A FTSE100 Company Secretary writes...
Could I ask other PLCs how they deal with Permissions To Deal (PTD) requests for employees that are transferring shares to an ISA, where that involves a transfer to the provider followed by a sale and a re-purchase?
That invariably involves the employee either buying back less shares than they sold or having to make up a shortfall to maintain the number of shares held. Do other PLCs require one PTD to cover the whole transaction or three to cover the transfer, the sale and then the purchase?
Yes, indeed. This would require a market transaction, albeit a sale and purchase through a broker likely to be at the same price.
We process this as two transactions – the first for the transfer, which inevitably takes some time, then a second for the sale and re-purchase which usually happens on a same day basis.
We set it out as a single request, but set out the various steps involved to ensure those authorising are aware of the actions being taken. This is on the principle that they are likely to approve all of none of the actions.