Foreign employees to get equity incentives

Detailed regulatory requirements for mainland-listed companies to give foreign employees equity incentives were announced on Tuesday, in a bid to further open up the nation’s capital markets. According to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, a listed company should register with local foreign exchange authorities within 30 days after announcing an equity incentive plan involving foreign employees. By showing the registration certificate to banks, the company and the foreign employees can directly conduct cross-border payment and currency exchange transactions involved in the plan. Regulatory approvals are not required for the same.