CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP

At CMS we are immersed in the people, rewards and employee incentives sectors. Every year we help many leading international businesses to deliver effective and legally compliant strategies on remuneration and incentives, an ever-increasing area of importance given the extremely tight and competitive market for employee skills at all levels.

We understand the challenges that our clients face and always advise with global complexities in mind. Our priority is to get to know our clients’ risk profile and strategies. Our clients are diverse; including FTSE quoted companies and banks, US, European, Latin American, African and Asian multinationals, tech companies, private equity houses and their investee companies.

With more than 70 offices in over 40 countries and 5,000+ lawyers worldwide, CMS offers deep local market understanding with a global perspective.  But, no matter how large we have become, from humble beginnings, we have never forgotten that people matter and meeting their objectives is personal as well as a matter of commerce.

At CMS we have the largest number of partners dedicated to employee share plans and incentives in a City of London law firm, with over forty years’ combined experience as partners in their field. Our team stands out for the range of work it does. We each advise FTSE100 and multinational companies on their share plans and the related public company M&A work that goes with that, but also advise start-ups, particularly in the tech and life sciences sectors and other companies which are private equity owned. We will work with you as inward investors to maximise the opportunities to reward employees in the most tax-effective way possible and deliver their rewards cost-effectively for your business.

Each of our partners is anchored in the firm’s industrial, technological and financial sectors. When clients approach us, they want common sense advice based on our experience and what is right for their business at their particular stage of development.  As part of the wider CMS global network, we are also quickly able to draw upon the overseas expertise of our international offices.

Our expertise:

Recruiting and retaining the right people

In competitive markets for talent, remuneration will be a key differentiating factor.  Setting up and operating an attractive pay and benefits offering is vital to recruit and retain the best people for your business and investments. We advise on legal, regulatory and tax aspects of remuneration arrangements, incentives and share and cash plans. Our service is full range. It extends from the implementation of standard tax-qualifying and all-employee plans to complex, bespoke arrangements designed to fit your specific requirements. We are here to help, not only with the initial launch of these arrangements, but also with their ongoing operation.

Executive hiring and terminations

Our advisory service covers the entire employment life cycle, including dealing with remuneration issues on hiring and termination. We have extensive experience of remuneration and incentives issues that arise on executive hires and exits and can help you negotiate this difficult and often sensitive area. Executive remuneration is frequently in the spotlight. We work side-by-side with our clients to identify and help mitigate reputational risk.

Supporting you on transactions and investments

Our team is highly experienced in advising on the impact of takeovers, mergers, share offerings, capital raisings and other corporate transactions on our clients’ incentive plans, as well as on remuneration arrangements put in place by clients both before and after completion of a transaction or investment.

Our people, incentives and remuneration team is known as a ‘go to’ department for those facing employee incentive issues, whether tax, regulatory or on transactions and investments. It is recognised for and distinguished by its technical expertise, forensic approach, knowledge of the regulatory process and partner led service.

The team is led by one of the UK’s most preeminent lawyers in this field, Andrew Quayle.  Oxford educated Andrew specialises in the design and implementation of employee equity plans.  Although Andrew looks after a broad range of clients (from early-stage companies through to large global corporates), he has developed a unique practice supporting private-equity houses and large privately-owned companies with the creation of bespoke management incentive plans to suit their individual commercial requirements.

At the beginning of 2021, Andrew led the successful launch of the ShareReporter joint venture between CMS and a highly-experienced tech team led by Mike Pewton, the renowned expert on global employee share plans. ShareReporter is transforming the global share plan market through the creation of technology-led solutions, underpinned by a Worldwide database of legal and tax information which is managed by CMS.  Andrew sits as a non-executive on the board of ShareReporter, helping to shape the company’s future strategy.

Andrew and his team’s familiarity with the broad spectrum of their clients’ activities enables us to help those businesses to innovate. When first mover advantage can be crucial, our ability to navigate existing regulations in new contexts and provide robust advice swiftly helps our clients to succeed. In addition to advising on compliance and legal frameworks, Andrew and his team are adept at preparing template product documentation. In particular, Andrew understands the specific lens that must be applied to product documentation that is understandable to employees.

For further advice and assistance please contact:

CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP
Cannon Place
78 Cannon Street
London
EC4N 6AF
Tel: +44 (0)20 7067 3739
Contact: Andrew Quayle
Email: Andrew.Quayle@cms-cmno.com
Website: www.cms.law