v2.4.0.6
Defined Contribution and Employee Incentive Plans
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2013
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements  
Employee Incentive Plans
10. Employee Incentive Plans
 
Return on Investment Dollar Units (“ROI Dollar Units”)
 
From 1998 through January 1, 2006, IBG LLC granted all non-member employees ROI Dollar Units, which are redeemable under the amended provisions of the plan, and in accordance with regulations issued by the Internal Revenue Service (Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code). Upon redemption, the grantee is entitled to accumulated earnings on the face value of the certificate, but not the actual face value. For grants made in 1998 and 1999, grantees may redeem the ROI Dollar Units after vesting on the fifth anniversary of the date of their grant and prior to the tenth anniversary of the date of their grant. For grants made between January 1, 2000 and January 1, 2005, grantees must elect to redeem the ROI Dollar Units upon the fifth, seventh or tenth anniversary date. These ROI Dollar Units will vest upon the fifth anniversary of the date of their grant and will continue to accumulate earnings until the elected redemption date. For grants made on or after January 1, 2006, all ROI Dollar Units shall vest on the fifth anniversary date of their grant and will be automatically redeemed. Subsequent to the IPO, no additional ROI Dollar Units have been or will be granted, and non-cash compensation to employees will consist primarily of grants of shares of Common Stock as described below under “2007 Stock Incentive Plan.”
 
As of March 31, 2013 and December 31, 2012, payables to employees for ROI Dollar Units were $7.7 million and $7.6 million, respectively, all of which were vested. These amounts are included in accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of financial condition. Compensation expense for the ROI Dollar Unit plan, included in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income was $0.1 million and $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012, respectively.
 
2007 ROI Unit Stock Plan
 
In connection with the IPO, IBG, Inc. adopted the Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. 2007 ROI Unit Stock Plan (the “ROI Unit Stock Plan”). Under this plan, certain employees of the Group who held ROI Dollar Units, at the employee’s option, elected to invest their ROI Dollar Unit accumulated earnings as of December 31, 2006 in shares of Common Stock. An aggregate of 1,271,009 shares of Common Stock (consisting of 1,250,000 shares issued under the ROI Unit Stock Plan and 21,009 shares under the 2007 Stock Incentive Plan, as described below), with a fair value at the date of grant of $38.1 million were issued to IBG LLC and held as treasury stock, to be distributed to employees in accordance with the following schedule and subject to the conditions below:
 
 
10% on the date of the IPO (or on the first anniversary of the IPO, in the case of U.S. ROI Unit holders who made the above-referenced elections after December 31, 2006); and
 
 
an additional 15% on each of the first six anniversaries of the date of the IPO, assuming continued employment with IBG, Inc. and compliance with other applicable covenants.
 
Of the fair value at the date of grant, $17.8 million represented the accumulated ROI Dollar Unit value elected to be invested by employees in Common Stock and such amount was accrued for as of December 31, 2006. The remainder is being ratably accrued as compensation expense by the Company from the date of the IPO over the requisite service period represented by the aforementioned distribution schedule. Compensation expense for the 2007 ROI Unit Stock Plan and related grants under the 2007 Stock Incentive Plan, net of the effect of forfeitures, included in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2012 was $0.9 million.  As of December 31, 2012, compensation costs for the ROI Unit Stock Plan had been fully accrued.
 
2007 Stock Incentive Plan
 
Under the Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. 2007 Stock Incentive Plan (the “Stock Incentive Plan” or “SIP”), up to 20.0 million shares of common stock may be granted and issued to directors, officers, employees, contractors and consultants of IBG, Inc. and its subsidiaries. The purpose of the Stock Incentive Plan is to promote IBG, Inc.’s long-term financial success by attracting, retaining and rewarding eligible participants.
 
