News
Share schemes in the new tax environment
Created July 28, 2010, 3:56 pm
Now that the dust has settled, the implications for employee share schemes have become clear.For higher earners, we are in a new environment. The top official rate of income tax is 50 per cent. and between 100,000 and 112,950 is..
Prospectus exemptions extended for employee shares
Created July 23, 2010, 12:54 pm
The EU Prospectus Directive (the PD) requires any company who is offering shares to the public to provide a prospectus to that investor. On 17 June 2010 the European Parliament approved a directive which will amend the PD. A..
Graduation Day!
Created July 22, 2010, 8:49 am
We are proud to announce that James Lindon has recently been admitted as an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA), and as a result is now a qualified Chartered Secretary (ACIS). RM2's mission has always been to..
Employee trust is key to motivation
Created July 21, 2010, 10:47 am
A recent survey looking into employee engagement has found that only 24% of employees in the UK are engaged in their job, showing the important challenge that employers are now facing. The white paper highlighted key points for improving the situation..
Company flotation brings joy to JSOP participants
Created July 7, 2010, 2:38 pm
The successful online grocery retailer, Ocado, is due to float on the stock market in a few weeks when founders will share a £430m outcome. Ocado have priced their shares at between 200p and 275p which would give them..
Coalition budget: major advantages remain for employee share schemes
Created June 22, 2010, 4:16 pm
The Budget decision to raise the top rate of capital gains tax to 28 per cent. still leaves major advantages for most employee share schemes. The new rate is still well below the higher rates payable on income. The national insurance..
Bonus scheme operating after dismissal
Created May 28, 2010, 4:02 pm
The High Court recently heard a case regarding a discretionary bonus for a former employee. The Court held that when an employee is no longer employed by the Company, it is not implied that the former employee is not entitled..
Capital Gains Tax - the Coalition proposals
Created May 25, 2010, 11:47 pm
The Programme for Government issued by the Coalition included some proposals for changes to capital gains tax. However very little information has been released to date and this has caused uncertainty for business owners, company directors and participants in employee..
CGT to soar but concessions for business activities.
Created May 12, 2010, 5:20 pm
The Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats have released the full text of their coalition agreement. It indicates that CGT will rise to at or near income tax rates, but that there will be generous exemptions for entrepreneurial business activities. The..
Equity compensation for NEDs
Created May 5, 2010, 12:58 pm
Non-executive directors often get the short end of the stick when it comes to equity rewards. Although they are not normally employees, any share-based gains they receive for their services are deemed employment-related securities for tax purposes. These are normally..
Employee share schemes - affordable and widespread
Created May 4, 2010, 4:12 pm
An independent review of employee engagement carried out by the Department of Business Innovation & Skills found that one of the most important aspects is the relationship between employer and employee. A simple and cost effective way of improving this..
Football fans to become shareholders?
Created April 21, 2010, 4:02 pm
There have been a number of recent articles in the press about vehicles which enable football fans to become shareholders of their clubs. The political parties are now identifying this pool as a potential electoral demographic. Trusts have already been set..
Employee Share Schemes and the Election: What do the three main parties have in common?
Created April 20, 2010, 10:18 am
The answer is strong support for employee ownership. A statement released by Employee Ownership Association (EOA) welcomes this and looks forward to ensuring these pledges mean results. EOA has research to show employee owned businesses are more resilient and have a..
Employee share schemes drive shareholder value
Created April 15, 2010, 1:07 pm
Over the last ten years, share prices for companies with more than 10 per cent. employee ownership have dramatically out-performed the rest of the FTSE All-Share Index. The UK Employee Ownership Index published by Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP, shows that an..
Every little really does help for Tescos SAYE scheme participants
Created April 9, 2010, 4:04 pm
More than 55,000 employees of Tesco have seen the benefits of the Employee Share Scheme which was put in place. Participants of Tesco's SAYE scheme contributed between £5 - £50 per month for 3 or 5 years and are now..
RM2 gain new Associate
Created April 7, 2010, 4:18 pm
RM2 are proud to announce that Alex Warren LLB has joined the team as a Regional Associate. Alex is a founder of Yellow Brick Road Consulting which offers a wide range of finance solutions for businesses in the SME space. His..
Extra CGT relief provides massive boost for share schemes
Created March 25, 2010, 2:56 pm
The Chancellor's decision yesterday to double the lifetime limit for Entrepreneur's relief from £1 million to £2 million means that many more participants in employee share schemes will be able to shelter their gains at the concessionary effective rate of..
