rsoproxy.htm
UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
SCHEDULE
14A
(Rule
14a-101)
Proxy
Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934
(Amendment
No. )
Filed by the Registrant
x
Filed by
a Party other than the Registrant o
Check the
appropriate box:
o Preliminary
Proxy Statement
o Confidential,
for Use of the Commission Only (as permitted by Rule
14a-6(e)(2))
x Definitive Proxy
Statement
o Definitive
Additional Materials
o Soliciting
Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12
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RESOURCE
CAPITAL CORP.
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(Name
of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)
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N/A
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(Name
of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement if other than the
Registrant)
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Payment
of Filing Fee (Check the appropriate box):
x No fee
required.
o Fee computed on
table below per Exchange Act Rules 14a-6(i)(1) and 0-11.
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(1)
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Title
of each class of securities to which transaction applies:
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(2)
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Aggregate
number of securities to which transaction applies:
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(3)
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Per
unit price or other underlying value of transaction computed pursuant to
Exchange Act Rule 0-11 (Set forth the amount on which the filing fee is
calculated and state how it was determined):
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(4)
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Proposed
maximum aggregate value of transaction:
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(5)
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Total
fee paid:
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o
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Fee
paid previously with preliminary
materials.
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o
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Check
box if any part of the fee is offset as provided by Exchange Act Rule
0-11(a)(2) and identify the filing for which the offsetting fee was paid
previously. Identify the previous filing by registration
statement number, or the Form or Schedule and the date of its
filing.
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(1)
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Amount
previously paid:___________________________________
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(2)
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Form,
Schedule or Registration Statement No.:
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(3)
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Filing
Party: ____________________________________________
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(4)
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Date
Filed: ____________________________________________
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RESOURCE
CAPITAL CORP.
712 Fifth
Avenue New York,
NY 10019
NOTICE
OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
To
be held on Thursday, June 24, 2010
To the
Stockholders of RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.:
Notice is hereby given
that the annual meeting of stockholders of RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP., a Maryland
corporation, will be held at One Crescent Drive, Suite 203, Navy Yard Corporate
Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, June 24, 2010, at 1:00 p.m.
(the “Meeting”), for the following purposes:
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1.
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To
elect the eight directors named in the enclosed proxy statement to serve
until the next annual meeting of stockholders in
2011.
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2.
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To
transact such other business as may properly be brought before the Meeting
and any adjournment, postponement or continuation
thereof.
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Only stockholders of
record on our books at the close of business on April 28, 2010, will be entitled
to notice of and to vote at the Meeting or any adjournment thereof. A
list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Meeting will be available for
inspection at the Meeting and for 10 days before the Meeting at our offices at
712 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10019. The stock transfer books
will not be closed.
STOCKHOLDERS CAN HELP
AVOID THE NECESSITY AND EXPENSE OF SENDING FOLLOW-UP LETTERS TO ASSURE A QUORUM
BY PROMPTLY RETURNING THE ENCLOSED PROXY. THE ENCLOSED ADDRESSED
ENVELOPE REQUIRES NO POSTAGE AND YOU MAY REVOKE YOUR PROXY AT ANY TIME BEFORE
ITS USE. ONLY PERSONS WHO ARE STOCKHOLDERS AS OF APRIL 28, 2010 OR
THEIR DULY AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES OR PROXIES ARE INVITED TO ATTEND THE
MEETING. IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND YOU NEED TO BRING A FORM OF PERSONAL
IDENTIFICATION WITH YOU. IF YOUR STOCK IS HELD OF RECORD BY A BANK,
BROKER OR OTHER NOMINEE, YOU ALSO NEED TO BRING AN ACCOUNT STATEMENT INDICATING
THAT YOU BENEFICIALLY OWN THE SHARES AS OF THE RECORD DATE, OR A LETTER FROM THE
RECORD HOLDER INDICATING THAT YOU BENEFICIALLY OWN THE SHARES AS OF THE RECORD
DATE, AND IF YOU WISH TO VOTE AT THE MEETING YOU MUST FIRST OBTAIN FROM THE
RECORD HOLDER A PROXY ISSUED IN YOUR NAME.
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By order of the Board of Directors, |
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Michael S.
Yecies, Secretary |
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May 12,
2010 |
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Important
Notice Regarding the Availability of Proxy Materials for
the
Meeting to be held on June 24, 2010:
The
proxy statement and our 2009 Annual Report are available at:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy
RESOURCE
CAPITAL CORP.
712 Fifth
Avenue New
York, NY 10019
PROXY
STATEMENT
ANNUAL
MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS
TO BE
HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 24, 2010
ABOUT
THE MEETING
Solicitation
of Proxies. This proxy statement and the accompanying proxy
are furnished to stockholders of Resource Capital Corp. in connection with the
solicitation by our Board of Directors, which we refer to as the Board, of
proxies for use at the 2010 annual meeting of stockholders of Resource Capital
Corp. to be held on June 24, 2010, at 1:00 p.m., which we refer to as the
Meeting, at One
Crescent Drive, Suite 203, Navy Yard Corporate Center, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, and at any and all adjournments thereof.
Mailing
Date. Our annual report on Form 10-K, including consolidated
financial statements, which we refer to as our 2009 Form 10-K, the Notice of
Annual Meeting, this proxy statement and the enclosed proxy card are being
mailed on or about May 12, 2010.
Who
Can Vote. Only stockholders of record at the close of business
on April 28, 2010 will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the
Meeting. Each of the approximately 41,403,172 shares of our common
stock issued and outstanding on that date is entitled to one vote at the
Meeting.
Voting
at the Meeting. The presence at the Meeting in person or by
proxy of holders of outstanding shares of common stock entitled to cast a
majority of all the votes entitled to be cast at the Meeting will constitute a
quorum.
In order to be elected as
a director as described in Proposal 1 below, a nominee must receive a plurality
of all of the votes cast at the Meeting at which a quorum is
present. The “plurality” standard means the nominees who receive the
largest number of “for” votes cast are elected as directors. Thus, the number of
shares not voted for the election of a nominee (and the number of “withhold”
votes cast with respect to that nominee) will not affect the determination of
whether that nominee has received the necessary votes for election. If any
nominee is unable or declines to serve, proxies will be voted for the balance of
those named and for such person as shall be designated by the Board to replace
any such nominee. However, the Board does not anticipate that this
will occur. For any other matter which may properly come before the
Meeting, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the votes
cast at the Meeting at which a quorum is present is required, either in person
or by proxy, for approval, unless otherwise required by law.
Any proxy not specifying
to the contrary, and not designated as a broker non-vote as described below,
will be voted FOR the election of the directors.
Share of common stock
represented at the Meeting in person or by proxy but not voted on one or more
proposals will be included in determining the presence of a quorum for all of
the proposals, but will not be considered cast on any proposal on which they
were not voted. A failure by brokers to vote common stock held
by them in nominee name will mean that such common stock will not be counted for
the purposes of establishing a quorum and will not be
voted. If a broker does not receive voting instructions from the
beneficial owner of common stock on a particular matter and indicates on the
proxy delivered with respect to such common stock that it does not have
discretionary authority to vote on that matter, which is referred to as a broker
“non-vote,” those shares of common stock will be considered as present for the
purpose of determining whether a quorum exists, but will not be considered cast
on any proposal on which they were not voted. Brokers that are member
firms of the New York Stock Exchange, which we refer to as the NYSE, and who
hold common stock in street name for customers generally do not have the
discretion to vote those shares of common stock with respect to the election of
directors if they have not received instructions from the beneficial
owners. With respect to the election of directors described in
Proposal 1 below, broker “non-votes” will not be included in the votes
deemed to be “cast.” With respect to any other matter properly
brought before the Meeting, abstentions and broker “non-votes” will not be
counted as votes cast on any matter, and will have no effect on the results of
the votes with respect to such proposals and other
matters.
Should any matters not
described above be properly presented at the Meeting, the persons named in the
proxy form will vote in accordance with their judgment. The proxy form
authorizes these persons, in their discretion, to vote upon such matters as may
properly be brought before the Meeting or any adjournment, postponement or
continuation thereof.
Revocation
of Proxies. If you are a holder of record, you may revoke your
proxy at any time before it is exercised in any of three
ways:
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1)
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by
submitting written notice of revocation to our
Secretary;
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2)
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by
submitting another proxy by mail that is later dated and properly signed;
or
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3)
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by
voting in person at the
Meeting.
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If your
shares are held in street name, you must contact your broker or nominee to
revoke your proxy.
Other
Business. We do not intend to bring any business before the
Meeting other than that set forth in the Notice of the Annual Meeting and
described in this proxy statement. However, if any other business should
properly come before the Meeting, the persons named in the proxy intend to vote
in accordance with their best judgment on such business and on any matters
dealing with the conduct of the Meeting pursuant to the discretionary authority
granted in the proxy.
Costs. We
pay for the preparation and mailing of the proxy materials. Our
directors, officers and employees may solicit proxies either personally, by
letter or by telephone. We will not specifically compensate our
directors, officers or employees for soliciting proxies. We have also
made arrangements with brokerage firms and other custodians, nominees, and
fiduciaries for forwarding proxy materials to the beneficial owners of our
common stock at our expense.
Stockholders
Sharing an Address. Stockholders sharing an address with
another stockholder may receive only one annual report or one set of proxy
materials at that address unless they have provided contrary
instructions. Any such stockholder who wishes to receive a separate
copy of the annual report or a separate set of proxy materials now or in the
future may write or call us to request a separate copy of these materials from:
Investor Relations, 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019; telephone number
(212) 506-3870. We will promptly deliver a copy of the requested
materials. Similarly, stockholders who have received multiple copies
of the proxy materials, and share an address with another stockholder, may write
the above address or call the above phone number to request delivery of a single
copy of these materials.
