BankAmerica Corp. today said that the stock option plan is designed to enhance the bank's customer service, retain key employees and boost shareholder value.
"This is an attempt to make every employee an owner," said Dave Coulter, BankAmerica's chief executive officer.
The company announced the plan in a satellite broadcast from San Francisco. Some 200 of Bank of America's Hawaii employees attended the broadcast this morning at the Varsity Twins theaters.
Under the plan, bank employees can acquire the rights to 50 to 90 shares every six months over the next three years. Employees can exercise up to one-third of the options each year. They must exercise the options within five years of the option grant.
BankAmerica's stock was up $2 to close at $98 today.
The company noted that its shares have appreciated some 47 percent this year, outpacing the Standard & Poor's 500 Stock Index, which has grown 21 percent this year, and the Standard & Poor's Bank Composite Index, which is up 39 percent this year.
Stock options are reserved for senior executives in most companies, but in this case will be offered to nearly all employees.
A stock option gives workers the right to buy a company's stock at a certain price and sell at a later price.