Company overview
Opera is a Norwegian multinational technology company headquartered in Oslo, with about 700 employees spanning Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Established in 1995, it is best known for its innovative web browsers like Opera and Opera GX, which serve around 300 million monthly active users globally. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ stock exchange.
The Challenge
Navigating NASDAQ Compliance, ADSs and Dividend-Adjusted RSUs
Opera faced complexities in managing its global equity compensation program. As a NASDAQ-listed company with operations spanning multiple countries, its equity administration needs to cater to a broad set of variables, such as diverse regulatory compliance requirements, currency fluctuations, and taxation differences, as well as practical matters such as how to get US-listed American Depositary Shares (ADS) of Opera to employees across the globe.
One of Opera's unique needs involves managing dividend-adjusted grants, where unvested RSUs are recalculated twice a year to account for dividends. Such operational execution requires careful tracking and accurate calculations to maintain compliance and transparency.
Consequently, Opera needed a solution to streamline shareholding management, handle regulatory complexity across markets, and reduce the operational burden of running a global equity program.
The Solution
Comprehensive, Accurate, and Reliable Equity Administration
Optio has provided Opera with a tailored solution to address the complexities of its global equity compensation program.
Solid Grant Valuations and Robust Financial Reporting: Optio's advanced reporting system delivers accurate grant valuations and periodic reports that serve as the foundation for Opera’s accounting processes. These reports support Opera's audit and SOX compliance requirements, while Opera maintains internal Excel-based controls as a validation layer to ensure data accuracy and calculation integrity.
Streamlined Exercise and Share Management: Optio simplified Opera’s exercise processes by offering employees the flexibility to hold and sell shares via Optio’s nominee structure or transfer vested grants to their own brokerage accounts. This functionality has reduced Opera's administrative burden substantially, being the biggest simplification for Opera’s equity operations.
User-Friendly Portals for Employees and Administrators: The employee portal enables participants to monitor real-time equity values, track vesting events and trading windows, and access their complete transaction history. Interactive visualizations make complex vesting schedules easy to understand. Administrators use the portal to manage equity grants, track vesting and exercises, and monitor sales orders and ADS holdings—all in one place. Opera's finance team has the flexibility to access data efficiently with customizable reporting overviews at both individual and vesting levels.
The Result
A Trusted Partnership Built on Excellence
Opera’s collaboration with Optio strengthened equity operations and supported mutual growth, thanks to measurable improvements across compliance, efficiency, and user experience. Optio’s expert team has been instrumental, responsive, practical, and consistently engaged in addressing Opera’s evolving needs.
- Enhanced Compliance and Audit Support: Optio's reporting serves as a reliable foundation for Opera's accounting processes and audit requirements, with internal controls ensuring data accuracy and validation.
- Operational Excellence: The streamlined exercise management process has reduced significantly Opera's administrative workload, providing employees with flexible options while simplifying internal operational complexity.
- Improved Employee Engagement: The intuitive portal has made equity programs more accessible and understandable for employees worldwide. With integrated global trading capabilities, international participants can easily manage their awards from grant to sale.