Electronic
Availability. The proxy statement and our 2009 Annual Report
are available at:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy
SECURITY
OWNERSHIP
The following table sets
forth the number and percentage of shares of common stock owned, as of April 28,
2010, by (a) each person who, to our knowledge, is the beneficial owner of more
than 5% of the outstanding shares of common stock, (b) each of our present
directors, (c) each of our executive officers and (d) all of our named executive
officers and directors as a group. This information is reported in
accordance with the beneficial ownership rules of the Securities and Exchange
Commission under which a person is deemed to be the beneficial owner of a
security if that person has or shares voting power or investment power with
respect to such security or has the right to acquire such ownership within 60
days. Shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options or warrants
are deemed to be outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of the
person or group holding such options or warrants but are not deemed to be
outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of any other
person.
Executive officers
and directors: (1)
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Walter T. Beach
(4)(5)
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1,058,911 |
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2.56% |
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Edward E. Cohen
(2)(3)
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474,120 |
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1.14% |
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Jonathan Z. Cohen
(2)(3)
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694,659 |
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1.67% |
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William B. Hart
(5)
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31,396 |
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* |
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Gary Ickowicz (5)
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13,876 |
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* |
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Steven J. Kessler
(2)(3)
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73,069 |
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* |
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Murray S. Levin
(5)
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25,396 |
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* |
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P. Sherrill Neff
(5)
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31,396 |
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* |
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Jeffrey D. Blomstrom
(2)(3)
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36,276 |
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* |
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David E. Bloom (2)(3)
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247,364 |
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* |
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Jeffrey F. Brotman
(3)
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19,267 |
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* |
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David J. Bryant
(2)(3)
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76,798 |
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* |
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All
executive officers and directors as a group
(12 persons)
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2,782,528 |
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6.68% |
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Owners
of 5% or more of outstanding shares:
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Resource America,
Inc. (6)
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2,265,824 |
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5.47% |
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* Less
than 1%.
(1)
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The
address for all of our executive officers and directors is c/o Resource
Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, 10th Floor, New York, New York
10019.
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(2)
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Includes
stock options to purchase common shares granted to certain officers and
directors as follows: Mr. E. Cohen – 25,000; Mr. J Cohen –
100,000; Mr. Kessler – 10,000; Mr. Blomstrom – 10,000; Mr. Bloom –
100,000; and Mr. Bryant – 10,000.
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(3)
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Includes
restricted stock awards granted to certain officers and directors as
follows: (i) on December 26, 2007: 60,000 shares to Mr. Bloom;
15% of these shares vested on each of June 30, 2008 and June 30, 2009 and
70% will vest on December 31, 2010; (ii) on January 14, 2008: Mr.
Blomstrom – 10,787 shares; Mr. Bloom – 18,878 shares; Mr. Bryant – 13,484
shares; Mr. E. Cohen – 10,787 shares; and Mr. Kessler – 5,393 shares; all
these shares vest 33.33% per year; (iii) on July 30, 2009: Mr. Bloom –
24,502 shares; these shares vest in full on July 30, 2010; and (iv) on
January 22, 2010: Mr. Blomstrom – 14,450 shares, Mr. Bloom – 19,267
shares; Mr. Brotman – 19,267 shares; Mr. Bryant – 19,267 shares; Mr. J.
Cohen – 57,803 shares; and Mr. Kessler – 19,267 shares; all these shares
vest 33.33% per year. Each such person has the right to receive
distributions on and vote, but not to transfer, such
shares.
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(4)
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Includes
1,037,515 shares purchased on behalf of accounts managed by Beach Asset
Management, LLC, Beach Investment Counsel, Inc. and/or Beach Investment
Management, LLC, investment management firms for which Mr. Beach is a
principal and possesses investment and/or voting power over the
shares. The address for these investment management firms is
Five Tower Bridge, 300 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 220, West Conshohocken,
Pennsylvania 19428.
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(5)
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Includes
(i) 3,214 shares of restricted stock issued to each of Messrs. Beach,
Hart, Levin and Neff on March 8, 2010 which vest on March 8, 2011, and
(ii) 4,083 shares of restricted stock issued to Mr. Ickowicz on February
1, 2010 which vest on February 1, 2011. Each non-employee
director has the right to receive distributions on and vote, but not to
transfer, such shares.
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(6)
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Includes
(i) 921 shares of restricted stock granted to Resource Capital Manager,
Inc., which we refer to as the Manager, in connection with our March 2005
private placement that the Manager has not allocated to its employees,
(ii) 100,000 shares purchased by the Manager in our initial public
offering, (iii) 900,000 shares purchased by Resource Capital
Investor, Inc. in our March 2005 private placement, (iv) 900,000
shares purchased by Resource Capital Investor in our initial public
offering, and (v) 364,903 shares transferred to the Manager as incentive
compensation pursuant to the terms of its management agreement with
us. The Manager and Resource Capital Investor are wholly-owned
subsidiaries of Resource America, Inc. The address for Resource
America, Inc. is 1845 Walnut Street, Suite 1000, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania 19103.
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Section
16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our officers, directors and persons who
own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports
of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and to furnish us with copies
of all such reports. Based solely on our review of the reports
received by us, we believe that, during fiscal 2009, our officers, directors and
greater than ten percent stockholders complied with all applicable filings
requirements, except Mr. Bloom inadvertently filed two late Form 4s relating to
two restricted stock grants.
PROPOSAL
1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
The Board, upon the
recommendation of its Nominating and Governance Committee, has nominated Messrs.
Walter T. Beach, Edward E. Cohen, Jonathan Z. Cohen, William B. Hart, Gary
Ickowicz, Steven J. Kessler, Murray S. Levin and P. Sherrill Neff to serve as
our directors until the next annual meeting of stockholders or until their
respective successors are duly elected and qualified. The
stockholders have the right to annually elect all eight director nominees to our
Board.
The persons named in the
enclosed proxy intend, in the absence of a contrary direction, to vote for
Messrs. Beach, E. Cohen, J. Cohen, Hart, Ickowicz, Kessler, Levin and
Neff. The Board knows of no reason why any nominee would be unable or
unwilling to serve, but if any nominee should be unable or unwilling to serve,
the proxies will be voted for the election of such other person for director as
the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board may recommend in the place
of such nominee. The
Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote “FOR” all of the
nominees.
Information is set forth
below regarding the principal occupation of each Board nominee. There
are no family relationships among the nominees except that Jonathan Z. Cohen,
our President and Chief Executive Officer and a director, is a son of Edward E.
Cohen, a director and our former Chairman.
Nominees
for Election
Walter
T. Beach, age 43, has been a director since March 2005.
Mr. Beach has been Managing Director of Beach Investment Counsel, Inc., an
investment management firm, since 1997. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Beach
was a Senior Analyst and Director of Research at Widmann, Siff and Co., Inc., an
investment management firm, where, beginning in 1994, he was responsible for the
firm’s investment decisions for its principal equity product. Before
that he was an associate and financial analyst at Essex Financial Group, a
consulting and merchant banking firm, and an analyst at Industry Analysis Group,
an industry and economic consulting firm. Mr. Beach has served as a
director of The Bancorp, Inc., a publicly-traded (NASDAQ: TBBK) bank
holding company, and its subsidiary bank, The Bancorp Bank, since
1999. Mr. Beach has also served as a director of Cohen & Company,
a publicly-traded (AMEX: COHN) investment firm specializing in
credit-related fixed income products and investments, since December
2009.
Edward
E. Cohen, age 71, has been a director since March 2005 and was our
Chairman from March 2005 to November 2009. Mr. Cohen is Chairman
of Resource America, Inc., a publicly-traded (NASDAQ: REXI) asset management
company and the corporate parent of the Manager, a position he has held since
1990. He was Resource America’s Chief Executive Officer from 1988 to
2004 and its President from 2000 to 2003. He is Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Atlas Energy, Inc. (f/k/a/ Atlas America, Inc.), a
publicly-traded (NASDAQ: ATLS) energy company, a position he has held since
2000; Chairman of Atlas Pipeline Holdings GP, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Atlas Energy that is the general partner of Atlas Pipeline Holdings, L.P., a
publicly-traded (NYSE: AHD) holding company, a position he has held since 2006;
and Chairman of the Managing Board of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC, a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Atlas Pipeline Holdings that is the general partner
of Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P., a publicly-traded (NYSE: APL) natural gas
pipeline company, since its formation in 1999. He is also Chairman of
Brandywine Construction & Management, Inc., a privately-held real
estate management company. From 1981 to 1999 he was Chairman of the
Executive Committee of JeffBanks, Inc., a bank holding company acquired by
Hudson United Bancorporation. From 1969 to 1989 he was Chairman of
the Executive Committee of State National Bank of Maryland (now a part of
Wachovia Bank).
Jonathan
Z. Cohen, age 39, has been our Chief Executive Officer, President and a
director since March 2005. Mr. Cohen has been President since
2003, Chief Executive Officer since 2004 and a Director since 2002 of Resource
America. He was Executive Vice President of Resource America from
2001 to 2003, and a Senior Vice President from 1999 to 2001. He has
been Vice Chairman of the Managing Board of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP since its
formation in 1999, Vice Chairman of Atlas Energy since 2000 and Vice Chairman of
Atlas Pipeline Holdings GP since 2006. He was the Vice Chairman of
RAIT Investment Trust, (now RAIT Financial Trust) a publicly-traded (NYSE: RAS)
real estate investment trust, or REIT, from 2003 to 2006, and Secretary, trustee
and a member of RAIT’s investment committee from 1997 to
2006.
