What Canadian Companies and Their Advisers
Need to Know about U.S. Law
We are frequently asked to review Canadian companies’ stock option, restricted share unit (RSU), performance share unit (PSU), deferred share unit (DSU), and other stock-based compensation plans for U.S. securities law purposes, because awards are expected to be made to U.S. residents. For companies that are cross-listed and file reports with the Securities and Exchange...
Benefits / Securities / Tax
Canadian companies and their outside counsel occasionally ask about the ability to grant early exercise incentive stock options (“ISOs”) to limit the impact of the U.S. alternative minimum tax (“AMT”) to their U.S. employees. However, due to fairly counterintuitive U.S. federal tax regulations, structuring options in this manner may expose optionees to negative tax consequences...
A Canadian company that proposes to grant stock options or other types of equity compensation to persons in the United States must comply with the securities laws of the state in which the recipient is located, unless the type of equity being issued (e.g., the underlying common shares, in the case of options to purchase...
Benefits / M&A / Securities
A Canadian SEC reporting company that looks to acquire a company with outstanding equity grants in the United States will frequently need to address the question: What alternatives are available for the assumption of the target’s outstanding options or other equity-based compensatory awards? Under U.S. law, both the grant of the equity award and the...
Cross-Border Counselor is a collection of articles and timely updates about U.S. law issues of concern to Canadian companies that have assets, do business, raise funds or are listed for trading in the United States, as well as the attorneys, accountants and banks that advise them. Learn more about Dorsey’s Canada cross-border practice group here.
Christopher L. DoerksenChris helps clients raise money by selling equity and debt, buy and ...
James GuttmanJames advises publicly-traded companies and closely-held companies ...
Randal R. JonesRandy has over 25 years of experience counseling emerging, priv...
Aaron GoldsteinAaron is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employment group, where he brin...
Kendall R. FisherKendall’s practice focuses on U.S. federal tax issues related to dome...
Marina LyonsMarina is a Partner in Dorsey’s Labor & Employment group. Ha...
Jenna SteinerJenna assists employers in drafting, implementing, and administe...
Larry WardAs an international business attorney, Larry helps clients navigate com...
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