The Stock Incentive Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee of IBG, Inc.’s Board of Directors. The Compensation Committee has discretionary authority to determine which employees are eligible to participate in the Stock Incentive Plan and establishes the terms and conditions of the awards, including the number of awards granted to each employee and all other terms and conditions applicable to such awards in individual grant agreements. Awards are expected to be made primarily through grants of Common Stock. Stock Incentive Plan awards are subject to issuance over time and may be forfeited upon an employee’s termination of employment or violation of certain applicable covenants prior to issuance, unless determined otherwise by the Compensation Committee.
 
The Stock Incentive Plan provides that, upon a change in control, the Compensation Committee may, at its discretion, fully vest any granted but not yet earned awards under the Stock Incentive Plan, or provide that any such granted but not yet earned awards will be honored or assumed, or new rights substituted therefore by the new employer on a substantially similar basis and on terms and conditions substantially comparable to those of the Stock Incentive Plan.
 
IBG, Inc. granted awards under the Stock Incentive Plan in connection with the IPO and is expected to continue to grant awards on or about December 31 of each year following the IPO, to eligible employees as part of an overall plan of equity compensation. Shares of common stock vest, and become distributable to employees in accordance with the following schedule:
 
 
10% on the first vesting date, which approximates the anniversary of the IPO; and
 
 
an additional 15% on each of the following six anniversaries of the first vesting, assuming continued employment with IBG, Inc. and compliance with non-competition and other applicable covenants.
 
Awards granted to external directors vest, and are distributed, over a five-year period (20% per year) commencing one year after the date of grant. 20,423 awards have been granted to the external directors cumulatively since the IPO.
 
Stock Incentive Plan share grants (excluding 21,009 shares issued pursuant to the 2007 ROI Unit Stock Plan above) and the related fair values at the date of grant were:
 
 
Shares
   
Fair Value at Date of Grant ($Millions)
        
In connection with IPO
                927,943
  $
                    27.8
July 31, 2007
                  16,665
   
                         0.4
December 31, 2007
             1,055,206
   
                       32.9
December 31, 2008
             2,065,432
   
                       35.6
December 31, 2009
             2,448,031
   
                       42.8
December 31, 2010
             2,513,738
   
                       43.2
December 31, 2011
             3,411,613
   
                       50.8
January 6, 2012
             1,215,866
   
                       18.4
December 31, 2012
             3,629,960
   
                       50.5
 
           17,284,454
  $
                   302.4

       
The following is a summary of Stock Plan activity for the period from January 1, 2013 through March 31, 2013:
 
 
 Shares
 
 
2007 Stock
  
2007 ROI Unit
 
 
Incentive Plan
  
Stock Plan
 
  Shares   Shares 
Balance, December 31, 2012
           12,402,482
  
                 169,289
 
          
Granted
                            -
  
                            -
 
Forfeited
                (50,827
 
                   (6,423
Distributed
                  (3,605
 
                   (1,742
Balance, March 31, 2013
           12,348,050
  
                 161,124
 

 
 
Estimated future grants under the Stock Incentive Plan are being accrued for ratably during each year under the ASC 718 “Graded Vesting” method. Compensation expense recognized in the unaudited condensed consolidated statements of comprehensive income for the three months ended March 31, 2013 and 2012 were $8.7 million and $19.6 million, respectively. Estimated future compensation costs for unvested awards at March 31, 2013 are $39.6 million.
 
Awards granted under the ROI Unit Stock Plan and the Stock Incentive Plan are subject to forfeiture in the event an employee ceases employment with the Company. The plans provide that employees who discontinue employment with the Company without cause and continue to meet the terms of the plans’ post-employment provisions will forfeit 50% of unvested previously granted awards unless the employee is over the age of 59, in which case the employee would be eligible to receive 100% of unvested awards previously granted. Distributions of remaining awards granted on or before January 1, 2009 to former employees will occur within 90 days of the anniversary of the termination of employment date over a five (5) year vesting schedule, 12.5% in each of the first four years and 50% in the fifth year. Distributions of remaining awards granted on or after January 1, 2010 to former employees will occur over the remaining vesting schedule applicable to each grant. Through March 31, 2013, a total of 49,893 shares have been distributed under these post-employment provisions. These distributions are included in the Stock Plans activity tables above.