William
B. Hart, age 66, has been a director since March
2005. Mr. Hart was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the
National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1999 to 2004. He was
also a director of Anthem, Inc. (now Wellpoint, Inc.), a publicly-traded (NYSE:
WLP) health insurance company, from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Hart was
Director of SIS Bancorp from 1995 to 2000. From 1988 to 1999,
Mr. Hart served in various positions with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New
Hampshire, ending as Chairman of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Board
of Directors from 1996 to 1999. He also served as President of the
Foundation for the National Capital Region, Washington, DC, from 1993 to 1996
and President of The Dunfey Group, a private investment firm, from 1986 to
1998. From 1986 to 1994 he was a director of First NH Banks where he
was Chairman of the Audit Committee from 1992 to 1994.
Gary
Ickowicz, age 54, has been a director since February 2007. Mr.
Ickowicz has been a Managing Principal of Lazard Freres Real Estate Investors, a
manager of funds invested in debt and equity securities of North American real
estate assets and enterprises, since 2001. He was a director of
Lazard Freres’s real estate investment banking unit from 1989 through
2001. Since 2000 he has been a director of Grant Street Settlement,
and since 2002 he has been a director of NCC/Neumann, both not-for-profit
developers of senior housing. Since 2001 he has been a director of
Commonwealth Atlantic Properties, Inc., a privately-held REIT. From
2001 to 2006 he was a director of Kimsouth, Inc., a joint venture with Kimco
Realty Corporation, a publicly-traded (NYSE: KIM) REIT.
Steven
J. Kessler, age 67, has been our Chairman since November 2009 and was our
Senior Vice President - Finance from September 2005 to November 2009 and, before
that, served as our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and
Treasurer from March 2005 to September 2005. Mr. Kessler has
been Executive Vice President of Resource America since 2005 and was Chief
Financial Officer from 1997 to December 2009 and Senior Vice President from 1997
to 2005. He was a Trustee of GMH Communities Trust, a previously
publicly traded (NYSE: GCT) specialty housing REIT, from 2004 to 2008 when GCT
was sold. He was Vice President - Finance and Acquisitions at Kravco
Company, a then national shopping center developer and operator, from 1994 to
1997. From 1983 to 1993 he was employed by Strouse
Greenberg & Co., a regional full service real estate company, ending as
Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before that, he
was a partner at Touche Ross & Co. (now Deloitte & Touche
LLP), independent public accountants.
Murray
S. Levin, age 67, has been a director since March
2005. Mr. Levin is a senior litigation partner at Pepper
Hamilton LLP, a law firm with which he has been associated since
1970. Mr. Levin served as the first American president of the
Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (Young Lawyers International
Association), headquartered in Western Europe. He is a past president
of the American Chapter and a member of the board of directors of the Union
Internationale des Avocats (International Association of Lawyers), a Paris-based
organization that is the world’s oldest international lawyers
association. Mr. Levin was a member of the managing board of
Atlas Pipeline Partners GP from 2001 to March 2005.
P.
Sherrill Neff, age 58, has been a director since March 2005.
Mr. Neff is a founder of Quaker BioVentures, Inc., a life sciences venture
fund, and has been a Partner since 2002. He was a director of Resource
America from 1998 to March 2005. From 1994 to 2002 he was President and
Chief Financial Officer, and from 1994 to 2003, a director of Neose
Technologies, Inc., a then-publicly-traded (NASDAQ: NTEC) life sciences
company. Mr. Neff was also a director of The Bancorp, Inc. from its
formation in 1999 until 2002. Mr. Neff is on the boards of directors of
five privately held Quaker BioVentures portfolio companies. He is a member
of the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association.
The Board has not adopted
specific minimum qualifications or specific qualities or skills for service on
the Board, but rather seeks a mixture of skills that are relevant to our
business as an externally-managed REIT that focuses primarily upon investments
in commercial real estate and commercial finance assets, principally loans and
interests in loans. The following presents a brief summary of the
attributes of each director that led to the conclusion that he should serve as
such:
Mr. Beach has extensive
experience in finance and investment management and a strong financial
background.
Mr. E. Cohen has lengthy
experience in real estate and real estate finance (a principal business of
Resource America), corporate finance (through the formation and funding of
public companies such as Atlas Energy, Atlas America, Atlas Pipeline, and
Resource America, and his banking experience) and operations of both public and
private companies, and is affiliated with the Manager.
Mr. J. Cohen has
significant real estate, real estate finance and operational experience as an
officer (currently Chief Executive Officer and President) and director of
Resource America, and is affiliated with the Manager.
Mr. Hart has extensive
experience in finance, investment management and real estate, both as an officer
and director of banks and insurance companies, as well as an officer of a
private investment firm.
Mr. Ickowicz has broad
real estate and real estate finance experience as a principal in the real estate
operations of an international investment bank, as a director of a REIT and as a
director of three real estate ventures.
Mr. Kessler has a
significant financial and accounting background in real estate as the former
Chief Financial Officer of Resource America and, previously, as a principal
financial officer for a major operator of commercial real
estate.
Mr. Levin has a lengthy
and diverse legal background and has practiced complex litigation for over forty
years.
Mr. Neff has significant
experience in investments, operations and finance as a principal or officer of a
venture fund, a public company and, prior thereto, as an investment
banker.
Non-Director
Executive Officers
Jeffrey
D. Blomstrom, age 41, has been our Senior Vice President-CDO structuring
since March 2005. Mr. Blomstrom has been President and Managing
Director of Resource Financial Fund Management, Inc., an asset management
subsidiary of Resource America, since 2003. Mr. Blomstrom serves
as the head of collateral origination and as a member of the credit committee
for Trapeza Capital, Resource America’s trust preferred security collateral
manager. From 2001 to 2003 Mr. Blomstrom was a Managing Director
at Cohen & Company. From 2000 to 2001 he was Senior Vice
President of iATMglobal.net, Inc., an ATM software development
company. Mr. Blomstrom was, from 1999 to 2000, an associate at
Covington & Burling, a law firm, where he focused on mergers and
acquisitions and corporate governance.
David
E. Bloom, age 45, has been our Senior Vice President-Real Estate
Investments since March 2005. Mr. Bloom has been Senior Vice
President of Resource America since 2001. He has also been President
of Resource Real Estate, Inc., a wholly-owned real estate subsidiary of Resource
America, since 2004 and President of Resource Capital Partners, an indirect
wholly-owned real estate subsidiary of Resource America, from 2002 to
2006. From 2001 to 2002 he was President of Resource Properties, a
former real estate subsidiary of Resource America. Before that he was
Senior Vice President at Colony Capital, LLC, an international real estate
opportunity fund, from 1999 to 2001. From 1998 to 1999 he was
Director at Sonnenblick-Goldman Company, a real estate investment
bank. From 1995 to 1998 he was an attorney at the law firm of Willkie
Farr & Gallagher, LLP.
Jeffrey
F.
Brotman, 47, has been our Executive Vice President since June 2009 and
Executive Vice President of Resource America since June 2007. He was a
co-founder of Ledgewood, P.C. (a Philadelphia-based law firm) and affiliated
with the firm from 1992 until June 2007, serving as managing partner from 1995
until March 2006. Mr. Brotman is also a non-active certified public
accountant and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law
School. Mr. Brotman was Chairman of the Board of Directors of TRM
Corporation (a publicly-traded consumer services company) from September
2006 until September 2008 and was its President and Chief Executive Officer from
March 2006 through June 2007.
David
J. Bryant, age 52, has been our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial
Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer since June 2006. From
2005 to 2006 Mr. Bryant served as Senior Vice-President, Real Estate
Services, at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, a publicly-traded (NYSE:
PEI) REIT principally engaged in owning, managing, developing and leasing malls
and strip centers in the eastern United States. From 2000 to 2005,
Mr. Bryant served as PEI’s Senior Vice President - Finance and Treasurer,
and was its principal accounting officer.
Other
Significant Employees
The
following sets forth certain information regarding other significant employees
of the Manager and Resource America who provide services to us:
Christopher
D. Allen, age 41, has been our Senior Vice President-Commercial Lending
since March 2005. Mr. Allen has been a Managing Director of
Resource Financial Fund Management, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Resource
America, since 2003. At Resource Financial Fund Management,
Mr. Allen is in charge of identifying, implementing and overseeing new
leveraged loan and CDO products. He is a member of the investment
committee of Apidos Capital Management, LLC, a wholly-owned asset management
subsidiary of Resource America, where he serves as the Chief Operating
Officer. Before joining Resource Financial Fund Management, from 2002
to 2003 he was a Vice President at Trenwith Securities, the investment banking
arm of BDO Seidman, LLP, where he was in charge of corporate finance, mergers
and acquisitions and restructuring transactions. From 1994 to 1997 he
was an Associate with Citicorp Venture Capital working on leveraged buyout and
recapitalization transactions.
Gretchen
L. Bergstresser, age 47, has been our Senior Vice President-Bank Loans
since March 2005. Ms. Bergstresser has been the President and
Senior Portfolio Manager of Apidos Capital Management since
2005. Before joining Apidos Capital Management, from 2003 to 2005 she
was the Managing Director and Portfolio Manager of MJX Asset Management, a
multi-billion dollar boutique asset management firm managing leveraged loans
across five structured vehicles. From 1996 to 2003
Ms. Bergstresser was CDO Portfolio Manager and Head Par Loan Trader at
Eaton Vance Management, an investment management company. From 1995
to 1996 she was a Vice President in the Diversified Finance Division of Bank of
Boston. From 1991 to 1995 she was a Vice President at ING (U.S.),
Capital Markets, an investment banking firm.
