We are pleased to present the speakers for the 2006 Conference in New York City. In many cases we have yet to receive the written biography from a particular speaker. We will continue to post bios as they are submitted by the conference speakers. They are:

Narendra Acharya is a senior associate in Baker & McKenzie's Chicago office.    He focuses his practice on matters relating to U.S. and international employee benefits and executive compensation, including global incentive plans, retirement plans, deferred compensation plans and matters pertaining to compensation and benefits in mergers and acquisitions.  Narendra also advises on expatriate income tax, payroll reporting and withholding issues related to the cross-border transfer of employees.  Prior to joining Baker & McKenzie six years ago, Narendra was employed as a tax manager at an international accounting firm.  Narendra's most recent presentations have been made to the Global Benefits Management Conference sponsored by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans and to several meetings of the Chicago Bar Association.

Narendra graduated from Cornell Law School and is admitted to practice in the states of Illinois and New York.  He is also qualified as a chartered accountant in the province of Ontario, Canada.

Terry Adamson is a Vice President at Aon.  He has over twelve years of benefit and compensation consulting experience.  Terry is involved with all phases of equity compensation valuations, including design of executive packages, valuation of compensatory arrangements for purposes of a change in control under IRC 280G, SERP design and valuation, and employee stock option valuations and employee stock purchase plans under FAS 123 and FAS 148.  Additionally, Terry consults with clients on issues involving all aspects of a company’s benefit and equity programs in mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. 

As operations director for Aon’s national employee stock option valuation practice and the lead project manager, Terry manages a team of valuation experts and is responsible for the completion of quarterly FAS 123(R) accounting valuations in addition to being the primary client contact.  Some of his current clients are Prudential, United Health Group, GTECH, 3M, Scotts Lawn, PNM Resources, US Bancorp, Wells Fargo, Altera, Applied Materials, Devry, and ITT.

He has recently co-authored articles in the Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal entitled “Golden Parachutes – New Planning Opportunities” and “Executive Compensation Audits – Planning Now to Avoid Trouble Later” and Benefits Quarterly “Employee Stock Options – New Valuation Responsibilities and Planning Opportunities”.

Terry is a frequent speaker regarding stock option valuation at various conferences, seminars, and webcasts, most recently with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the Conference Board, the NASPP Conference, E-Trade’s Directions2005, and with the Joint Board of Enrolled Actuaries.  Terry was also on the FASB Round Table on Employee Share Options.  Terry is actively involved with the American Academy of Actuaries taskforce on stock option valuation.

Prior to joining Aon, Terry was employed as an Actuary at The Hay Group in New York City.  Terry graduated from Georgetown University where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics.

Phil is the Senior Manager, Employee Share Plans Business Development at Lloyds TSB Registrars. He has responsibility for all client facing communication, as well as a strategic business, market representation and product development role. He joined the Lloyds TSB group in 1979 and has worked in the branch network, electronic banking, personnel & training and finance departments before moving to Registrars in 1990. Phil is on the board of GEO, a founder member of the Share Schemes Advanced Studies Group and President of the WECC.

Marla advises employers regarding a variety of matters related to employee benefits and ERISA, such as tax-qualified retirement plans (including pension plans, employee stock ownership plans and 401(k) plans), nonqualified plans, and executive compensation.  She also has experience advising clients with respect to issues relating to international employee benefits and employee benefit issues arising in corporate transactions.

Marla is involved in the GEO Midwest Chapter and recently spoke at a Chapter meeting regarding “Now That Sarbanes-Oxley Is Behind Us - What’s Next? – Litigation, Securities Law and Tax Law in the Equity-Based Compensation Area.”  One of her recent articles includes a contribution to The Journal of Employee Ownership Law and Finance, titled “Equity Alternatives for U.S. ESOP Companies with Non-U.S. Employees,” which was co-authored with Mary K. Samsa.

Marla earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, where she also earned a Certificate in Health Law, and her bachelors degree from Dartmouth College.

Employment
Alexy is a principle with Mercer HR Consulting responsible for the Global Share Plans Group in Europe. She is taking responsibility to establish Mercer as a recognised provider of advice on equity incentive plans in the European region.

Alexy joined Mercer in 2003. Prior to moving to Paris at the beginning of 2006, Alexy was based in Mercer’s London Office, UK.

Experience
Alexy is a recognised expert in the field of global equity incentives. She assists Mercer's international clients with the design and implementation of global share plans through the provision of advice on market trends, regulatory issues and the impact of takeovers and M&As.

Alexy regularly contributes to appropriate technical journals and speaks at trade conferences. Alexy is an active member of ifsProShare and Chair of its EU Focus Group, where she has built close links with the EU Internal Markets Commission and the UK FSA. She is also a key participator of an IAFP (International Association for Financial Participation) Panel sponsored by the EU Commission to review employee participation schemes. Alexy is a member of the Global Equity Organisation, she presented and chaired the update on the EU Prospectus Directive at the GEO London Conference held in December and is scheduled to chair a panel of experts at the GEO Annual Conference in New York.

Education
Alexy is a lawyer qualified in two jurisdictions with over 15 years' experience in her chosen field. Alexy received an honours degree in Law from South Bank University, London. She is also a Member of the Institute of Taxation in England having passed the ATII finals.

