Morgan Stanley Smith Barney is pleased to announce that one of its stock plan clients was awarded the prestigious GEO Award at the 2009 Global Equity Organization (GEO) Awards ceremony during its Annual Conference, which was held in Paris this past month.
BAE Systems won the award for "Best Plan Communication." This award is given to the company that communicates to their geographically diverse employee participants with clarity and style. The plan cited in the award was the BAE Systems Group All-Employee Free Shares Plan, which required communication to over 45,000 staff in six countries and in five languages. This is a true testament to BAE Systems commitment to actively encourage broad-based employee share ownership across the company. As a result of this effort, employee participation for this offering was 92 percent.
"It's a great honor to win the award," said Simone Barratt, BAE's Share Plans Manager. "We are delighted that GEO has acknowledged the importance BAE Systems places on ensuring that we operate truly global share plans that recognize the contribution all of our employees make to our success. We would also like to thank Morgan Stanley Smith Barney for their contribution as our plan provider. They worked with us as a true partner on this effort."
The GEO Awards celebrate excellence by honoring impressive companies from around the world who truly demonstrate their leadership and dedication to their employee stock plans; designing, communicating, or offering programs that allow millions of employees worldwide to participate in their company's share plan.
From our London office, Jay Foley, Managing Director for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, said, "It's always exciting when we see our clients acknowledged for truly innovative and forward looking solutions for their employee stock plans. We're proud of the partnership we have with BAE Systems and all of our other clients."
The Global Equity Organization (GEO) is a member founded and member-driven non-profit organization created to provide a forum for an open exchange of information between members. The GEO awards honor and recognize members for outstanding achievements by companies operating international employee stock plans. For more information on the GEO and GEO awards, visit www.globalequity.org.
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