Burning GSP Questions
Participants of the Global Share Plan who will not be migrated from current plan administrator Equatex to new plan administrator Global Shares can find answers to all their questions in this article.
How do I log into EquatePlus?
- Go to www.equateplus.com
- On the login page, enter your user ID and self-chosen password
- Forgot your login credentials?
- Call the Helpdesk, as this is the speediest way to solve the problem: +800 40200053 (International, toll free)
- User ID: Click on the blue text “Forgot User ID” in the login view of EquatePlus. Fill in your email address (your email at work) and your date of birth to verify your account. You will then receive a new User ID by email.
- Password: Please fill in your User ID at EquatePlus. Click on “Continue”. You’ll see a blue line “Forgot password”. Click on it and fill in your email address (your email at work) and your date of birth to verify your account. You will receive a letter at your home address with a new password. With these details you can log in on EquatePlus.
Where can I find an overview of my shares?
On the EquatePlus home page, click on ‘Overview’. Then scroll down to Global Share Plan. In the overview you can see your free (actionable) and total amount of shares (outstanding) and the current value. The number of blocked shares are the outstanding shares minus the free shares.
Click on Plan Details to get an overview of how many shares were purchased on which date and what the current value of your shares is. Here, you can also view the actionable date of your shares (date when share become unblocked).
Am I obliged to keep my shares on the GSP account?
As long as you have outstanding (blocked) shares on the GSP account, you have to keep your shares there. This is also the case when you have both blocked and free (actionable) shares. Of course, you are free to sell your free shares or transfer them to your private brokerage account (shares account). Once all your shares are free (you have no more blocked shares on the GSP account), you are obliged to sell your shares and/or transfer them to a private brokerage account within 1 month.
If you don’t have a private shares account, please contact a bank of your choice to open such an account. It is not possible to open your private brokerage account at UBS Bank based on your participation in the Global Share Plan.
How do I sell my actionable shares?
You can sell your shares in EquatePlus. Overview – Plans & trading and scroll down to Global Share Plan. Click on Transact. Choose Sell as transaction type.
In a sell order you can select ‘Sell with market price’. You will sell the shares according to the market value of that day. There is a short delay in the share price shown in EquatePlus and the actual share price. Due to this the shown amount is an estimate that can differ slightly from the actual amount that you will receive.
Another option is to sell your shares when the value of the shares reaches a specific height. In that case select ‘Sell with price limit’. Fill in the limit price. This order has a limited validity with a maximum of 90 days. Select also ‘good till date’. This means that your order will be in place till this date (up to 90 days).
Fill in the number of shares you want to transfer. Confirm the transfer.
You will receive a confirmation of the transaction order on the preferred email address. A confirmation is also kept in EquatePlus under “Transactions” within the Library page.
Please note that it takes a couple of days to see the proceeds of the sale of your shares on your own cash account.
What happens when I sell shares?
Please note that you can only trade free (actionable) shares. In a sell order you can include whole as well as fractioned shares. The fractioned shares of all orders of that day are collected and sold as one at the end of the day. UBS sells your shares; the profits of your part minus the transaction costs will be transferred to your own cash account (check your IBAN and BIC codes beforehand with your own bank).
Note – Due to specific regulations in Belgium around stock exchange tax participants living in Belgium are obliged to pay 0,27% tax when selling their shares. You are responsible of transferring this amount to the tax authorities. This will not be deducted automatically by Equatex, but as Belgian participant you will receive a pop-up notification.
What costs are charged to sell or transfer my shares?
When you’re selling shares, the following fees are charged:
- Stamp taxes: 0.0015 times the trading value of your order.
- Transaction costs: multiplier depending on the trading value of your shares with a minimum of € 20.
When you’re transferring shares, the UBS bank does not charge transaction costs.
How can I transfer my shares to my own brokerage account?
You can transfer your free or actionable shares to your own brokerage account via EquatePlus. In a transfer order you can only include whole shares. The fractioned shares can only be sold. If you wish to do so, give a separate order in EquatePlus. The profits will be credited to your personal cash account. If you have e.g. 53.84 shares; 53 shares can be transferred and 0.84 shares can only be sold.
To give a transfer order, go to ‘Overview’ – ‘Plans & Trading’ and scroll down to Global Share Plan. Click on ‘Transact’. Choose ‘Transfer’ as transaction type. Within the GSP there is only one group, so directly click on ‘Select’. Fill in the number of shares you want to transfer. Confirm the transfer.
Please note that it takes a couple of days to see your shares on your own brokerage account. You will receive a confirmation of the transfer order on the preferred email address. A confirmation is also kept in EquatePlus under ‘Transactions’ within the Library page.
How do I add my cash/brokerage/personal bank account?
To add your cash or brokerage account, you need to follow the steps below:
- In the menu, go to Personal data; then go to Cash & Brokerage accounts
- Select Add new cash account
- Check the name corresponding to your personal account. This should be exactly the same as the name in EquatePlus.
- Select the name of your country and click on “Next”
- Fill in the city of your bank account. A list of banks will appear.
- Select the bank in your place of residence. The requested ABA / SWIFT / IBAN number and bank details will be pre-filled.
- Enter your account number and currency code. You can also fill in your personal contact details.
You now should be able to add cash.
- In the menu, go to Personal data; then go to Cash & Brokerage accounts
- Select Add new cash account
- Check the name corresponding to your personal account. This should be exactly the same as the name in EquatePlus.
- Select the name of your country and click on “Next”.
- Fill in your BIC, also called SWIFT.
- Select the bank in your place of residence. Please select the bank on top of the list when your place of residence is not mentioned on the first page.
- Fill in the IBAN in case of a cash account and your local currency (for example €). The contact details of your bank are optional. Please note that contact details are required in case of a transfer or sell order. You can also fill in your personal contact details.
- In case of a brokerage account, fill in the account number. This can be an IBAN, but also a normal account number. The contact details of your bank are optional. Please note that contact details are required in case of a transfer or sell order. You can also fill in your personal contact details.
Where can I find my year-end statement and what is it?
You can find your year-end statement under “Library” and then “Documents”. The year-end statement is an automatically generated report which shows all transactions of the past year. On the second to last page you can check the value of your shares on December 31, plus the value of your free shares.
What is the ISIN number of Arcadis shares?
The ISIN (International Securities Identification Number) number for the Arcadis NV shares is NL0006237562.
I want to clear my GSP shares account. What do I need to do?
This is only possible when all your shares are free. You have two options: transfer your shares or sell your shares.
When you’d like to transfer all your shares, please give a transfer order for your whole shares. Give a sell order for the fractioned shares. When you have for example 53.84 shares, give a transfer order for a maximum of 53 shares and a sell order for the remaining 0.84 shares.
It is also possible to sell all your shares. You can give one sell order for both your whole shares and fractioned shares. Please check question 38 for the costs of a sell order.
How do I get login credentials for Global Shares?
On October 23rd, all migrated participants from the Global Share Plan will receive an e-mail from Global Shares with their login credentials. These credentials must be used within 30 days, or they will expire.