Monday, 9 March 2026
Employee Share Schemes
- Recent developments to employee share schemes
- Application to contractors and non-executive directors’ ESS participation
- Employer of record arrangements
- Spotting ESS issues in transactions and changing practices
- Post-transaction FIF headaches
Presented by Phillip Chrisp, Senior Associate, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, and Steven Liu, Senior Associate, MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Learning Objectives:
- Understand recent developments in employee share schemes and their application to employees, contractors, and non-executive directors
- Identify common employee share scheme issues arising in business transactions, including post-transaction tax implications and compliance risks
Chair
James Coleman, Barrister, Capital Chambers
Description
Attend and earn 1 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Presenters
James Coleman, Barrister, Capital ChambersJames is a specialist tax barrister practicing in Wellington. He has over 20 year experience in tax litigation and has appeared many times in the Privy Council, Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. He is the author of tax avoidance law in New Zealand and teaches a unit at the University of Auckland taxation master's programme.
Phillip Chrisp, Senior Associate, MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Phillip is a tax law specialist with broad experience advising on New Zealand tax matters. Phillip has a particular interest in advising clients on business structuring and transactions. He also routinely assists businesses with tax controversies and disputes and obtaining rulings. He also advises on commercial contracts, employment taxation, GST, and regulatory tax compliance (including FATCA/CRS). Phillip’s key clients include New Zealand listed clients and leading businesses, large multinational enterprises, private equity and managed funds, warranty and indemnity insurers, and high net worth individuals. Phillip’s approach is to provide clear, thoughtful, and client-focused advice. His ability to put himself in the shoes of clients to understand their objectives and to identify key risks and value drivers to reach commercial outcomes, leads to Phillip establishing enduring relationships with clients and becoming a trusted adviser.
Steven Liu, Senior Associate, MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Steven is a tax specialist with broad experience advising on New Zealand tax matters, with a particular focus on cross-border tax issues. He regularly advises on the tax aspects of cross-border investment, both inbound and outbound. Prior to joining MinterEllisonRuddWatts, he worked in international tax specialist group in a Big Four firm in New Zealand and later in Canada. He works with a broad range of clients, including large New Zealand corporates, multinationals, financial institutions, start-ups, high net worth individuals and not-for-profit organisations.
