Weltix partners with Uptevia to simplify the management of employee share ownership plans

In collaboration with Uptevia—a company created through a partnership between BNP Paribas and Caceis Bank—Weltix is launching, for the first time, a dedicated service for the tax management of Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) and Employee Share Ownership Plans (PAD) for Italian employees of companies based abroad.

The first concrete application of the partnership involves supporting share ownership plans for over 12,000 Italian employees of major French companies (CAC40) served by Uptevia.

Encouraging widespread share ownership and enabling employees to become shareholders of the companies they work for is a well-established international practice.
According to the latest Annual Economic Survey of Employee Share Ownership in European Countries by the European Federation of Employee Share Ownership, in 2023 90% of large European companies adopted employee share ownership plans. Italy lags behind (around 220,000 employees have participated), but several major global companies with operations in Italy have begun implementing such plans.

Weltix—an investment wealth-tech platform covering private assets from issuance to exit—has chosen to enter this market segment and launch a new service dedicated to the tax administration of ESOP and PAD plans for Italian employees of foreign companies, leveraging its digital platform and fiduciary expertise.

The service is offered in collaboration with Uptevia, a leading French firm born from the integration of the Corporate Trust Services of BNP Paribas and Caceis Bank, and is delivered through Weltix Fiduciaria, Italy’s first fully digital fiduciary company and part of the Weltix platform.

The goal of the new service is to remove bureaucratic barriers and simplify the tax management of employee share ownership plans—one of the main obstacles limiting their adoption in Italy.
Starting in January 2025, Italian employees of foreign companies enrolled in their employer’s share ownership plans will gain access to a fully digital, automated, and secure system for handling plan allocations, sales, and dividend distribution, ensuring compliance with Italian rules for capital gains, dividend taxation, and stamp duty.To date, the service has already involved more than 12,000 Italian employees of major international corporations, long-standing Uptevia clients.

Thanks to the close collaboration with Uptevia, an integrated solution is now available featuring:

• Fast, scalable digital onboarding through SPID/CIE or video identification, enabling large volumes of enrollments without friction.
• Qualified electronic signatures and advanced fiduciary management, ensuring every operation is handled in a fully regulated, secure digital environment.
• Automated tax management, including automatic withholding on share sales, taxation on dividends, and management of stamp duty—fully compliant with Italian law.
• Transparent, detailed reporting, granting full visibility over every transaction through intuitive digital dashboards for both companies and employees.

This blend of technology and compliance transforms a traditionally complex process into a smooth, secure, and accessible experience for all employees—even the least digitally savvy.