The initial ex-dividend target date for the ETC spinoff is January 1st, 2010, but that has not been finalized. Each 10 shares of EXPT gets you 1 share of the new ETC issue. The company has said many times that they have no need to increase the A/S, and they just retired 2.5 million shares to reduce the O/S. Given the money that they are taking in these days, it is credible to believe that they don't need an A/S increase.
It's good to see so many new posters interested in this ETC spinoff. It's like buying in during the venture capital stage, years before an IPO.