On the 23rd June, The ESOP Centre hosted a webinar titled ‘Share Schemes and the Impact of Inflation’. The comprehensive presentation covered a number of topics including the dangers of stagflation, the cost-of-living crisis and how employee share schemes may be used to combat this issue, with a particular focus on the economics of the situation.…

June 29, 2022 Read more >

On 26th April 2022, the Court of Appeal passed its judgement over two appeals (HMRC v Atholl House Productions Limited and Kickabout Productions Limited v HMRC) relating to the application of the IR35 legislation. In brief, the IR35 legislation provides that where an individual personally performs their services to the client through an intermediary and…

May 25, 2022 Read more >

Many readers will be aware that last month, the IA issued its response to two issues arising from Russian sanctions and the economic impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, namely: LTI award sizes in light of the recent fall in share prices; and Whether a six-month delay in setting LTI targets would be appropriate, owing…

April 19, 2022 Read more >

An annual return needs to be submitted by all companies who have an active employee share plan registered with HMRC. This includes tax-advantaged share plans such as EMI, CSOP, SAYE and SIP as well as any non-tax advantaged plans or arrangements such as unapproved options, conditional share awards (or restricted stock units), growth share plans…

April 19, 2022 Read more >

Plus recent HMRC publications in the employee share scheme/employment-related securities arena. Spring Statement 2022 From 6 July 2022, the starting thresholds for national insurance contributions (NICs) will rise to £12,570; this is currently £9,880 (April to June 2022), a rise from £9,568 per annum last tax year Employees earning between £242 (£190 from 6 April…

April 19, 2022 Read more >

Investors often choose to invest in companies with which they feel an alignment; at the same time, companies aim to develop cultures, policies and strategies which are aligned to the interests of the type of investors they wish to attract and whose support they need. Best practice for creating the right balance to reach such…

April 19, 2022 Read more >

On 18th November 2021, the Investment Association (IA) wrote a letter to the chairs of the remuneration committees (Rem Com) in the FTSE 350 outlining its updated principles of remuneration and highlighting IA members’ focus areas for the 2022 AGM season. The main changes to the IA principles are as follows: General Guidelines Levels of…

December 7, 2021 Read more >

In the recent case of Lord and others v Maven Wealth Group Limited [2021] EWHC 2544, the High Court has held that the provisions in the articles of association for the determination of ‘fair value’ of shares take precedence over the provisions in the shareholders’ agreement, even if ‘fair value’ is defined in the articles…

November 4, 2021 Read more >

The two principal all-employee share schemes available in the UK are Sharesave and Share Incentive Plans (SIPs). Participants in Sharesave schemes (sometimes called savings-related share options) are granted share options over the number of shares which can be acquired, for a price per share up to 20 per cent lower than the market price per…

October 7, 2021 Read more >

For many, September, with the return of schools and universities marks a new beginning – and in work, September becomes the time when all those activities that have been delayed from over summer are now planned to be put into place. Here are five activities that should be on your radar in terms of people…

September 8, 2021 Read more >

In July, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published its policy statement PS21/09 in relation to the implementation of the new Investment Firms Prudential Regime (IFPR) which becomes effective from 1 January 2022. PS21/09 is the second in the series of policy statements that summarises the feedback that the FCA has received in respect of their…

August 10, 2021 Read more >

The first report of the Office of Tax Simplification (“OTS”) when it was published in November 2020 caused headlines with its recommendations around increasing the rate of Capital Gains Tax (“CGT”).  Unsurprisingly, this caused press headlines and a strong response from the business community. In contrast, the publication of their second report into CGT has…

July 5, 2021 Read more >