From Czechia to Chile, this session will explore the complexities of global equity compensation, focusing on the challenges and opportunities companies face when designing and managing plans across multiple regions. Experts will provide insights into tax, legal, and regulatory considerations in key markets, including the US, UK, and Europe. 

Attendees will also learn how to align their equity strategies with cultural factors and evolving global compliance requirements.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understand the tax, legal, and regulatory requirements for equity plans in key international markets.
• Learn how to address cultural influences on plan adoption and participation.
• Explore strategies for maintaining global compliance while adapting to regional requirements.

In today’s interconnected world, companies are increasingly implementing global equity compensation strategies that foster trust, shared ownership, and accountability across their entire workforce. Striking the right balance between a uniform global approach and tailored region-specific strategies is key to achieving the best outcomes, especially in uncertain times. 

This session will explore how broad-based employee share ownership programs can drive mutual alignment and business success on a global scale.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understanding how to balance uniform equity plans with tailored approaches that account for regional differences in tax, regulation, and compensation expectations.
• Weighing the pros and cons of offering the same equity plans for all employees versus customized strategies based on geography, role, or market conditions.
• Learning from companies that have successfully implemented broad-based equity globally, and how they strategically use equity for retention, special-purpose awards, and stock purchase programs.

Explore how DHL successfully implemented a global employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) for 600,000 employees across up to 150 countries. This session highlights the strategic design, rollout approach, and innovative engagement strategies that empowered frontline workers to embrace ownership.

Discover how the ESPP fosters a culture of co-ownership, aligning employee success with the company’s goals while navigating the complexities of scaling across diverse regions and workforces.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Learn how to design a globally scalable ESPP that balances business objectives with local needs.
• Explore practical strategies for implementing ESPPs across large and geographically dispersed employee populations.
• Gain actionable insights into engaging frontline workers and driving a strong culture of ownership.

Join industry leaders from DoorDash, S&P Global, Bank of America, Infinite Equity, and Moss Adams for an insightful session on how technology and purpose-built software tools can revolutionize stock plan administration.

This session will showcase real-world examples where automation, AI, and emerging tools streamline participant communications, enhance payroll reconciliation, and improve error detection. Learn how these innovations reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and elevate the participant experience.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Discover how to streamline participant communications and support with AI-driven tools.
• Understand solving payroll reconciliation challenges with advanced equity platform integrations.
• Delve into enhancing error detection in grants, vests, and releases using AI and machine learning.

Uncover innovative strategies for enhancing employee share plans through creative processes and customized solutions. This session delves into Admiral’s off-market bid process, which generated hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional employee value, avoided tax implications, and preserved share price stability. Additionally, explore Endava’s global, all-employee discretionary share plan, thoughtfully designed to maximize employee benefits while aligning seamlessly with organizational objectives.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Discover how forward-thinking approaches can create substantial financial advantages for employees while safeguarding organizational goals.
• Learn the value of designing share plans that align with both employee needs and broader business strategies.
• Gain actionable insights on adapting administrative frameworks to meet diverse client requirements and enhance the effectiveness of share plan delivery.

Designing an Executive LTI program requires balancing leadership rewards with key considerations such as cost, tax, global compliance, and recruitment. This panel will examine the complexities of navigating diverse stakeholder requirements, including those of Boards, Compensation Committees, Audit Committees, and external advisors like ISS and Glass Lewis, which often vary across jurisdictions.

The session will focus on the challenges faced by companies in the EU/UK compared to their U.S. counterparts, exploring how to balance incentive effectiveness with increasing scrutiny.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Explore strategies for aligning executive LTI programs with the diverse expectations of Compensation Committees, proxy advisors, and other stakeholders.
• Discuss how to design programs that effectively balance long-term performance objectives with retention strategies.
• Uncover approaches for managing costs and global compliance requirements while maintaining program integrity.

Administering equity plans extends far beyond initial design, with every choice made having downstream effects on compliance, data management, and daily operations. These decisions impact a broad range of stakeholders, including employees, employers, shareholders, and service providers. Balancing these needs against operational complexities such as cross-border compliance and regulatory requirements is a constant challenge for equity plan administrators.

This roundtable session will explore the critical interplay between plan design and administration, offering practical strategies and tools—such as checklists and matrices—to help anticipate and manage these downstream effects.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Share insights and challenges around differing regulatory requirements across jurisdictions and how they shape plan design.
• Discuss the ripple effects of plan design on data management, exploring collaborative solutions for maintaining accuracy and security in scalable systems.
• Consider practical strategies for balancing the diverse needs of employees, employers, and shareholders with administrative processes.

As a Global Stock Plan Administrator, you're at the heart of financial and disclosure reporting. Many stock admins feel more like contributors than owners of the reporting process, which can lead to stress and frustration, especially when managing global plans with multiple reporting cycles. It's time to change that! In this hands-on workshop, we'll explore how Stock Plan Administrators can build sustainable, efficient processes that transform financial reporting from a painful task to a streamlined experience.

Drawing on insights from issuers and practitioners who’ve successfully navigated these challenges, you'll leave with a roadmap of key tasks, processes, and collaborations to simplify your reporting duties.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Explore sustainable processes for simplifying global stock plan financial reporting with input from peers and experts.
• Share and learn from real-world examples of stock administrators who have successfully improved efficiency and fostered collaboration in their reporting practices.
• Access a framework for managing complex reporting cycles, focusing on reducing stress and enhancing teamwork across stakeholders.

Explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and equity compensation in this engaging session. As ChatGPT evolves, this session questions whether AI can match human expertise in this field.

Join this roundtable session as equity compensation experts critique ChatGPT's responses, examining its handling of scenarios like stock options, restricted stock units, and performance shares through live demonstrations and discussions.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Evaluate ChatGPT’s capabilities in equity compensation, identifying its strengths and limitations through live demonstrations.
• Exchange insights on practical applications of AI in managing stock options, restricted stock units, and performance shares, drawing from shared experiences.
• Discuss the future of AI in finance and compensation roles, exploring how it might reshape the equity compensation landscape and influence professional practices.