QuEST Global Rolls Out a New Equity Compensation Plan Globally

* The plan will be rolled out to eligible employees

* Aims at developing and retaining future leaders of the company

QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, today announced a broad-based equity compensation plan for its employees globally. The plan, aimed at increasing employee ownership in the organization, comprises of Employee Stock Options (ESOPs) which have the potential to provide significant benefits to the participants. ESOPs will be rolled out to eligible employees - selected based on roles, performance, and growth potential - in the coming weeks.

The ESOP grants vest over a future period - typically 3-5 years and will provide employees with a financial interest in the future success of the business. Along with this, the ESOP will also enable the company to develop and retain its future leaders as equity plans help align the interests of the shareholders and the employees.

Calling it a significant business decision, Ajit Prabhu, Chairman & CEO, QuEST Global said, “The well-being of the company is in the hands of our loyal, long-term employees and clients who rely on them. Over the last two decades, our belief in the power of people has led us to build an organization that employs over 11,000 talented engineers across the globe. It is not just the founding families and private equity firms who are the owners of the company but also our employees, who double up during crises to rebuild the business. It is befitting to reward them with ownership by rolling out ESOP for their loyalty and commitment, providing them with a great opportunity to participate in generating and sharing the wealth.”

Ajit also said that he is grateful to all the employees, shareholders, and investors who supported the organization during this unprecedented situation as the COVID-19 pandemic hit businesses worldwide. “The year 2020 has been tough. With the strong support of our shareholders and investors, who continue to believe in us, along with the positive spirit demonstrated by our employees, we have been successfully sailing through the trying times. With their support, we will continue to build an organization where we have put purpose over profit, empowerment over control, networking, and engagement of employees over control and command. The culture and employees are truly the greatest assets of QuEST, and it will lead us to a bright and successful future,” he added.

Niketh Sundar, Global Head – People Function and Culture, QuEST Global, said, “The founders of the company always believed in greater employee ownership and participation. This has translated into us going deeper and enrolling a lot more employees across multiple levels than what is typically expected of such plans in the industry. This strategic move will also help us groom experienced and dedicated engineers who can solve problems for our customers, while they directly benefit from the continued success of the company. At QuEST, we are very excited about the future.”

Over the last two decades, QuEST has seen multiple equity-linked incentive plans, and this is the company’s fourth ESOP grant cycle following grants in 2004, 2011, and 2017. The new plan will enroll almost twice as many participants as compared to previous years; providing greater flexibility and adopts several good practices in terms of design – be it around plan vehicles, vesting, and performance conditions.

Is bankrupt Nortel giving away $7.3 m as bonus?

A Canadian court has allowed eight senior executives at Nortel Networks Corp to share in the bonuses that the telecom equipment maker plans to pay out even as it fights for survival in bankruptcy protection.

Bankruptcy courts in both the US and Canada will allow Nortel Networks to pay as much as $7.3 million in incentive bonuses to the executives.

Nortel already had court approval to pay out a total of $45 million in bonuses for close to 1,000 executive and non-executive employees.

Friday's ruling by the Ontario Superior Court makes the eight senior executives, who do not include Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski, eligible to receive a share of this money, company spokesman Mohammed Nakhooda said.

In addition to the $45 million, Nortel has a separate quarterly bonus plan in place for "the vast majority of employees at all levels," he added.

Nortel -- North America's biggest maker of telephone gear -- had argued in an earlier court report that the bonuses were needed because "the commitment and retention of key employees will be essential to the execution of a restructuring of Nortel".

Executive compensation has become a hot-button issue with investors and politicians alike, particularly amid revelations that US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) paid out $165 million in bonuses after receiving $180 billion in government aid.

Some companies, including all of Canada's large banks, have introduced nonbinding shareholder votes on executive compensation in a bid to provide greater transparency and more accountability.

Toronto-based Nortel filed for bankruptcy protection in January, blaming the economic crisis for derailing a turnaround effort that began in 2005.

It had about $2.4 billion in cash when it sought protection and about $4.5 billion in long-term debt.

Nortel shares were unchanged at 10 Canadian cents on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday. In mid-2000, at the height of the company's success, they were worth more than C$1,100 each, adjusted for a stock consolidation that took place in 2006.

Agencies

Sony freezes salaries, compensations, hikes of employees'

Sony Corp has decided to freeze its workers' salaries for the year starting in April to improve profitability, the financial daily Nikkei said in its Thursday edition.

The paper said workers' bonuses will also be lowered to four months' pay from six months, and annual compensation for managers will be dropped 10 to 20 per cent through wage cuts and 35 to 40 per cent bonus reductions.

"Executives will also be slugged with huge cuts to bonuses and salaries," Nikkei said. Due to the global economic downtown and the strength of the yen, Sony is expected to report a group operating loss of 260 billion yen ($2.65 billion) for the year ending March 31, the paper said.

Agencies

Financial giant UBS officials refuse salary

As a number of American banks resist calls to rein in executive pay, the unthinkable is happening — at least in Switzerland, where three former officials of UBS, the troubled Swiss financial giant, said that they would forgo more than $27 million in compensation.

Marcel Ospel, the former chairman of the board at the Swiss bank, and Stephan Haeringer and Marco Suter, two former directors, said they would give up pay promised them after the bank reported nearly $50 billion in losses and received even more than that in financial support from the Swiss government.

“With the involvement of the Swiss government, I realized that decisive action was required on my part,” Ospel said in a statement. “I hope that my action will help to resolve a situation that was inconceivable to me until a short time ago,” he said.

Ospel will contribute more than twothirds of the total; the balance will be paid by Haeringer and Suter.

In response, UBS issued a very brief statement: “We welcome the decision.” As indeed UBS might. The former UBS executives had been the focus of intense public criticism after the bank reported stunning losses on devastating subprimerelated investments.

This month, the bank announced that its chairman, Peter Kurer; its chief executive, Marcel Rohner; and members of its executive board would also have a bonus-free 2008.

Source: NYT News Service

Will Citi bailout end fancy pay?

Citigroup's top executives could forego some of their compensation as a condition of the bank’s bailout, but that may not satisfy critics who want firm limits on the earnings of leaders at companies getting government help. Citigroup, the latest financial institution lining up for federal help to shore up its finances, must submit an executive pay plan for government approval as part of its rescue. The plan should focus on rewarding long-term performance and contain “appropriate limitations,” the bailout agreement says.

A Citigroup spokesperson, Stephen Cohen, said on Monday that details of the pay plan were being worked out, and that no deadline for its submission has yet been announced. He declined to comment on which executives from the bank, which is getting $20 billion in new capital and an agreement from the government to shoulder the bulk of potential losses from $306 billion of toxic assets, would be subject to the pay rules.

Government officials have said more details on the compensation arrangement would be available next week. Citigroup’s chief financial officer, Gary Crittenden, said on CNBC television on Monday that the pay plan would affect 2008 compensation for some executives but offered few other details besides saying, “I know it will be done the right way.”

Source: Reuters