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MORGAN STANLEY COMPENSATION INCENTIVE PLAN

Executive Compensation Plan Agreement

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MORGAN STANLEY

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Title: MORGAN STANLEY COMPENSATION INCENTIVE PLAN
Governing Law: New York     Date: 1/29/2009
Industry: Investment Services     Sector: Financial

MORGAN STANLEY COMPENSATION INCENTIVE PLAN, Parties: morgan stanley
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EXHIBIT 10.54

MORGAN STANLEY COMPENSATION INCENTIVE PLAN

PLAN DOCUMENT

This plan document sets forth the terms and conditions of the Morgan Stanley Compensation Incentive Plan (“ MSCIP ” or the “ Plan ”). The Plan provides for the establishment of Accounts for Participants, for administration purposes only, which Accounts shall at all times represent contingent and unsecured contractual obligations of Morgan Stanley.

As described herein, the Administrator may from time to time create, terminate, expand or limit programs under the Plan with respect to certain groups of employees and add or expand programs under the Plan for other groups of employees. Any program under the Plan may, if the Administrator so determines, be structured and maintained to qualify as a Top Hat Plan. Unless otherwise noted, references herein to MSCIP or the Plan include any program created under the Plan from time to time.

Capitalized terms used herein without definition have the meanings set forth in Section 19 or the applicable Award Certificate.

 

 

1.

Purposes and General Provisions.

MSCIP is a long-term incentive plan. The Plan is intended to attract, retain and motivate employees and to compensate them for their contributions to the Firm. The Plan may also be used as a vehicle to increase the alignment of the interests of certain designated employees of the Firm with the interests of the Firm’s clients and shareholders in Firm funds by providing for long-term incentive awards that are notionally invested in referenced funds organized or managed by the Firm. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan set forth herein and of the applicable Award Certificate, Eligible Employees in certain programs under the Plan may be able to express a preference as to how they would like their Account Value to be notionally allocated among the Notional Investments available under the Plan for purposes of measuring the increase or decrease in the value of their Account.

 

 

2.

Administration.

(a) Authority .

(i) Morgan Stanley is the sponsor of the Plan. The Compensation Committee is responsible for administering the Plan, including, without limitation, adopting rules and procedures for determining the Notional Investments offered, determining the terms and conditions of a Participant’s Award or Account Value and interpreting the Plan provisions, Award Certificates and any Descriptive Materials. The Compensation Committee may, in its sole discretion, delegate some or all of its authority and responsibilities under to the Plan to a committee of the Firm or to one or more senior officers of the Firm, such


as Morgan Stanley’s Chief Administrative Officer, and may provide that any committee of the Firm to which, or any senior officer of the Firm to whom, it delegates authority to administer the Plan may further delegate such authority to one or more officers of the Firm.

(ii) The Compensation Committee and any committee of the Firm to which, or any officer of the Firm to whom, authority to administer the Plan is delegated pursuant to Section 2(a)(i), and all members of any such committee are referred to herein, insofar as they are acting pursuant to authority granted or delegated pursuant to the Plan, as the “ Administrator ”. Each interpretation, determination or other action made or taken pursuant to the Plan by the Administrator from time to time shall be made or taken in its sole discretion and shall be final, binding and conclusive on all persons.

(b) No Liability . The Administrator shall not be liable for anything whatsoever in connection with the administration of the Plan, including, without limitation, any interpretation, determination or other action taken or not taken in administering the Plan, except the Administrator’s own willful misconduct. In the performance of its functions with respect to the Plan, the Administrator shall be entitled to rely upon information and advice furnished by the Firm’s officers, the Firm’s accountants, the Firm’s counsel and any other party the Administrator deems necessary or advisable to consult, and the Administrator shall not be liable for any interpretation, determination or other action taken or not taken in reliance upon any such advice.

 

 

3.

Eligibility.

The Administrator will determine the eligibility criteria applicable for each Award granted under the Plan and Awards granted under any program under the Plan. In the case of any program that is intended to qualify as a Top Hat Plan, the Administrator may establish or adjust eligibility criteria that in its judgment are appropriate to maintain such qualification.

 

 

4.

Awards.

The Administrator will determine the type and quantum of each Award. Each such determination may, in the sole discretion of the Administrator, apply with respect to an individual Participant, certain categories of Participants or Participants in certain programs under the Plan.

The Administrator may permit some or all Eligible Employees to express a preference to allocate a portion of their compensation to MSCIP in a manner prescribed by the Administrator. Any such allocation preferences shall be made by a date specified by the Administrator and shall be subject to revocation or reduction by the Administrator, provided that any such revocation or reduction shall be made by the allocation preference deadline applicable to the Eligible Employee unless making such revocation or reduction at a later time would not result in the imposition of interest or additional tax under Section 409A.

 

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5.

Vesting and Other Terms.

The Administrator will determine the vesting schedule, as well as any other restrictions, applicable to a Participant’s Account Value (which may include, without limitation, the effects of termination of employment and cancellation of the Account Value under specified circumstances). The Administrator may also establish other terms and conditions applicable to a Participant’s Account Value, including, without limitation, the consequences of a Participant’s death. The vesting schedule and any such other restrictions or terms and conditions will be set forth in the applicable Award Certificate.

 

 

6.

Accounts.