John Bagdonas is the North American lead responsible for the development of cross-border employee share plan opportunities within Computershare.  Together with his colleagues in Europe and Asia, John works with existing clients and global plan prospects to develop integrated, cost-effective plan solutions for their multi-regional participants.  He has been with the organization since 1985, and prior to his current assignment, was Product Manager for Employee Stock Plan Services, where he was responsible for defining the strategic product offerings for share plan clients and their employees in more than 150 countries.  

John is a frequent speaker on industry topics, and has participated on many share plan related panels and conferences, both internationally and in the US.  John is a member of The Global Equity Organization (GEO) Board of Directors, and currently serves as Treasurer. He is a member of the Board’s Executive Committee as well as Chair of the Finance and Compensation Committees.

John also serves on the Advisory Board of Santa Clara University’s Certified Equity Professional Institute (CEPI), and is a member of the Board’s Vision  Committee and International Task Force.  He is a member of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP), the Global Equity Organization (GEO), the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) and has participated in ProShare sponsored events in the UK.  John earned his Certified Cash Manager (CCM) designation in 1995, and is a member of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP).  He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and received an M.B.A. in Finance from Adelphi University.

Michael F. Barry is Vice President of Product Management & Development at Fidelity Stock Plan Services.  In this role, Michael utilizes nine years of equity compensation experience to drive the continued success of Fidelity’s stock plan products, serving U.S. companies and their multinational participants.

Prior to joining Fidelity, Michael was the Director of Product Management & Business Operations for European services within the global stock plan business at Citigroup and served as a Staff Attorney within the employee benefits group at The AYCO Company, L.P. 

Michael is a graduate of New York Law School and is a member of the New York and New Jersey State Bars. He is Series 7 & 63 registered and has completed Levels I & II of the Certified Equity Professional Exam (CEP).

I currently lead Mercer’s global equity team in the US. I have assisted US, Canadian, European and Asian multinationals with equity plan design and strategy, implementation, and compliance with country tax and legal requirements. I am a frequent speaker and writer on global equity-related topics. In addition to being a member of GEO, I am a member of NASPP and World at Work.

I have 25 years of experience in consulting and in the private practice of law. My background is in taxation and ERISA. I have spent approximately the last ten years in the area of global equity consulting. These years have been the most stimulating, challenging, and rewarding years of my professional career. I enjoy working with people and ideas from around the world and the challenge of staying abreast of ever-changing laws and regulations, and predicting new market trends.

We have entered into a new era for global equity plans. Over the next two to three years (at a minimum) global equity plan sponsors and professionals will be called upon to find creative and innovative solutions to plan design, administration, communication and compliance.

For these reasons, GEO’s role as a forum for global equity plan sponsors and professionals is now more important than ever. My professional background and experience lends itself to being able to make a strong contribution as a board member. I would be honored to serve on the GEO Board.

Ed Burmeister, Baker & McKenzie (US)

I have been a lawyer since 1973 and actively engaged for this 33-year period in equity compensation matters.

While at O'Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles and Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye (now DLA Piper Rudnick) in San Diego, I was principally involved in employee stock ownership plans and executive compensation, including stock options on a domestic basis.

Shortly after joining Baker & McKenzie in San Francisco in 1988, I became involved in a large global ESOP project. At that point the global aspects of equity compensation caught my imagination and I have been focused on that ever since. At this point, I have assisted over 300 companies in implementing their equity programs on a global basis, including companies in the Fortune 10 as well as start-ups and recent IPO companies.

My team and I here in San Francisco (currently 19 professionals) working with the global Baker & McKenzie offices, focus on all forms of global equity compensation, principally stock options, restricted stock/units, SARs and employee stock purchase plans, but also more "exotic" vehicles such as off-shore trusts, global profit sharing plans, etc.

My education was at Stanford (both undergraduate and law school) and I am currently a member of the Board of the Santa Clara Certified Equity Professionals Institute, the Advisory Board of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals and also a member of the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans. Of course, I have been a member of GEO since its inception and have spoken at the Annual Conferences.

Although I am a U.S. lawyer, Baker & McKenzie is an international law firm (a Swiss Verein) , with approximately 70% of our lawyers being non-U.S. nationals in offices outside the United States. I believe that this gives me, as a professional in the area, a somewhat unique global perspective.

I believe that my 33 years of experience and my particular focus on the legal, tax and regulatory aspects of global equity programs will serve me well as a Board member of GEO. I certainly am excited about the organization and its future and would like to participate in its growth and development as a member of the Board.

Sandra has had over 16 years of commercial consulting experience in both the U.S. and Australia.  She has practised as a lawyer and tax accountant.

Sandra has particular expertise in respect of global equity plans.  She has designed and implemented executive and employee equity plans offered through-out the world.  Her clients include mostly multinational companies, public and private, headquartered inside and outside the U.S. in a range of industries: banking and finance, manufacturing, retail, mining, telecommunications and hi-tech. 

Sandra has a BA (Hons), a LLB and a B Comm (Accounting and Economics), all from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

She is a frequent seminar speaker and has authored numerous technical publications.

Robert (Bruce) Cameron is the Compensation Director for Kimberly-Clark Corporation. Mr. Cameron joined Kimberly-Clark in March of 2004.

Previously, Bruce worked for Mirant Corporation as their Global Director for Compensation and Benefits. Prior to Mirant, Bruce worked for Hewitt Associates providing consulting services to clients on a wide range of compensation issues, ranging from directors’ compensation to performance management.

During Bruce’s 14 years of Compensation experience, he has worked with the Board of Directors and Management at numerous Fortune 500 to design and implement various Incentive plans (cash and stock), salary structures, performance management systems and retirement plans.

Bruce, his wife Julie and daughter Lily, reside in Dallas, Texas.

Damian Carnell is a principal with Tower Perrin.  He advises leading companies on all aspects of executive compensation, but in particular performance pay supporting the business strategy, including:

• Institutional investor views on executive pay;
• Total competitive positioning and reward strategy;
• All forms of short and long-term share and cash based incentive schemes;
• Business within business incentives and share plans; and
• Capital incentives in the field of private equity and related activities.

He written and spoken on these topics for a number of years and was an advisor to the IASB on the share based payment project IFRS2.

Mary Carter is a Partner within the Executive Compensation practice at KPMG LLP in the UK and heads up the Global Share Plan practice. Mary is a lawyer by background  and, after spending a number of years specializing in trust law and capital taxation, saw the light in 1987 and moved into the area of remuneration generally and  share plans in particular. She has been specialising in those issues ever since. Since about 1996 she, along with KPMG teams in and out of the UK, have focused increasing amounts of time on global share plan projects and related issues for a mix of UK and non UK multinationals.

Mary is a member of the UK Inland Revenue Ex Pat Forum - Share schemes sub group and on the Board of GEO. She also lectures and writes on remuneration issues and global share plans.

Emily Cervino brings 10 years of equity compensation experience to the CEP Institute at Santa Clara University.  Emily oversees all aspects of curriculum and test development.  She coordinates an extensive volunteer base in defining course curriculum, writing and editing new exam questions, and standard setting to comply with the rigorous certification standards.  Emily coordinates program marketing and development to grow the CEP program and the professional recognition. Prior to joining the CEPI, Emily was Manager of Stock Administration at National Semiconductor, overseeing all equity programs for 10,000 employees worldwide.  Emily started in equity compensation at ShareData (subsequently acquired by E*TRADE), as a technical trainer, and later as a product manager and equity consultant. Emily holds a BS from Santa Clara University and obtained her CEP designation in 1998.

Colin Chamberlain is a partner in the London office of international law firm, Herbert Smith, and heads its much respected employee incentives practice.

Colin has over 25 years experience of employee incentives, advising all sizes of public and private companies including US multinationals with UK subsidiaries as well as individuals and the UK Government.  The firm has a significant practice advising French companies on employee offerings to their UK employees.

Colin is a regular speaker on employee incentives and is the author of the popular "Tolleys Practical Guide to Employees' Share Schemes" of which the 5^th edition is now in preparation.  He is a solicitor and member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation.

Agnès is working with Baker & McKenzie in Paris as a senior associate. She advises on tax and legal issues related to employee compensation and benefit package as well as on cross-border transfer of employees.

During the past years, she has worked for multinational companies with respect to the design, implementation and management of employee equity based compensation plans in France, Europe and worldwide.

Mark Clem is Director of Industry Relations for Charles Schwab Corporate Services, where he conducts industry research and campaigns for a better understanding of issues facing equity professionals.

As former director (1997-2003) of the Certified Equity Professional Institute, Mark turned a little-known, homespun credential program into the credential to have for equity compensation professionals. He was the first to facilitate collaborative relationships between major industry organizations (GEO, the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, the National Center for Employee Ownership, and the CEP Institute) and create an advisory board that represented all industry constiutencies.

Under his leadership, the CEP designation became a valid symbol of an individual’s commitment to the profession, and of a company’s commitment to employee education and competency assurance. The CEP Institute became a self-sustaining, prosperous business unit for its host, Santa Clara University.

Mark speaks frequently on equity compensation’s current events and steadfastly advocates for the professionalization of equity plan administrators. From 1998-2003 he served on the NASPP advisory board, and currently serves on the NCEO board of directors. Mark holds an M.A. in Organizational Communication and B.S. in Business Administration.

Janet Cooper, Linklaters (UK)

Janet has been a lawyer with international law firm, Linklaters, for 21 years and leads the global employee incentives team, which extends over 25 countries with over 70 lawyers.

Janet has been involved with the Global Equity Plans since 1986, working with a client airline to extend its plans in over 60 countries. Since then, Janet, and her team at Linklaters have been involved with over 200 companies’ international share plans, the largest plan operating in over 150 countries.

Janet has worked on a whole variety of employee and executive stock plans, related financial products and corporate governance issues around executive pay.

Janet led her team’s development of the first online database offered by a law firm, Blue Flag Employee Share Plans, to support companies operating their plans globally and developed the only professionally recognised qualification available in the UK with the ICSA, the Certificate in Employee Share Plans.

Janet is a director of the European Centre for Employee Ownership, a director of ifsProShare, a committee member of the UK Share Schemes Lawyer Group, a co-founder member of the Share Schemes Advanced Studies Group, a member of the Institute of Directors, the Institute of Business Ethics and the Recruitment Society.

Janet and her team have been involved in many activities to promote the awareness of employee share ownership, both with companies and regulators. Linklaters has been involved with, and is a founding member of, GEO.

Rory is a Senior Associate in the Tax Department at Pinsent Masons.

He has specialised in employee share schemes since 1998.

Vanessa Cundy-Cooper is a Senior Consultant at KPMG.  Vanessa has been involved in designing and implementing global equity arrangements for a number of years.  More recently, Vanessa has focused on working with clients on the implementation of IFRS 2 (the equivalent of FAS 123R) and IAS 12 (Deferred Tax Accounting for Share Plans).  Vanessa has managed executive compensation and strategy projects for clients in a wide range of industry sectors including transportation, telecommunications, biomedical, chemicals, software and retail.

Jenny Davis is the ESPP Program Manager for Microsoft Corporation. She is responsible for worldwide stock purchase plan administration, including related employee communications and education. Jenny joined Microsoft in 1999 and worked with the 401(k) Plan relating to merger and acquisition activity prior to joining the Stock team in 2004. She is a graduate of Oregon State University.

Global Equity Services

Practice Focus

Global Equity Compensation and Employee Benefits

Representative Clients, Cases or Matters

Ms. Diamond assists companies in the design and implementation of international employee stock plans. She provides advice to clients on the tax, securities law and exchange control compliance issues that arise when options, restricted stock or purchase rights are granted to employees working abroad. Recent projects include all employee option grants to employees in 35 countries, a tax audit of equity programs in 15 countries and implementation of a employee stock purchase plan in 65 countries. Ms. Diamond has also assisted clients in meeting international compliance obligations relating to the repricing of options and option exchange programs, the creation of data privacy waivers, the grant of stock options to expatriates and the issuance of restricted stock.

Publications, Presentations & Articles

Ms. Diamond is a frequent speaker on international equity issues. Recent publications on equity topics include an article for Workspan magazine entitled, “Navigating Stock Options in Europe: Steering Clear of Tax and Legal Pitfalls.”

Professional Affiliations

Ms. Diamond is on the Board of the San Francisco chapter of the National Association of Stock Plan Professionals. She is a member of the Global Equity Organization, the WorldatWork Organization and the Western Pension and Benefits Conference.

Education & Bar Admittance

Ms. Diamond receivedher J.D. in 1993 from the University of San Francisco School of Law where she received the Dean’s Award for highest grade point average in her class and was a Comment’s Editor for USF Law Review. She has an M.A. and B.A. in history from California State University, Sacramento. Ms. Diamond is admitted to practice in California.

Monika Dietrich, Baker & McKenzie LLP (Switzerland)

Monika is working in the Baker & McKenzie Zurich office. Before joining Baker & McKenzie in 2002, she worked for several years for Arthur Andersen in Zurich.

Monika has been involved in a whole variety of employee and executive stock plans, whereby she has worked on the design as well as the implementation of worldwide employee benefit plans for numerous large international companies. The scope of her practice is wide and includes all types of cash and equity-based compensation plans, including plans in relation to IPOs.

Monika is a certified Swiss tax expert.

Lindsey Doud, RBC Abacus (UK)

Lindsey is a GEO board member and, together with Janet Cooper and Nicholas Greenacre, she runs the GEO UK & Channel Islands Chapter.

Lindsey joined Abacus (now RBC Abacus) in April 2005, as a Director in their Corporate Services Division, based in London.  Her role includes relationship and portfolio management in the share plan, deferred compensation and international pension plan areas.  She joined Abacus from BP p.l.c., where she was Legal & Communications Manager in the Pensions Department for just over two years.

Prior to joining the corporate world, she was a Partner in Watson Wyatt LLP's Human Capital Group, specializing in executive compensation consulting, but in particular in the design, communication and implementation of UK and international cash and share plans.  Before moving into remuneration consultancy in 1996, Lindsey was a share plan and pensions solicitor with Linklaters.  She graduated in law from Oxford University.

Paul advises on corporate and securities law including the establishment and management of employee share plans, establishment of home Member State under the EU Prospectus Directive, and representing ESOPs in their corporate transactions.

Paul is a member of the Irish Government-established Company Law Review Group and is Chairman of its Committee on PLCs and Associated Issues. He is a member if the Irish Stock Exchange Listing Committee and the author and co-author of several law books, including Corporate Governance in Ireland, Irish Corporate Procedures and Employee Share Schemes in Ireland.

Bill has over twenty-five years of human resources experience supporting business strategy and operations for several Fortune 100 companies.  In his current role, Bill manages all Novartis Corporation executive compensation plans and employee benefits in the U.S.  His many accomplishments include developing, communicating and implementing two voluntary early retirement programs resulting in participation by 90% of eligible employees as well as leading a task force to overhaul Novartis’ benefit programs with potential savings of over $30 million dollars over a ten-year period. Additionally, Bill is an active member of the Novartis development team responsible for designing the Novartis Stock Option Plan, Deferred Compensation Plan and Long Term Incentive Plans.  Prior to his current assignment, Bill was the director of employee benefits for Novartis Pharmaceuticals, where he implemented a high quality, cost efficient, integrated single benefits package following the merger of Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy.

Prior to Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Bill was the benefits manager at Gulf & Western, Inc. where he was responsible for the administration of all benefits plans for the corporate offices.  Bill spent the early years of his career in actuarial and pension analysis for International Telephone & Telegraph and William M. Mercer, Inc.  Bill is  currently studying to become a certified financial planner and holds an M.B.A in Finance from St. John’s University.

Ian is a partner with Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP.  His work includes the design, drafting and implementation of UK and international incentive plans and individual incentive arrangements, advising on the impact of corporate transactions on incentive arrangements and advising on tax and social security issues relating to UK and internationally mobile employees.

Ian is a solicitor, a member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation and a member of the Share Plan Lawyers Group. Ian speaks regularly on current issues relating to employee incentives and has written on the subject in numerous publications.

Oliver Freigang, UBS (Switzerland)

Oliver Freigang is the Head of UBS Corporate Employee Financial Services International (CEFS) since July 2004.  Prior to joining UBS in September 2003 Oliver has served in various roles within Citigroup in Europe including between 2000 to 2003 being responsible for Product Development and Operations for International Stock Plan Services out of New York and London.

Kelley Garrett is the Stock Plan Manager at Microsoft Corporation.  Kelley manages international and acquired company stock option and restricted stock unit programs, systems and projects for Microsoft Global Stock Services.  Global Stock Services is a part of Microsoft’s human resources department and is responsible for administration of stock programs for 60,000 participants in over 90 countries.  Kelley has eight years of experience working with employee equity programs in the technology industry.  Prior to joining Microsoft in 2000, she was a Stock Plan Specialist at Getty Images and Stock and Retirement Administrator at Visio Corporation (now a division of Microsoft).

Kelley received her B.A. in History from the University of Washington and M.B.A. from Seattle University.  She earned her Certified Equity Professional (CEP) designation in 2001. Kelley has served on the NASPP Seattle Chapter Board since 1999, and was recently elected President of the newly formed CEP Society Board.

Harshu Ghate , ESOP Direct, India Harshu is the Founder and CEO of ESOP Direct, India;s leading end-to-end Stock options solutions company. Harshu is a qualified Chartered Accountant and a Company Secretary. He has been advising Corporate issuers on Conceptualizing, Designing and Managing Equity based compensation plans. He is a member of ESOP Committee of Securities and Exchange Board of India and has co-authored the Guidance Note on the Expensing of Stock options for the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Harshu is also the Chapter leader of GEO's India Chapter. He has presented papers at several national and International conferences on Employee Stock Options, including the GEO Global conferences.

Virginia L. Gibson is a Partner with White & Case LLP.  Ms. Gibson’s practice focuses on cross-border compensation, including equity-based compensation, securities, labor, and employment matters.  She has worked with over 100 multinational companies in the design, management, implementation and maintenance of equity-based compensation plans.  She has represented clients in global and U.S. employment law, personal data privacy, and workplace privacy matters.

In addition, Ms. Gibson assists banks, investment advisors, and broker-dealers on investment product development, cross-border financial services such as investment management, brokerage, and banking, and with respect to their fiduciary responsibilities.

Judith Greaves, Pinsent Masons (UK)

Judith is a Partner and National Head of Tax for Pinsent Masons, one of the leading UK law firms for employee equity incentives.

Judith has been involved in this area of practice for the past 19 years and is recognised by leading directories as an expert in this field.  She contributed to the main UK loose leaf reference book "Employee Share Schemes" which is written by the Pinsent Masons team and edited by fellow partner David Pett.  She is also a member of the Share Plans Lawyers Group, which meets on a regular basis to discuss developments and practical issues with representatives of the UK tax authorities, institutional investors and other organisations with an interest in this area.

Her team covers the full range of practice, from advising large listed companies (UK, US and elsewhere) on extending their share plans internationally to advising smaller privately owned companies and employee owned companies on structuring their equity incentives.  They also advise on Prospectus Directive exemptions and on UK Prospectus filings where required.

Pinsent Masons is a founding corporate sponsor of GEO and a regular contributor to the GEO website.

Nicholas is a UK-qualified lawyer and specialises in employee benefits.  He has been a director of GEO since September 2005.  Together with Janet Cooper and Lindsey Doud, he has run GEO’s successful UK & Channel Islands Chapter for the past four years.

Nicholas joined White & Case early in 2005 to lead the expansion of the London office’s employee benefits practice. He previously worked elsewhere in the City, gaining extensive expertise in areas such as equity incentives, pensions and the employee benefits aspects of corporate transactions. The scope of his practice is wide and encompasses all types of cash and equity-based compensation plan, largely implemented on a multi-national basis.

Jill is a Partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Human Resource Services practice, based in Chicago, IL.  Jill specializes in domestic and international executive compensation planning.  She works extensively in the areas of global stock option, restricted stock and deferred compensation planning; US equity-based planning; global equity plan design; fringe benefits; golden parachute planning; and other merger and acquisition issues related to employee stock options.

Jill has led many educational seminars on US executive compensation, global compensation planning, stock option repricing, and individual income tax.  She has also been a featured commentator on National Public Radio’s Sound Money program and a speaker for National Association of Stock Plan Professionals, Tax Executives Institute, Society of Human Resource Management, WorldatWork and National Center for Employee Ownership.  Jill holds a B.A. in finance from the University of Northern Iowa and a juris doctor from the University of Minnesota Law School.   Jill is also a certified public accountant.

James Jaques is a consultant in Linklaters' employee incentives practice. In his 10 years at Linklaters, James has assisted a range of  listed and unlisted companies from around the world on all aspects of establishing and operating employee incentive programmes in the UK and globally. He has also advised on the implications for employee share plans of some of the most significant mergers and acquisitions in the UK market. James has taken a particular interest in changes in European securities laws over the last four years and their impact on employee incentives and has been involved in lobbying on behalf of GEO, for changes to make it easier for companies to operate their employee share plans in Europe.

Frans earned his MBA at Harvard Business School and BS at Brown University where he founded a University-wide science magazine inspiring students to this day.

Frans has, in fact, lived at the Intersection most of his life: he was raised in Sweden by his African-American and Cherokee mother and Swedish father. Also, he was the founder of both a software company and medical device company.

A dynamic and passionate leader and thinker, Frans Johansson has spoken extensively about The Medici Effect to companies, organizations and universities across the US and the world. Organizations worldwide have engaged him to speak on issues of innovation and managing diversity before a wide range of audiences, from C-level executives to human resource practitioners to investment directors. These organizations include PepsiCo, Nike, Kodak, General Motors, IBM, Motorola, JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer, TeliaSonera, Handelsbanken, Time Warner, EDS, Honeywell, Lockheed Martin, Industrikapital, Arla Foods, Diversity Best Practice, the cities of Orlando, Baltimore, Karlskrona etc. and at conferences and universities around the world.

He has written articles on health-care, on information-technology, on the science of sport fishing and how to save our oceans. He currently resides in New York City witJoy.

Alan Judes is an Executive Compensation Consultant in the London office of Hewitt Associates. He is a regular speaker at conferences in the UK and abroad and the taxation chapter author of a number of manuals on compensation practice and the author of Transactions: Share Incentives for Employees published by Longman in 1993. Alan's client portfolio includes a number of international companies such as Roche and P&O which have extended their share incentive arrangements on a worldwide basis. His work includes the establishment of offshore trust arrangements for the funding and financing of these plans.

Nancy is a UK qualified lawyer in the employee incentives practice at Linklaters in London. She specialises in international all-employee share plans and executive incentives and manages the team dealing with global legal, regulatory and tax compliance. Her main area of practice is the design, drafting, implementation and project management of a wide variety of global share plans for multinational companies. Nancy also has over 10 years experience advising on all aspects of UK equity incentive arrangements, with a particular focus on companies in the technology and banking sectors. In that role she advised on several corporate transactions, including high-profile cross-border mergers, acquisitions and IPOs.

Gregory Kopp, Deloitte (US)

Greg is a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting in New York City, practicing in the area of executive compensation and equity incentives.  He has 15 years of experience providing executive compensation consulting services to a wide range of public and privately held organizations in diverse industries.

Greg has a broad range of experience including designing executive pay programs, annual incentive and long-term incentive programs, board compensation programs, broad-based stock option programs, severance arrangements and employment contracts.  He has also provided compensation consulting services to many companies in transactional situations.

Greg is a member of a number of professional organizations is a frequent speaker and writer on executive compensation and equity incentive issues.

Takis serves as the director of corporate development at Equity Methods.  In addition to overseeing the expansion and development of the firm’s consulting and product initiatives, Takis is an expert in the complexities of equity compensation instruments.  He spearheaded the original research and development of Option Navigator, the firm’s employee stock option valuation system which provides robust comparative valuation tools to help clients derive optimal valuations.  He is thoroughly involved in the product strategy development and execution at Equity Methods, including the upcoming forecasting module and deferred tax asset module. Takis leverages extensive consulting experience in overseeing the consulting practice at Equity Methods, after having helped drive decision-making and strategy at firms such as Microsoft.  He works frequently with CFOs and other finance and HR executives at major US corporations in addressing their valuation and compliance needs, while also being critically engaged with audit and valuation principals and partners at the Big Four.  Takis is a nationally-recognized speaker at industry conferences around the country, and has also run user conferences to enhance knowledge-sharing among companies and drive product strategy.  Takis is also responsible for the developing and refining corporate strategy at Equity Methods with respect to current and future product and service offerings.  Takis holds a B.S. in Economics and Finance from the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business Honors Program and an MBA from Oxford University.

Peter Marathas is a Partner in K&LNG's Boston office.  He counsels corporate, tax-exempt, governmental and individual clients on matters related to executive compensation and employee benefits.   He advises compensation committees and executive officers on all types of compensation arrangements, including  executive employment and severance agreements, retention and change of control agreements, nonqualified deferred compensation plans, SERPs, performance (Sections 162(m)) arrangements, and long- and short-term incentive arrangements, equity and phantom stock arrangements.  In addition, Peter has assisted his clients with the development of international equity and compensation arrangements.  plans and deferred compensation plans for private, public, tax-exempt and governmental entities of all sizes.   He has written and spoken extensively about the non-qualified deferred compensation law under Code Section 409A  and regularly advises clients with respect to corporate governance and compensation practices.

Mr. Marshall is a partner in the Global Equity Services practice group of Baker & McKenzie LLP.  Based in San Francisco, Mr. Marshall focuses his practice in the areas of international stock plans, executive compensation, and employee benefits and has assisted multiple companies with the tax, securities law and exchange control issues that arise when equity awards are offered on a world-wide basis.  Recent projects include the implementation of a restricted stock unit program in 60 countries and a global analysis of the tax issues applicable to cross-border employees.

