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Austria has increased the nontaxable maximum amount allowed for shares contributed by employers to employees under qualified employee ownership plans from €1,460 to €3,000 (roughly from $2000 to $4000).

The Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded its inquiry into backdated stock options to over 100 companies. SEC Enforcement Division Director Linda Thomsen also has promised to pursue "spring-loading" cases (issuing options just before the release of good news).

Of the 66 organizations on the Fortune magazine list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in America that are not nonprofit organizations, law firms, or accounting firms, 38, or 57%, have broad-based employee ownership plans. Companies must have at least 1,000 employees to apply.

On February 11, the equity compensation services firm Solium announced that it would be acquired by Morgan Stanley for $1.1 Canadian dollars ($830 million USD).

The Business Ethics 100 list--a list of the top 100 corporate citizens in 2006--is dominated by companies with some kind of broad-based ownership plan. The number one company is Green Mountain Coffee, which has an ESOP and a variety of other ownership opportunities.

Winning Workplaces, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping organizations create great workplaces, recently named 18 companies winners of its annual "Best Bosses" competition. Fourteen share ownership broadly with employees.

A new study of 100 large companies by Watson Wyatt shows that 60% plan no changes in their options programs. Only 4% are repricing, while 19% are canceling with a subsequent reissue (generally six months later).

On September 1, MSNBC's Richard Lui interviewed Dr.

The number of companies setting up multinational employee ownership plans continues to expand rapidly, according to a number of speakers at the most recent Conference on Global Equity Compensation sponsored by the National Center for Employee Ownership and the American Compensation Association.

Many employee ownership companies have restricted stock awards for employees.