Form of Underwriters Warrant

THIS COMMON STOCK PURCHASE WARRANT (the “Warrant”) certifies that, for value received, Burrill Securities or its assigns (the “Holder”) is entitled, upon the terms and subject to the limitations on exercise and the conditions hereinafter set forth, at any time on or after the date hereof (the “Initial Exercise Date”) and on or prior to the close of business on the _______¹ year anniversary of the Initial Exercise Date (the “Termination Date”), to subscribe for and purchase from Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”), up to ______²/ shares (as subject to adjustment hereunder, the “Warrant Shares”) of Common Stock. The purchase price of one share of Common Stock under this Warrant shall be equal to the Exercise Price, as defined in Section 2(b). This Warrant is issued by the Company as of the date hereof pursuant the Underwriting Agreement, dated _____, 2013, between the Company and Burrill Securities.

Section 1.               Definitions. The following terms used herein have the meanings set forth below:

“Other Holders” means holders of securities of the Company (other than the Holder) who are entitled, by contract with the Company, to have securities included in a registration statement.

“Person” means any natural person, partnership, corporation, association, or other legal entity.

“Registrable Shares” means (i) the Common Stock issuable or issued upon exercise of this Warrant and (ii) any Common Stock issued as (or issuable upon the conversion or exercise of any warrant, right, or other security that is issued as) a dividend or other distribution with respect to, or in exchange for or in replacement of, the shares referenced in clause (i) above; provided, however, that shares of Common Stock which are Registrable Shares shall cease to be Registrable Shares upon any sale pursuant to a registration statement filed by the Company or Rule 144 under the Securities Act..

¹ 5 year anniversary date of the effective date of the Registration Statement.

²  3% of the Common Stock sold in the initial public offering.

“Securities Act” means the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

“VWAP” means, for any date, the price determined by the first of the following clauses that applies: (a) if the Common Stock is then listed or quoted on a Trading Market, the daily volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for the 20 consecutive Trading Days ending one Trading Day prior to the date of such computation on the Trading Market on which the Common Stock is then listed or quoted as reported by Bloomberg L.P. (based on a Trading Day from 9:30 a.m. (New York City time) to 4:02 p.m. (New York City time)), (b) if the OTC Bulletin Board is not a Trading Market, the volume weighted average price of the Common Stock for the 20 consecutive Trading Days ending one Trading Day prior to the date of such computation on the OTC Bulletin Board, (c) if the Common Stock is not then listed or quoted for trading on the OTC Bulletin Board and if prices for the Common Stock are then reported in the “Pink Sheets” published by OTC Markets, Inc. (or a similar organization or agency succeeding to its functions of reporting prices), the most recent bid price per share of the Common Stock so reported for the 20 consecutive Trading Days ending one Trading Day prior to the date of such computation, or (d) in all other cases, the fair market value of a share of Common Stock as determined by an independent appraiser selected in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Company.

Section 2.               Exercise.

a)            Exercise of Warrant. Exercise of the purchase rights represented by this Warrant may be made, in whole or in part, at any time or times on or after the Initial Exercise Date and on or before the Termination Date by delivery of this Warrant accompanied by a completed and duly executed Notice of Exercise in the form annexed hereto to the Company (or such other office or agency of the Company as it may designate by notice in writing to the registered Holder at the address of the Holder appearing on the books of the Company) , and within three (3) Trading Days of the date said Notice of Exercise is received by the Company, the Company shall have received payment of the aggregate Exercise Price of the shares thereby purchased by wire transfer or cashier’s check drawn on a United States bank or, if available, pursuant to the cashless exercise procedure specified in Section 2(c) below. No medallion guarantee (or other type of guarantee or notarization) of any Notice of Exercise form shall be required unless the shares purchased upon such exercise are to be registered in the name of a person other than the registerd Holder of this Warrant.

b)            Exercise Price. The exercise price per share of the Common Stock under this Warrant shall be $____,^3/ subject to adjustment hereunder (the “Exercise Price”).