Employee share scheme nets huge gains
Created March 25, 2010, 10:32 am
Directors and employees of Verrus, a mobile payment technology provider, have seen themselves £10 million richer after a sale of the company to PayPoint for £33 million. The sale triggered the exercise of options under a tax-efficient employee share scheme which..
The Phantom Budget 2010: minor measures against share scheme avoidance
Created March 24, 2010, 5:09 pm
The anti-avoidance measures announced today relate particularly to the Share Incentive Plan (SIP) and the Company Share Option Plan (CSOP). The basic tax advantages of these and other government sponsored schemes, including the Enterprise Management Incentive and the Savings Related..
RM2 gains Share Scheme quality award!
Created March 23, 2010, 12:57 pm
Following a full quality audit, we are pleased to report that we have retained our ISO 9001:2008 quality accreditation for the design, implementation and administration of employee share schemes, including the Enterprise Management Incentive, Share Incentive Plan and Company Share..
Associate Director from RSM Tenon Group moves to RM2
Created March 17, 2010, 2:21 pm
RM2 is delighted to announce that Elisabeth Hunter has been appointed as a Senior Associate. Liz is a high level tax advisor with specialist knowledge of employee share schemes gained through senior positions with Tenon and Chiltern plc (now part of..
Former PwC share scheme specialist joins RM2
Created March 15, 2010, 3:18 pm
RM2 are very pleased to announce that John Cowling has been appointed as a Senior Associate. Having originally qualified as a lawyer in London, John spent over 20 years as a senior tax manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers. John was a member of..
Star Refrigeration - a cool place to work
Created March 11, 2010, 10:13 am
The Sunday Times has, for the second year running, listed our client, Star Refrigeration as one of the top 100 companies to work for in their 2010 survey. The process uses a combination of employee surveys, organisation questionnaires and company visits..
Cost of employee share purchase plans reduced
Created March 9, 2010, 4:14 pm
From 6th April 2010, the official rate on employee beneficial loans will reduce from 4.75% to 4%. This change will provide taxable benefits on loans exceeding £5,000. The 4% rate of interest will also be used when calculating the tax on..
Further qualification for RM2 share scheme manager
Created March 5, 2010, 12:41 pm
We are delighted to announce that one of our Employee Share Scheme Managers, James Lindon, has successfully completed the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (ICSA) International Qualifying Scheme. This qualification covers areas such as corporate governance, corporate secretaryship, corporate..
AIM share scheme disclosure
Created February 24, 2010, 12:29 pm
Companies quoted on AIM are now required to disclose details of the remuneration of each of their directors in their accounts, including equity based rewards such as share options and LTIPs.New AIM rules were recently published by the London Stock..
Unapproved options - time to exercise?
Created February 23, 2010, 4:05 pm
From 6th April 2010, new rates of income tax will apply to the exercise of unapproved share options by UK holders. Currently the high-end rate of income tax is at 40%. This will increase to 50% from April for those individuals..
Paying income tax on a sale of shares
Created February 15, 2010, 9:14 am
The UK Supreme Court has released a judgment upholding an income tax charge on the sale of shares. This underlines the need for private companies to obtain competent professional advice in relation to all share transfers. Share rights were attached to..
Employee Ownership: good for SMEs
Created February 12, 2010, 4:01 pm
A report entitled Model Growth: Do employee-owned businesses deliver sustainable performance was published in January 2010 by amongst others, Professor Joseph Lampel, Professor in Strategic Management at Cass Business School, City University, London. The report is based on a survey of..
IASB told to improve its governance
Created February 10, 2010, 5:15 pm
The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) has been told to improve its governance. This statement, made by leading financial regulators comes just ahead of the plans in place for the IASB rules to form a general set of international standards..
Equity based staff rewards for tough times
Created January 27, 2010, 9:54 am
Employee share schemes are already commonplace in UK quoted companies. These often take the form of share options or awards of shares which are released to employees over time on the achievement of performance targets. Now, however, smaller companies are..
Share options expensing champion to stand down
Created January 7, 2010, 11:59 am
Sir David Tweedie will stand down as chairman of the International Accounting Standards Board on 30 June, 2011. Tweedie has been a major force in the development of international accounting standards, including those applicable to employee share incentives such as..
Global Technology Group launches sharesave in 11 countries
Created December 14, 2009, 11:49 am
In September, the sharesave scheme was approved for over 3,300 staff with a further 9,929 eligible under the unapproved plan across 10 other countries, including China, Spain, the US, Singapore and Australia. The Company state that retention was a key driver..
