General. The intent of the Parties is that the payments and benefits under this Agreement comply with or be exempt from Section 409A of the Code and the Department of Treasury regulations and other interpretive guidance issued thereunder, including without limitation any such regulations or other guidance that may be issued after the Effective Date, (“[Section 409A]”) and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, this Agreement shall be interpreted to be in compliance therewith. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, if the Company determines that any compensation or benefits payable under this Agreement may be subject to Section 409A, the Company shall work in good faith with Executive to adopt such amendments to this Agreement or adopt other policies and procedures (including amendments, policies and procedures with retroactive effect), or take any other actions, that the Company determines are necessary or appropriate to avoid the imposition of taxes under Section 409A, including, without limitation, actions intended to # exempt the compensation and benefits payable under this Agreement from [Section 409A], and/or # comply with the requirements of Section 409A; however, this Section 10(a) shall not create an obligation on the part of the Company to adopt any such amendment, policy or procedure or take any such other action, nor shall the Company # have any liability for failing to do so, or # incur or indemnify Executive for any taxes, interest or other liabilities arising under or by operation of [Section 409A].

The parties intend for the compensation provided under this Agreement to be exempt from the provisions of Section 409A of the Code (together with the regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder, “[Section 409A]”) to the maximum extent provided for thereunder and this Agreement shall be construed consistent with that intent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in no event shall the Company or any of its Affiliates or successors have any liability to the Executive or to any other person claiming rights under this Agreement relating to the failure or alleged failure of any payment or benefit under this Agreement to comply with, or be exempt from, [Section 409A].

If and to the extent any payment or benefits under this Agreement are otherwise subject to the requirements of Code Section 409A, the intent of the parties is that such payment and benefits shall comply with Code Section 409A and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, this Agreement shall be interpreted, and such payment and benefits shall be paid or provided under such other conditions determined by the Company that cause such payment and benefits, to be in compliance therewith. To the extent that any provision hereof is modified in order to comply with Code Section 409A, such modification shall be made in good faith and shall, to the maximum extent reasonably possible, maintain the original intent and economic benefit to the parties hereto of the applicable provision without violating the provisions of Code Section 409A. The Company makes no representation that any or all of the payments or benefits provided under this Agreement will be exempt from or comply with Code Section 409A and makes no undertaking to preclude Code Section 409A from applying to any such payments or benefits. In no event whatsoever shall the Company Group be liable for any additional tax, interest or penalty that may be imposed on Executive by Code Section 409A or damages for failing to comply with Code Section 409A.

The intent of the parties is that payments and benefits under this Agreement comply with Section 409A of the Code (“[Section 409A]”), to the extent subject thereto, or otherwise be exempt from [Section 409A], and accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted, this Agreement shall be interpreted and administered to be exempt from or in compliance therewith. Each amount to be paid or benefit to be provided under this Agreement shall be construed as a separate and distinct payment for purposes of [Section 409A]. Without limiting the foregoing and notwithstanding anything contained herein to the contrary, to the extent required to avoid accelerated taxation and/or tax penalties under Section 409A:

The parties hereby acknowledge and agree that all benefits or payments provided by the Company to Employee pursuant to this Agreement are intended either to be exempt from Section 409A of the Code, or to be in compliance with Section 409A, and the Agreement shall be interpreted to the greatest extent possible to be so exempt or in compliance and to incorporate the terms and conditions required by [Section 409A]. If there is an ambiguity in the language of the Agreement, or if [Section 409A] guidance indicates that a change to the Agreement is required or desirable to achieve exemption or compliance with Section 409A, notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, the Company reserves the right (without any obligation to do so or to indemnify Employee for failure to do so) to # adopt such amendments to this Agreement and or adopt such other policies and procedures, including amendments, policies and procedures with retroactive effect, that the Company determines to be necessary or appropriate to preserve the intended tax treatment of the benefits provided by this Agreement, to preserve the economic benefits of this Agreement and to avoid less favorable accounting or tax consequences for the Company and/or # take such other actions as the Company determines to be necessary or appropriate to exempt the amounts payable hereunder from [Section 409A] or to comply with the requirements of Section 409A and thereby avoid the application of penalty taxes thereunder. No provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted or construed to transfer any liability for failure to comply with the requirements of Section 409A from the Employee or any other individual to the Company or any of its affiliates, employees or agents.

General. The parties hereto acknowledge and agree that, to the extent applicable, this Agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with, and incorporate the terms and conditions required by Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and the Department of Treasury regulations and other interpretive guidance issued thereunder, including without limitation any such regulations or other guidance that may be issued after the Effective Date. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that the Company determines that any amounts payable hereunder will be immediately taxable to the Employee under Section 409A, the Company reserves the right (without any obligation to do so or to indemnify the Employee for failure to do so) to # adopt such amendments to this Agreement and appropriate policies and procedures, including amendments and policies with retroactive effect, that the Company determines to be necessary or appropriate to preserve the intended tax treatment of the benefits provided by this Agreement, to preserve the economic benefits of this Agreement and to avoid less favorable accounting or tax consequences for the Company or # take such other actions as the Company determines to be necessary or appropriate to exempt the amounts payable hereunder from [Section 409A] or to comply with the requirements of Section 409A and thereby avoid the application of penalty taxes thereunder. No provision of this Agreement shall be interpreted or construed to transfer any liability for failure to comply with the requirements of Section 409A from the Employee or any other individual to the Company or any of its affiliates, employees or agents.

The parties intend that any payments or benefits to be made under this Agreement comply with or otherwise be exempt from Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and the regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder (collectively, “Code Section 409A”) and, accordingly, this Agreement will be administered and interpreted in a manner consistent with this intent. In the event that any provision would cause this Agreement to fail to satisfy Code Section 409A, the parties agree to negotiate in good faith to amend the Agreement so as to prevent the imposition of any additional tax or interest pursuant to Code Section 409A to the extent possible.

General. The payments and benefits provided hereunder are intended to be exempt from or compliant with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code. Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that the Company reasonably determines that any payments or benefits hereunder are not either exempt from or compliant with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, the Company shall have the right to adopt such amendments to this Agreement or adopt such other policies and procedures (including amendments, policies and procedures with retroactive effect), or take any other actions, that are necessary or appropriate # to preserve the intended tax treatment of the payments and benefits provided hereunder, to preserve the economic benefits with respect to such payments and benefits, and/or # to exempt such payments and benefits from Section 409A of the Code or to comply with the requirements of Section 409A of the Code and thereby avoid the application of penalty taxes thereunder; provided, however, that this Section 17.1 does not, and shall not be construed so as to, create any obligation on the part of the Company to adopt any such amendments, policies or procedures or to take any other such actions or to indemnify the Employee for any failure to do so.

The Company intends that all payments and benefits provided under this Agreement or otherwise are exempt from, or comply with, the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and any Treasury Regulations and other guidance promulgated thereunder (“[Section 409A]”) so that none of the payments or benefits will be subject to the additional tax imposed under Section 409A, and any ambiguities herein will be interpreted to so comply.

Compliance. The intent of the parties is that payments and benefits under this Agreement be exempt from, or comply with, Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations issued thereunder, and all notices, rulings and other guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service interpreting the same (collectively, "[Section 409A]") so as to avoid the additional tax and penalty interest provisions contained therein and, accordingly, to the maximum extent permitted under Section 409A, this Agreement shall be interpreted to maintain exemption from or compliance with its requirements. In no event whatsoever shall the Company be liable for any tax, interest or penalties that may be imposed on Executive by [Section 409A] or any damages for failing to comply with Section 409A, except for