Share awards to employees can often benefit from exemptions so that they do not breach the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA 2000). However, granting share awards to non-employees such as non-executive directors, can be less straightforward as a number of those exemptions do not apply. This Practice Note considers the issues under FSMA 2000 of granting share awards to non executive directors and identifies possible exemptions under FSMA 2000 which may nevertheless be available in some circumstances. Written in partnership with Paul Anderson and Alex Paterson of Squire Patton Boggs.