c)            Cashless Exercise. If at any time after the 6 month anniversary of the Initial Exercise Date, there is no effective registration statement registering, or no current prospectus available for, the resale of the Warrant Shares by the Holder, then this Warrant may be exercised, in whole or in part, at such time by means of a “cashless exercise” in which the Holder shall be entitled to receive a number of Warrant Shares equal to the quotient obtained by dividing [(A-B) (X)] by (A), where:

(A) =

the VWAP on the Trading Day immediately preceding the date on which the Holder elects to exercise this Warrant by means of a “cashless exercise,” as set forth in the applicable Notice of Exercise;

(B) =

the Exercise Price of this Warrant, as adjusted hereunder; and

(X) =

the number of Warrant Shares that would be issuable upon exercise of this Warrant in accordance with the terms of this Warrant if such exercise were by means of a cash exercise rather than a cashless exercise.

d)            Mechanics of Exercise.

i.

Delivery of Warrant Shares Upon Exercise. Warrant Shares purchased hereunder shall be transmitted by the Company’s stock transfer agent (the “Transfer Agent”) to the Holder by crediting the account of the Holder’s prime broker with The Depository Trust Company through its Deposit or Withdrawal at Custodian system (“DWAC”) if the Company is then a participant in such system and either (A) there is an effective registration statement permitting the issuance of the Warrant Shares to or resale of the Warrant Shares by the Holder or (B) the shares are eligible for resale by the Holder without volume or manner-of-sale limitations pursuant to Rule 144, and otherwise by physical delivery to the address specified by the Holder in the Notice of Exercise by the end of the day on the date that is three (3) Trading Days after the latest of (A) the receipt by the Company of the Notice of Exercise and (B) surrender of this Warrant (if required) (such date, the “Warrant Share Delivery Date”). The Warrant Shares shall be deemed to have been issued, and Holder or any other person so designated to be named therein shall be deemed to have become a holder of record of such shares for all purposes, as of the date the Warrant has been exercised, with payment to the Company of the Exercise Price (or by cashless exercise, if permitted) and all taxes required to be paid by the Holder, if any, pursuant to Section 2(d)(iv) prior to the issuance of such shares, having been paid.

³ 125% of the issuance price per unit in the initial public offering.

  ii.            Delivery of New Warrants Upon Exercise. If this Warrant shall have been exercised in part, the Company shall, at the request of the Holder and upon surrender of this Warrant, at the time of delivery of the Warrant Shares, deliver to the Holder a new Warrant evidencing the rights of the Holder to purchase the unpurchased Warrant Shares called for by this Warrant, which new Warrant shall in all other respects be identical with this Warrant.

iii.            No Fractional Shares or Scrip. No fractional shares or scrip representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this Warrant. As to any fraction of a share which the Holder would otherwise be entitled to purchase upon such exercise, the Company shall, at its election, either pay a cash adjustment in respect of such final fraction in an amount equal to such fraction multiplied by the Exercise Price or round up to the next whole share.

iv.            Charges, Taxes and Expenses. Issuance of Warrant Shares shall be made without charge to the Holder for any issue or transfer tax or other incidental expense in respect of the issuance of Warrant Shares, all of which taxes and expenses shall be paid by the Company, and such Warrant Shares shall be issued in the name of the Holder or in such name or names as may be directed by the Holder; provided, however, that in the event that Warrant Shares are to be issued in a name other than the name of the Holder, this Warrant when surrendered for exercise shall be accompanied by the Assignment Form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder and the Company may require, as a condition thereto, the payment of a sum sufficient to reimburse it for any transfer tax incidental thereto.

e)            Incidental Registration.

  i.             If a registration statement covering the Registrable Shares is not then in effect, whenever the Company proposes to file a registration statement covering Common Stock at any time and from time to time, it will, prior to such filing, give written notice to the Holder of its intention to do so. Upon the written request of the Holder, given within five (5) Business Days after the Company provides such notice (which request shall state the intended method of disposition of such Registrable Shares), the Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause all Registrable Shares that the Company has been requested by the Holder to be registered under the Securities Act to the extent necessary to permit their sale or other disposition in accordance with the intended methods of distribution specified in the request of the Holder; provided, however, that the Company shall have the right to postpone or withdraw any registration effected pursuant to this Section 2(e) once in any twelve (12) month period, without obligation to the Holder, any such postponement not to exceed a period of ninety (90) days in aggregate, subject to applicable law.

