EFES NEWSLETTER - JUNE 2008

First Annual Economic Survey of Employee Ownership in European Countries
The Survey reveals that employee ownership is progressing at a quicker rate and with greater depth across Europe than expected. When considering recent trends, employee ownership is predicted to double within the next 5-10 years, from currently 8.2 million employee owners to 16 million and from currently 26.2% of all employees in large European companies to 40-50%, and finally capitalisation held by employees is predicted to rise currently from 2.35% to 4 - 4.5%. This is a sudden development in most European countries. However, some countries began earlier while others dawdled on the way. They can easily be compared to each others. Each country file can be downloaded and the full Annual Survey is now available. More information

Seventh European Meeting of Employee Ownership - Brussels, 23 May 2008
The Seventh European Meeting of Employee Ownership was held in the prestigious Solvay Library, just near the European Parliament. Most presentations and documents are now available. More information

The European Employee Ownership Top 100 in 2007
The new rankings or European top companies regarding employee ownership are now available for year 2007. More information

Press review
We made a selection of  35 remarkable articles in 9 countries: Austria, Belgium, China, Germany, France, Kenya, UK, USA, South Africa.
Austria: Employee ownership is still underdeveloped compared to other European countries. However Voestalpine, OMV and Erste Bank got a much higher place in the rankings of the Employee Ownership TOP 100 in 2007.
Belgium: Full speed for financial participation in Europe… maybe a good sign for Belgium too.
China: After five years of preparation, Procter & Gamble launched its Chinese employee stock ownership plan.
Germany: Both parties of the big coalition reached now a compromise. A new legislation will soon be adopted, bringing higher support for employee ownership. 
France: Employee ownership weighs a lot in some large companies, this month Eiffage and Atos Origin. New employee share plans for Steria, for Safran and others. Nicolas Sarkozy prepares a new legislation for profit-sharing. A new rating agency specializes in employee savings.
Kenya: New employee share ownership plans for Nation Media Group.
UK: A growing number of workers are saving through company share schemes, but there is still a real job to do in terms of advice. On the other hand, the growth of co-ops could help Scotland compete with the world's top economies.
USA: Many compensation consultants still ignore research supporting broad-based equity plans !? New difficulties for employees willing take over plant from Ford in Ohio, while State is going to help employees buy out companies in Indiana. Newspaper Union explores bid for Blethen Papers in Maine. Finally, two senior members of the House of Representatives introduced a resolution which expresses continued support for employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in the U.S.
South Africa: There is an increasing trend towards employee share ownership as part of the Black Economic Empowerment deal landscape.

The press review is available on:
              http://www.efesonline.org/PRESS REVIEW/2008/May.htm 

WHAT ABOUT YOU?
This is how much an employee held in 2007, in average, in shares of:
UBS  83.000 €
SocGen 49.000 €
BNP Paribas 38.000 €
Total 55.000 €
Novartis 61.000 €
Mondragon 56.000 €
CréditSuisse 84.000 €
AXA 46.000 €
Vinvi 24.000 €
CréditAgricole 40.000 €

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