Update July 2023: The offering of share-based long-term incentives (or employee share purchase plans, for that matter) may be subject to local legal and regulatory requirements in some countries, e.g. from a securities law perspective and/or with respect to foreign currency restrictions. In Australia, for example, the applicable securities law rules changed with effect as of January 2023: The previous “Class Order relief” is no longer available for offerings / grants as of 2023.

Under the new rules, there are still self-executing exceptions under certain conditions, whereas in other cases additional requirements may apply, e.g., the requirement to prepare a set of specific offering documents for Australian participants in order to comply with local legislation.

Can your company’s LTI / ESPP benefit from an exception under the new Australian securities law rules as of 2023? We will be happy to provide more detailed advice and support in this respect.

Photo: Annie Spratt, Unsplash