ii.            If the registration for which the Company gives notice pursuant to Section 2(e)(i) is a registered public offering involving an underwriting, the Company shall so advise the Holder as a part of the written notice given pursuant to Section 2(e)(i). In such event, the right of the Holder to include such Holder’s Registrable Shares in such registration pursuant to Section 2(e)(i) shall be conditioned upon the Holder’s participation in such underwriting on the terms set forth therein. If the Holder proposes to distribute its securities through such underwriting, it shall enter into an underwriting agreement in customary form with the underwriter or underwriters selected for the underwriting by the Company. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section 2(e), if the managing underwriter determines that marketing factors require a limitation on the number of shares to be underwritten, the Company may limit the number of Registrable Shares to be included in the registration and underwriting. The Company shall so advise the Holder requesting registration, and the number of shares that are entitled to be included in the registration and underwriting shall be allocated in the following manner. The securities of the Company held by holders other than the Holder and any Other Holders shall be excluded from such registration and underwriting to the extent deemed advisable by the managing underwriter, and, if a further limitation on the number of shares is required, the number of shares that may be included in such registration and underwriting shall be allocated among the Holder and any Other Holders requesting registration in proportion, as nearly as practicable, to the respective number of shares of Common Stock (on an as-converted basis) that they held at the time the Company gives the notice specified in Section 2(e)(i), but subject to any rights of Other Holders entitling them to priority over the Holder with respect to the inclusion of securities in the registration in the event that any securities are so excluded. If the Holder or Other Holder would thus be entitled to include more securities than such holder requested to be registered, the excess shall be allocated among the Holder and Other Holders pro rata in the manner described in the preceding sentence but subject to any rights of Other Holders entitling them to priority over the Holder with respect to the inclusion of securities in the registration. If the Holder or any Other Holder disapproves of the terms of any such underwriting, such person may elect to withdraw therefrom by written notice to the Company, and any Registrable Shares or other securities excluded or withdrawn from such underwriting shall be withdrawn from such registration.

Section 3.               Certain Adjustments.

a)            Stock Dividends and Splits. If the Company, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding: (i) pays a stock dividend or otherwise makes a distribution or distributions on shares of its Common Stock or any other equity or equity equivalent securities payable in shares of Common Stock (which, for avoidance of doubt, shall not include any shares of Common Stock issued by the Company upon exercise of this Warrant), (ii) subdivides outstanding shares of Common Stock into a larger number of shares, (iii) combines (including by way of reverse stock split) outstanding shares of Common Stock into a smaller number of shares, or (iv) issues by reclassification of shares of the Common Stock any shares of capital stock of the Company, then in each case the Exercise Price shall be multiplied by a fraction of which the numerator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) outstanding immediately before such event and of which the denominator shall be the number of shares of Common Stock outstanding immediately after such event, and the number of shares issuable upon exercise of this Warrant shall be proportionately adjusted such that the aggregate Exercise Price of this Warrant shall remain unchanged. Any adjustment made pursuant to this Section 3(a) shall become effective immediately after the record date for the determination of stockholders entitled to receive such dividend or distribution and shall become effective immediately after the effective date in the case of a subdivision, combination or re‑classification.

