|
 |
|
Letter from the editor: A new name, a renewed focus Dear Valued Client, In response to your requests for more concise and comprehensive communications, we’re making some changes to this newsletter, which you may have received in the past as "OptionsLink News." The new name, Product News for Equity Compensation Leaders, reflects our renewed focus. Every month this newsletter will provide you with the latest information about our integrated, end-to-end equity compensation solution. This comprehensive set of products and services includes our Equity Edge software for stock plan management and reporting, our easy-to-use OptionsLink service that lets employees view and transact stock plan information 24x7x365 and other related offerings from the Business Solutions Group of E*TRADE Financial. The in-depth product information in this newsletter is part of our ongoing effort to streamline communications with our valued clients by providing relevant information in a consistent and easy-to-read format. If you have any questions about this newsletter, or if you would like to confirm or change your contact information (i.e., your name, role within your company, mailing address, phone number, or e-mail), please contact us at CSG@etrade.com. Sincerely,
Single view of OptionsLink and other accounts at E*TRADE Financial We're making things easier for OptionsLink participants who have other accounts at E*TRADE Financial. Coming soon, when these participants log on at etrade.com, they will see a summary of the total value of their OptionsLink accounts. This number (which appears under “Accounts Summary”) is the sum total of the following: 1. The current market value of any employee stock purchase plan shares. This value is calculated as the current ticker price multiplied by the number of shares in the account. For example, if there are 100 shares in your account and the current ticker price is $5.10, the current market value is $510. 2. The current market value of any stock option plan shares that have been exercised and held. As with stock purchase plan shares, this value is also calculated as the current ticker price multiplied by the number of shares in the account. 3. The current net value of any stock option grants that have vested and are currently exercisable. This value is calculated as the sum of the net values for each distinct option grant. The current net value of each grant is the current ticker price minus the option strike price for that grant, multiplied by the number of vested shares within that grant. If the option strike price is greater than the current ticker price, the value of that grant is considered to be zero. Consider the following example:
The current net value of all these stock option grants is $565, calculated as $410 for grant 1 + $155 for grant 2 + $0 for grant 3. To help account holders understand how this number is calculated and what it means, detailed information about the new Accounts Summary for OptionsLink will be provided in the Help Center at etrade.com. This change is part of our ongoing commitment to give your participants seamless, one-click access to a wide array of products and services--including stock plan information, brokerage, banking and lending products. We will be introducing other enhancements in the months ahead. Until then, please e-mail any questions or comments to CSG@etrade.com
Tip: Correcting duplicate account records in Equity Edge Duplicate account records can occur when participants who already have an account record in Equity Edge are re-entered or re-imported with a different ID number. Duplicate account records can complicate reporting and reconciling data, so it is important to correct them as soon as you find them. Duplicate account records for the same participant may have different sets of options, awards, stock purchases or insider reporting data associated with them. To "merge" these duplicate accounts, simply move the option and/or award records from one account record to the other, then delete the duplicate record. 1, Prior to making changes, remember to make a backup copy of your database. Refer to your Equity Edge Users’ Guide for instructions on creating a backup copy. 2. Determine which accounts have duplicate records. Sort the Account selection table by name or run the Account List report, sorted by name. Review the table or report for accounts that appear to be duplicates. You may have multiple employees with the same name, so be sure to verify that the accounts actually are duplicates before proceeding. 3. Determine which account record you will keep. You should select whichever record has stock purchase and/or insider reporting data associated with it, since it is easier to transfer option and award data to a different account record than to transfer purchase records and insider data. Even if the ID number for the account record with the purchase and insider data is incorrect, you should keep this record and transfer the option and/or award data to it (see Step 4 below). You will be able to correct the ID number at the end of this process (Step 7) if necessary. 4. Modify the name of the account record you want to delete. For example, if you have two "John Smith" account records, change the name of the record you want to delete to "John SmithXXX." This allows you to easily distinguish the account record that should be deleted from the account record you want to keep. 5. Print the Option and Award Summary for the Account record that will be deleted. If this account record has options and/or awards attached to it, you will need to transfer the options and/or awards to the correct account record by following these steps:
6. Print the Option and Award Summary for both account records. Confirm that all of the options and awards appear on the statement for the correct account. The record you want to delete should no longer have any options or awards associated with it. 7. Delete the incorrect account record. Remember to correct the ID number of the remaining account record, if necessary. Important: Some Equity Edge users create duplicate accounts when terminated employees are rehired, instead of using the Equity Edge Rehire function. When determining which accounts are duplicates, please check to see whether any are terminated accounts. If so, you should consider using the Rehire function to rehire the terminated account. Then you can move the option and awards record to the rehired account and delete the duplicate account.
