Description of Securities

As of February 14, 2020, Tremont Mortgage Trust (the “Company,” “we,” “us” or “our”) had one class of securities registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), Common Shares of Beneficial Interest, $.01 par value per share (“common shares”). The common shares are listed on The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”).

The following description of the terms of our shares of beneficial interest is a summary only. This summary is not complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the Company’s declaration of trust and bylaws and applicable Maryland law, including but not limited to provisions of Maryland law applicable to Maryland real estate investment trusts (the “Maryland REIT Law”). The Company’s declaration of trust and bylaws are filed as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our declaration of trust authorizes us to issue up to an aggregate of 25,000,000 shares of beneficial interest, all of which are currently designated as common shares. As of February 14, 2020, we had 8,239,226 common shares issued and outstanding. As of February 14, 2020, no other class or series of shares of beneficial interest has been established and is outstanding.

As permitted by Maryland REIT Law, our declaration of trust also authorizes our Board of Trustees to increase or decrease the number of our authorized common shares, to create new classes or series of our shares of beneficial interest, or increase or decrease the number of authorized shares thereof, and to classify or reclassify any unissued shares from time to time by setting the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications or terms or conditions of redemption of such class or series of our shares of beneficial interest.

Voting rights. Subject to the provisions of our declaration of trust regarding the restriction on the transfer of shares of beneficial interest, each outstanding common share entitles the holder to one vote on all matters submitted to a vote of shareholders, including the election of Trustees. Holders of our common shares do not have cumulative voting rights in the election of Trustees. Whenever shareholders are required or permitted to take any action by a vote, the action may only be taken by a vote at a shareholders meeting. Under our declaration of trust and bylaws, shareholders do not have the right to take any action by written consent. With respect to matters brought before a meeting of shareholders other than the election of Trustees, except where a different voting standard is required by any applicable law, the listing requirements of the principal securities exchange on which our common shares are listed or a specific provision of our declaration of trust or bylaws, a majority of all the votes cast by our shareholders entitled to vote on the matter at the meeting shall be required to approve the matter.

Under our declaration of trust, subject to the provisions of any class or series of our shares of beneficial interest which hereafter may be created and are then outstanding, holders of common shares are entitled to vote on the following matters: (a) the election of Trustees and the removal of Trustees for cause; (b) any amendment to our declaration of trust, merger, conversion or consolidation of us with or into, or sale of all or substantially all our assets to, another entity and our termination, in each case, to the extent shareholder approval is required under the Maryland REIT Law provided that such action has first been approved by two thirds of our Trustees then in office; and (c) such other matters with respect to which our Board of Trustees has adopted a resolution declaring that a proposed action is advisable and directing that the matter be submitted to the holders of common shares for approval or ratification. Our shareholders will also be entitled to vote on such matters as may be required by our declaration of trust, bylaws or applicable law. Provisions of our declaration of trust regarding the restriction on the transfer and ownership of our common shares may preclude a shareholder’s right to vote in certain circumstances.

Under the Maryland REIT Law, a Maryland real estate investment trust (“REIT”) generally cannot dissolve, amend its declaration of trust, convert or merge unless these actions are approved by at least two thirds of all shares. The Maryland REIT

Law allows a trust's declaration of trust to set a lower percentage, so long as the percentage is not less than a majority of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Under our declaration of trust, amendments to our declaration of trust may be made if first approved by at least two thirds of our Trustees then in office and, to the extent a shareholder vote is required under the Maryland REIT Law, then approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by our shareholders entitled to vote thereon (in the case of the provisions of our declaration of trust relating to the classification of our Board of Trustees, the removal of our Trustees and the vote required to amend those provisions, the approval of our shareholders entitled to cast at least two thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter will be required). Under the Maryland REIT Law, a REIT's declaration of trust may permit its board of trustees by a two thirds vote to amend the REIT's declaration of trust from time to time to qualify as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “IRC”), or the Maryland REIT Law without the affirmative vote or written consent of the REIT's shareholders. Our Declaration of Trust permits this type of action by our Board of Trustees.