b)            Fundamental Transaction. If, at any time while this Warrant is outstanding, (i) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any merger or consolidation of the Company with or into another Person, (ii) the Company, directly or indirectly, effects any sale, lease, license, assignment, transfer, conveyance or other disposition of all or substantially all of its assets in one or a series of related transactions, (iii) any, direct or indirect, purchase offer, tender offer or exchange offer (whether by the Company or another Person) is completed pursuant to which holders of Common Stock are permitted to sell, tender or exchange their shares for other securities, cash or property and has been accepted by the holders of 50% or more of the outstanding Common Stock, (iv) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions effects any reclassification, reorganization or recapitalization of the Common Stock or any compulsory share exchange pursuant to which the Common Stock is effectively converted into or exchanged for other securities, cash or property, or (v) the Company, directly or indirectly, in one or more related transactions consummates a stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination (including, without limitation, a reorganization, recapitalization, spin-off or scheme of arrangement) with another Person or group of Persons whereby such other Person or group acquires more than 50% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock (not including any shares of Common Stock held by the other Person or other Persons making or party to, or associated or affiliated with the other Persons making or party to, such stock or share purchase agreement or other business combination) (each a “Fundamental Transaction”), then, upon any subsequent exercise of this Warrant, the Holder shall have the right to receive, for each Warrant Share that would have been issuable upon such exercise immediately prior to the occurrence of such Fundamental Transaction, at the option of the Holder, the number of shares of Common Stock of the successor or acquiring corporation or of the Company, if it is the surviving corporation, and any additional consideration (the “Alternate Consideration”) receivable as a result of such Fundamental Transaction by a holder of the number of shares of Common Stock for which this Warrant is exercisable immediately prior to such Fundamental Transaction. If holders of Common Stock are given any choice as to the securities, cash or property to be received in a Fundamental Transaction, then the Holder shall be given the same choice as to the Alternate Consideration it receives upon any exercise of this Warrant following such Fundamental Transaction. The Company shall cause any successor entity in a Fundamental Transaction in which the Company is not the survivor (the “Successor Entity”) to assume in writing all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant and the other transaction documents in accordance with the provisions of this Section 3(e). Upon the occurrence of any such Fundamental Transaction, the Successor Entity shall succeed to, and be substituted for (so that from and after the date of such Fundamental Transaction, the provisions of this Warrant referring to the “Company” shall refer instead to the Successor Entity), and may exercise every right and power of the Company and shall assume all of the obligations of the Company under this Warrant with the same effect as if such Successor Entity had been named as the Company herein.

c)            Calculations. All calculations under this Section 3 shall be made to the nearest cent or the nearest 1/100th of a share, as the case may be. For purposes of this Section 3, the number of shares of Common Stock deemed to be issued and outstanding as of a given date shall be the sum of the number of shares of Common Stock (excluding treasury shares, if any) issued and outstanding.

d)            Notice to Holder.

i.              Adjustment to Exercise Price. Whenever the Exercise Price is adjusted pursuant to any provision of this Section 3, the Company shall promptly mail to the Holder a notice setting forth the Exercise Price after such adjustment and any resulting adjustment to the number of Warrant Shares and setting forth a brief statement of the facts requiring such adjustment.

ii.            Notice to Allow Exercise by Holder. If, prior to the earlier of (i) the Termination Date and (ii) the date on which this Warrant has been exercised in full, (A) the Company shall declare a dividend (or any other distribution in whatever form) on the Common Stock, (B) the Company shall declare a special nonrecurring cash dividend on or a redemption of the Common Stock, (C) the Company shall authorize the granting to all holders of the Common Stock rights or warrants to subscribe for or purchase any shares of capital stock of any class or of any rights, (D) the approval of any stockholders of the Company shall be required in connection with any reclassification of the Common Stock, any consolidation or merger to which the Company is a party, any sale or transfer of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or any compulsory share exchange whereby the Common Stock is converted into other securities, cash or property, or (E) the Company shall authorize the voluntary or involuntary dissolution, liquidation or winding up of the affairs of the Company, then, in each case, the Company shall cause to be mailed to the Holder at its last address as it shall appear upon the Warrant Register of the Company, at least 20 calendar days prior to the applicable record or effective date hereinafter specified, a notice stating (x) the date on which a record is to be taken for the purpose of such dividend, distribution, redemption, rights or warrants, or if a record is not to be taken, the date as of which the holders of the Common Stock of record to be entitled to such dividend, distributions, redemption, rights or warrants are to be determined or (y) the date on which such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange is expected to become effective or close, and the date as of which it is expected that holders of the Common Stock of record shall be entitled to exchange their shares of the Common Stock for securities, cash or other property deliverable upon such reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale, transfer or share exchange; provided that the failure to mail such notice or any defect therein or in the mailing thereof shall not affect the validity of the corporate action required to be specified in such notice. The Holder shall remain entitled to exercise this Warrant during the period commencing on the date of such notice to the effective date of the event triggering such notice except as may otherwise be expressly set forth herein.