Crit
DeMent, age 57, has been our Senior Vice President-Equipment Leasing
since March 2005. Mr. DeMent has been Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of LEAF Financial Corporation, a majority-owned commercial
finance subsidiary of Resource America, since 2001. Mr. DeMent
was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of its subsidiary, LEAF Asset
Management, Inc., from 2002 until 2004. From 2000 to 2001 he was
President of the Small Ticket Group, an equipment leasing division of European
American Bank. Before that, he was President and Chief Operating
Officer of Fidelity Leasing, Inc., then the equipment leasing subsidiary of
Resource America, and its successor, the Technology Finance Group of CitiCapital
Vendor Finance, from 1996 to 2000. From 1987 to 1996 he was Vice
President of Marketing for Tokai Financial Services, an equipment leasing
firm.
Thomas
C. Elliott, age 37, has been our Senior Vice President-Finance and
Operations since September 2006 and, prior to that, was our Chief Financial
Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from September 2005 to June
2006. He was our Senior Vice President - Assets and Liabilities
Management from June 2005 until September 2005 and, before that, served as our
Vice President - Finance from March 2005. Mr. Elliott has been
Chief Financial Officer of Resource America since December 2009 and Senior Vice
President since 2005. He was Senior Vice President - Finance and
Operations of Resource America from 2006 to December 2009; Senior Vice President
– Finance from 2005 to 2006 and Vice President - Finance from 2001 to
2005. From 1997 to 2001 Mr. Elliott was a Vice President at
Fidelity Leasing, where he managed all capital market functions, including the
negotiation of all securitizations and credit and banking facilities in the U.S.
and Canada. Mr. Elliott also oversaw the financial controls and
budgeting departments.
Alan
F. Feldman, age 46, has been our Senior Vice President-Real Estate
Investments since March 2005. Mr. Feldman has been Chief
Executive Officer of Resource Real Estate since 2004 and Senior Vice President
of Resource America since 2002. Mr. Feldman was President of
Resource Properties from 2002 to 2005. From 1998 to 2002,
Mr. Feldman was Vice President at Lazard Freres & Co., an
investment banking firm, specializing in real estate mergers and acquisitions,
asset and portfolio sales and recapitalization. From 1992 through
1998, Mr. Feldman was Executive Vice President of PREIT-RUBIN, Inc. the
management subsidiary of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and its
predecessor, The Rubin Organization. Before that, from 1990 to 1992,
he was a Director at Strouse, Greenberg & Co., a regional full service
real estate company.
Kevin
M. Finkel, age 38, has been our Vice President-Real Estate Investments
since January 2006. He has also been employed by Resource Capital
Partners since 2002, having been its Vice President and Director of Acquisitions
from 2003 to 2006 and President since 2006. Mr. Finkel has also
been an officer of Resource Real Estate since 2004, and is currently its
Executive Vice President and Director of Acquisitions. In 2000,
Mr. Finkel was an investment banking Associate at Lehman
Brothers. From 1998 to 1999, Mr. Finkel was an Associate at
Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays Bank
PLC. From 1994 to 1998, Mr. Finkel was an investment banker at
Deutsche Bank Securities, the investment banking division of Deutsche Bank
AG.
Kyle
Geoghegan, age 41, has been our Senior Vice President – Loan Originations
since 2007. Mr. Geoghegan has been a Managing Director of Resource
Real Estate Funding, Inc., a wholly-owned real estate subsidiary of Resource
America, since July 2006. Mr. Geoghegan co-manages the whole
loan origination platform for Resource Real Estate Funding and is based in Los
Angeles. Mr. Geoghegan worked at Bear Stearns from January 1998 to
May 2006, serving as a Managing Director who co-managed the Bear Stearns
Commercial Mortgage office in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Bear
Stearns, Mr. Geoghegan spent four years as a real estate loan officer at PNC
Bank in Philadelphia, PA, primarily originating construction and bridge
loans.
Yvana
Melini, age
34, has been our Vice President and Director of Asset Management since
2008. Ms. Melini has served as Vice President of Debt Asset
Management for Resource Real Estate since 2006. From 2000 to 2006,
Ms. Melini served as a Vice President of both the Structured Asset Management
and CMBS Credit Administration groups for Capmark Finance, Inc. (formerly GMAC
Commercial Mortgage Corporation). Prior to her employment with
Capmark, Ms. Melini served as Senior Underwriter for the Northeast Commercial
Real Estate Lending division of Washington Mutual Bank. Ms. Melini
has also privately consulted on various due diligence projects for large
institutional investors and purchasers of “B Notes” (subordinated interest first
mortgage loans) within the commercial mortgage-backed securities, or CMBS,
marketplace.
Darryl
Myrose, age 36, has been our Senior Vice President – Loan Originations
since 2007. Mr. Myrose has been a Managing Director of Resource Real
Estate Funding since July 2006. Mr. Myrose co-manages the whole
loan origination platform for Resource Real Estate Funding and is based in Los
Angeles. Mr. Myrose worked at Bear Stearns from April 1996 to
May 2006, serving as a Managing Director who co-managed the Bear Stearns
Commercial Mortgage office in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Bear
Stearns, Mr. Myrose was employed with Clarion Advisors (formerly Jones Lang
Wootton Realty Advisors) where he was an asset management
analyst.
Thomas
C. Powers, age 45, has been our Vice President – Loan Originations since
2007. Mr. Powers has been Senior Vice President of Resource Real
Estate Funding since January 2008 and was Vice President from 2006 to
2008. Mr. Powers is responsible for real estate asset management,
including investment origination, and transaction management. Mr.
Powers has over 20 years of commercial real estate, workout and risk management
experience. Prior to joining Resource Real Estate Funding, Mr. Powers
was a senior member of the real estate credit risk management and workout group
at Merrill Lynch. Prior to his employment with Merrill Lynch, Mr.
Powers worked in the project finance group at UBS Investment
Bank.
Joan
M. Sapinsley, age 58, has been our Senior Vice President – CMBS since
2007. Ms. Sapinsley joined Resource Financial Fund Management in
February 2007 as Managing Director and manages our CMBS portfolio. Prior to
joining Resource Financial Fund Management, Ms. Sapinsley was a Managing
Director at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), where she worked
from 1992 through 2006 purchasing CMBS. She was responsible for all single
borrower and single asset CMBS, as well as subordinate CMBS and
B-notes. She also directed TIAA’s conduit origination and
securitization activities. Before TIAA, Ms. Sapinsley was a Director in the
Financial Services Group of Cushman & Wakefield and a real estate consultant
at Laventhol & Horwath.
Michael
S. Yecies, age 42, has been our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since
March 2005 and our Senior Vice President since July
2007. Mr. Yecies has been Senior Vice President of Resource
America since 2005, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since 1998 and was Vice
President from 1998 to 2005. From 1994 to 1998 he was an attorney at
the law firm of Duane Morris LLP.
CORPORATE
GOVERNANCE
Our
Board of Directors and Its Committees
Our
common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “RSO” and we are subject to
the NYSE’s listing standards. The Board has determined that each of
Messrs. Beach, Hart, Ickowicz, Levin and Neff satisfy the requirement for
independence set out in Section 303A.02 of the rules of the NYSE and that each
of these directors has no material relationship with us (other than being a
director and/or a stockholder). In making its independence
determinations, the Board sought to identify and analyze all of the facts and
circumstances relating to any relationship between a director, his immediate
family or affiliates and our company and our affiliates and did not rely on
categorical standards other than those contained in Section 303A.01 of the NYSE
rules.
The Board held a total of
12 meetings during fiscal 2009. Each
of the directors attended at least 75% of the meetings of the Board and of the
committees on which he served during fiscal 2009.
The Board has four
standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, the
Nominating and Governance Committee and the Investment Committee. All
of the members of each committee, other than the Investment Committee, are
“independent” directors as that term is defined in the NYSE’s listing
standards.
As set forth in our
Corporate Governance Guidelines and in accordance with NYSE listing standards,
the non-management directors meet in executive sessions quarterly without
management. The director who presides at these meetings is rotated
each meeting. Interested parties wishing to communicate directly with
the non-management directors may contact the chairman of the Audit Committee, P.
Sherrill Neff, at Quaker BioVentures, Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.
Audit
Committee. The Audit Committee reviews the scope and
effectiveness of audits by the internal and independent accountants, is
responsible for the engagement of independent accountants, and reviews the
adequacy of our internal financial controls. Members of the committee
are Messrs. Neff (Chairman), Beach and Hart. The Board has determined
that each member of the committee meets the independence standards for audit
committee members set forth in the NYSE listing standards and in the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and that Messrs. Beach and Neff each qualifies
as an “audit committee financial expert” as that term is defined in the NYSE and
Exchange Act rules and regulations. The committee held four meetings
during fiscal 2009. The Audit Committee charter is available on our
website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com,
and we will provide a printed copy to any stockholder who requests
it.
Compensation
Committee. The principal functions of the Compensation
Committee are to:
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review
the compensation payable to our
directors;
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review
the compensation and fees payable to the Manager under our management
agreement; and
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administer
the issuance of any stock or stock options issued to the employees of
Resource Capital Manager, our external manager, or Resource America who
perform services for us.
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Under our management
agreement with the Manager and Resource America, the Manager assumes principal
responsibility for managing our affairs and providing the personnel that we need
to conduct our operations. The Manager and Resource America are
responsible for paying the compensation of all such personnel and, consequently,
such personnel do not receive separate compensation from us. However,
we reimburse the Manager for all of the wages, salary and benefits established
and paid by the Manager to our Chief Financial Officer and three accounting
professionals, each of whom is exclusively dedicated to our operations, and 50%
of the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by the Manager to our
director of investor relations, who is 50% dedicated to our
operations.
The members of the
committee are Messrs. Beach (Chairman), Levin and Neff. The
committee held two meetings during fiscal 2009. The Compensation Committee
Charter is available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com, and we will provide a
printed copy to any stockholder who requests it.
Nominating
and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance
Committee is appointed by the Board to:
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assist
it and us maintain an effective and knowledgeable Board, including
assisting the Board by identifying individuals qualified to become
directors and recommending to the Board the director nominees for the next
annual meeting of stockholders and the directors to be appointed to the
Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance
Committees; and
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develop
and recommend for the Board’s consideration governance guidelines for
us.