            Board of Trustees. Our Board of Trustees is divided into three classes. At each annual meeting, shareholders elect the successors of the class of Trustees whose term expires at that meeting for a term expiring at the annual meeting held in the third year following the year of their election. The classified board provision could have the effect of making the replacement of incumbent Trustees more time consuming and difficult. At least two annual meetings of shareholders will generally be required to effect a change in a majority of our Board of Trustees. The current ownership of a significant number of common shares by Tremont Realty Advisors LLC (our “Manager”) may impact whether such a change occurs.

Except as may be mandated by any applicable law or the listing requirements of the principal exchange on which our common shares are listed, otherwise provided by a provision of our bylaws approved by our Board of Trustees, and subject to the provisions of any class or series of our shares of beneficial interest which hereafter may be created and are then outstanding, a plurality of all the votes cast by our shareholders entitled to vote in the election of Trustees at a meeting of our shareholders duly called and at which a quorum is present is required to elect a Trustee.

In case of failure to elect any Trustee at an annual meeting of our shareholders, the incumbent Trustee who was up for election at that meeting may hold over and continue to serve as a Trustee for the full term of the trusteeship in which he or she was nominated and until the election and qualification of his or her successor. Subject to the provisions of any class or series of our shares of beneficial interest which hereafter may be created and are then outstanding, any vacancy as a result of any reason, including, without limitation, a vacancy caused by the death, resignation, retirement, removal or incapacity of any Trustee or resulting from an increase in the number of Trustees, may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Trustees then remaining in office, even if the remaining Trustees do not constitute a quorum or are less than three, and any Trustee elected to fill a vacancy shall serve for the remainder of the full term of the trusteeship in which such vacancy occurred and until the election and qualification of his or her successor. Our declaration of trust and bylaws provide that a Trustee may be removed only for cause, at a properly called meeting of our shareholders, by the affirmative vote of holders of not less than two thirds of our outstanding shares of beneficial interest entitled to be cast in the election of such Trustee. If our Manager has and retains a significant ownership stake in us, it may not be possible to remove our Trustees unless our Manager votes in favor of such removal.

Distribution rights. Subject to the preferential rights of any other class or series of shares then outstanding or which may be issued, and to the ownership restrictions described in our declaration of trust, all of our common shares are entitled to receive distributions on our common shares if, as and when authorized by our Board of Trustees and declared by us out of assets legally available for distribution (as determined by our Board of Trustees in its sole discretion).

Liquidation rights. Subject to the preferential rights of any other class or series of shares then outstanding or which may be issued, and to the ownership restrictions described in our declaration of trust, all of our common shares are entitled to share ratably in our assets legally available for distribution to our shareholders (as determined by our Board of Trustees) in the event of our liquidation, dissolution or winding up after payment of or adequate provision for all of our known debts and liabilities.

Registration rights. Our Manager has certain demand registration rights and piggyback and other registration rights with respect to our common shares held by it, as described from time to time in our periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Other rights and preferences. Holders of our common shares have no preference, conversion, exchange, sinking fund, redemption or appraisal rights, or preemptive rights to subscribe for any of our securities.

Pursuant to our declaration of trust, our Board of Trustees, without any action by our shareholders, may issue preferred shares of beneficial interest (“preferred shares”) from time to time, in one or more classes or series, with the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption of any preferred shares as determined by our Board of Trustees from time to time. The issuance of preferred shares, the issuance of rights to purchase preferred shares or the possibility of the issuance of preferred shares or such rights could have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in our control. In addition, the rights of holders of common shares will be subject to, and may be adversely affected by, the rights of holders of any preferred shares that we have issued or may issue in the future.

Our declaration of trust restricts the number and value of our shares of beneficial interest that our shareholders may own. These restrictions are intended to, among other purposes, assist us with REIT compliance under the Code and otherwise to promote our orderly governance.

