Stock options (BenefitsLink.com)Headlines re Stock options, gathered by BenefitsLink.comIBM Agrees to $20M Settlement of Options-Related Lawsuit- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "IBM Corp. has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit by shareholders who claimed the technology company misled the public about employee stock-option expenses in 2005." (AP via The Washington Post; free registration required)http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/02/AR2008060202276.html Guidance Overview IRS Redesignates Backdated Stock Options as a Tier II Issue (PDF)- (Found July 5, 2008 ) At page 2. Excerpt: "Late last month, the IRS issued a directive announcing that the issue of backdated stock options was being redesignated from Tier I status to Tier II status. Tier II issues are those where the IRS' Large and Mid- Sized Business (LMSB) division believes there is a significant risk of noncompliance." (Miller Chavalier)http://www.millerchevalier.com/files/Publication/b51686cc-7c9a-4f2c-80a2-048d26122ada/Pres... Guidance Overview Understanding the Option Dating Controversies- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The world of options, and equity compensation in general, operates within a number of different and often esoteric spheres of law, including corporate, securities, and tax law. Unfortunately, the rhetoric generated by this controversy has, in some cases, melded, obfuscated, or even obscured completely the applicable legal and practical issues. This article, one in a series, will attempt to explain the legal underpinnings of the option dating controversy, highlight a number of...http://www.blankrome.com/index.cfm?contentID=37&itemID=1543 SEC Sees Monster-ous Backdating Scheme- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged two former Monster Worldwide Inc. senior executives for their alleged participation in a scheme to secretly backdate stock options granted to thousands of company officers, directors and employees." (Investment News; free registration required)http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080430/REG/767004054/1094/INDai... Why Riskier Companies Grant More Employee Stock Options- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "This paper documents that riskier firms grant more options to non-executive employees using a large panel of US firms from 1992 to 2005. These results are not explained by factors on the industry level. A simple model in which a risk-neutral firm and an employee with cumulative prospect theory preferences bargain over the employee's pay package can provide an explanation for this otherwise puzzling behavior." (Social Science Research Network)http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1102947 When the Company Share Price Is a Factor in Compensation- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "47 percent of private sector employees in the United States have had at least part of their compensation tied to their company's profitability or stock price. That's right. If you include stock options, deferred stock, profit sharing or cash bonuses pegged to a company's performance, nearly half of the 114 million employees of private-sector companies had some stock or profit-related pay at the end of 2006." (The New York Times; free registration required)http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/jobs/27mgmt.html?ex=1366948800&en=1cc61241305ae2be&a... Guidance Overview Summary of FASB Statement 123R Share-Based Payment - Revised 3102008 (PDF)- (Found July 5, 2008 ) 14 pages. Excerpt: "Statement 123R creates a more 'level playing field' for equity incentive design that is expected to result in the increased prevalence of full-value and performance-vesting awards, and a corresponding decline in plain-vanilla, tax qualified, and reload stock options, and employee stock purchase plans. The remainder of this paper summarizes the most pertinent provisions of Statement 123R and related staff guidance provided by the FASB and the Securities and Exchange...http://www.fwcook.com/alert_letters/4-29-05-_Revised-3-10-08_Summary-of-FASB-Statement-No-... Guidance Overview Understanding the Option Dating Controversies: An Overview of the Law and Legal Issues- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "The prior installment on this issue introduced the option backdating controversy . . . . This part provides a brief overview of the more salient direct and indirect legal issues, as well as some of the key questions and complications raised by the option backdating controversy. These practices touch on a number of different and complex laws and rules, including securities, corporate, tax, employee benefits, contract, and criminal laws, as well as accounting and auditing standards.http://www.blankrome.com/index.cfm?contentID=37&itemID=1546 United Healthcare Options Backdating Suit Gets Class Action Status- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "A federal judge in Minneapolis has granted class-action status to a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group Inc. over stock options backdating." (PLANSPONSOR.com; free registration required)http://www.plansponsor.com/pi_type10/?RECORD_ID=40722 Guidance Overview Valuing Employee Stock Options for Closely Held Companies- (Found July 5, 2008 ) Excerpt: "Until recently, non-public companies that granted options, warrants or other types of stock-based compensation to their employees were not typically required to determine values for these complex derivative instruments. Current financial reporting standards such as FASB Statement no. 123(R), Share-Based Payment, as well as recent federal tax law changes (IRC 409A) are compelling companies to value these financial instruments using stock option valuation models developed for...http://www.aicpa.org/pubs/jofa/mar2008/eso_values.htm |