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The committee has not
adopted specific, minimum qualifications or specific qualities or skills that
must be met by a recommended nominee. The committee seeks to insure
that the membership of the Board and each committee satisfies all relevant NYSE
listing standard requirements, applicable laws and requirements of our
governance documents. The committee seeks to achieve a mixture of
skills which are all related to our business. The nature of the
specific qualifications, qualities or skills that the committee may look for in
any particular director nominee is dependent on the qualifications, qualities
and skills of the rest of the directors at the time of any vacancy on the
Board.
The
committee identifies director nominees by first evaluating the current members
of the Board willing to continue in service. Current members with
skills and experience that are relevant to our business and are willing to
continue in service are considered for re-nomination, balancing the value of
continuity of service by existing members of the Board with that of obtaining a
new perspective. If any member of the Board does not wish to continue in
service, if the nominating and governance committee or Board decides not to
re-nominate a member for re-election, or if we decide to expand the Board, the
committee identifies the desired skills and experience of a new nominee
consistent with the nominating and governance committee’s criteria for Board
service. Current members of the Board and management are polled for their
recommendations. Research may also be performed or third parties retained to
identify qualified individuals. To date, we have not engaged third parties to
identify or evaluate potential nominees; however, we may in the future choose to
do so.
The members of the
committee are Messrs. Levin (Chairman), Beach and Hart. The committee
held one meeting during fiscal 2009. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and
Nominating and Governance Committee charter are both available on our website at
www.resourcecapitalcorp.com,
and we will provide a printed copy to any stockholder who so requests
it.
Stockholder
Recommendations for Director Nominees. The Nominating and
Governance Committee will consider candidates for nomination as a director
recommended by stockholders, directors, officers, third party search firms and
other sources. In evaluating candidates, the committee considers the
attributes of the candidate (including skills, experience, international versus
domestic background, diversity, age, and legal and regulatory requirements) and
the mixture of skills and experience of the members of the Board, and will
review all candidates in the same manner, regardless of the source of the
recommendation. The Nominating and Governance Committee does not have
a formal policy regarding the consideration of diversity in identifying
candidates beyond being committed to ensuring that no person would be excluded
from consideration for service as a director of ours as a result of their
gender, race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or disability. The
committee will consider individuals recommended by stockholders for nomination
as a director in accordance with the procedures described under “Stockholder
Proposals for the 2011 Annual meeting.” Recommendations should
include the following:
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such
information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the
recommended director candidate is independent from the stockholder that
has recommended the candidate;
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such
information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the
director candidate is qualified to serve on the Board;
and
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such
information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the
director candidate meets the independence standards of the
NYSE.
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The Board may also request
such additional information concerning the proposed nominee as may be reasonably
required to determine whether each person recommended by a stockholder meets the
criteria discussed above and to enable us to make appropriate disclosures to
stockholders.
Investment
Committee. The Investment Committee was established in March
2007 to review and consider all proposed investments by our company equal to or
in excess of $12.5 million. The Board as a whole reviews and
considers proposed investments equal to or in excess of $30.0 million, and all
credit facilities or financing with recourse to us in excess of the amount of
equity invested. The members of the committee are Messrs. J. Cohen
(Chairman), Beach, Ickowicz and Kessler. The committee held four
meetings during fiscal 2009.
Communication
with the Board. The Board has established a process for
stockholders to send communications to it. Stockholders may
communicate with the Board, or any director or committee chairperson, by writing
to such parties in care of Michael S. Yecies, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal
Officer and Secretary, Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10019. Communications addressed to the Board generally
will be forwarded either to the appropriate committee chairperson or to all
directors. Communications may be submitted confidentially and
anonymously. Under certain circumstances, we may be required by law
to disclose the information or identity of the person submitting the
communication. There were no material actions taken by the Board as a
result of communications received during fiscal 2009 from
stockholders. Certain concerns communicated to the Board also may be
referred to our internal auditor or our Chief Legal Officer. The
Chairman of the Board or the Chairman of the Audit Committee may direct that
concerns be presented to the Audit Committee, or to the full Board, or that they
otherwise receive special treatment, including retention of external counsel or
other advisors.
Attendance
at Annual Meetings. We do not have a formal policy regarding
Board member attendance at our annual meeting of stockholders. All of
our Board members attended last year’s annual meeting of stockholders and we
anticipate that all of them will attend the Meeting.
Board
Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight
We have
no specific policy with respect to the separation of the offices of Chairman and
the Chief Executive Officer. This issue is part of the succession
planning process and is within the scope of the Board’s authority to
decide. Currently, Steven J. Kessler serves as Chairman of the Board
and Jonathan Z. Cohen serves as Chief Executive Officer. The Board
believes that our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide it with appropriate
flexibility to determine from time to time the leadership structure that best
enables us to pursue our business strategies and goals. The Board
believes that its current leadership structure is appropriate in that it gives
us the benefit of the significant expertise that both Messrs. Kessler and J.
Cohen have in finance and real estate, as well as the working relationship they
have developed in the past thirteen years.
Risk
management, led by our officers and the Board, is a company-wide function that
is responsible for an integrated effort to identify, assess and manage risks
that may affect our ability to execute on our business strategy and fulfill our
business objectives. The Board’s role is to oversee this
function. The Audit Committee enhances the Board’s oversight of risk
management. The Audit Committee’s role is also one of oversight,
recognizing that management is responsible for executing our risk management
policies. The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include discussing with
management our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken
to monitor and control such exposures, including our risk assessment and risk
management policies. The Audit Committee also discusses guidelines and policies
to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is
undertaken.
Code
of Ethics
We have adopted a code of
business conduct and ethics applicable to all directors, officers and
employees. We will provide to any person without charge, upon
request, a copy of our code of conduct. Any such request should be
directed to us as follows: Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10019, Attention: Secretary. Our code of conduct is
also available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com. We
intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K
regarding an amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of this code of conduct
by posting such information on our website, unless otherwise required by
applicable law or regulation.
Report
of the Audit Committee
The Audit Committee has
approved the following report.
In connection with its
function of overseeing and monitoring our financial reporting process, the Audit
Committee has done the following:
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reviewed
and discussed our consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2009 with our
management;
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discussed
with our independent registered public accounting firm, Grant Thornton
LLP, or Grant Thornton, the matters required to be discussed by the
statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, as amended (AICPA,
Professional Standards, Vol. 1, AU section 380), as adopted by the Public
Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, in Rule 3200T;
and
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received
the written disclosures and the letter from Grant Thornton required by
applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding Grant Thornton’s
communications with the audit committee concerning independence, and has
discussed with Grant Thornton the independence of Grant Thornton and
satisfied itself as to Grant Thornton’s
independence.
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Based on
the foregoing, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that
the consolidated audited financial statements be included in the 2009 Form
10-K.
P.
Sherrill Neff, Chairman
Walter T.
Beach
William
B. Hart
Principal
Accounting Fees and Services
Appointment
of Independent Auditors. Upon the recommendation of the Audit
Committee, approved by the Board, Grant Thornton LLP served as our independent
auditors during fiscal year 2009 and will serve as our independent auditors
during fiscal year 2010.
Attendance
at the Meeting. We anticipate that a representative of Grant
Thornton LLP will be present at the Meeting. If they desire to do so,
Grant Thornton LLP will have the opportunity to make a statement at the
Meeting. We also expect that the representative of Grant Thornton LLP
will be available to respond to appropriate questions.
Audit
Fees. The aggregate fees billed by our independent auditors,
Grant Thornton LLP, for professional services rendered for the audit of our
annual financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008
(including a review of internal controls for 2009 and 2008 as required under
Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) and for the reviews of the
consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q
during each of the years then ended were $572,000 and $668,000,
respectively.
The aggregate fees billed
by Grant Thornton LLP for audit services in connection with the filing of our
registration statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission were
approximately $117,000 and $42,000 for the years ended December 31, 2009 and
2008, respectively.
Audit-Related
Fees. The aggregate fees billed by Grant Thornton LLP for
audit-related services, including consulting on accounting issues were $0 and
$40,000 for the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008,
respectively.
Tax
Fees. There were no fees paid to Grant Thornton LLP for
professional services related to tax compliance, tax advice or tax planning for
the years ended December 31, 2009 and 2008.
All
Other Fees. We did not incur fees in 2009 and 2008 for other
services not included above.
Audit
Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures. The audit
committee will, on at least an annual basis, review audit and non-audit services
performed by Grant Thornton, LLP as well as the fees charged by Grant Thornton,
LLP for such services. Our policy is that all audit and non-audit services must
be pre-approved by the audit committee. All of such services and fees
were pre-approved during the year ended December 31, 2009.
2009
NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
We
compensate only independent directors for their services as
directors. Our 2009 compensation package for independent directors
was comprised of cash (annual retainer) and restricted stock
awards. The annual pay package is designed to attract and retain
highly-qualified, independent professionals to represent our
stockholders. Our compensation package is also designed to create
alignment between our directors and our stockholders through the use of
equity-based grants.
For 2009,
the Board approved compensation for each independent director consisting of an
annual cash retainer of $52,500 and an annual stock award valued at $22,500 on
the date of grant on the anniversary of the date each of them became a
director. The following table sets forth director compensation for
2009:
DIRECTOR
COMPENSATION TABLE
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Fees
Earned or Paid in Cash ($)
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Walter
T. Beach
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52,500 |
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22,499 |
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74,999 |
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William
B. Hart
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52,500 |
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22,499 |
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74,999 |
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Murray
S. Levin
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52,500 |
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22,499 |
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74,999 |
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P
Sherrill Neff
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52,500 |
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22,499 |
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74,999 |
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Gary
Ickowicz
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52,500 |
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22,499 |
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74,999 |
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Edward E. Cohen(3)
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− |
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Steven J.
