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GEOnews - 29 March 2013
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Announcing GEO's Membership Raffle Winners
GEO welcomes Han Ly of NetApp and Vicki Hsu of Ambarella as GEO's newest members. Both Han and Vicki were the winners of the GEO membership raffle at the CEP Symposium earlier this week. Thank you to everyone who participated in the raffle; we had a terrific turnout!Invitation to Participate in the 2013 GEO Global Equity Insights Survey As part of a joint project with GEO, Siemens and Hostettler, Kramarsch & Partner, GEO invites you to participate in its first ever Global Equity Insights Survey, which addresses current market practice of equity-based compensation and examines the prevalent plan designs across the world's most important economic regions. Any company with an equity-based compensation plan in place can participate in the survey; you do not need to be a GEO member to participate; however, to ensure the best results, companies should identify only one person to participate in the survey. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete and must be completed by Monday, 22 April 2013. All participants will receive the full survey results.
Only Two Weeks Left to Submit GEO Award Applications 
GEO is currently accepting submissions for GEO Awards. Past winners include a combination of large and small companies from around the world in various industries. If you'd like to join GEO's elite group of award winners, please visit the GEO website to learn more about how to submit an award application.The deadline to submit an award application is Friday, 12 April 2013.
 Registration for GEO's 14th Annual International Conference is Now Open
We are pleased to announce that registration for GEO's 14th Annual International Conference in Munich, 12-14 June is now open. The Conference will feature keynotes from the world of academia, regulators and top professionals as well as 54 sessions presented by leaders in their fields and companies. If your company offers equity on a global basis, this is an event that you cannot afford to miss! Register before 30 April 2013 and save on Conference registration.
GEO Membership
GEO wants you to have access to all of its many resources, including our webcast library and the member sections of GEO's website. Consider becoming a member today to enjoy these and other member benefits. Click here for more information regarding GEO membership or contact michele.holly@globalequity.org.
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CONFERENCES
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18 April 2013
14th Annual International Conference
Munich, Germany
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WEBCASTS
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CHAPTER MEETINGS
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21 May 2013
The Proceeds Odyssey-
Challenges of Repatriation
of Participant Proceeds
SAVE THE DATE
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09 April 2013
UK and CI Chapter
London, England
REGISTRATION OPEN
18 April 2013
Toronto Chapter
Toronto, Canada
REGISTRATION OPEN
16 May 2013
NY Chapter
New York, New York
REGISTRATION OPEN
23 May 2013
Netherlands Chapter
Amsterdam, Netherlands
REGISTRATION OPEN
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- 29 April-1 May - World at Work Total Rewards Conference, Hear our own Danyle Anderson speak on "Insights from the Inside: Private vs. Public Global Equity Compensation." Be sure to also visit the GEO booth, number 225, in the exhibit hall.
- 5-8 May - Solium Synergy, Hear our own Robyn Shutak speak at the session, "Hoedown Throwdown - Financial Reporting and Legal Challenge."
- 15-18 May - E*TRADE Directions 2013, Attend the sessions "So ESPPs Aren't Dead After All? A Design and Accounting Primer" and "Life Events & Equity Compensation" and hear from our own Robyn Shutak.
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- 25 April - Equity Awards Gone Public, Complimentary Pre-IPO Event Sponsored by Baker & McKenzie, BDO, EASi and Morgan Stanley.
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 Francis O'Mahony 
GEO Issuer Advisory Council Member
Head of Employee Share Plans and Share Registration
BT Group plc
Francis O'Mahony is Head of Employee Share Plans and Share Registration at BT Group plc responsible for driving forward strategy, communications and administration of the group's UK and global share plans. He has been at BT for nine years. Before this he was a share plans consultant at Mercer's for two years. Before that he was Employee Share Schemes Unit manager at HM Revenue & Customs for six years, including during the introduction of the UK Share Incentive Plan (SIP) and UK EMI legislation.
About BT Group plc
BT is one of the world's leading communications services companies, serving the needs of customers in the UK and in more than 170 countries worldwide. Its main activities are the provision of fixed-line services, broadband, mobile and TV products and services as well as networked IT services.
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Rio Plans Shake-up of Executive Bonuses
Source: The Age Rio Tinto will force its top executives to own more shares and will be able to ''claw back'' bonuses paid, under proposed changes to the company's remuneration and incentives policy. The proposed changes will be put to Australian shareholders at the company's annual meeting in May, and were revealed on Friday night, alongside new figures showing the amount of tax paid by the company in 2012.
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Staff Options Tax 'Curbs Innovation'
Source:
AFR
The tax treatment of employee share options plans is inhibiting innovation and driving technology companies overseas, the authors of new research from Deloitte and Norton Rose say. "This isn't just an innovation issue but a competition issue," Norton Rose's Asia Pacific head of technology practice, Nick Abrahams, said.
