Securities Lawyer's Deskbook                          published by The University of Cincinnati College of Law

Section 26 -- Unit Investment Trusts

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1. Custody and sale of securities. No principal underwriter for or depositor of a registered unit investment trust shall sell, except by surrender to the trustee for redemption, any security of which such trust is the issuer (other than short-term paper), unless the trust indenture, agreement of custodianship, or other instrument pursuant to which such security is issued--
   
   
   1. designates one or more trustees or custodians, each of which is a bank, and provides that each such trustee or custodian shall have at all times an aggregate capital, surplus, and undivided profits of a specified minimum amount, which shall not be less than $ 500,000 (but may also provide, if such trustee or custodian publishes reports of condition at least annually, pursuant to law or to the requirements of its supervising or examining authority, that for the purposes of this paragraph the aggregate capital, surplus, and undivided profits of such trustee or custodian shall be deemed to be its aggregate capital, surplus, and undivided profits as set forth in its most recent report of condition so published);
      
      
   2. provides, in substance, (A) that during the life of the trust the trustee or custodian, if not otherwise remunerated, may charge against and collect from the income of the trust, and from the corpus thereof if no income is available, such fees for its services and such reimbursement for its expenses as are provided for in such instrument; (B) that no such charge or collection shall be made except for services theretofore performed or expenses theretofore incurred; (C) that no payment to the depositor of or a principal underwriter for such trust, or to any affiliated person or agent of such depositor or underwriter, shall be allowed the trustee or custodian as an expense (except that provision may be made for the payment to any such person of a fee, not exceeding such reasonable amount as the Commission may prescribe as compensation for performing bookkeeping and other administrative services, of a character normally performed by the trustee or custodian itself); and (D) that the trustee or custodian shall have possession of all securities and other property in which the funds of the trust are invested, all funds held for such investment, all equalization, redemption, and other special funds of the trust, and all income upon, accretions to, and proceeds of such property and funds, and shall segregate and hold the same in trust (subject only to the charges and collections allowed under clauses (A), (B), and (C)) until distribution thereof to the security holders of the trust;
      
      
   3. provides, in substance, that the trustee or custodian shall not resign until either (A) the trust has been completely liquidated and the proceeds of the liquidation distributed to the security holders of the trust, or (B) a successor trustee or custodian, having the qualifications prescribed in paragraph (1), has been designated and has accepted such trusteeship or custodianship; and
      
      
   4. provides, in substance, (A) that a record will be kept by the depositor or an agent of the depositor of the name and address of, and the shares issued by the trust and held by, every holder of any security issued pursuant to such instrument, insofar as such information is known to the depositor or agent; and (B) that whenever a security is deposited with the trustee in substitution for any security in which such security holder has an undivided interest, the depositor or the agent of the depositor will, within five days after such substitution, either deliver or mail to such security holder a notice of substitution, including an identification of the securities eliminated and the securities substituted, and a specification of the shares of such security holder affected by the substitution.
      
      
2. Bank or affiliated person of bank as trustee or custodian. The Commission may, after consultation with and taking into consideration the views of the Federal banking agencies (as defined in section 3 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act [12 USCS § 1813]), adopt rules and regulations, and issue orders, consistent with the protection of investors, prescribing the conditions under which a bank, or an affiliated person of a bank, either of which is an affiliated person of a principal underwriter for, or depositor of, a registered unit investment trust, may serve as trustee or custodian under subsection (a)(1).
   
   
3. Substitution of securities. It shall be unlawful for any depositor or trustee of a registered unit investment trust holding the security of a single issuer to substitute another security for such security unless the Commission shall have approved such substitution. The Commission shall issue an order approving such substitution if the evidence establishes that it is consistent with the protection of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the policy and provisions of this title.
   
   
4. Binding contract or agreement embodying applicable provisions deemed to qualify non-complying instrument by which securities were issued. In the event that a trust indenture, agreement of custodianship, or other instrument pursuant to which securities of a registered unit investment trust are issued does not comply with the requirements of subsection (a) of this section, such instrument will be deemed to meet such requirements if a written contract or agreement binding on the parties and embodying such requirements has been executed by the depositor on the one part and the trustee or custodian on the other part, and three copies of such contract or agreement have been filed with the Commission.
   
   
5. Liquidation of unit investment trust. Whenever the Commission has reason to believe that a unit investment trust is inactive and that its liquidation is in the interest of the security holders of such trust, the Commission may file a complaint seeking the liquidation of such trust in the district court of the United States in any district wherein any trustee of such trust resides or has its principal place of business. A copy of such complaint shall be served on every trustee of such trust, and notice of the proceedings shall be given such other interested persons in such manner and at such times as the court may direct. If the court determines that such liquidation is in the interest of the security holders of such trust, the court shall order such liquidation and, after payment of necessary expenses, the distribution of the proceeds to the security holders of the trust in such manner and on such terms as may to the court appear equitable.
   
   
6. Exemption.
   
   
   1. In general. Subsection (a) does not apply to any registered separate account funding variable insurance contracts, or to the sponsoring insurance company and principal underwriter of such account.
      
      
   2. Limitation on sales. It shall be unlawful for any registered separate account funding variable insurance contracts, or for the sponsoring insurance company of such account, to sell any such contract--
      
      
      1. unless the fees and charges deducted under the contract, in the aggregate, are reasonable in relation to the services rendered, the expenses expected to be incurred, and the risks assumed by the insurance company, and, beginning on the earlier of August 1, 1997, or the earliest effective date of any registration statement or amendment thereto for such contract following the date of enactment of this subsection, the insurance company so represents in the registration statement for the contract; and
         
         
      2. unless the insurance company--
         
         
         1. complies with all other applicable provisions of this section, as if it were a trustee or custodian of the registered separate account;
            
            
         2. files with the insurance regulatory authority of the State which is the domiciliary State of the insurance company, an annual statement of its financial condition, which most recent statement indicates that the insurance company has a combined capital and surplus, if a stock company, or an unassigned surplus, if a mutual company, of not less than $ 1,000,000, or such other amount as the Commission may from time to time prescribe by rule, as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors; and
            
            
         3. together with its registered separate accounts, is supervised and examined periodically by the insurance authority of such State.
            
            
   3. Fees and charges. For purposes of paragraph (2), the fees and charges deducted under the contract shall include all fees and charges imposed for any purpose and in any manner.
      
      
   4. Regulatory authority. The Commission may issue such rules and regulations to carry out paragraph (2)(A) as it determines are necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors.
      
      

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