Banco Santander sharesave scheme now covers 6,500 employees
Created December 7, 2009, 12:15 pm
Previously, only Abbey staff were able to benefit from the scheme, however, it is now also available to the staff of Alliance & Leicester, which became part of the Santander group in 2008. Spokesman for Abbey said welcoming new staff into..
Boost the Economy with an Employee Share Scheme
Created November 30, 2009, 4:52 pm
A leading accountancy firm has urged companies to improve employee share schemes in order to boost economic recovery. The advice comes after a research project found that just 6% of the largest companies in the UK were responsible for creating up..
Absoft Oil and Gas Team Success
Created November 23, 2009, 11:41 am
We are pleased to see that specialist software business Absoft, an RM2 client, has strengthened its foothold in the oil and gas sector after its dedicated new energy team secured a significant rise in revenue and broke into key markets. Absoft..
Wages still frozen - time for share incentives?
Created November 19, 2009, 4:51 pm
More than half of all UK companies are planning to keep wages on ice for a second successive year, according to a survey carried out by RM2 client Harvey Nash this week, in conjunction with the CBI.This is one way..
Do Employee Share Schemes really incentivise employees?
Created November 16, 2009, 3:26 pm
It seems the answer is yes, employee share schemes really do incentivise employees and encourage loyalty. A recent share plan survey carried out by Computershare revealed that employees in plans stay with the Company longer. It also revealed they take a..
Employee share schemes: positioning for growth
Created October 22, 2009, 3:21 pm
In a new article, Liz Hunter, RM2's senior associate for Scotland, explains why employers need to re-examine the balance between cash and equity in their staff remuneration strategy.Drawing on the example of the ill-fated Appollo 13 mission, Liz reflects on..
RM2 website re-launch
Created October 14, 2009, 2:50 pm
The RM2 Partnership has launched its brand new interactive website. The new layout is more user friendly making it easier to find key information on employee share ownership and share option schemes. The navigation has also been improved with easier..
EMIs exempt from Prospectus Directive?
Created October 13, 2009, 10:35 am
Currently, all non EU-based foreign companies are required to issue a lengthy prospectus every time they want to make equity awards to employees in European subsidiaries, unless the shares are quoted on EU stock markets.The European Commission is proposing to..
EU endorses EMIs
Created September 18, 2009, 4:16 pm
Enterprise Management Incentives (EMI) have been given long term approval by the European Commission. These popular and flexible plans allow small businesses to recruit and retain highly skilled employees more easily.EMIs provide a tax break on share options offered by..
EMIs on the increase
Created September 10, 2009, 5:17 pm
The popularity of the Enterprise Management Incentive scheme has soared over the last year with 9,110 companies now using this scheme to benefit their employees according to the Office of National Statistics.In a single year, 2,830 companies opted to introduce..
Salary sacrificed for share options
Created September 4, 2009, 10:03 am
Shareholders of Europe's largest consumer electronics retailer, DSG International, have voted in favour of a salary sacrifice arrangement for their directors. This will see its chief executive, John Browett, sacrifice 25% of his salary in return for share options for..
More UK companies to qualify for EMI share options
Created September 3, 2009, 12:55 pm
The Government has recently announced that the 2010 Finance Bill will widen the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) eligibility criteria, so that companies based in the UK which carry out considerable overseas activity can use EMIs to recruit key UK based..
Australian Government backs down on share schemes
Created July 27, 2009, 4:08 pm
The Australian government caused consternation in May with new proposals for taxing employee share schemes. However it has recently back-tracked considerably.The main outcry was in relation to a proposed tax on the grant of options or other share rights at..
FDs of larger companies face personal tax fines
Created June 17, 2009, 12:15 pm
From July this year senior financial officers of larger companies must ensure that their tax accounting systems are accurate - or potentially face a personal fine.Employee share option and share ownership schemes are key areas where companies can (and do)..
Obama's executive compensation plans
Created June 16, 2009, 3:49 pm
The US Treasury has released "five principles of compensation" to align compensation practices with sound risk management and long-term growth in US listed companies. In the main the principles are intended to be advisory not binding. The principles are:1. Proper..
HSBC SAYE share option success
Created May 21, 2009, 9:37 am
According to a report in Employee Benefits Magazine, HSBC's latest sharesave plan has become the most popular share scheme in the bank's history, attracting 34,000 applications from UK staff.The scheme, which closed to applications on 24 April, offered options at..
Budget highlights share scheme tax benefits
Created April 29, 2009, 7:30 am
The tax changes announced in the 2009 Budget are causing many companies to look again at the tax advantages of employee share schemes. Effective from April 2010, income tax will rise to a top rate of income tax to 50 per..
