The Dangers of Out-Of-Date ESOPs
Employee equity can be a powerful part of your remuneration strategy. But once a plan is in place, it’s easy for compliance to slip as the business grows and circumstances change. Many businesses tend to set and forget their plan rules and do not review them regularly. An out of date employee share option plan (ESOP) could become a laden tax trap for your employees. It could also cause a reporting nightmare for the business as you fail to continue to monitor the tax treatment of options/shares issued under plan, […]
How Listed Entities are Falling Foul of the New ESS Regime
ASX entities who rely on Listing Rule exemptions to issue securities under their employee incentive schemes, and who also rely on the streamlined disclosure requirements in Division 1A of Part 7.12 of the Corporations Act may be inadvertently in breach of the provisions of the new employee share scheme regime (ESS Regime). Falling foul of the ESS Regime may result in a listed entity committing various breaches of, or offences under, the Corporations Act, and can lead to personal liability for certain persons, including directors. One of the requirements of […]
Embrace Change: Why You Need to Update Your Australian Employee Share Option Plan
If you haven’t updated your employee share plan yet, now is the time to act. On 1st October 2022, significant amendments to the Corporations Act came into effect, altering the regulations governing employee share schemes (ESS) in Australia. These changes were designed to make it easier for startups and other businesses to attract and retain top talent by reducing the red tape and streamlining the regulatory requirements relating to the disclosure, licensing, advertising, anti-hawking, and on-sale requirements of shares, options and incentive rights offered under employee share plans. In this […]