Stock option control and exercise system

US6173270A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith · US

Inventors

• John Cristofich · Bound Brook, US
• Susan Warner · Hillsborough Township, US
• Deborah Howard · Tamworth, GB
• Karen Berkley · Willingboro, US
• Eric Radcliffe · Kendall Park, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Sep 23, 1997
• Grant date: Jan 9, 2001
• Expiry date: Sep 23, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G06Q40/06
• WIPO field: IT methods for management
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A system and method for managing a plurality of stock option accounts each for a plurality of participants. The system invokes a particular option plan defined in the system that governs the transaction choices available to each participants The governing option plans are defined by the sponsoring company in terms of grant, vest and expiration date for the option contracts, and are defined in the system via a database of option holding information for each participant and an axiomatic rule system defining the criteria under which a given participant can exercise given options under the particular plan. The system implements the plans for multiple client companies providing several distinct modes for option exercise by the participant. The system preferably also allows for disbursement of proceeds in a currency different than that in which the underlying security for the option is traded, real time execution of the option transaction, and/or simulating the outcomes of different manners in which the participant may exercise vested options and the resulting economic outcome (disbursement, taxes, transaction fees).