Our declaration of trust prohibits any person from owning, being deemed to own by virtue of the attribution provisions of the IRC, or beneficially owning under Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act, more than 9.8% in value or number, whichever is more restrictive, of any class or series of our shares of beneficial interest, including our common shares. Our Board of Trustees may from time to time increase this ownership limit for one or more persons and decrease the ownership limit for other persons, subject to limitations contained in our declaration of trust. Our declaration of trust also prohibits any person from beneficially or constructively owning shares if that ownership would result in us failing to qualify for taxation as a REIT.

These restrictions do not apply to our Manager, The RMR Group Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries (“RMR”), any company to which RMR provides management services or any of their affiliates so long as such ownership does not adversely affect our qualification for taxation as a REIT under the IRC. Because our Manager has acquired and retains an ownership stake in us above 9.8%, our Board of Trustees in the future may determine that it is appropriate to reduce the ownership limit applicable to ownership of our shares by others to below 9.8% in order to assist us in qualifying for taxation as a REIT. Under such circumstances if the ownership limit is not reduced to an appropriate level on a timely basis, it is possible that certain purchasers, acquirors, or other holders of our common shares may, if their ownership would result in our failing to qualify for taxation as a REIT, have certain of their common shares transferred to a Charitable Trust (as defined below) even if their ownership in our common shares was in an amount below the ownership limit applicable at the time.

Our Board of Trustees, in its sole discretion, may exempt other persons, prospectively or retroactively, from these ownership limitations, so long as our Board of Trustees determines, among other things, that it is in our best interests. Our Board of Trustees may not grant an exemption if the exemption would result in our failing to qualify for taxation as a REIT. In determining whether to grant an exemption, our Board of Trustees may consider, among other factors, the following:

In addition, our Board of Trustees may require such rulings from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, opinions of counsel, representations, undertakings or agreements it deems advisable in order to make the foregoing decisions.

If a person attempts a transfer of our shares of beneficial interest in violation of the ownership limitations described above, (a) that number of shares (rounded to the nearest whole share) which would cause the violation are automatically transferred to a trust (the “Charitable Trust”), for the exclusive benefit of one or more charitable beneficiaries designated by us or (b) such attempted transfer shall be void ab initio. The prohibited owner will generally:

not possess any rights to vote or other rights attributable to the shares held in the Charitable Trust; and

Unless otherwise directed by our Board of Trustees, as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving notice from us that shares have been transferred to the Charitable Trust (and no later than 20 days after receiving notice if our shares are then listed or admitted to trade on any national securities exchange), the trustee of the Charitable Trust will sell such shares (together with the right to receive distributions with respect to such shares) to a person designated by the trustee of the Charitable Trust, whose ownership of the shares will not violate the ownership limitations set forth in our declaration of trust. Upon such sale, the interest of the charitable beneficiary in the shares sold will terminate, and the trustee of the Charitable Trust will distribute the net proceeds of the sale to the prohibited owner and to the beneficiary of the Charitable Trust as follows:

The prohibited owner will receive the lesser of:

The trustee of the Charitable Trust may reduce the amount payable to the prohibited owner by the amount of ordinary dividends or other distributions which have been paid to the prohibited owner and is owed by the prohibited owner to the trustee of the Charitable Trust. Any net sales proceeds in excess of the amount payable to the prohibited owner shall be paid to the charitable beneficiary, less the costs, expenses and compensation of the Charitable Trust and us. Any extraordinary dividends received by the trustee of the Charitable Trust shall be treated in a similar way as sales proceeds.

