InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[olddog967]

Dd: Here is a little more info in regard to satyaa's comments regarding ESPPs. Since employees made very little use of the plan after 2004, it looks like IDCC just decided to cancel their plan rather than amend the terms.

The implementation of FAS 123R has touched off much discussion about the future direction of Employee Stock Purchase Plans (ESPPs). Companies are now required to expense their ESPPs, along with other option-based award programs, unless their plans meet strict new safe-harbor provisions specified by the Federal Accounting Standards Board. The following article provides a glimpse of the early impacts of FAS 123R on ESPPs among Russell 3000 companies in 2005 and 2006 and presents a summary of several key findings from Equilar’s 2006 Employee Stock Purchase Plan Report and Database.

SNIP

Findings

Safe Harbor: To qualify for an exemption from expensing an ESPP under FAS 123R, plans must meet safe-harbor provisions that prohibit look-back periods of any length and cap discount rates on share prices at 5 percent. These limits are more restrictive than the pre-FAS 123R safe-harbor provisions, which permitted look-back periods of up to 6 months and discount rates of up to 15 percent.

In 2006, 41.5 percent of new plans and 8.1 percent of amended plans included zero look-back periods and capped discount rates at 5 percent. This brought the prevalence of all plans with new safe-harbor features to 21.4 percent. Although this represented an increase over 2005, it indicates that nearly four out of every five ESPPs placed before shareholders for approval do not meet the new FAS 123R safe-harbor provisions.

http://www.equilar.com/newsletter/september_2006/ect_sept_2006_pv.html