The National Association of Stock Plan Professionals (NASPP) has released the results of its biannual survey regarding International Stock Plan Design and Administration; survey cosponsor was Deloitte Tax LLP. Members of NASPP and clients of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu participated in the survey, which provides a look at the design and administrative practices of companies headquartered in the United States that grant stock compensation to employees outside the United States. The survey was conducted during October and November of 2006, and 291 participants responded to questions addressing a number of areas, including stock option plans, employee stock purchase plans, stock grants and country specific practices covering nine countries. 

Highlights of the survey include the trends that were revealed in offering stock plans by U.S. companies to their non-U.S. employees, such as:

• Nonqualified stock options remain the most prevalent type of equity grants; however there has been a 50 percent increase in the number of companies offering restricted stock/unit plans since 2004. This is partly due to the Financial Accounting Standards Board's decision to require the expensing of stock compensation, which led to 46 percent of respondents reducing their stock option awards and 48 percent of respondents granting more restricted stock or restricted stock units to non-U.S. employees.
• Nearly 50 percent of companies adjust their stock option grant sizes for employees outside the United States based on relative wage level. This statistic indicates that about half of the participants are planning their equity grants in light of the compensation environment in other countries.
• Only 43 percent of respondents track international assignees that are part of a formal assignee program for tax withholding and reporting purposes; the number of respondents dropped to 29 percent for those who track the same information for mobile employees who are not part of the formal assignee program. These percentages indicate that there are a large number of companies that have yet to participate with their tax obligations for mobile employees.
  

The data presented herein is from the 2006 International Stock Plan Design and Administration Survey, which was cosponsored by Deloitte Tax LLP and the NASPP. The NASPP is a premier membership association for stock compensation professionals; visit www.naspp.com for a no-risk trial membership.