Employee benefits & share schemes

Employee share plans and remuneration

Clifford Chance's Employee Benefits Group is a market leader in share plans and incentives advice. We have a team of experienced lawyers in London dedicated entirely to employee benefits work and more than 100 lawyers advising on employee benefits matters in our offices around the globe. Our clients include  FTSE 100-quoted companies, US, European and Asian multinationals, private equity houses and their investee companies.

Where we can help

We advise on all types of share plans, incentive arrangements and remuneration issues.  We combine innovation and up-to-date technical, legal and tax advice with a practical approach.  Our services include:

• Designing and implementing share plans including LTIPs, option plans, tax-approved/tax-favoured plans in the UK and globally, deferred bonus plans and cash incentives.
• Project managing legal, regulatory and tax advice on international share plans.
• Supporting the ongoing operation of plans.
• Advising on the design, set up and funding of employee benefit trusts, including ESOPs, family sub-trusts, EFRBS and similar arrangements.
• Advising on the share plans impact of takeovers, mergers, IPOs and other corporate transactions.
• Leading companies through the maze of corporate governance, regulatory and shareholder issues affecting executive remuneration and employee benefits.
• Advising on employment tax issues.

What we do

We can design share plans and incentive arrangements and draft all documentation to suit your business. Our experience extends from the implementation of standard tax-approved plans to complex, bespoke arrangements designed to fit our clients' requirements.  We are there to help not only with the initial launch of plans but also with their ongoing operation.

Our team has extensive experience of helping companies project manage share plan launches.  Global share plans form an integral part of our business and we have advised on the operation of share plans in more than 80 countries in the last year alone.

Working closely with our employment, regulatory and pensions colleagues, we are also able to provide a comprehensive service in relation to broader executive and employment-related matters.

More than pure legal advice

We know that companies are looking for much more than pure legal, regulatory and tax expertise. Our focus is therefore on providing not only excellent technical advice but also sharing our market knowledge and giving companies a commercial, practical and user-friendly service.