System and method for implementing employee stock plans

• US 20020042771A1
• Filed: 11/02/2001
• Published: 04/11/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/14/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: UBS Business Solutions AG (UBS Ag)
• Original Assignee: UBS Financial Services Incorporated (UBS Ag)
• Inventors: Jones, Doug, Kelly, Michael, Mooney, James, Khanna, Sudhir, Eng, Eileen, Denola, Joseph, Vanderhoof, Heather, Bendre, Hermant, Turetsky, Alla, Rebimbas, John, Humza, James, Shields, Lawrence P., Burns, Julia K., Brewster, George, Trojan, Mark
• Granted Patent: US 7,529,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

Tools for implementing employee stock plans including stock options, restricted stock awards and/or and stock purchase plans are provided. The invention comprises a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a non-volatile database of a third party administrative system; an interface system for interacting with a participant regarding a requested transaction and enabling the participant to select a response pertaining to the employee stock plan; a trading system for conducting individual participant transactions on a public exchange, a communication system that connects a participant to the system; and means for updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the selections and transactions made by the participant.

Claims

1. A system for implementing at least one employee stock plan comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the finance system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

an interface system for interacting with a participant regarding requested transactions and enabling the participant to select a response pertaining to the employee stock plan;

a trading system for conducting individual participant transactions on a public exchange;

a communication system that connects the participant to the finance system; and

means for updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the selections and transactions made by the participant.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the employee stock plan comprises at least one of an employee stock option plan (ESOP), a restricted stock award (RSA) plan, and an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) that is administered by a financial services organization.

11. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a selection regarding a distribution election for the employee stock plan.

12. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a selection regarding a contribution election for the employee stock plan.

13. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a selection regarding a tax election for the employee stock plan.

14. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to access an online form relating to the employee stock plans.

15. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system notifies the participant, regarding the respective employee stock plan, of at least one of:

stock option grants acceptance pending, stock option grants expiring, restricted stock tax election not chosen, cash payment due, enrollment election and distribution election.

16. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system notifies the participant of at least one of a restricted stock award and a stock option grant/award, and enables the participant to accept, reject or defer acceptance of the award.

17. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system interacts with at least one user to perform block trades for shares acquired by the participant pursuant to the employee stock plan;

and

the participant information in the volatile data storage is updated according to the block trades performed.

18. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables a user to sell a block of shares in multiple trades on behalf of the participant for shares acquired by the participant pursuant to the employee stock plan by entering a share quantity and price for each trade;

and the participant information in the volatile data storage is updated according to the block trades performed.

19. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system interacts with at least one user to enable the user to view trade entries for the employee stock plan, and in response thereto, enter an approved or disapproved status for at least one of an associated check and an associated journal, the interface system further comprising means for linking the check and the journal so that an entry made by the user for the journal is automatically carried over to an entry for the check.

20. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system interacts with at least one user to enable the user to view trade entries for the employee stock plan, and in response thereto, enter an approved or disapproved status for at least one of an associated check and an associated journal, the interface system further comprising means for linking the check and the journal so that an entry made by the user for the journal is automatically carried over to a related entry for the check wherein the user is enabled to correct, via the interface system, the trade entries.

35. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a distribution election selection related to the employee stock plan.

36. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a distribution election selection related to the employee stock plan, wherein the distribution elections include at least one of:

maintaining funds in a limited brokerage account of the financial services organization, transferring funds to an external account, receiving funds via a check, selling shares via block trading, and obtaining shares via physical certificate.

37. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a contribution election selection related to the employee stock plan.

38. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a tax election selection related to the employee stock plan.

39. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to access an online form associated with the employee stock plan.

40. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to access an online form associated with the employee stock plan, the online form including at least one of:

a wire transfer instruction form, a stock option account activation form, and an electronic share transfer form.

41. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to select at least one of a current enrollment period and a future enrollment period in making a selection.

42. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system enables the participant to make a selection regarding at least one of:

designating a payroll deduction, stopping future contributions, and withdrawing previous contributions from their employee stock plan.

43. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system notifies the participant of at least one of:

a stock option grant pending acceptance, an expiring stock option grant, a restricted stock tax election not chosen, cash payment due, and an enrollment election and distribution election.

44. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the interface system notifies the participant of at least one of a restricted stock award and a stock option grant/award, and enables the participant to accept, reject or defer acceptance of the award.

47. The system of claim 46, wherein the employee stock plan comprises at least one of an employee restricted stock award (RSA) plan and an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) administered by the financial services organization.

48. The system of claim 46, further comprising means for communicating the updated participant information from the volatile data storage to the nonvolatile database.

49. The system of claim 46, wherein the interface system provides the user with a block trade status that provides information relating to at least one of:

new block trades, open block trades, closed block trades, and sold to market trades.

50. The system of claim 46, wherein the interface system enables the user to sell a block of shares in multiple trades by entering a share quantity and price for each trade.

51. The system of claim 46, wherein the interface system includes an Internet-based interface for interfacing with the participants, and an Intranet-based interface for interfacing with the user.

2. A system for implementing at least one employee stock plan comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a non-volatile database of a third party administration;

an interface system for interacting with a participant regarding requested transactions, and for enabling the participant to make selections regarding their respective employee stock plans;

a trading system for conducting individual participant transactions on a public exchange;

a communication system that connects the participant to the system;

means for updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the selections and transactions made by the participant; and

a reporting system that enables a corporate employee to run a report based on the participant information.

