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.

As global stock plan administration grows more complex, advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are becoming essential tools for enhancing efficiency, reducing errors, and maintaining compliance. This session will delve into practical applications of AI-driven tools and automation, focusing on real-world experiences from leading issuers.

Attendees will gain actionable insights into streamlining stock plan administration, improving both corporate and employee experiences, and preparing their operations for the future.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Collaborate with peers to uncover practical strategies for leveraging AI and automation to simplify stock plan administration.
• Exchange ideas on how to effectively integrate automation tools into existing frameworks and address potential challenges.
• Discuss emerging trends in AI and automation and brainstorm innovative ways to prepare for the future of stock plan management.

As remote and location-independent work continues to rise, managing tax and social security implications for employees working in different countries presents unique challenges for both employers and employees.

This session will explore how location-independent workers impact the tax and social security sourcing for equity-based compensation and how companies can navigate these complexities.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understand the tax and social security challenges faced by location-independent workers and how they affect equity compensation.
• Learn about the impact of vesting periods on tax sourcing and the administrative burdens for both issuers and employees.
• Explore the solutions companies are implementing in response to these challenges within the EU and OECD framework.

As Boards of Directors strive to refine the goal-setting process for short-term and long-term incentive programs, many are turning to advanced financial modeling techniques like Monte Carlo simulation.

In this session, explore how heightened macroeconomic volatility over the past five years has reshaped goal-setting practices and delve into the processes companies use to set and communicate performance goals effectively.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Understand how recent economic instability has influenced goal-setting methodologies for incentive programs.
• Discover best practices for setting and communicating performance goals in alignment with organizational objectives.
• Learn how Monte Carlo simulations can provide actionable data for evaluating performance metrics and optimizing incentive payouts.

This session is designed to introduce stock plan administrators to the key principles of share-based compensation accounting, equipping them with the foundational knowledge necessary to support financial reporting teams and ensure compliance with IFRS 2 and ASC 718.

While deep accounting expertise isn't required, understanding the intersection between stock plan administration and financial reporting will enable smoother collaboration and more efficient processes.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Learn how stock plan data feeds into financial reporting and why its accuracy is essential for compliance with accounting standards.
• Gain insight into grant date fair value, valuation models, amortization methods (graded vs. straight-line), and how they impact financial statements.
• Explore how performance awards, forfeiture rates, and termination processing affect both stock plan administration and financial reporting, and understand the differences between IFRS 2 and ASC 718.

Long-term incentive (LTI) design is becoming increasingly complex as organizations face shifting macroeconomic conditions. Companies are tasked with incorporating ESG metrics, managing relative performance awards, and setting meaningful goals amidst market volatility.

This session will explore the latest trends in LTI vehicles, metrics, and structures, offering actionable strategies for adapting LTI plans to meet current and future challenges.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Explore recent trends in LTI design, with a focus on the growing importance of ESG metrics and relative performance awards.
• Learn effective strategies for setting performance goals in an unpredictable economic environment.
• Understand how emerging trends are shaping the structure and impact of long-term incentive plans.

Join expert speakers from Tapestry, HSE (US counsel), Aviva (UK), and Samsara (US) as they discuss their diverse approaches to designing equity compensation plans for a global workforce.

From global matching plans to employee stock purchase plans (ESPP), this session will provide insights into creating effective equity plans that drive employee ownership and engagement across different cultures and regions.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Learn how to design equity compensation plans that work across global workforces.
• Discover innovative approaches to employee ownership and enhancing plan understanding.
• Explore strategies for ensuring compliance and best practices when expanding or exiting from markets.

Operating a global equity plan in a way that meets the company's incentive and retention goals while complying with a myriad of laws can be challenging, especially when factoring in employment law considerations on a global basis.

This session explores how companies can effectively manage these challenges, both from a legal perspective and in practice, focusing on the latest developments and best practices globally related to termination of employment and retirement, leave of absence, restrictive covenants, clawback enforceability and more.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Learn best practices for managing equity awards during voluntary and involuntary terminations, ensuring compliance and retention goals are met.
• Understand how different types of leave—such as maternity, medical, or military—affect equity compensation and how to adapt plans accordingly.
• Explore strategies for implementing enforceable clawback policies and effectively navigating non-compete and non-solicitation agreements in a global context.

Join senior experts from all the Big 4 accounting firms for an interactive roundtable on managing tax compliance for global equity plans. In this session, speakers, moderators, and participants will explore key considerations in tax mobility, the essential elements of a well-administered global plan, and the challenges faced when managing equity compensation for a mobile workforce.

Attendees will gain practical strategies to enhance their international tax processes and ensure compliance with equity administration responsibilities.

KEY LEARNING POINTS:

• Best practices for tax compliance in global equity plans.
• Lessons learned from managing tax compliance across borders.
• Emerging market trends and future expectations in equity compensation.