[quote=patientrenter]I don’t know if my company restricts me from betting against the company, whether it’s a hedge of my compensation or not. But I couldn’t seriously defend it in front of my company’s CEO, so I wouldn’t do it.[/quote]
My comments are for a public company only.
Short story is that it would imprudent at best to not hedge, especially a tech company. There could be 50% chance that ESO expire worthless, unless you are lucky enough to get daily repricing (I think the SEC doesn’t care for that anymore).
I’m sure that there are many employees who didn’t hedge 10 years ago and forwent financial security for their family. If execs believe that hedging is unethical, then how can they defend selling their stock to poor grannies right before stock tanks??
“Seldom do companies have a complete ban on using options to hedge the risks of holding ESOs. But there are cases of companies who believe hedging defeats the purpose of the ESO grant. Allegedly, these companies want to forge an alignment of interests. Those same companies allow and sometimes encourage the premature exercise of ESOs and sale of stock, which reduces the alignment of interests much more than hedging the ESOs. No reasonable person will argue that an employee who owns no ESOs or stock has a greater alignment of interests than an employee who owns substantially in the money ESOs and is short out of the money long term calls. But that is exactly what the design of some plans assumes, when restricting hedging.”
“Are there SEC Constraints on hedging?
SEC Section 16 b and Section 16 c of the 1934 Securities and Exchange Act apply only to officers, directors and owners of 10% of company equity. SEC Rule 10 b-5 applies to all buyers and sellers of securities”
