Finseta PlcLSE: FIN

Grant and Cancellation of Options; PDMR Dealings

· Issued by Finseta Plc

17 November 2023

Cornerstone FS plc

("Cornerstone" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Grant and Cancellation of Options; PDMR Dealings

Cornerstone FS plc (AIM: CSFS), a foreign exchange and payments solutions company offering multi-currency accounts to businesses and individuals through its proprietary technology platform, announces the grant of options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") and the cancellation of certain existing options over Ordinary Shares. This includes the grant of options to, and cancellation of options held by, Executive Directors and PDMRs of the Company.

Grant of Options

The Company has granted, on 16 November 2023 (the "Grant Date"), a total of 870,000 options over Ordinary Shares of the Company ("Options") to certain employees including an Executive Director and two PDMRs of the Company under the Company's Enterprise Management Incentive ("EMI") Scheme. Options over a total of 540,000 shares have been granted to an Executive Director and PDMRs as follows: 

Name

Role

Number of Options granted

William Newton

Chief Information Officer (Executive Director)

240,000

Arindam Ray

Chief Technology Officer (PDMR)

120,000

Joshua Best

Head of Compliance and MLRO (PDMR)

180,000

The Options vest in three equal tranches on the first, second and third anniversaries of the Grant Date and are exercisable at a price of 12 pence per share, representing the closing price of the Company's Ordinary Shares on AIM on 15 November 2023, being the day prior to the Grant Date. The Options are subject to the individual remaining an employee of the Company. Leavers may exercise vested Options within 90 days of cessation of employment. All Options expire five years after the Grant Date.

Cancellation of Options

The Company has, on 16 November 2023, cancelled the following options over Ordinary Shares held by an Executive Director and a PDMR as follows (with the holders of the options agreeing to their cancellation with immediate effect):

Name

Role

Number of options cancelled

Number of options held following the cancellation of options

Exercise price of options held

Judy Happe

Chief Financial Officer (Executive Director)

404,660

550,000

10.0p

Jordanna Curtis

Chief Operating Officer

(PDMR)

114,755

200,000

10.0p

This cancellation of options, for nil consideration, follows grants of options to the above-named Executive Director and PDMR as disclosed in the Company's announcement of 16 January 2023.

Following the above grants and cancellations of options, the Company now has options outstanding over a total of 4,857,736 Ordinary Shares, representing 8.5% of the current issued share capital of the Company.

Enquiries 

Cornerstone FS plc 

+44 (0)203 971 4865

James Hickman, Chief Executive Officer 

Judy Happe, Chief Financial Officer 

SPARK Advisory Partners Limited (Nomad) 

+44 (0)203 368 3550

Mark Brady, Adam Dawes 

Shore Capital (Broker) 

+44 (0)207 408 4090

Daniel Bush, Tom Knibbs (Corporate Advisory)

Guy Wiehahn (Corporate Broking)

Gracechurch Group (Financial PR) 

+44 (0)204 582 3500 

Harry Chathli, Claire Norbury

About Cornerstone FS plc

Cornerstone FS plc (AIM: CSFS) is a foreign exchange and payments company offering multi-currency accounts and payment solutions to businesses and individuals. Headquartered in the City of London, Cornerstone combines a proprietary technology platform with a high level of personalised service to support clients with payments in over 150 countries in 58 currencies. With a track record of over 12 years, Cornerstone has the expertise, experience and expanding global partner network to be able to execute complex cross-border payments. It is fully regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Institution. www.cornerstonefs.com  

Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them.

 1

Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated

a)

Name

William Newton

2

Reason for the notification

a)

Position/status

Chief Information Officer

b)

Initial notification/amendment

Initial Notification

3

Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

a)

Name

Cornerstone FS plc

b)

LEI

213800O4IL2RXZ2BZ956

4

Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a)

Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each

Identification code

GB00BNG7CD28

b)

Nature of the transaction

Grant of options

c)

Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)

Volume(s)

12 pence

240,000

d)

Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

N/A

- Price

N/A

e)

Date of the transaction

16 November 2023

f)

Place of the transaction

Off market

 1

Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated

a)

Name

Arindam Ray

2

Reason for the notification

a)

Position/status

Chief Technology Officer

b)

Initial notification/amendment

Initial Notification

3

Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

a)

Name

Cornerstone FS plc

b)

LEI

213800O4IL2RXZ2BZ956

4

Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a)

Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each

Identification code

GB00BNG7CD28

b)

Nature of the transaction

Grant of options

c)

Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)

Volume(s)

12 pence

120,000

d)

Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

N/A

- Price

N/A

e)

Date of the transaction

16 November 2023

f)

Place of the transaction

Off market

 1

Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated

a)

Name

Joshua Best

2

Reason for the notification

a)

Position/status

Head of Compliance and MLRO

b)

Initial notification/amendment

Initial Notification

3

Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

a)

Name

Cornerstone FS plc

b)

LEI

213800O4IL2RXZ2BZ956

4

Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a)

Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each

Identification code

GB00BNG7CD28

b)

Nature of the transaction

Grant of options

c)

Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)

Volume(s)

12 pence

180,000

d)

Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

N/A

- Price

N/A

e)

Date of the transaction

16 November 2023

f)

Place of the transaction

Off market

 1

Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated

a)

Name

Judy Happe

2

Reason for the notification

a)

Position/status

Chief Financial Officer

b)

Initial notification/amendment

Initial Notification

3

Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

a)

Name

Cornerstone FS plc

b)

LEI

213800O4IL2RXZ2BZ956

4

Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a)

Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each

Identification code

GB00BNG7CD28

b)

Nature of the transaction

Cancellation of options

c)

Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)

Volume(s)

50.0 pence

276,803

36.2 pence

127,857

d)

Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

404,660

- Price

45.6 pence

e)

Date of the transaction

16 November 2023

f)

Place of the transaction

Off market

 1

Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated

a)

Name

Jordanna Curtis

2

Reason for the notification

a)

Position/status

Chief Operating Officer

b)

Initial notification/amendment

Initial Notification

3

Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor

a)

Name

Cornerstone FS plc

b)

LEI

213800O4IL2RXZ2BZ956

4

Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted

a)

Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument

Options over ordinary shares of 1 penny each

Identification code

GB00BNG7CD28

b)

Nature of the transaction

Cancellation of options

c)

Price(s) and volume(s)

Price(s)

Volume(s)

61.0 pence

114,755

d)

Aggregated information

- Aggregated volume

N/A

- Price

N/A

e)

Date of the transaction

16 November 2023

f)

Place of the transaction

Off market