EASi and Raymond James Partner to Offer Direct Market Access

EASi and Raymond James Partner to Offer Direct Market Access 

Platform for Exercises Frees Stock Plan Administrators from Inquiry, Execution and Settlement

Pleasanton, CA - January 4, 2011 -Equity Administration Solutions, Inc. (EASi), the leading independent stock plan software company, and Raymond James Financial (NYSE-RJF), a diversified financial services holding company, today announced the launch of EASi Broker Direct, a stock and option transaction platform jointly developed by the two companies.

Based on the FIX protocol, EASi Broker Direct acts as a hub enabling public company restricted stock and option plan participants to initiate exercises with trades over a direct connection between the EASi platform and Raymond James.  This new capability enables stock plan administrators to streamline the exercise and settlement process. "This level of integration between EASi and Raymond James provides inherent efficiencies and enhancements throughout the company stock and option plan exercise process," explained Danny Quattlebaum, Senior Product Manager at Raymond James Financial. "Participants are now able to conveniently exercise their vested stock options using the intuitive online platform." 

Combining the existing EASi Participant Portal with this new direct-to-market process expands the market for EASi and Raymond James. "We share Raymond James' desire to make online exercises practical and cost-effective for companies of any size," said Don Gillotti, EASi's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales.  "Many EASi customers are already in line to take advantage of EASi Broker Direct," Gillotti added.

EASi Broker Direct is a fully automated transaction interface.  Participants use the EASi Participant Portal to initiate direct electronic trades and benefit from faster access to proceeds and a secure step-by-step process for initiating exercises.  "Once again EASi is using its innovative WorkStream technology to create a powerful new application that enhances the experience for participants, brokers and administrators while reducing operating costs across the board," explained Mark Ebersole, Chief Technology Officer for EASi. "EASi is uniquely positioned to support the end-to-end exercise and settlement process, provide tools for broker operations and enable event-driven communications with all players."

Equity Administration Solutions, Inc. www.easiadmin.com is the SaaS company that set the standard in stock plan software with its comprehensive industrial strength platform that handles all the accounting, tax, administration and compliance  needs of companies that grant equity awards. Headquartered in Pleasanton, CA, EASi serves more than 600 companies  and continues to lead the industry with second-to-none solutions in areas including FAS123R, IFRS 2, Performance Awards , material modifications and WorkStream process automation. In 2010 Inc. Magazine ranked EASi 35th in the Financial Services industry segment and in the top 12% on its annual list of fastest growing private companies in America.   

Raymond James Financial (NYSE-RJF) is a Florida-based diversified holding company providing financial services to individuals, corporations and municipalities through its subsidiary companies. Its three principal wholly owned broker/dealers, Raymond James & Associates, Raymond James Financial Services and Raymond James Ltd., have more than 5,300 financial advisors serving 1.9 million accounts in 2,300 locations throughout the United States, Canada and overseas. In addition, total client assets are approximately $254 billion, of which approximately $31 billion are managed by the firm's asset management subsidiaries.

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