A trading division of
MM & K Limited

Tel: 020 7283 8200
Fax: 020 7283 4119

The Share Option Centre
1 Bengal Court
Birchin Lane
London EC3V 9DD

MM & K Limited is
authorised and regulated
by the Financial Services Authority

CASE STUDY 1

Administration and management of LTIP Vesting

The challenge:

FTSE 250 Fund Management Company required expert assistance in the administration and management of a fast approaching large global vesting and release of shares under their Long Term Incentive Plan
The company had previously managed much smaller vestings in house but had encountered a wide range of difficulties including issues with offshore trustees, managing a time-line, errors with data, overseas tax rates and delivery of stock and sale proceeds to participants

The solution:

Full reconciliation of data held by the Company, Trustees and Registrar’s
Draft full employee communication material and handled the distribution to participants
Set up employee telephone and email helpline
Conduct meetings with all parties involved in the transaction e.g. Trustees, Broker, Registrar etc to confirm processes and timescales
Collation and chasing of all participant instruction requests.
Managed the successful calculations of tax liabilities and sale requests
Ensured delivery of all stock and cash settlements to relevant parties
Final participant communication including transaction breakdown and delivery of any share certificates
Overall project management and co-ordination of parties

The challenge:

Float intended on AIM and company had nearly 200 employees in various share plans
Previous knowledge of the plans was low among the participant population
Previous exercise activity was virtually non-existent
Company anticipated that employees would "sell out" quickly
Company suspected that historical tax returns were incorrect

The solution:

Full audit of historical share plan data
Preparation of corrected historical tax returns
Prepared reports for Finance Director and stockbrokers forecasting exercise activity
Launched a custom-built web portal for employees to access their award and option holdings
Held a series of workshops for employees explaining how the listing would impact on their ptions
Implemented a standardised exercise procedure and provided a fortnightly exercise facility
Established a combined exercise and sale facility with a suitable broker
Provision of an employee helpline

Solution delivered within one month of engagement

The challenge:

The departure of the share plan manager of a FTSE 100 company left the business in a very vulnerable position during a time of peak grant/award activity and high levels of daily exercise transactions
No available share plan experience or expertise in Company Secretary and HR team
New share plan manager not expected to join for 4 – 6 months
The company required interim support in managing all aspects of the day to day running of its plans until the new share plan manager was appointed

The solution:

TSOC provided immediate in-house interim share plan support to the company on a 4 day a week basis
TSOC Client manager ensured: