Equity markets have made substantial gains from the lows of early 2009 but significant volatility continues. Many companies, paralyzed with uncertainty during the down-phase of the crisis, took unique and unprecedented actions during this period to balance the concerns of shareholders with the need to retain and engage employees. While option exchanges made some headlines, relatively few companies used this approach. It is difficult to ascertain what companies did do, however, as the diverse actions are not easily captured by traditional survey and proxy data tools. There is a fundamental question of whether the economic crisis was just another cyclical phase for equity, after which things will return to normal, or whether there is in fact a new normal emerging. In this session, data will be presented that indicates that any return to the old normal may be delayed and signs of a new normal have already appeared. This mix creates havoc with market data requiring a deeper look into the data, and the individual company situations underlying that data, to develop an answer to the question "what are other companies doing?"; a particularly difficult issue in the technology and biopharma sectors which are reliant on equity compensation as a key element of compensation strategy. A set of analytical tools for interpreting complex equity compensation market data will be presented and illustrated.

Fred Whittlesey, West Coast Executive Compensation Practice Leader, Hay Group (US)
Brian Ruff, Director - Global Compensation & Benefits, Eli Lilly and Company (US)
Brit Wittman, Director, Executive Compensation and Corporate, Intel Corporation (US)
John Cleveland, Senior Director Global Compensation, Seagate Technologies (US)

This session will discuss the adminisrative challenges with tracking mobile employees, tax withholding issues, administrative issues with vendors, employee communications and lessons learned.

Julie Rumberger, Managing Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (US)
Lydia Terrill, Sr. Manager Equity Plans, Chordiant Software (US)
Berni Toy, Sr. Manager GSPS-International Compliance, Cisco Systems (US)
Jean Wong, Senior Manager, Global Stock Plan Services, Sun Microsystem (US)

The environment in which global equity plans operate has been transformed over the last 18 months. Concerns over how the structure of bankers' pay encouraged short-termism and risk taking have overflowed into wider debates about how executive compensation (and in particular the equity compensation component) should be structured. "Claw-back", "accountability" and "risk management" are the watch-words of the moment. Around the world governments have sought to impose limitations primarily on bankers' pay, but in a manner which often impacts on executive compensation in general, both through new legal constraints and through creating an environment in which compensation cannot be perceived to be excessive. This presentation will address the main reforms which have been proposed or implemented in major countries across the world. Most of these requirements are not "new", in the sense that most have been operated in some countries for some time. For example, the proposed "say on pay" in the US has been operated successfully for a number of years in the UK and elsewhere. Equally, for senior employees to receive a substantial proportion of their compensation through deferred equity arrangements is a widespread established practice. This presentation will therefore draw lessons from experiences around the world to question whether new proposed reforms are likely to be successful.

Ann Moseley, Global Share Plans Coordinator, Allen & Overy (UK)
Christina Lee, Associate, Allen & Overy LLP (US)

Doing business in the UK can be a challenge for international firms not fully accustomed to the practices of British firms. This presentation will look at how non-UK companies can effectively implement and manage employee share plans within Great Britain, including a review of recent tax changes and making effective use of available tax-approved plans.

Judith Greaves, Partner, Pinsent Masons LLP (UK)
David Kilmartin, Head of Share Plans, Capita (UK)

As one of the leading global banks, Citi offers a variety of equity compensation programs to its domestic and international employees in more than 90 countries, including stock options and deferred/restricted and stock awards. Citi centralizes the award administration internally, and has built a comprehensive data warehouse to manage the mobility of the awards, accounting and charge back process. The equity compensation environment has transformed significantly in the past 2 years, especially for emerging market countries. We will discuss how we have navigated through changes in tax withholding, securities law, foreign exchange rules and regulations, and the increased government role in compensation. We will provide examples of our experience with China and our interactions with the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), India Fringe Benefit Tax, Australia’s legislation related to taxation of stock options and other countries in the Asia Pacific region.

Adie Leung, Director – Equity Compensation & Tax, Citi (CN)
David Wilson, Global Equity Coordinator, Citi (US)
Laine Joelson Cohen, Sr. Manager – Stock and Option Program, Citi (US)
James Hirsch, Associate General Counsel, Citi (US)