At its annual meeting of shareholders to be held on Tuesday, July 17, 2007 in Waterloo, Ontario, Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) will submit for approval certain revisions and updates to the proposed Stock Option Plan amendments (the “Amendment Procedures”) described in the Information Circular for the meeting. The revisions and updates include provisions to distinguish which future Stock Option Plan amendments will require security holder approval in addition to Board approval. The proposed Amendment Procedures were introduced to address an announcement of the Toronto Stock Exchange indicating that, effective June 30, 2007, stock option plans must specify whether security holder approval is required for particular types of amendments and that issuers will otherwise be unable to make any amendments without security holder approval, even where such amendments are of “housekeeping” nature.
In addition to a determination today by RIM’s Board Of Directors to exclude non-employee directors from future stock option grants, it is proposed that an amending resolution to the Stock Option Plan be introduced at the annual meeting that requires any expansion of the scope of persons eligible to participate in the Stock Option Plan to receive the approval of security holders. Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) has reviewed the proposed revisions and updates and today advised its members to vote in favor of the amendments to the Stock Option Plan.
[Press Release]