Write notes on Employee Stock Purchase Scheme.

As per the SEBI (Share Based Employee Benefits) Regulations, 2014, Employee Stock Purchase Scheme or ESPS means a scheme under which a company offers shares to employees, as part of public issue or otherwise, or through a trust where the trust may undertake secondary acquisition for the purposes of the scheme. Administration and implementation The ESPS scheme shall contain the details of the manner in which the scheme will be implemented and operated. Pricing and Lock-In The company may determine the price of shares to be issued under an ESPS provided they confirm to the provisions of accounting policies under these regulation. Shares issued under an ESPS shall be locked in for a minimum period of one year from the date of allotment. However, in case where shares are allotted by a company under ESPS in lieu of shares acquired by the same person under an ESPS in another company which has merged or amalgamated with the first mentioned company the lock-in period already undergone in respect of shares of the transferor company shall be adjusted against the lock-in period required under this sub-regulation. If ESPS is part of a public issue and the shares are issued to employees at the same price as in the public issue, the shares issued to employees pursuant to ESPS shall not be subject to lock-in.