Experts differ on whether Cisco Systems is on the right track with its recent trial balloon at the Securities and Exchange Commission—another new method of valuing stock options that is intended to create an otherwise elusive market value.
Cisco reportedly is meeting with SEC officials to determine whether it can offer a new type of marketable security based on its employee stock option plan and still comply with soon-to-be effective accounting rules that require expensing of stock options. The security would be offered to institutional investors on a limited basis under terms that align with the employee stock option offering, meaning they would be nontransferable and would vest over time.