Kessler(3)
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− |
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(1)
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Table
excludes Mr. J. Cohen, a NEO, whose compensation is set forth in the
Summary Compensation Table.
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(2)
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On
March 9, 2009, Messrs. Beach, Hart, Levin and Neff were each granted
11,479 shares based upon a price of $1.96, the closing price on that
day. On February 1, 2009, Mr. Ickowicz was granted 6,716 shares
based upon a price of $3.35, the closing price on that
day.
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(3)
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We
do not compensate non-independent directors for their service on the
Board. However, RCC will reimburse Resource America for Mr.
Kessler’s compensation and related business expenses, since Resource
America employs Mr. Kessler but Mr. Kessler devotes substantially all of
his business time to his service as our Chairman. We did not
reimburse Resource America any amount for Mr. Kessler in
2009.
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COMPENSATION
DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
We are required to provide
information regarding the compensation program in place for our CEO, CFO and the
three other most highly-compensated executive officers whose compensation
exceeded $100,000 in 2009. In the following discussion, we refer to these
officers as our “Named Executive Officers” or “NEOs.”
Objectives
of Our Compensation Program
We have no
employees. We are managed by our Manager pursuant to a management
agreement, between our Manager and us. All of our NEOs are employees
of our Manager or one of its affiliates. We have not paid, and do not
intend to pay, any cash compensation to our NEOs although we reimburse the
Manager for the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by the Manager
to our Chief Financial Officer. However, our Compensation Committee
may, from time to time, grant equity awards in the form of restricted stock,
stock options or performance awards to our NEOs pursuant to our 2005 Stock
Incentive Plan and/or the 2007 Omnibus Equity Compensation
Plan. These awards are designed to align the interests of our NEOs
with those of our stockholders, by allowing our NEOs to share in the creation of
value for our stockholders through stock appreciation and
dividends. These equity awards are generally subject to time-based
vesting requirements designed to provide incentives to our NEOs to achieve
strong performance for our company. These awards further provide us flexibility
in attracting, motivating and retaining talented individuals at our
Manager.
Setting Executive
Compensation
Our NEOs are employees of
Resource America, which determines the base salary, cash incentive compensation
and, for grants of Resource America equity securities, equity incentive
compensation that is paid to our NEOs. A portion of the base salary
and cash incentive compensation paid to each of our NEOs except our Chief
Financial Officer is derived from the fees paid by us under the management
agreement. We do not control how such fees are allocated by Resource
America to its employees. For a description of our management
agreement, see “Certain Relationships and Related Party
Transactions.” We disclose the cash amounts paid by Resource America
to our Chief Financial Officer (for which we reimburse Resource America), our
only NEO who devotes his full business time to our affairs, in the Summary
Compensation Table below.
When Resource America
makes its determination of the amount of compensation it will award to one of
our NEOs, including in particular the amount of Resource America securities that
Resource America will grant as equity incentive compensation, Resource America
also considers, but does not determine, the amount of our securities we propose
to grant as equity incentive compensation to that NEO. Similarly, in
determining the amount of equity incentive compensation we grant to one of our
NEOs, our compensation committee considers, but does not determine, the
compensation that Resource America proposes to grant to that NEO, including
Resource America’s grant of Resource America securities as equity incentive
compensation. Our respective compensation committees base their
analyses and determinations upon recommendations submitted by Jonathan Z. Cohen,
who is Chief Executive Officer of both companies, for all of our NEOs other than
himself. Resource America’s compensation committee determines the
amount of compensation Resource America will award Mr. J. Cohen, while our
compensation committee determines the amount of any Resource Capital equity
incentive compensation we award to Mr. J. Cohen. These analyses and
determinations are not based upon any particular compensation matrix or formula,
but instead are based upon qualitative evaluations by Mr. J. Cohen and the
compensation committees. Our compensation committee does not make
recommendations to Resource America as to the amount of compensation Resource
America grants to our NEOs, nor does Resource America’s compensation committee
make recommendations to us regarding the amount of equity incentive compensation
awarded by us to our NEOs.
Our compensation committee
operates under a written charter adopted by our Board, a copy of which is
available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com. Our compensation
committee determines compensation amounts after the end of Resource America’s
fiscal year and makes equity awards after our fiscal year
end. Therefore, awards made after our fiscal year end are not
reflected in our Summary Compensation Table or Grants of Plan-Based Awards table
until our following fiscal year. Our compensation committee has the
discretion to issue equity awards at other times during our fiscal
year.
Elements
of Our Compensation Program
As described above, our
NEOs do not receive cash compensation from us, although beginning in October
2009, we agreed to reimburse Resource America for the wages, salary and benefits
of our Chief Financial Officer. However, our compensation committee
may, from time to time, grant equity awards in the form of restricted stock,
stock options or performance awards to our NEOs pursuant to our 2005 Stock
Incentive Plan and/or the 2007 Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan as
follows:
Stock
Options. Stock options provide value to the executive only if
our stock price increases after the grants are made. Stock options
typically vest 33.3% per year.
Restricted
Stock. Restricted stock units reward stockholder value
creation slightly differently than stock options: restricted stock
units are impacted by all stock price changes, both increases and
decreases. Restricted stock units generally vest 33.3% per year and
include a right to receive dividends on unvested shares.
Resource
America Restricted Stock. As described above, Resource
America’s compensation committee approves awards of Resource America restricted
stock to NEOs. These awards generally vest 25% per year, and may
include a right to receive dividends on unvested shares.
Resource
America Stock Options. As described above, Resource America’s
compensation committee approves awards of Resource America options to receive
restricted stock to NEOs. These awards generally vest 25% per
year.
Supplemental
Incentive Arrangements with David Bloom. In October 2007, we
entered into an agreement with David Bloom, our Senior Vice President−Real
Estate Investments, which awarded him 50,000 shares of our restricted stock
under our 2005 Stock Incentive Plan. These shares were fully vested
at December 31, 2009.
In December 2007, Resource
America entered into another agreement with Mr. Bloom which provides for awards
to him of our restricted stock and Resource America restricted
stock. With respect to our restricted stock, which was approved by
our Compensation Committee, Mr. Bloom was awarded 120,000 shares, 60,000 of
which are subject to vesting over time and 60,000 of which are earned based on
the achievement of predetermined, objective performance goals over a multi-year
performance period. We pay dividends on unvested
awards. With respect to the shares that vest over time, 15% vested on
June 30, 2008, 15% vested on June 30, 2009 and 70% vest on December 31, 2010,
provided that Mr. Bloom is employed by Resource America at that
date. The award opportunities, presented in number of potential
shares earned, are included in the Grant of Plan-Based Awards table
below. Performance-based shares are earned on achievement of
performance goals over the performance period beginning July 1, 2007 and
ending June 30, 2010, with
one-third of the shares potentially being earned at the end of each 12-month
measurement period. As of December 31, 2009, one-third of such shares
were earned, one-third of such shares were forfeited and one-third of such
shares remain available to be earned. The performance measures are as
follows:
|
·
|
Loan
Origination. For
each measurement period, the loan origination volume generated by Mr.
Bloom and his colleagues in Resource America’s Los Angeles office, which
we refer to as Mr. Bloom’s team, must be equal to or greater than 90% of
the loan origination volume generated by Mr. Bloom’s team for the previous
12-month period. Resource America may waive the loan
origination performance criteria, if in its reasonable discretion,
reaching such levels could not be reasonably achieved notwithstanding Mr.
Bloom’s team’s best efforts. Our compensation committee along
with Resource America’s compensation committee determine whether to
exercise this discretion.
|
|
·
|
Portfolio
Diversity. The loans generated by Mr. Bloom’s team
during the measurement period must conform to the diversity and loan type
standards set forth in the investment parameters of the commercial real
estate CDOs managed on our
behalf.
|
|
·
|
Pricing. The
gross weighted average spread on loans generated by Mr. Bloom’s team
during the measurment period must be not less than 250 basis points over
the applicable index. Resource America may exclude certain
loans from this calculation and/or may waive the pricing provision for the
measurement period in its
entirety.
|
|
·
|
Credit
Quality. There
shall have been no principal losses during the measurement period on any
loan originated by Mr. Bloom’s team and no greater than 10% of the loans
originated by Mr. Bloom’s team (measured by principal balance) shall have
been in default during such measurement
period.
|
If the performance
criteria for a given measurement period are largely, but not entirely, met, the
compensation committee will
reasonably take such substantial performance into account in determining whether
there should be an equitable partial earning of the award for such measurement
period. Once earned, the shares of restricted stock vest over the
following two years, at the rate of one-eighth (1/8) per quarter, as long as Mr.
Bloom is employed by Resource America on the last day of such quarter. The
performance-based stock awards are disclosed under the Grants of Plan-Based
Awards table under the heading “Estimated future payouts under equity incentive
plan awards” and in the Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End table under
the heading “Equity incentive plan awards.”
How
We Determined 2009 Compensation
In light of the general
adverse economic conditions in the market, and the effects of the market on our
performance, the compensation committee decided to significantly reduce the
value of the bonus awards to our NEOs. However, the Committee recognized
our NEOs’ prudent management efforts in a challenging environment, and believed
that, for Mr. Bryant and Mr. Bloom, restricted stock awards were appropriate to
recognize those efforts and retain their services.
Upon the recommendation of
our Chief Executive Officer, our Compensation Committee made the following
awards for fiscal 2009:
|
·
|
Mr.
Bryant was awarded 23,364 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2009, as
compared to 13,484 shares of restricted stock for fiscal
2008. Mr. Bryant was also awarded 5,000 Resource America
options for fiscal 2008.
|
|
·
|
Mr.