Companies Use Loopholes to Buy Shares
Source: The Age Australia's top companies spent $1.5 billion last year buying shares for executives, exploiting loopholes in disclosure laws and overstating operating cash flow in the process. The loopholes are documented in a report by proxy adviser, Ownership Matters, called ''While You Were Sleeping: invisible buybacks for employee share plans and how to fix them.''
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Bankers Get One Last Bonus Season Before EU Cap on Payouts
Source: Reuters The cap is designed to address public anger at a bonus-driven culture many European politicians believe encouraged the risk-taking that led to the near-collapse of some of the region's biggest banks. The law will take effect in January 2014 but will only apply to bonuses paid in 2015.
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Britain Loses Battle Over EU Bank Bonus Caps
Source: Reuters Britain suffered a long-expected political defeat on Wednesday when it failed to stop European Union countries waving through a cap on bankers' bonuses, an EU law that will hit London hardest. Corporate largesse is under attack across Europe with Switzerland earlier this month voting to impose some of the world's strictest controls on executive remuneration amid public anger at Wall Street-style excess in company boardrooms.
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Executive Excess Foils Efforts to Restrain Pay
Source:
Business Report
The story of executive remuneration is about nothing if not unintended consequences. Well, of course it's also about obscene and generally unjustified levels of pay forked out to a very well-placed group of people who suffer sociopathic levels of entitlement. But let us look at the issue of unintended consequences and executive pay. Way back in the 1990s the US government became concerned about the rapid increase in executive remuneration and decided to use tax regulation to restrain what it regarded as excessive levels of pay.
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Sri Lanka's Dialog to Retain and Attract Top Talent Via an Incentive Scheme
Source: News 360 Sri Lanka's Dialog Axiata has decided to launch a long term incentive plan to reward and retain high performing eligible employees and also to attract new talent. Dialog in a disclosure issued to its shareholders announced that the firm's 'Board of Directors' has given its thumbs up to the scheme.
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Barclays Gives Shares to Top Brass
Source:
WSJ
PLC executives including Chief Executive Antony Jenkins and investment banking head Rich Ricci received £40.3 million ($60.8 million) in shares Wednesday from earlier-year incentive plans, a month after the bank said it would take a stricter line on pay.
An Update on EMI Share Options: A Useful Employee Incentive Tool for Tech Start-ups
Source:
Blake Lapthorn
One of the key issues for Tech Start-ups is attracting, retaining and motivating key personnel whilst also keeping a control on overheads. Employee Management Incentive (EMI) share options can offer a useful mechanism for providing such an incentive without the immediate cash flow implications of giving a key employee a pay rise.
Employee Ownership Scheme Blocked
Source:
Employee Benefits
The government's employee ownership scheme has been blocked in the House of Lords. The scheme, which was announced by Chancellor George Osborne in October 2012, would allow employees to give up some employment rights in return for shares in their employer.
Approved Share Schemes to be Simplified
Source: Employee Benefits The four HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)-approved employee share schemes will undergo simplification in 2013 and 2014 under legislation introduced by the government. In March last year, the Office of Tax Simplification (OTS) published a review of the four HMRC approved schemes: sharesave, share incentive plans (Sips), company share option plans (Csops) and enterprise management incentives (EMIs), setting out recommendations for simplification.
Budget 2013: £50m Annual Boost to Employee Ownership Sector
Source: WSB The government will inject £50m into the employee ownership industry each year from 2014/15 in order to "further incentivize growth of the sector". It has also announced plans to publish an 'off the shelf' employee ownership model and other possible incentives.
Budget 2013: 'Shares for Rights' Get NIC and Income Tax Exemption
Source: WSB Employee ownership schemes will receive national insurance and income tax relief when introduced in September, Chancellor George Osborne announced in his Budget 2013 speech.
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'Pay for Performance' No Longer a Punchline
Source: WSJ Company directors say they pay CEOs based on performance. Now the numbers show they mean it. More than half of the compensation awarded to 51 CEOs last year was tied to their companies' financial or stock-market performance, according to a preliminary review of proxy statements by consulting firm Hay Group and The Wall Street Journal.
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Court Affirms Discounted Stock Options are Deferred Compensation Subject to Section 409A
Source: Morgan Lewis Court of Federal Claims agrees with the IRS position that section 409A applies to discounted stock options; holding is important for compensatory stock option grants. On February 27, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruled in Sutardja v. United States,1 finding that section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code applies to discounted stock options, with the potential adverse tax consequences that the entire appreciation in the option position is subject to the 20% penalty tax under section 409A in addition to ordinary income tax and that this tax would be payable on option vesting rather than on exercise.
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