Other Share Schemes
Share and option schemes for employees and others
We can help with the following schemes
EMI (enterprise management incentive) is the best share and option scheme for eligible employees - see our main EMI page here
Growth share plans – design and drafting of a particular class of employee shares which have an inherent lack of economic entitlements but with the potential for employees to share in the eventual growth in value of shares. Growth shares provide tax and funding cost benefits to employees and tax savings to the employer and can be combined with EMI for extra efficiencies or can be an alternative to EMI if the company is ineligible for such a scheme. Growth shares may offer significant savings where the current market value of shares is already substantial, through their ability to reduce the up-front unrestricted market value of the shares. More info here and see our Growth shares Guide here.
Company share option plans (“CSOP”) – design and drafting of CSOPs. Tax efficient HMRC tax favoured options but with relatively limited flexibility and valuation cap. Useful where options are preferred to shares and where EMI is not available (more information is shown here and download our CSOP Guide here).
'Unapproved' or non-tax advantaged options – design and drafting of flexible options which can be used for non-employees, as a top-up to other arrangements or as a stand-alone incentive. They are called 'unapproved' because they do not have any specific legislated tax breaks, unlike the EMI and CSOP for example (more information is shown here).