Section 4.               Transfer of Warrant.

a)            Transferability. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 5110(g)(1), neither this Warrant nor any Warrant Shares issued upon exercise of this Warrant shall be sold, transferred, assigned, pledged, or hypothecated, or be the subject of any hedging, short sale, derivative, put, or call transaction that would result in the effective economic disposition of the securities by any person for a period of 180 days immediately following the date of effectiveness or commencement of sales of the initial public offering of the Common Stock, except the transfer of any security:

i.

by operation of law or by reason of reorganization of the Company;

ii.

to any FINRA member firm participating in the offering and the officers or partners thereof, if all securities so transferred remain subject to the lock-up restriction in this Section 4(a) for the remainder of the time period;

iii.

if the aggregate amount of securities of the Company held by the Holder or related person do not exceed 1% of the securities being offered;

iv.

that is beneficially owned on a pro-rata basis by all equity owners of an investment fund, provided that no participating member manages or otherwise directs investments by the fund, and participating members in the aggregate do not own more than 10% of the equity in the fund; or

v.

the exercise or conversion of any security, if all securities received remain subject to the lock-up restriction in this Section 4(a) for the remainder of the time period.

b)            Subject to the foregoing restrictions, any compliance with applicable securities laws, this Warrant and all rights hereunder (including, without limitation, any registration rights) are transferable, in whole or in part, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the Company or its designated agent, together with a written assignment of this Warrant substantially in the form attached hereto duly executed by the Holder or its agent or attorney and funds sufficient to pay any transfer taxes payable upon the making of such transfer. Upon such surrender and, if required, such payment, the Company shall execute and deliver a new Warrant or Warrants in the name of the assignee or assignees, as applicable, and in the denomination or denominations specified in such instrument of assignment, and shall issue to the assignor a new Warrant evidencing the portion of this Warrant not so assigned, and this Warrant shall promptly be cancelled. The Warrant, if properly assigned in accordance herewith, may be exercised by a new holder for the purchase of Warrant Shares without having a new Warrant issued.

c)            Representation by the Holder. The Holder, by the acceptance hereof, represents and warrants that it is acquiring this Warrant and, upon any exercise hereof, will acquire the Warrant Shares issuable upon such exercise, for its own account and not with a view to or for distributing or reselling such Warrant Shares or any part thereof in violation of the Securities Act or any applicable state securities law, except pursuant to sales registered or exempted under the Securities Act.

Section 5.               Miscellaneous.

a)            No Rights as Stockholder Until Exercise. This Warrant does not entitle the Holder to any voting rights, dividends or other rights as a stockholder of the Company prior to the exercise hereof as set forth in Section 2(d)(i).

b)            Loss, Theft, Destruction or Mutilation of Warrant. The Company covenants that upon receipt by the Company of evidence reasonably satisfactory to it of the loss, theft, destruction or mutilation of this Warrant or any stock certificate relating to the Warrant Shares, and in case of loss, theft or destruction, of indemnity or security reasonably satisfactory to it (which, in the case of the Warrant, shall not include the posting of any bond), and upon surrender and cancellation of such Warrant or stock certificate, if mutilated, the Company will make and deliver a new Warrant or stock certificate of like tenor and dated as of such cancellation, in lieu of such Warrant or stock certificate.

c)            Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays, etc. If the last or appointed day for the taking of any action or the expiration of any right required or granted herein shall not be a Business Day, then, such action may be taken or such right may be exercised on the next succeeding Business Day.

d)            Jurisdiction. All questions concerning the construction, validity, enforcement and interpretation of this Warrant shall be determined in accordance with the internal laws of the State of California.

e)            Restrictions. The Holder acknowledges that the Warrant Shares acquired upon the exercise of this Warrant, if not registered under the Securities Act will have restrictions upon resale imposed by the Securities Act and the rules and regulations thereunder, and under applicable state securities laws.