If a prohibited owner sells shares that are deemed to have been transferred to the Charitable Trust, then:

Also, shares of beneficial interest held in the Charitable Trust will be deemed to have been offered for sale to us, or our designee, at a price per share equal to the lesser of:

We will have the right to accept the offer until the trustee of the Charitable Trust has sold the shares held in the Charitable Trust. The net proceeds of the sale to us will be distributed similar to any other sale by a trustee of the Charitable Trust. Our Board of Trustees may retroactively amend, alter or repeal any rights which the Charitable Trust, the trustee of the Charitable Trust or the beneficiary of the Charitable Trust may have under our declaration of trust, including retroactively granting an exemption to a prohibited owner, except that our Board of Trustees may not retroactively amend, alter or repeal any obligations to pay amounts incurred prior to such time and owed or payable to the trustee of the Charitable Trust. The trustee of the Charitable Trust will be indemnified by us or from the proceeds from the sale of shares held in the Charitable Trust for its costs and expenses reasonably incurred in connection with conducting its duties and satisfying its obligations under our declaration of trust and is entitled to receive reasonable compensation for services provided.

Costs, expenses and compensation payable to the trustee of the Charitable Trust may be funded from the Charitable Trust or by us. Before any sales proceeds may be distributed to a prohibited owner, we will be entitled to reimbursement on a first priority basis (after payment in full of amounts payable to the trustee of the Charitable Trust) from the Charitable Trust for any such amounts funded by us and for any indemnification provided to the trustee of the Charitable Trust by us.

In addition, costs and expenses incurred by us in the process of enforcing the ownership limitations set forth in our Declaration of Trust, in addition to reimbursement of costs, expenses and compensation of the trustee of the Charitable Trust which have been funded by us, may be collected from the Charitable Trust before any sale proceeds are distributed to a prohibited owner.

The restrictions described above will not preclude the settlement of any transaction entered into through the facilities of any national securities exchange or automated inter-dealer quotation system. Our declaration of trust provides, however, that the fact that the settlement of any transaction occurs will not negate the effect of any of the foregoing limitations and any transferee in such a transaction will be subject to all of the provisions and limitations described above.

Every person who owns, is deemed to own by virtue of the attribution rules of the IRC or is deemed to beneficially own pursuant to Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act 5% or more of any class or series of our shares outstanding at the time of the determination is required to give written notice to us within 30 days after the end of each taxable year, and also within three business days after a request from us, stating the name and address of the legal and beneficial owner(s), the number of shares of each class and series of our shares of beneficial interest which the owner beneficially owns, and a description of the manner in which those shares are held. If the IRC or applicable tax regulations specify a threshold below 5%, this notice provision will apply to those persons who own our shares of beneficial interest at the lower percentage. In addition, each shareholder is required to provide us upon demand with any additional information that we may request in order to determine our qualification for taxation as a REIT, to comply or determine our compliance with the requirements of any taxing authority or other government authority and to determine and ensure compliance with the foregoing ownership limitations.

All certificates evidencing our shares and any share statements for our uncertificated shares may bear legends referring to the foregoing restrictions.

The Maryland General Corporation Law (“MGCL”) contains a provision which regulates business combinations with interested shareholders. This provision applies to REITs formed under Maryland law like us. Under the MGCL, business combinations such as mergers, consolidations, share exchanges, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities between a REIT formed under Maryland law and an interested shareholder or an affiliate of an interested shareholder are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the interested shareholder becomes an interested shareholder. Under the MGCL the following persons are deemed to be interested shareholders:

After the five year prohibition period has ended, a business combination between a trust and an interested shareholder generally must be recommended by the board of trustees of the trust and must receive the following shareholder approvals:

The shareholder approvals discussed above are not required if the trust’s shareholders receive the minimum price set forth in the MGCL for their shares and the consideration is received in cash or in the same form as previously paid by the interested shareholder for its shares.

The foregoing provisions of the MGCL do not apply, however, to business combinations that are approved or exempted by our Board of Trustees prior to the time that the interested shareholder becomes an interested shareholder. A person is not an interested shareholder under the statute if the board of trustees approves in advance the transaction by which that shareholder otherwise would have become an interested shareholder. The board of trustees may provide that its approval is subject to compliance with any terms and conditions determined by the board of trustees. Our Board of Trustees has adopted a resolution that any business combination between us and any other person is exempted from the provisions of the MGCL described in the preceding paragraphs, provided that the business combination is first approved by our Board of Trustees, including the approval of a majority of the members of our Board of Trustees who are not affiliates or associates of the interested shareholder. This resolution, however, may be altered or repealed in whole or in part at any time.

