The NASPP Blog

This week, we feature another installment in our series of guest blog entries by NASPP Conference speakers.  Today’s entry is written by Marlene Zobayan of Rutlen Associates, who will lead the session “Keeping Up With The Updates.”

Global Updates Without the Headaches
By Marlene Zobayan of Rutlen Associates

When I first started in the global equity field over 15 years ago, we would prepare specific reports for companies wishing to offer equity globally. For each client, we would send their plan to a local expert in each country who would write a report on the tax and legal consequences of that plan. The overall report would be compiled by a US representative who managed the relationship with the client and talked the client through the findings. In a field that was new to most, this process a good path to follow. It was a surprise to most companies that not all countries followed the same logic as the U.S. when taxing equity compensation.

However, as time went on, the information became more readily available and the level of knowledge among industry members grew. It is no longer ‘news’ to anyone that Australia taxes stock options at vest or that the employer can save money through a French qualifying plan. In fact most of this information is now readily available on the web. However, now we have the opposite issue–the information available is overwhelming, confusing to the layperson and oftentimes contradictory. Additionally, the underlying laws seem to change at an unprecedented rate, for example the first quarter of 2012 there were at least 24 updates of new and pending legislation impacting global equity awards.

Information Overload?

Many accounting, consulting and law firms distribute newsletters to clients and friends whenever there is a change in the international laws impacting equity awards. While a useful tool, and often extremely well written and informative, the net result is that many companies get inundated with similar newsletters from different sources. There is little time to read and understand them all.

Regardless with the rapid pace of international developments all global companies must make the time and effort to keep up to date otherwise they can quickly find their practices and processes out of date and non-compliant.

A Free Resource for NASPP Members

In the NASPP Conference session “Keeping Up With The Updates“, the panel will review the wealth of information available on the NASPP’s Global Stock Plans Portal. These include the alerts which notify companies of updates and the Country Guides, all organized in a searchable archive by country. These resources provide a good foundation for an administrator whose company is expanding into a new country, extending a new type of plan or who simply wants to stay up to date. Although the NASPP global portal is a great resource to educate yourself, it is not a substitute for professional advice. The panel will help companies understand how to identify when the free resources are insufficient, and technical expertise is needed. Finally, the panel will cover some recent updates with a surprise guest.

How many other sessions can help keep your company out of trouble, save you money and provide a surprise guest too?

Don’t miss Marlene’s panel, “Keeping Up With The Updates,” at the 20th Annual NASPP Conference.