Mr. Marshall received his LL.M. (Taxation) in 1998 from New York University, School of Law; his J.D. in 1997 from the University of California, King Hall, School of Law, where he was a member of the U.C. Davis Law Review; his M.B.A in 1994 from the University of California, Davis; and his B.A. in 1992 from the University of California, Davis. Mr. Marshall is admitted to practice in California.

Nigel Mason is the Products & Markets Director for Lloyds TSB Registrars, the UK’s leading equity administrator. Nigel is responsible for the management and development of Registrars’ products in its four main markets: share registration, employee share plans, retail investor services and HR services. From 2002, when he joined Registrars, to 2004, he was Employee Share Plans director and was a director of GEO during that period. From 1991 to 2001, Nigel founded and led new-start businesses in employee share plan advice, corporate finance advice and administration software. Nigel is a board member of ProShare, the promotional body for wider share ownership, and a non-executive director of Baxi Partnership, a specialist investment fund.

James Matthews is a Principal and Leader of the Compensation Unit of Towers Perrin's Global Consulting Group, based in New York.  James advises boards and senior management of leading international companies on their compensation policies. The international unit he leads advises US and non-US multinationals on all aspects of global compensation, such as global compensation philosophy, the extension of incentive plans worldwide, global stock plans and internationally mobile employees.

James has worked in the field of compensation for more than 16 years. He joined Towers Perrin in its London office in 1995, and transferred to the New York office in early 1998. Before joining Towers Perrin, James worked for Incomes Data Services and the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Luc Meeus is a National Partner with Baker & McKenzie in Brussels. Luc is admitted to the Brussels and New York bar and his practice focuses on domestic and international income tax planning, on tax and other legal issues related to equity-based compensation and on tax issues related to mergers and acquisitions.

Luc has worked with an important number of multinational companies and Belgian companies in the design, implementation and management of equity-based compensation plans. His work involves both inbound and outbound work related to equity-based compensation plans.

Maren Miller is head of Total Rewards and Employee Development for HSBC-NA in Prospect Heights, Illinois.  In her current role, she leads a 65-person operation that encompasses compensation, benefit design and HR policy, corporate learning and development, succession planning, equity administration, HR employee communication, and diversity for HSBC’s North American operations.

Maren began her career at HSBC (formerly Household) in 1985 as a senior compensation analyst.  She was promoted in 1986 to manager of compensation and then to director of compensation in 1988.  Miller was promoted to director of compensation and manufacturing benefits in 1991.  She was named vice president-compensation in 1992 and assumed responsibility for Human Resources administration in May 1998 and for shareholder services in December 1998.  In June 1999 she assumed responsibility for payroll.

Prior to joining Household, Maren worked with Zenith Electronics in various human resources positions from 1972 to 1985.

Maren earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a Master of Business Administration from Loyola University, Chicago.  She holds the Certified Compensation Professional Designation.

She resides in Glenview, Illinois with her husband Noble and two children.

Philip L. Mowery joined the Chicago office of Vedder Price in the Benefits Practice Area in 1988 and became a shareholder in 1995. He counsels a variety of corporations in the manufacturing and service industries on all aspects of employee benefits law, including the design, tax qualification, legal compliance, interpretation and communication of employee benefit plans. He also counsels employers and executives in the negotiation and implementation of executive compensation agreements and programs. Finally, he represents management and plan fiduciaries in employee benefits litigation. He is a co-author of Analyzing Corporate Responsibilities for Employee Benefit Plans: What Can Go Wrong, How to Protect Yourself (1st Ed., 2001).

Mr. Mowery is a frequent speaker before legal and other professional organizations.

Maoiliosa is the COO of Global Shares, a newly established company offering independent global stock plan administration services and solutions.

Previously he founded Active Capital Strategies since June 2004, a firm promoting employee ownership through advisory, training and management services to companies, trustees, unions and employee owners.  Currently, he advises the eircom ESOP Trustee and INPC ESOP Trustee in Ireland and is Company Secretary of An Post ESOP Trustee Limited. 

From May 1998 to May 2004, he was the eircom ESOP Manager with responsibility for the design, establishment and all aspects of the day-to-day operation and administration of the eircom ESOP, which has 14,500 participants, net assets valued at €575m (including a 20.9% stake in eircom) and has distributed assets worth €440m to participants.

Having led the implementation of the ESOP by May 1999, he subsequently managed the ESOP through numerous corporate transactions.  From February 1997 to April 1998, he was on the management team that negotiated the eircom ESOP and transformation agreement with the Coalition of Trade Unions (led by the CWU in Ireland).

From July 1989 to January 1997, Maoiliosa worked in PwC (formerly Coopers & Lybrand) in London where he first developed his expertise in employee share ownership, employee taxation, change management, project management, system implementation and employee communications.  Prior to that, Maoiliosa was a commissioned officer in the Irish Army from November 1981 to December 1988. 

A non-practicing barrister (member of Lincoln’s Inn), he was Chairman of the Irish ProShare Association (IPSA) from 2000 to 2003 and on the Executive Council since 1997.  He is also Development Director of the Global Equity Organisation (GEO), which promotes global employee share plans, and Director of the Foundation for Education and Research into Profit-sharing and Employee Ownership, which is based at the National College of Ireland (NCI) in Dublin.

