Staff share plans hit by cost of EU rules

Some of the biggest foreign companies operating in the EU are to consider scrapping their European employee share plans because of the cost of implementing new Brussels legislation. Nearly half of overseas-listed groups say the EU Prospectus Directive has hurt their ability to offer employee share plans. One fifth are considering changing or dropping schemes, says a study by law firm Linklaters. The effect "calls into question the future of employee share ownership in the EU", Linklaters claims.