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General
This memo
sets forth Command Security Corporation’s corporate-wide policies,
rules, guidelines and procedures with respect to inside information.
It also contains procedures and limitations on buying and selling securities
and/or who is authorized to communicate with securities industry professionals
and company shareholders. It is intended to protect our sensitive information,
our reputation for integrity, the integrity of our business dealings,
and our company and its employees from legal liability. These guidelines
and procedures are designed not only to prevent violation of the law
but also to assure the avoidance of any appearance of impropriety.
The
federal securities laws prohibit any person, whether or not the person
is an “insider” in the traditional and technical legal sense,
from buying and selling securities of a company while that person is
in possession of material non-public information regarding the company.
Such information is referred to in this memo as “Inside Information”.
Any director, officer or employee of Command Security Corporation or
its subsidiaries (collectively, the “Company”) who possesses
such information, either regarding the Company or regarding any Company
customer or potential customer, is considered an insider under the law,
and is forbidden to trade. The term “Insider” is used in
this memo to refer to a person in possession of such information, and
the prohibited trading is referred to as “Insider Trading”.
It is also illegal to pass along material non-public information to others
(“tipping”), and a person who does so in violation of a duty
to keep it confidential may be liable if others trade. In short, an Insider
in possession of Inside Information must abstain from trading, and must
exercise care not to disclose the Inside Information, it is the Company’s
policy that persons in possession if Inside Information should not disclose
such information t others, except as necessary for the conduct of the
Company business.
An individual found to have engaged in Inside Trading
or tipping is subject to a wide range of serious penalties, including
disgorgement and civil monetary penalties (in an amount up to three times
the profit gained or the loss avoided); a prohibition against serving
as an officer or director of public company; and criminal penalties,
including fines and imprisonment. Under certain circumstances, liability
may also imposed on the Company and senior employees as “Controlling
Persons”, if a Company employee whom they control engages in Insider
Trading or tipping. Illegal trades expose the Company to substantial
civil penalties, as well as adverse publicity, embarrassment and potential
private civil litigation.
Regulation FD seeks to prevent selective disclosure
of material non-public information to covered persons, who are securities
industries industry professionals (including brokers, investment advisers
and managers and investment companies and hedge funds) and shareholders
who are reasonably likely to trade on the information. It applies to
communications by senior officials and others who regularly deal with
the covered persons.
On behalf of the Company. The policy provides that
only the president (or, in the absence of a President, the Chief Operating
Officer) and the Chief Financial Officer and persons who they expressly
direct to do so are authorized to discuss the Company and its business
with these covered persons.
In order to prevent the violations and the
potential liability described above, and to avoid even the appearance
of impropriety, the Board of Directors of Command Security Corporation
has adopted this Inside Information and Securities Trading Policy Procedures.
This policy is subject to change from time to time.
To Whom Does the
Policy Apply?
Every Company officer, director and employee must know
and obey these rules. Insiders may not trade, either personally or for
any account over which they exercise investment discretion, while in
possession of Inside Information (even after their status as an Insider
has terminated). In addition, this prohibition against Insider Trading
applies to “ Affiliates” of the Insider, defined to include
the Insider’s spouse, minor children, other relatives living in
the Insider’s home, trust or other accounts in which the Insider
or relatives living in his or her home have a beneficial interest, and
trust or other accounts over which the Insider exercise control or investment
influence. Certain portions of the policy apply only to specified individuals,
as described below. All employees, directors and officers of the Company
will receive a copy of it and be required to sign an acknowledgment that
they have received it, understand it and agree to abide by it.
What is
Inside Information?
“Inside Information” includes all material
information about the Company, its customers and other entities that
is non-public. Information is “non-public” if it is not generally
known or available to the general public. Information becomes publicly
known when it is announced to the media through a press release or other
official announcement and the investing public has had sufficient time
to consider the information. For purpose of this Policy, a “cleansing” public
disclosure is deemed to occur 24 hours after the information is released
(or if such 24 hour period ends on a day which is not a trading day,
on the next succeeding trading day at the time the information was released).
The courts have found that information is “material” if there
is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable investor would consider
such information important in arriving at a decision to buy, sell or
hold securities. A representative list of examples of information that
might be deemed material includes earnings estimates, changes in previously
announced earnings estimates ( or the major components of earnings),
a significant expansion or curtailment of operations, a significant increase
or decline in business, a significant merger or acquisition proposal
or agreement, purchases or sales of vessels or other substantial assets,
significant new services, a significant new contract, unusual borrowings
or securities offerings, major litigation, liquidity problems, asst-quality
problems, and extraordinary management developments. This list is not
exhaustive; other types of information may be material at any particular
time, depending upon all the circumstances. If you have any doubts as
to whether certain information is or is not material, you should inquire
of the Company’s Compliance Officer.
As noted above, Inside Information
includes not only such information about the Company, but also Company
customer information. The Company’s customers and business partners
must be confident that the sensitive information they entrust to us will
be handled with integrity and discretion. To this end, you should consider
as “Customer Inside Information” all sensitive information
furnished to the Company by a customer in the course of an actual or
prospective business relationship, as well as our internally generated
reports or similar documents based on such information.
What Does the
Policy Say?
1. Prohibition
Against Trading
When In Possession of Inside
Information. No Insider may buy or sell any securities of the Company,
or place an order to do so, when they have Inside Information about the
Company. This means that whenever you have Inside Information such as
that described above, you may not engage in a transaction in the Company’s
securities. Similarly, when you have Customer Inside Information, you
may not engage in any transaction in the securities of the Customer.