f)             Nonwaiver and Expenses. No course of dealing or any delay or failure to exercise any right hereunder on the part of Holder shall operate as a waiver of such right or otherwise prejudice the Holder’s rights, powers or remedies, notwithstanding the fact that all rights hereunder terminate on the Termination Date. If the Company willfully and knowingly fails to comply with any provision of this Warrant, which results in any material damages to the Holder, the Company shall pay to the Holder such amounts as shall be sufficient to cover any costs and expenses including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, including those of appellate proceedings, incurred by the Holder in collecting any amounts due pursuant hereto or in otherwise enforcing any of its rights, powers or remedies hereunder.

g)            Notices. Any notice, request or other document required or permitted to be given or delivered to the Holder by the Company shall be delivered in accordance with the notice provisions of the Underwriting Agreement dated even date herewith.

h)            Limitation of Liability. No provision hereof, in the absence of any affirmative action by the Holder to exercise this Warrant to purchase Warrant Shares, and no enumeration herein of the rights or privileges of the Holder, shall give rise to any liability of the Holder for the purchase price of any Common Stock or as a stockholder of the Company, whether such liability is asserted by the Company or by creditors of the Company.

i)             Remedies. The Holder, in addition to being entitled to exercise all rights granted by law, including recovery of damages, will be entitled to specific performance of its rights under this Warrant. The Company agrees that monetary damages would not be adequate compensation for any loss incurred by reason of a breach by it of the provisions of this Warrant and hereby agrees to waive and not to assert the defense in any action for specific performance that a remedy at law would be adequate.

j)            Successors and Assigns. Subject to applicable securities laws, this Warrant and the rights and obligations evidenced hereby shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the successors and permitted assigns of the Company and the successors and permitted assigns of Holder. The provisions of this Warrant are intended to be for the benefit of any Holder from time to time of this Warrant and shall be enforceable by the Holder.

k)            Amendment. This Warrant may be modified or amended or the provisions hereof waived with the written consent of the Company and the Holder.

l)             Severability. Wherever possible, each provision of this Warrant shall be interpreted in such manner as to be effective and valid under applicable law, but if any provision of this Warrant shall be prohibited by or invalid under applicable law, such provision shall be ineffective to the extent of such prohibition or invalidity, without invalidating the remainder of such provisions or the remaining provisions of this Warrant.

m)            Headings. The headings used in this Warrant are for the convenience of reference only and shall not, for any purpose, be deemed a part of this Warrant.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the Company has caused this Warrant to be executed by its officer thereunto duly authorized as of the date first above indicated.

TO:	ASTERIAS BIOTHERAPEUTICS, INC.

(1)           The undersigned hereby elects to purchase ________ Warrant Shares of the Company pursuant to the terms of the attached Warrant and tenders herewith payment of the exercise price in full, together with all applicable transfer taxes, if any.

(2)           Payment shall take the form of (check applicable box):

[ ] in lawful money of the United States; or

[ ] [if permitted the cancellation of such number of Warrant Shares as is necessary, in accordance with the formula set forth in subsection 2(c), to exercise this Warrant with respect to the maximum number of Warrant Shares purchasable pursuant to the cashless exercise procedure set forth in subsection 2(c).

(3)           Please issue said Warrant Shares in the name of the undersigned or in such other name as is specified below:

_______________________________*

The Warrant Shares shall be delivered to the following DWAC Account Number:

_______________________________

_______________________________

_______________________________

(4)           Accredited Investor. The undersigned is an “accredited investor” as defined in Regulation D promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

[SIGNATURE OF HOLDER]

* IMPORTANT: If Warrant Shares are to be issued in a name other than that of the registered holder whose name appears on the Warrant, a Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible financial institution which is a participant in a recognized signature guarantee program.

SIGNATURE GUARANTEED BY:

 

---

FOR VALUE RECEIVED, ____ all of or _______ shares of the foregoing Warrant and all rights evidenced thereby are hereby assigned to

_______________________________________________ whose address is

_______________________________________________________________.

_______________________________________________________________

NOTE: The signature to this Assignment Form must correspond with the name as it appears on the face of the Warrant, without alteration or enlargement or any change whatsoever. Officers of corporations and those acting in a fiduciary or other representative capacity should file proper evidence of authority to assign the foregoing Warrant.

* IMPORTANT: A Signature Guarantee must be provided by an eligible financial institution which is a participant in a recognized signature guarantee program.