optionslink.com for Canadian residents is now available! Exciting news for participants residing in Canada We are pleased to announce that your Canadian resident participants can now exercise and sell options online at canada.optionslink.com. We sent an e-mail to Canadian participants letting them know about this exciting new enhancement to OptionsLink on March 8, 2002. Your Canadian employees also received a packet from E*TRADE Canada with instructions about how to open their account online and how to log on to both www.canada.etrade.com and canada.optionslink.com. Once your Canadian employees have opened E*TRADE Canada brokerage accounts, they will be able to log on to canada.optionslink.com to view option grants and vested shares or to complete same day sales. They will also be able take advantage of other great OptionsLink features such as modeling, password changes and access to your company library. Please note that employee stock purchase plan and stock option plan holdings, along with all proceeds from sales, will continue to be directly deposited and viewable in employees' E*TRADE Canada brokerage accounts at www.canada.etrade.com. Questions? Please contact Corporate Support at corporatesupport@etrade.com. Please add your Corporate Identification number when you e-mail.
Expanded brokerage services for Israeli residents We are pleased to announce expanded securities brokerage services for Israeli residents through our affiliate, E*TRADE Israel. Accessible in both English and Hebrew, E*TRADE Israel offers financial information, account management and trading in U.S.-traded securities. With this announcement, persons living in Israel must open all new brokerage accounts--and make any subsequent transactions for those new accounts--at E*TRADE Israel (www.etrade.co.il). Please note that this policy applies only to Israeli residents opening new securities brokerage accounts. OptionsLink accounts are not affected. OptionsLink participants in Israel will continue to use optionslink.com to activate and view their stock plan accounts and to make SOP and/or ESPP transactions. Israeli residents with existing brokerage accounts may continue to keep their accounts with E*TRADE Securities, Incorporated, or they may transfer their accounts to E*TRADE Israel. Opening an E*TRADE Israel brokerage account is as easy as visiting www.etrade.co.il and clicking "Become a Customer" or contacting the Customer Contact Center at 03-60-70-800. Dedicated Financial Service Associates are available to handle any customer inquires and process transactions.
We're working on an important enhancement to OptionsLink that will provide
dramatic accuracy, efficiency and cost advantages over traditional manual
auditing processes. Benefits of these expanded file processing capabilities include:
Stay tuned for more details in the coming months!
Learn how to maximize your use of Equity Edge 4.0 by attending the newest addition to our training curriculum, Update on Equity Edge 4.0. This online course is designed to introduce current Equity Edge customers to the new features available in Equity Edge 4.0. More information.
Product Training
Courses: April - May 2002 Schedule: Employee Stock
Plan Administration Seminars: April - May 2002 Schedule: For more information on Business Solutions Group's education and training classes check our website at business.etrade.com.
Securities products and services are offered in the United States by E*TRADE Securities, Incorporated, member NASD/SIPC; in Canada by E*TRADE Canada Securities Corporation (discount broker), a member of the Toronto and Montreal exchanges, the Canadian Venture Exchange, the Investment Dealers Association and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund; and in Israel by E*TRADE Israel Electronic Commerce (1997) Ltd. System response and account access times may vary due to trading volumes, market conditions, system performance and other factors. © 2002 E*TRADE Business Solutions Group, Inc. All rights reserved. E*TRADE, Equity Edge, and OptionsLink are registered trademarks of E*TRADE Group, Inc. or its subsidiaries. |
