenture and such other documents, corporate records and other instruments as we have deemed necessary or appropriate. We have relied upon certificates and other assurances of officers of the Company and others as to factual matters without having independently verified such factual matters.
ReneSola Ltd January 15, 2021 Page 3 |
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Each opinion (an “enforceability opinion”) in this letter that any Security is a valid and binding obligation or is enforceable in accordance with its terms is subject to: (i) the effect of bankruptcy, insolvency, fraudulent conveyance and other similar laws and judicially developed doctrines in this area such as substantive consolidation and equitable subordination; (ii) the effect of general principles of equity; and (iii) other commonly recognized statutory and judicial constraints on enforceability including statutes of limitations. In addition, we do not express any opinion as to the enforceability of any rights to contribution or indemnification which may be violative of public policy underlying any law, rule or regulation (including any federal or state securities law, rule or regulation). “General principles of equity” include, but are not limited to: principles limiting the availability of specific performance and injunctive relief; principles which limit the availability of a remedy under certain circumstances where another remedy has been elected; principles requiring reasonableness, good faith and fair dealing in the performance and enforcement of an agreement by the party seeking enforcement; principles which may permit a party to cure a material failure to perform its obligations; and principles affording equitable defenses such as waiver, laches and estoppel. It is possible that terms in a particular contract covered by our enforceability opinion may not prove enforceable for reasons other than those explicitly cited in this letter should an actual enforcement action be brought, but (subject to all the exceptions, qualifications, exclusions and other limitations contained in this letter) such unenforceability would not in our opinion prevent the party entitled to enforce that contract from realizing the principal benefits purported to be provided to that party by the terms in that contract which are covered by our enforceability opinion.
Except as noted below, our advice on every legal issue addressed in this letter is based exclusively on the internal law of the State of New York and the federal law of the United States (the “Applicable Laws”). The Indenture provides that the governing law thereunder shall be the laws of the State of New York and for purposes of the opinions herein we have assumed that the governing law under the Debt Securities shall be the laws of the State of New York. We express no opinion as to what law might be applied by any other courts to resolve any issue addressed by our opinion and we express no opinion as to whether any relevant differences exist between the laws upon which our opinions are based and any other laws which may actually be applied to resolve issues which may arise under any of the Debt Securities and the Indenture (collectively, the “Documents”). The manner in which any particular issue would be treated in any actual court case would depend in part on facts and circumstances particular to the case and would also depend on how the court involved chose to exercise the wide discretionary authority generally available to it. This letter is not intended to guarantee the outcome of any legal dispute that may arise in the future.
ReneSola Ltd January 15, 2021 Page 4 |
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We have not undertaken any search of court records for purposes of this letter. We have assumed that each applicable party to the Documents (i) is an entity duly incorporated or organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization, (ii) has adopted by requisite vote of its board of directors, board of managers or analogous governing body the resolutions or approvals necessary to authorize such party’s execution, delivery and performance of such Documents, (iii) has duly authorized, executed and delivered such Documents, (iv) has all corporate and other organizational power and authority (including without limitation the power and authority under the laws of its jurisdiction of organization) to execute and deliver such Documents and perform its respective obligations under such Documents; (v) has satisfied all legal requirements that are applicable to such party to the extent necessary to entitle such party to enforce such Documents; and (vi) is not required by any law to obtain any consent, approval, authorization or order of any court or governmental agency in order to obtain the right to enter into such Documents or to take any action taken by it in connection with the consummation of the transactions contemplated in the Documents in accordance with their terms, and the execution and delivery by such party of the Documents, and that the consummation of the transactions contemplated thereby in accordance with the terms thereof will not violate any existing provisions of the organizational documents of such party or any law or governmental regulation. For purposes of the opinions above, we have assumed, without conducting any research or investigation with respect thereto, the corporate or other power of, and the due authorization, execution and delivery of the Documents by, the Company, the absence of any conflicts with the organizational documents of the Company and the absence of any conflicts with, or consents required under, the laws, rules and regulations of any jurisdiction other than the State of New York.