Bloom was awarded 44,502 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2009, as
compared to 18,878 shares of restricted stock for fiscal
2008. See “− Elements of Our Compensation Program−Supplemental
Incentive Arrangements with David
Bloom.”
|
Report
of the Compensation Committee
The compensation committee
has reviewed and discussed the Compensation Discussion and Analysis with
management and, based on its review and discussions, the compensation committee
recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and
Analysis be included in this proxy statement.
This report has been
provided by the compensation committee of the Board of Directors of Resource
Capital Corp.
Walter T.
Beach, Chairman
Murray S.
Levin
P.
Sherrill Neff
EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION
Executive
Compensation Summary
The
following table sets forth certain information concerning the compensation
earned in fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007 for our NEOs:
SUMMARY
COMPENSATION TABLE
Name
and Principal Position
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Option
Awards
($)(2)
|
|
|
All
Other Compen-sation
($)(3)
|
|
|
|
|
Jonathan
Z. Cohen
|
|
2009
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
Chief
Executive Officer,
|
|
2008
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
President
and Director
|
|
2007
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
1,499,989 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
1,499,989 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
J. Bryant
|
|
2009
|
|
|
240,000 |
(1) |
|
|
120,000 |
(1) |
|
|
49,999 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
409,999 |
|
Senior
Vice President,
|
|
2008
|
|
|
240,000 |
(1) |
|
|
185,000 |
(1) |
|
|
124,997 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
15,425 |
|
|
|
565,422 |
|
Chief
Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer
|
|
2007
|
|
|
240,000 |
(1) |
|
|
120,000 |
(1) |
|
|
71,989 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
47,978 |
|
|
|
479,967 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
E. Bloom
|
|
2009
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
151,777 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
151,777 |
|
Senior
Vice President−
|
|
2008
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
174,999 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
174,999 |
|
Real
Estate Investments
|
|
2007
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
1,385,597 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
1,385,597 |
|
(1)
|
Mr.
Bryant’s salary and bonus were paid by Resource America. We
began to reimburse Resource America for Mr. Bryant’s salary and bonus in
October 2009. Amounts represent salary and bonus earned for the
years indicated, but may not have been paid in full in the respective
years.
|
(2)
|
Grant
date fair value, valued in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards
Codification Topic 718 as the closing price of our common stock on the
grant date. In valuing options awarded to Messrs. J. Cohen,
Bryant, and Bloom at $0.04 per option, we used the Black-Scholes option
pricing model to estimate the weighted average fair value of each option
granted with weighted average assumptions for (a) expected dividend yield
of 27.3%, (b) risk-free interest rate of 3.3%, (c) expected volatility of
51.0%, and (d) an expected life of 7.0
years.
|
(3)
|
2008
amount represents award of options to purchase Resource America common
stock. The grant date fair value is $3.09 per option, using the
Black-Scholes option pricing model to estimate the fair value of each
option granted with assumptions for (a) expected dividend yield of 3.4%,
(b) risk-free interest rate of 3.8%, (c) expected volatility of 49.5%, and
(d) an expected life of 6.3 years. 2007 amounts represent award
of Resource America restricted stock earned during 2007, valued at the
closing price of Resource America common stock on the date of the grant in
January 2007.
|
Grants
of Plan-Based Awards
During 2009, we made
restricted stock awards to our NEOs. The following table sets forth
information with respect to each of these awards on a grant-by-grant
basis. We made no option awards in 2009.
GRANTS
OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE
|
|
|
|
All
other stock awards: number of shares of stock (#)
|
|
|
Grant date fair
value of stock and option awards ($)(1)
|
|
David
J. Bryant
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our restricted
stock
|
|
02/20/09
|
|
|
23,364 |
|
|
|
49,999 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
E. Bloom
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Our restricted stock
|
|
02/03/09
|
|
|
20,000 |
|
|
|
67,000 |
|
Our restricted stock
|
|
07/30/09
|
|
|
24,502 |
|
|
|
84,777 |
|
(1)
|
Based
on the closing price of our stock on the respective grant
dates.
|
Outstanding
Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End
The
following equity awards granted to our NEOs were outstanding as of the end of
fiscal 2009:
|
·
|
restricted
stock awards;
|
|
·
|
Resource
America restricted stock awards;
and
|
|
·
|
multi-year
performance-based stock awards--the ultimate value of the awards will
depend on the number of shares earned and the price of our common stock at
the time awards are issued.
|
The
following table sets forth information with respect to each of these awards on
an award-by-award basis.
OUTSTANDING
EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name
|
|
Number of Securities
Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Exercisable
|
|
|
Number of Securities
Underlying Unexercised Options (#) Unexercisable
|
|
|
Equity
Incentive Plan
Awards: Number of
Securities Underlying Unexercised Unearned Options
(#)
|
|
|
Option Exercise
Price($)
|
|
Option Expiration
Date
|
|
Number
of
Shares
or
Units of Stock
That Have Not
Vested
(#)
|
|
|
Market
Value of
Shares or
Units of Stock That
Have
Not
Vested
($)
(1)
|
|
|
Equity
Incentive Plan Awards: Number of Unearned Shares, Units or Other Rights
That Have
Not
Vested
(#)
|
|
|
Equity
Incentive Plan Awards: Market or Payout Value of Unearned Shares,
Units or Other Rights That
Have
Not
Vested
($) (1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jonathan
Z. Cohen
|
|
|
100,000 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
15.00 |
|
03/07/15
|
|
|
7,265 |
|
|
|
35,744 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
J. Bryant
|
|
|
10,000 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
15.00 |
|
03/07/15
|
|
|
32,707 |
|
|
|
160,918 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
5,000 |
(3) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
8.14 |
|
05/21/18
|
|
|
580 |
(4) |
|
|
2,343 |
(4) |
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
E. Bloom
|
|
|
100,000 |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
− |
|
|
|
15.00 |
|
03/07/15
|
|
|
85,060 |
|
|
|
418,495 |
|
|
|
20,000 |
(2) |
|
|
98,400 |
|
(1)
|
Based
on the closing price of our common stock of $4.92 on December 31,
2009.
|
(2)
|
Represents
performance-based restricted stock awards under our 2007 Omnibus Equity
Compensation Plan that vest based on the achievement of pre-determined
objective performance goals over a multi-year performance
period. See “Compensation Discussion and Analysis – Elements of
Our Compensation Program - Supplemental Incentive Arrangements with David
Bloom.”
|
(3)
|
Represents
options to purchase shares of Resource America common stock that vest 25%
on each anniversary date through May 21,
2012.
|
(4)
|
Represents
shares of Resource America common stock. Based upon a price of
$4.04, the price of Resource America’s common stock on December 31,
2009.
|
Option
Exercises and Stock Vested
The
following table provides information regarding restricted stock awards that
vested during 2009 for our NEOs. There were no stock options
exercised by such officers during 2009.
OPTION
EXERCISES AND STOCK VESTED TABLE
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number
of Shares
Acquired
on
Vesting
(#)
|
|
|
Value Realized on
Vesting ($) (1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jonathan
Z. Cohen
|
|
|
40,163 |
|
|
|
150,581 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
J. Bryant (our stock)
|
|
|
5,886 |
|
|
|
18,730 |
|
(Resource America
stock)
|
|
|
460 |
|
|
|
1,987 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David
E. Bloom
|
|
|
56,945 |
|
|
|
214,831 |
|
(1)
|
Represents
the market price of our common stock on the vesting
date.
|
CERTAIN
RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
Relationships
and Related Transactions
We have entered into a
management agreement under which the Manager receives substantial
fees. We describe these fees in our 2009 Form 10-K, Item 1 −
“Business − Management Agreement.” For the year ended December 31,
2009, the Manager earned base management fees of approximately $3.8 million and
incentive compensation fees of $4.6 million (including $1.2 million paid in the
form of 217,149 shares of our common stock). We also reimburse the
Manager for financial services expense, rent and other expenses incurred in the
performance of its duties under the management agreement. Pursuant to
an amendment to the management agreement on October 16, 2009, the Manager must
provide us with a Chief Financial Officer and three accounting professionals,
each of whom will be exclusively dedicated to our operations. The
Manager will also provide us with a director of investor relations who will be
50% dedicated to our operations. The amendment provides that we will
bear 100% of the expense of the wages, salaries and benefits of the Chief
Financial Officer and three accounting professionals and 50% of the salary and
benefits of the director of investor relations. For the year ended
December 31, 2009, we paid aggregate reimbursements to the Manager of
$664,000. In addition, we are required to reimburse the Manager and
Resource America for expenses for employees of Resource America who perform
legal, accounting, due diligence and other services that outside professionals
or consultants would otherwise perform. No such expense
reimbursements were made in the year ended December 31, 2009. In
December 2009, we, the Manager and Resource America agreed that for each of the
fiscal quarters ending on December 31, 2009 and March 31, 2010, the total
incentive management fee payable to the Manager pursuant to the management
agreement would not exceed $1.5 million.
As of December 31, 2009,
we had executed six CDO transactions. These CDO transactions were
structured for us by the Manager; however, the Manager was not separately
compensated by us for executing these transactions and is not separately
compensated by us for managing the CDO entities and their
assets.
Resource America, entities
affiliated with it and our executive officers and directors collectively
beneficially own 5,048,352 shares of common stock, representing approximately
12% of our common stock on a fully-diluted basis. Our executive officers
are also officers of our Manager and/or of Resource America or its
subsidiaries.
On May
14, 2009, we borrowed $4.5 million from Resource America. We repaid
the promissory note the same day and paid Resource America a commitment fee of
$180,000.