4. The system of claim 2, further comprising means for creating user profiles associated with a corporate employer wherein the users run the reports in accordance with their respective user profiles.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the reporting system enables a corporate employer to run the reports in accordance with a respective profile.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the interface system enables a corporate employer to select a report template, and corresponding parameters for the selected template, for use in running their reports.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the reports relate to at least one of grants outstanding, grants exercised, or options dilution.

8. The system of claim 2, further comprising means to enable the corporate employer to set parameters including at least one of filtering criteria for filtering the reports, and sorting criteria for sorting the reports.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the reporting system enables a corporate employer to run the reports in accordance with respective client profiles.

10. The system of claim 2, further comprising means for communicating the updated participant information from the volatile data storage to the nonvolatile database.

21. A method for implementing at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan via a computer-implemented finance system;

storing participant information in volatile data storage pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

interacting with a participant regarding a requested transaction, and enabling the participant to select a response pertaining to the employee stock plan;

conducting the participant transaction on a public exchange via a trading system;

updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the selections and transactions made by the participant; and

enabling a corporate employer to run a report based on the participant information pursuant to a reporting system.

22. A system for implementing an employee stock plan, comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the finance system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

an interface system for interacting with a participant regarding a requested transaction; and

a rule system for ascertaining whether the sale price associated with a stock sale is equal to or less than the purchase, option or award price and if so, preventing further processing of the order.

24. The reporting system of claim 23, wherein the employee stock plan comprises at least one of an employee stock option plan (ESOP), a restricted stock award (RSA) plan, and an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) administered by a financial services organization.

25. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means for creating a user profile for a user associated with the corporate employer, wherein the user runs the report in accordance with the user profile.

26. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to specify when users are disabled from accessing the reports.

27. The reporting system of claim 23, wherein the interface system enables the corporate employer to select a report template and corresponding parameters for the selected template for use in running the report.

28. The reporting system of claim 23, wherein the volatile data storage stores data relating to the employee stock plan, and the report is run by accessing the volatile data storage.

29. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to view a completed report.

30. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to download a completed report.

31. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to publish a completed report.

32. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to set parameters including filtering criteria for filtering the report.

33. The reporting system of claim 23, further comprising means enabling the corporate employer to set parameters including sorting criteria for sorting the report.

23. A reporting system for at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the finance system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

an interface system for interacting with a corporate employer; and

a reporting system that enables the corporate employer to run a report based on the participant information and in accordance with at least one respective client profile.

34. A reporting method for at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

storing participant information in a volatile data storage at a computer-implemented finance system pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system to the finance system;

interacting with a participant regarding a requested transaction;

processing a transaction pursuant to the participant request; and

running a report based on the participant information and in accordance with an employer profile pursuant to a computer-implemented reporting system.

45. A method for use by a financial services organization in administering at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

storing participant information in a volatile data storage of a computer-implemented finance system pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system to the finance system;

interacting with a participant regarding a requested transaction via a computer-implemented interface;

processing a transaction pursuant to a participant request;

enabling a participant to make an employee stock plan selection via the interface; and

updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the selection made by the participant.

46. A system for use by a financial services organization in performing block trades for at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the finance system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

a computer-implemented interface system for interacting with a participant regarding requested transactions, and for interacting with at least one user associated with the financial services organization to perform block trades on behalf of the participant for shares acquired by the participant via the at least one employee stock plan;

a communication system that connects the participant and the user to the finance system; and

means for updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the block trades performed.

52. A method for use by a financial services organization in performing block trades for at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

storing participant information in a volatile data storage in a computer-implemented finance system pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system to the finance system;

interacting, via a computer-implemented interface, with a participant regarding a requested transaction, and with at least one user associated with the financial services organization to perform block trades on behalf of the participant for shares acquired by the participant pursuant to the employee stock plan;

processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan at the finance system; and

updating the participant information in the volatile data storage according to the block trades performed.

53. A check and journal process system associated with a system for administering at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

a computer-implemented finance system for processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan, the finance system including;

a volatile data storage for storing participant information pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system;

an interface system for interacting with a participant regarding requested a transaction, and for interacting with at least one user associated with the financial services organization to enable the user to review trade entries for the employee stock plan, and in response thereto, enter an approved or disapproved status for at least one of an associated check process and an associated journal process; and

means for linking the check and the journal processes such that an entry made by the user for the journal is automatically carried over to a related entry for the check.

54. The system of claim 53, wherein the participant information is updated according to at least one of the check and the journal.

55. The system of claim 54, further comprising means for communicating the updated participant information from the volatile data storage to the nonvolatile database.

56. The system of claim 53, wherein the employee stock plan comprises at least one of an employee stock option plan (ESOP), a restricted stock award (RSA) plan, and an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) administered by the financial services organization.

57. The system of claim 53, wherein the user is enabled to correct, via the interface, the trade entries.

58. The system of claim 57, wherein the correction to the trade entry is automatically carried over to a related entry for at least one of an associated check and journal.

59. The system of claim 53, wherein:

the check process provides a check to a participant of the plan, and the journal process accounts for the check.

60. A method for providing a check and journal process for administering at least one employee stock plan, comprising:

storing participant information in a volatile data storage of a computer-implemented finance system pursuant to a data transfer from a nonvolatile database of a third party administration system to the finance system;

interacting, via an interface, with at least one user associated with a financial services organization to enable the user to review trade entries for the employee stock plan, and in response thereto, enter an approved or disapproved status for at least one of an associated check and journal;

processing a transaction pursuant to the employee stock plan at the finance system; and

linking the check and the journal so that an entry made by the user in the journal is automatically carried over to a related entry for the check.

62. The method of claim 61, further comprising:

updating the participant information according to at least one of the check and the journal process.