The MGCL contains a provision which regulates control share acquisitions. This provision applies to REITs formed under Maryland law like us. The MGCL provides that control shares of a REIT formed under Maryland law acquired in a control share acquisition have no voting rights except to the extent that the acquisition is approved by a vote of two thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding shares owned by the acquiror, by officers or by trustees who are employees of the trust. Control shares are voting shares, which, if aggregated with all other such shares, previously acquired by the acquiror, or in respect of which the acquiror is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquiror to exercise voting power in electing trustees within one of the following ranges of voting power:

An acquiror must obtain the necessary shareholder approval each time it acquires control shares in an amount sufficient to cross one of the thresholds noted above.

Control shares do not include shares which the acquiring person is entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained shareholder approval or shares acquired directly from the company. The MGCL provides for certain exceptions from the definition of control share acquisition.

A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition, upon satisfaction of the conditions set forth in the statute, including an undertaking to pay the expenses of the meeting, may compel the board of trustees of the trust to call a special meeting of shareholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the shares. If no request for a meeting is made, the trust may itself present the matter at any shareholders meeting.

If voting rights are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiring person does not deliver an acquiring person statement as required by the MGCL, then the trust may redeem for fair value any or all of the control shares, except those for which voting rights have previously been approved. The right of the trust to redeem control shares is subject to conditions and limitations. Fair value is determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares, as of the date of the last control share acquisition by the acquiror or of any meeting of shareholders at which the voting rights of the shares are considered and not approved. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a shareholders meeting and the acquiror becomes entitled to vote a majority of the shares entitled to vote, all other shareholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquiror in the control share acquisition.

The control share acquisition statute of the MGCL does not apply to the following:

Our bylaws contain a provision exempting any and all acquisitions by any person of our common shares from the control share acquisition statute. This bylaw provision may be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.

Subtitle 8 of Title 3 of the MGCL permits a Maryland REIT with a class of equity securities registered under the Exchange Act and at least three independent trustees to elect to be subject, by provision in its declaration of trust or bylaws or a resolution of its board of trustees and notwithstanding any contrary provision in the declaration of trust or bylaws, to any or all of five provisions:

Through other provisions in our declaration of trust unrelated to Subtitle 8, we already (a) have a classified board, (b) require the affirmative vote of the holders of not less than two thirds of all of the votes entitled to be cast in the election of such Trustee for the removal of any Trustee from our Board of Trustees, which removal will be allowed only for cause, (c) vest in our Board of Trustees the exclusive power to fix the number of trusteeships, (d) vest in our Board of Trustees the exclusive power to call meetings of our shareholders and (e) require that a vacancy on our Board of Trustees be filled only by the remaining Trustees in office and for the replacement Trustee to serve for the remainder of the full term of the class of Trustees in which the vacancy occurred.

If our Manager has and retains a significant ownership stake in us, our Manager may have significant influence in the election of our Trustees, including our Independent Trustees, and the outcome of shareholder actions, including with respect to a change in control of us. In addition, provisions of our governing documents, including, for example, our restrictions on transfer and ownership of our common shares, our classified Board of Trustees, our shareholder voting rights and standards, the power of our Trustees to amend our declaration of trust in certain circumstances without shareholder approval and our Trustee qualifications, could delay or prevent a change in our control. The limitations in our declaration of trust and bylaws on the ability of our shareholders to propose nominations of individuals for election as Trustees or other proposals of business to be considered at meetings of our shareholders, including the disclosure requirements related thereto, may delay, defer or prevent our shareholders from making proposals that could be beneficial to our shareholders.

            The transfer agent and registrar for our common shares is Equiniti Trust Company.

Our common shares are listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “TRMT.”