Star Refrigeration
Created April 14, 2009, 4:13 pm
Star Refrigeration Limited, an RM2 client, has recently been chosen for inclusion in the 2009 Sunday Times list of "100 Best Companies to work for".The Glasgow-based firm is the UK's largest independent industrial refrigeration engineering company. Star pioneers groundbreaking refrigeration..
RM2 awarded latest ISO 9001 accreditation
Created March 23, 2009, 11:23 am
The directors and staff of RM2 are delighted to report that, following a full quality audit, we have retained our ISO 9001 quality accreditation for the design, implementation and administration of employee share schemes. We achieved a pass in each..
Exam success for RM2 staff
Created February 23, 2009, 2:49 pm
We are delighted to report that RM2 staffers Becky Mitchell and James Lindon have both earned further exam success as part of the ICSA Professional Programme.Becky passed the Corporate Law module, and has now completed part one of the Professional..
RM2 alerts Times to SAYE rate changes
Created February 4, 2009, 3:32 pm
RM2 today alerted Times Journalists Mark Atherton and Laura Whateley to forthcoming changes to SAYE bonus rates - before they are announced by HM Treasury. Normally, SAYE bonus rates are changed once, or at most twice a year. But recent turmoil..
RM2 retain Investors in People Standard
Created January 15, 2009, 1:10 pm
The directors and staff of RM2 are delighted to announce our "continued recognition" as an Investor in People, following a recent review conducted by the Quality South East and Investors in People UK team.The Investors in People National Standard is..
Adapting to the times
Created January 9, 2009, 3:32 pm
As economic conditions change, companies are adapting their equity incentives. Many of our clients, especially private companies, are looking to amend the performance conditions attaching to options, including EMI options. We can re-assure such companies that HM Revenue & Customs..
Pre-Budget Report fillip for employee share schemes
Created November 25, 2008, 10:12 am
Income tax and NIC increases announced on 24th November will heighten interest in tax efficient employee share schemes.In his 2008 Pre-Budget Report the Chancellor announced an increase in income tax to 45 per cent. for those earning in excess of..
New edition of the Guide
Created October 18, 2008, 4:42 pm
The 2008/09 edition of "Employee Share Schemes - A Guide for Directors" has arrived.The Guide, compiled by share scheme experts at RM2, provides directors and their advisers with an authoritative account of all aspects of employee share schemes and how..
Reasons to be cheerful
Created October 17, 2008, 9:00 am
Everyone seems to be talking about recession. But it's not all gloom. We have some practical suggestions for ways in which RM2 can help your business.1. Use share schemes to conserve cash. Even in tough times, it's important to hang..
Boost to share ownership in Germany
Created August 29, 2008, 2:43 pm
In response to a widening gap between rising corporate profits and employee wages, the German government is to promote employee share schemes, giving workers a larger proportion of their company's profits.According to Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, the government is talking..
SAYE rate boost
Created August 11, 2008, 9:55 am
From 1st September 2008, the bonus rates for SAYE share option schemes are increasing. For the 3 year plan, the bonus rate (expressed in monthly contributions) rises from 1.6 months (an effective interest rate of 2.84%) to 2.4 months (4.23%)...
Non-domiciliaries: Government wriggles
Created June 10, 2008, 4:39 pm
The 2008 Finance Bill introduced a new regime whereby persons not domiciled in this country could choose between declaring their entire worldwide income for UK tax purposes, or paying a special £30,000 charge plus tax on any amounts remitted to..
Budget boost for EMIs
Created March 13, 2008, 2:33 pm
Alastair Darling announced that, from 6th April 2008, the upper limit on the value of shares that can be offered under an EMI scheme will increase from £100,000 to £120,000. This will allow more high level executives to take their..
Research backs EMI effectiveness
Created February 29, 2008, 4:36 pm
Nearly 80 per cent. of employers offering employee share options under the Enterprise Management Incentive (EMI) say that the scheme helped them retain key and/or skilled employees and improve staff motivation, according to research commissioned by HM Revenue & Customs..
New CGT rules and share schemes
Created January 25, 2008, 12:18 pm
Alastair Darling's new CGT rules offer some crumbs to small business owners but have little effect on employee share schemes.The new rules take the form of a relief of 4/9ths of gains on the sale of trading companies up to..
£12m SAYE bonanza for HBOS staff
Created January 11, 2008, 11:55 am
HBOS has announced a payout of approximately £12m to its workforce of almost 14,000 staff following the maturity this week of its SAYE ("sharesave") share option scheme.The average participant benefited to the tune of about £1,000. This is well within..
