Share Options and Schemes

Senior or valuable employees may be rewarded or incentivised with options to purchase shares in a company.  These could be agreed as part of an employment offer or at a later stage. We can arrange third party advice on the various types of option scheme available, including unapproved option schemes, Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) share option plans, Share incentive plans (SIPs), SAYE share option schemes (Save As You Earn schemes) and Company share option plans (CSOPs), including the tax implications of each, and assist with your selection.
Our company lawyers advise on the pros and cons of putting in place such a scheme, such as the dilution of control and ownership, and the mechanism for the exercise of options, whether this is permitted at any time or only on exit by the company’s owners.  We can arrange for the preparation of option agreements and scheme rules to give effect to the scheme.

Please contact us for further information.