(a) Credits and Charges to a Participant’s Account . A Participant’s Award shall be credited to the Participant’s Account as of a date determined by the Administrator. A Participant’s Account shall also be credited (or debited) with returns (or losses) on the Participant’s Notional Investments following the date on which the Participant’s Awards are credited. A Participant’s Account Value shall be reduced to reflect any distributions to the Participant or any of the Participant’s Beneficiaries.

(b) Notional Allocation Parameters .

(i) The Administrator will establish rules for how a Participant’s Account Value shall be notionally allocated among the available Notional Investments. These rules may vary for certain categories of Participants or Participants in certain programs under the Plan. The Administrator may determine that, for certain categories of Participants or Participants in certain programs under the Plan, the entire Account Value will be notionally allocated to a single Notional Investment or notionally allocated in fixed percentages among two or more referenced Notional Investments. The Administrator may also determine for certain categories of Participants, or Participants in certain programs under the Plan, minimum and/or maximum percentages of their Account Value that must be notionally allocated to referenced Notional Investments. The notional allocation requirements applicable to a Participant will be communicated to the Participant by means of the applicable Award Certificate or the Descriptive Materials or through such other means of communication as the Administrator may select.

(ii) To the extent that the notional allocation rules established by the Administrator permit a Participant to request changes to the notional allocation of all or a portion of the Participant’s Account Value among the Notional Investments then available under the Plan, any such request shall be made in accordance with procedures and at such times as established by the Administrator from time to time. In this regard, it is noted specifically that the Administrator may determine, and may change from time to time, (i) the frequency of permitted notional reallocations and (ii) the minimum percentage of the Account Value that is required, and the maximum percentage of the Account Value that is permitted,

 

3


to be notionally allocated to one or more Notional Investments, and, in each case, such changes may apply to existing as well as future notional allocations to Notional Investments. Without limiting the generality of the preceding sentence, the Administrator may make changes in order, among other things, to reflect limitations or restrictions that would apply to actual investors in the Referenced Funds. No notional reallocation that a Participant requests shall be honored to the extent that it would conflict with the minimum and/or maximum notional allocation requirements that the Administrator may establish from time to time.

(c) Notional Allocations Generally . The notional allocation of a Participant’s Account Value will remain at the ultimate discretion of the Firm and will be made exclusively for the purpose of determining the Participant’s Account Value from time to time in accordance with the Plan. Participant Accounts will not be invested in the Referenced Funds, and Participants will not become direct investors in any of the Referenced Funds by virtue of their participation in the Plan.

(d) Determination of Account Value . The Administrator shall from time to time calculate each Participant’s Account Value based on the Participant’s Awards and the deemed notional allocation of the Participant’s Account among the Notional Investments available to the Participant. Subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan, the rate of return of any Notional Investment over the relevant measurement period will track the performance of the relevant Referenced Fund. Calculation of the Participant’s Account Value as of any given date will be based on the information available to the Administrator as of the date of determination, which information may include estimates, and, where information about a specific Notional Investment is not available to the Administrator, may be based on information, including estimates, relating to other investment vehicles that the Administrator determines to be reasonably similar to the Notional Investment in question. Following the commencement of distribution of a Participant’s Account Value to the Participant, the Administrator shall continue to calculate the Participant’s Account Value from time to time in the manner described above, taking into account distributions from the Participant’s Account. The Firm’s valuation of a Participant’s Account Value shall be conclusive and binding.

(e) Selection of Notional Investments; Conflicts of Interest .

(i) The Administrator shall choose the Notional Investments available under the Plan. The Notional Investments available from time to time will be indicated on the Executive Compensation Department website or through other means that the Administrator shall determine and communicate to Participants from time to time. The Firm may provide a Participant with a description of the Referenced Funds and their historical returns; provided , however , that the Firm shall not be responsible for the accuracy of any such description that the Firm obtains from a Referenced Fund or a party acting on its behalf or bases on information obtained from a Referenced Fund or a party acting on its behalf. Under no circumstances will the Firm be responsible for actions, statements or performance of any Referenced Fund.

 

4


(ii) The Administrator may choose the Notional Investments available under the Plan based on a variety of factors, which may include, without limitation, the Firm’s own business interests and its relations with the Referenced Funds or parties affiliated with the Referenced Funds. Participants should be aware of the existence of actual and potential conflicts of interest with the Firm and are considered to waive any claim with respect to the existence of any conflict of interest. The Administrator may require each Participant to affirmatively make such acknowledgment and waiver.

(iii) The performance of each Notional Investment shall reflect all of the fees and costs of the Referenced Fund, including, without limitation, brokerage and other fees, which the Referenced Fund may pay to the Firm if the Firm provides certain services to the Referenced Fund. The Firm may also act as the investment advisor or provide other services to the Referenced Fund and receive fees for providing these services. Fees paid by a Referenced Fund will reduce the performance of the Referenced Fund (and accordingly the performance of the Notional Investment) and, therefore, will reduce the Firm’s payment obligations to Participants under the Plan.

(f) Right to Change Notional Investments and Notional Allocations Thereto . The Administrator may, from time to time in its sole discretion, change the Notional Investments available to Participants or notionally allocate a Participant’s Account to different Notional Investments than those requested by the Participant. Among other things, this means that the Firm has the absolute right to replace a Participant’s Notional Investments with different Notional Investments and/or impose additional investment conditions and restrictions on the Notional Investments (including restrictions on a Participant’s ability to notionally allocate into, or notionally reallocate away from, a Notional Investment). Nothing in this plan document, any Award


 
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