On
December 1, 2009, we purchased for $2.1 million a membership interest in RRE VIP
Borrower, LLC (an unconsolidated entity that holds our interests in a joint
venture) from Resource America at book value. This joint venture, which is
structured as a credit facility with Varde Investment Partners, LP acting as
lender, finances the acquisition of distressed properties and mortgage
loans. We recorded the investment balance of $2.1 million at December
31, 2009 as an investment in unconsolidated entities on our consolidated balance
sheet.
On
January 15, 2010, we loaned $2.0 million to Resource Capital
Partners. The loan proceeds were used by Resource Capital Partners’
to acquire a 5% limited partnership interest in the Resource Real Estate
Opportunity Fund, L.P., which interest secures the loan. The loan
bears interest at a fixed rate of 8.0% per annum on the unpaid principal
balance. In the event of default, interest will accrue and be payable at a
rate of 5.0% in excess of the fixed rate. Interest payments are due
quarterly commencing on April 15, 2010. Mandatory principal payments must
also be made to the extent distributable cash or other proceeds from the
partnership represents a return of Resource Capital Partners’ capital. The
loan matures on January 14, 2015, with an option to extend the maturity date for
two additional 12-month periods.
LEAF Financial Corp. a majority-owned
subsidiary of Resource America, originates and manages our equipment lease and
note investments. We purchase these investments from LEAF Financial
at a price equal to their book value plus a reimbursable origination cost not to
exceed 1% to compensate LEAF Financial for its origination costs. In
addition, we pay LEAF Financial an annual servicing fee, equal to 1% of the book
value of managed assets, for servicing our equipment lease
investments. During the year ended December 31, 2009, we paid LEAF
Financial $505,000 in annual servicing fees.
On June 30, 2009, we sold our sole
membership interest in our subsidiary that held a pool of leases valued at $89.8
million and transferred the $82.3 million balance of the related secured term
facility to Resource America. No gain or loss was recognized on the
sale of this membership interest. We received a promissory note in
the amount of $7.5 million from Resource America for the equity in the portfolio
on June 30, 2009. The promissory note bore interest at the London
Interbank Offered Rate plus 3% and was paid in full by August 3,
2009.
On March 5, 2010, we entered into a
promissory note with LEASE Equity Appreciation Fund II LP, which we refer to as
LEAF II, that allows for an $8.0 million term loan facility, of which $3.0
million was funded on March 5, 2010, for a one year term at 12% payable
quarterly, with a 1% loan fee and 20% amortization, which is secured by all the
encumbered assets of LEAF II and is to be fully repaid by March 3,
2011.
Until 1996, Edward E.
Cohen, a director who was our Chairman from our inception until November 2009,
was of counsel to Ledgewood, P.C., a law firm. In addition, one of our
executive officers, Jeffrey F. Brotman, was employed by Ledgewood until 2007.
For the year ended December 31, 2009, we paid Ledgewood $660,000 for legal
services. Mr. Cohen receives certain debt service payments from Ledgewood
related to the termination of his affiliation with Ledgewood and its redemption
of his interest in the firm. For the year ended December 31, 2009, those
payments were $120,000. Mr. Brotman also receives certain debt service
payments from Ledgewood related to the termination of his affiliation with
Ledgewood. For the year ended December 31, 2009, those payments were
$40,000.
Policies
and Procedures Regarding Related Transactions
Under our management
agreement with the Manager and Resource America, we have established policies
regarding the offer of potential investments to us, our acquisition of those
investments and the allocation of those investments among other programs managed
by the Manager or Resource America. We have also established policies
regarding investing in investment opportunities in which the Manager or Resource
America has an interest and regarding investing in any investment fund or CDO
structured, co-structured or managed by the Manager or Resource
America.
The Manager and Resource
America must offer us the right to consider all investments they identify that
are within the parameters of our investment strategies and
policies. For all potential investments other than in equipment
leases and notes, if the Manager and Resource America identify an investment
that is appropriate both for us and for one or more other investment programs
managed by them, but the amount available is less than the amount sought by all
of their investment programs, they will allocate the investment among us and
such other investment programs in proportion to the relative amounts of the
investment sought by
each. If the portion of the investment allocable to a particular
investment program would be too small for it to be appropriate for that
investment program, either because of economic or market inefficiency,
regulatory constraints (such as REIT qualification or exclusion from regulation
under the Investment Company Act of 1940) or otherwise, that portion will be
reallocated among the other investment programs. Investment programs
that do not receive an allocation will have preference in future investments
where investment programs are seeking more of the investment than is available
so that, on an overall basis, each investment program is treated
equitably.
To equitably allocate
investments that the Manager or Resource America has acquired at varying prices,
the Manager and Resource America will allocate the investment so that each
investment program will pay approximately the same average
price.
With respect to equipment
leases and notes, if an investment is appropriate for more than one investment
program, including us, the Manager and Resource America will allocate the
investment based on the following factors:
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which
investment program has been seeking investments for the longest period of
time;
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whether
the investment program has the cash required for the
investment;
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whether
the amount of debt to be incurred with respect to the investment is
acceptable for the investment
program;
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the
effect the investment will have on the investment program’s cash
flow;
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whether
the investment would further diversify, or unduly concentrate, the
investment program’s investments in a particular lessee, class or type of
equipment, location or industry;
and
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whether
the term of the investment is within the term of the investment
program.
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The Manager and Resource
America may make exceptions to these general policies when other circumstances
make application of the policies inequitable or uneconomic.
The Manager has also
instituted policies designed to mitigate potential conflicts of interest between
it and us, including:
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We
will not be permitted to invest in any investment fund or CDO structured,
co-structured or managed by the Manager or Resource America other than
those structured, co-structured or managed on our behalf. The
Manager and Resource America will not receive duplicate management fees
from any such investment fund or CDO to the extent we invest in
it.
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We
will not be permitted to purchase investments from, or sell investments
to, the Manager or Resource America, except that we may purchase
investments originated by those entities within 60 days before our
investment.
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Except as described above
or provided for in our management agreement with the Manager and Resource
America, we have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits transactions
between us or any of our directors, officers, employees, security-holders or
affiliates. However, our code of business conduct and ethics
prohibits any transaction that involves an actual or potential conflict except
for transactions permitted under guidelines which may be adopted by our Board of
Directors. No such guidelines have been adopted as of the date of
this proxy statement. In addition, our Board may approve a waiver of
the code of ethics and business conduct for a specific transaction, which must
be reported to our stockholders to the extent required by applicable law or NYSE
rule. No such waivers have been granted through the date
hereof.
STOCKHOLDER
PROPOSALS FOR THE 2011 ANNUAL MEETING
Stockholders
who desire to include proposals or director nominations in our 2011 proxy
statement must submit such proposals or nominations to our Secretary no later
than January 12, 2011. Such items must comply with the eligibility
standards promulgated by the SEC.
Also, under our Bylaws,
any stockholder who wishes to nominate candidates for election as directors or
present a proposal at our 2011 annual meeting of stockholders must deliver
written notice to our Secretary no earlier than December 13, 2010 and no later
than January 5, 2011. The notice must contain all of the information
required by our Bylaws, a copy of which is available upon request from the
Secretary.
By order of the Board of
Directors,
Michael S. Yecies,
Secretary
May 12,
2010
25
RESOURCE
CAPITAL CORP.
PROXY
THIS
PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
OF
DIRECTORS OF RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.
The
undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints Jonathan Z. Cohen and Michael S.
Yecies, or either of them, as and for his proxies, each with the power to
appoint such proxy's substitute, and hereby authorizes them, or either of them,
to vote all of the shares of common stock of Resource Capital Corp. held of
record by the undersigned on April 28, 2010, at the Annual Meeting of
Stockholders of Resource Capital Corp. to be held Thursday, June 24, 2010 and at
any and all adjournments thereof as follows:
ANNUAL
MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF
RESOURCE
CAPITAL CORP.
June
24, 2010
NOTICE OF INTERNET
AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIAL:
The proxy
statement and our 2009 Annual Report
are
available at:
http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy
Please
sign, date and mail
your
proxy card in the
envelope
provided as soon
as
possible.
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Please detach
along perforated line and mail in the envelope provided |
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20830000000000001000
3 |
062410
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PLEASE SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY
IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE IN BLUE OR BLACK INK
AS SHOWN HERE x
1. ELECTION
OF DIRECTORS:
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2. IN
THEIR DISCRETION, THE PROXIES ARE AUTHORIZED TO VOTE
UPON SUCH OTHER
BUSINESS AS MAY PROPERLY BE BOUGHT
BEFORE THE MEETING OR ANY
ADJOURNMENT THEREOF.
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For
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Against
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Abstain
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NOMINEES:
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¨FOR
ALL NOMINEES
¨WITHHOLD
AUTHORITY
FOR ALL NOMINEES
¨OR
ALL EXCEPT
(See instructions
below)
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¡ Walter T.
Beach
¡ Edward E.
Cohen
¡ Jonathan Z.
Cohen
¡ William B.
Hart
¡ Gary
Ickowicz
¡ Steven J.
Kessler
¡ Murray S.
Levin
¡ P. Sherrill
Neff
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This proxy, when
properly executed, will be voted in the manner
specified above by
the
named proxies. If
no direction is made,
this proxy will be voted FOR all nominees
listed.
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PLEASE
MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED
ENVELOPE.
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INSTRUCTIONS: To
withhold authority to vote for any individual nominee(s),
mark
“FOR
ALL EXCEPT” and fill in the circle next to each nominee you wish
to withhold as shown
here: l
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MARK “X” HERE IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING ¨
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To
change the address on your account, please check the box at the right and
indicate your new address in the address space above. Please
note that changes to the registered name(s) on the
account may not be submitted via this method.
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Signature
of Stockholder
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Date:
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Signature
of Stockholder
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Date:
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Note: |
Please sign exactly
as your name or names appear on this Proxy. When shares are held
jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as
executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full
title as
such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by
duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer
is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized
person. |