Scott N. Olsen is a Principal at PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Human Resource Services Practice in the New York office, and serves as the global leader of the firm’s Compensation practice network.  Mr. Olsen has over 20 years of experience in executive compensation and benefits, including four years of experience in a corporate environment.  He specializes in executive compensation governance, total compensation strategy, and incentive design, including both equity incentives and incentives based on operating performance.  He has worked with companies in a variety of industries, in the United States as well as in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Mr. Olsen is a frequent speaker on the subject of executive compensation and corporate governance.  He has written articles on the subjects of corporate governance, incentive design, and executive compensation issues in mergers and acquisitions.  Mr. Olsen also served as an advisor on executive compensation issues to the Conference Board Commission on Public Trust and Private Enterprise.

Mr. Olsen joined PricewaterhouseCoopers from Towers Perrin where he was the co-leader of that firm’s global Executive Compensation practice.  He has also served as Senior Vice President of Stern Stewart & Co., and in positions with Mobil Corporation and KPMG.  Mr. Olsen received a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Angela joined UBS in 2004, and has a background in Expatriate Taxation.

Manage:

• Expatriate/TCN programs worldwide
• Equity plan design, administration and taxation for international locations
• Immigration programs worldwide
• U.S. domestic relocation programs 

Previous Experience

Lived and worked in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, UK, France, Turkey and Hong Kong over a 12 year period.  Held numerous HR Generalist and Compensation & Benefits positions over a 20+ year career in Human Resources.

Companies included  Philip Morris, Kraft Foods, Wang Computers, Coca-Cola and Cabot Corporation.

Education

• Undergraduate - Boston College (BA)
• Masters Degree - Simmons College ( Information Science)
  
  

Lars Pellinat is the Head of Compensation and Benefits for Bayer AG. Bayer AG is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany with annual revenue of approximately € 30 billion and 100,000 employees globally.

Before joining Bayer AG, Lars was the European Head of Compensation & Benefits for Novartis, a major pharmaceutical company, where he was responsible for compensation and benefits related matters for Region Europe, with 40 countries and with annual sales in excess of CHF 8 billion.

Prior to Novartis, Lars worked for almost 10 years as a Consultant with William M. Mercer in Johannesburg, London and Frankfurt.

Lars trained as a Labour Lawyer.

Dave Peterson is a partner in the International Executive Services practice of KPMG Fides in Zurich Switzerland.  He has more than 16 years' experience working with various KPMG international member firms, including 12 years spent as an expatriate.  Peterson has also worked in the KPMG member firms in Chicago, the US national tax practice in Washington DC, and Paris, France.  His primary area of focus is the financial services industry, with particular emphasis on global policy development and management, compensation structuring and cross-border implications of equity and deferred compensation participation.  He is a US certified public accountant and holds a BS in Accountance from the University of Illinois.

Mike is a senior manager in the Employer Solutions practice of Deloitte & Touche, based in London. He has worked in global equity planning for the last 10 years, specifically looking at the legal, regulatory, tax and practical implications of operating international share plans. Mike has worked on all aspects of global share plans from design through to implementation and operation and advised a large number of multinational companies from a variety of industry sectors. He has presented at a number of GEO events including the recent 2005 Annual Conference in London and the November 2005 Mumbai conference.

Sarah is a partner and qualified solicitor with responsibility for Ernst & Young’s Equity Incentives practice in the UK.  She has over 12 years experience in share and other incentive plans.  Sarah has designed, implemented, communicated and advised on the administration issues of international share plans for a number of FTSE quoted companies as well as European and US listed companies.  She also leads Ernst & Youngs market leading web-enabled solution for ensuring global tax compliance for cross-border employees participating in share plans.

Alan B. Richer is Tax Counsel – Manager of Special Projects at General Electric Company.    Based in Albany, NY, Mr. Richer is responsible for the global legal and tax compliance of GE’s equity compensation plans in the 70 plus countries where GE has grantees.   During his 16 years at GE, he has led the filing of GE’s consolidated tax return, handles substantial issues at audit and IRS Appeals, acted as tax leader at several GE businesses and been involved in the integration of substantial acquisitions.    A member of both the New Jersey and Texas bar, and American Bar Association, Mr. Richer is Vice Chair of the Tax Executives Institute's International Tax Committee.  He is a graduate of the Syracuse University Schools of Management (summa cum laude with Honors) and Law (magna cum laude).  He resides in Slingerlands, NY with his wife, Jessica, and daughter, Alexandra.

Tracy Robarge, Ernst & Young (US)

With more than 16 years of experience, Tracy is a Senior Manager in Ernst & Young’s Human Capital Services practice, and has been working with multinational companies in managing their international population. Tracy manages global equity engagements for organizations across all industry lines, covering a diverse array of equity based compensation vehicles in numerous countries.

She regularly advises clients on maximizing the benefits of various equity compensation plans to both the company and the employee, minimization of overall costs through maximum tax deductibility of equity vehicles to reduce the company’s costs and improve cash flow, and designing written communications for employees regarding the value, economics, and tax ramifications of participation in the equity plans to increase employee participation and ultimate retention.

Prior to specializing in the area of equity compensation, Tracy worked closely with human resource and tax personnel in the areas of expatriate and inpatriate tax planning, policy development, and compensation delivery. More recently, Tracy has managed numerous international engagements with responsibilities including large project management, financial results, and managing US and international team members.

Tracy received her BS in Accounting from North Adams State College.

Louis Rorimer, a Partner at Jones Day in Cleveland, Ohio, is in