2. Prohibition Against “Tipping, and
Preservation of Confidentiality
While in possession of Inside Information, you may not share that information
with anyone else or advise any person regarding trading in the Company’s
stock, whether or not that person is an Insider. The same prohibition
against tipping applies when you are in possession of Customer Inside
Information. It is also the Company’s policy that you may not disclose
Inside Information to anyone either within or outside the Company except
as required by law or when you are authorized to do so as part of your
job responsibilities.
3. Restriction on Trading in Company Securities
by Directors and Officers
The Company has implemented the following
additional requirements applicable to (i) all directors of the Company,
and their Affiliates (as defined above), and (ii) all officers of the
Company subject to section 16 under the Securities Exchange Act 1934,
and their Affiliates:
(i) Blackout Period. Purchases and sales of Company
securities may not be made during the period (the “Blackout Period”)
beginning 14 days to the fiscal quarter or year end (i.e., June 17, September,
December 18 and March 18) and ending 24 hours after the release of that
fiscal quarter or fiscal year’s financial results (or, if such
24 hour period ends on day which is not trading day, on the next succeeding
trading day at the time the results were released); and
(ii) Preclearance.
Prior to initiating any purchase or sale outside of the Blackout Period,
a director or officer must first notify the Company’s Compliance
Officer or, if he is not available, the Chief Executive Officer (or,
in the absence of a Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer),
in writing of the desire to buy or sell. The Compliance Officer or Chief
Executive Officer (or, in absence of a Chief Executive Officer, the Chief
Operating Officer) will determine whether or not the proposed transaction
may be undertaken and will promptly advise the director or executive
officer of the executive decision (“Preclearance”). Such
preclearance to trade may not be sought if the director or officer
is then in possession of Inside Information. If clearance to buy or
sell stock is given, trade should be completed by the end of the second
trading day thereafter, or new clearance must be obtained. If the Compliance
Officer or the Chief Executive Officer (or, in the absence of a Chief
Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer) determines that the
transaction should not be made because of circumstances at the Company
(which Circumstances need not be revealed to the requester), the decision
shall be final and be adhere to by the director or officer. This determination
remains in effect until subsequent clearance is received. If you have
been denied clearance to trade, you should not disclose this to others.
4. Restriction
on Trading by Other Designated Senior Employees
Also, employees
working in finance, accounting chartering and operations, because of
their access to Inside Information on a regular basis, will be required
to comply with the Blackout Period and Preclearance provisions. This
requirement will also apply to Affiliates of such designated employees.
The employees in this category may change from time to time.
5. Prohibition on Communications
with Securities Industry Professionals and Shareholders
In order to
avoid the selective disclosure of material non- public in formation,
the only persons authorized to discuss the Company and its business with
securities industry professionals (include brokers, investment advisers
and managers and investment companies and hedge funds) and shareholders
seeking information from the Company or who are otherwise reasonably
likely to trade on the information are the Chief Executive Officer (or,
in the absence of a Chief Executive Officer, the Chief Operating Officer)
and the Chief Financial Officer of the Company and persons who they expressly
direct to do so.
6. Rules for Protecting Confidentiality
of Inside Information Relating to Sensitive Business Transactions From time to time, the Company
explores business combinations or other similar potential transactions
with other companies and individuals. All information learned in the
course of such dealings (including the fact the potential transaction
is under consideration) is to be considered Inside Information, and must
not be communicated to anyone outside the Company, except as may be required
by law, or to the extent the person needs to know the information in
order to render services to the Company (e.g. outside counsel or auditors).
All information learned in the course of such dealings must not be communicated
to other employees of the Company, except to the extent they need to
know the information to fulfill their job responsibilities.
Recipients
of information learned in the course of such business dealings must be
advised that the information is confidential and instructed about the
limitations on its use. Recipients of such information must take care
to ensure that the information is not inadvertently disclosed to persons
other than other Company employees involved in the transaction.
7. Prohibitions
Against Selling Short and Company Options Trading
No Insider may sell
securities of the company short (that is selling stock you do not own
in the expectations the price will decline), in a manner which is contrary
to the provisions of Section 16 ( c ) of the Securities Exchange Act
of 1934 and the rules there under.
8. Other Restrictions
Certain persons
are subject to their limitations on their ability to trade in the Company’s
securities. Directors, officers and 10% beneficial owners are subject
to Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Holders of “restricted” securities
and affiliates of the Company are subject to Rule 144 under Securities
Act of 1933 in connection with their sales of the Company’s securities.
This Policy does not generally apply to the exercise of options granted
by the Company, but does apply to the sales of shares received upon the
exercise of those options, directly or indirectly, for example through
a broker loan or sales program.
What If I Have Questions About the Policy?
Barry Regenstein has been designated the Compliance Officer for this
Policy. The Compliance Officer is responsible for ensuring compliance
with this Policy through appropriate monitoring. The Compliance Officer
is responsible for ensuring compliance with this Policy through appropriate
monitoring. The Compliance Officer will interpret the application of
the Policy to any situations not set forth. The determination of the
Compliance Officer is final. If you have any questions about this Policy,
you should contact the Compliance Officer before you take any other
action. You may also contact our outside counsel, Andrew Hulsh at Kramer
Levin ((212) 715-9292) with any questions about this Policy or whether
a proposed purchase or sale of the Company’s securities is prohibited
by this Policy.
What if I Don’t Follow the Policy?
If you do not adhere
to the Policy, whether specifically or in spirit, you will be subject
to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including termination of
employment, and you may be subject to legal and regulatory actions or
proceedings. |