In preparing this letter we have relied without independent verification upon: (i) information contained in certificates obtained from governmental authorities; and (ii) factual information provided to us by the Company. We have assumed that there has been no relevant change or development between the dates as of which the information cited in the preceding sentence was made available to us and the date of this letter and that the information upon which we have relied is accurate and does not omit disclosures necessary to prevent such information from being misleading. Whenever this letter provides advice about (or based upon) our knowledge of any particular information, such advice is based entirely on the actual knowledge at the time this letter is delivered on the date it bears by the lawyers with Kirkland & Ellis who have represented or are representing the Company in connection with the issuance of the Securities after consultation with other lawyers with Kirkland & Ellis who have represented the Company on other substantive matters.
None of the opinions or other advice contained in this letter considers or covers: (a) any antifraud laws, rules or regulations; (b) any state securities (or “blue sky”) laws or regulations or securities laws or regulations of jurisdictions outside the United States; (c) any financial statements or supporting schedules (or any notes to any such statements or schedules) or other financial or statistical information derived therefrom set forth in (or omitted from) the Registration Statement and/or the related prospectus; or (d) any laws, statutes, governmental rules or regulations or decisions which in our experience are not usually considered for or covered by opinions like those contained in this letter or are not generally applicable to transactions of the kind covered by the Documents including any regulatory laws or requirements specific to the industry in which you or the Company is engaged. In addition, none of the opinions or other advice contained in this letter covers or otherwise addresses any of the following types of provisions which may be contained in the Documents: (i) provisions mandating contribution towards judgments or settlements among various parties; (ii) waivers of benefits and rights to the extent they cannot be waived under applicable law; (iii) provisions providing for liquidated damages, late charges and prepayment charges, in each case if deemed to constitute penalties; or (iv) requirements in the Documents specifying that provisions thereof may only be waived in writing (these provisions may not be valid, binding or enforceable to the extent that an oral agreement or an implied agreement by trade practice or course of conduct has been created modifying any provision of such documents).
ReneSola Ltd January 15, 2021 Page 5 |
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This opinion is being furnished in accordance with the requirements of Item 601(b)(5) of Regulation S-K promulgated under the Act, and no opinion is expressed herein as to any matter pertaining to the contents of the Registration Statement, other than as to the specific issues addressed herein, and no opinion may be inferred or implied beyond that expressly stated herein.
We hereby consent to the filing of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and to the reference to us in the Registration Statement in the section “Legal Matters.” In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are “experts” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Sincerely,
Kirkland & Ellis
Exhibit 23.1
CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM
We have issued our report dated April 28, 2020 with respect to the consolidated financial statements of ReneSola Ltd. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) included in the Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019, which is incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement. We consent to the incorporation by reference of the aforementioned report in this Registration Statement, and to the use of our name as it appears under the caption “Experts.”
/s/ Grant Thornton
Shanghai, the People’s Republic of China
January 15, 2021
Exhibit 23.4
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中国上海市黄浦区南京西路338号天安中心11楼 11/F, Tian An Centre, 338 West Nanjing Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai 200003, P.R.C. Tel:86-21-6301 8877 Fax: 86-21-6301 6887
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January 15, 2021
ReneSola Ltd
3rd Floor, 850 Canal St
Stamford, CT 06902
U.S.A
Dear Sirs,
We hereby consent to the filing of this letter as an exhibit to the ReneSola Ltd’s registration statement on Form F-3 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and to the reference therein to our firm under the headings of “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities” and “Legal Matters” in the prospectus included in the registration statement. In giving such consent, we do not thereby admit that we come within the category of persons whose consent is required under Section 7 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the regulations promulgated thereunder.
Yours faithfully,
| /s/ Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm | |
| Zhong Lun W&D Law Firm, Shanghai Branch |
Zhonglun W&D Law Firm, Shanghai Branch
Room 1101, Tian'an Center, No.338 West Nanjing Road
Shanghai 200003, P.R. China
www.zhonglunwende.com