Finance Act 2000

The “no material interest” requirement

30 (1) An individual is not an eligible employee in relation to the relevant company if he has a material interest in—

(a) that company, or

(b) if that company is a parent company, any group company.

(2) For the purposes of this paragraph an individual is regarded as having a material interest in a company if—

(a) the individual,

(b) the individual together with one or more associates of his, or

(c) any associate of the individual's, with or without any other such associates,

has a material interest in the company.

(3) No account shall be taken for the purposes of this paragraph of shares that an individual may acquire under a qualifying option, but once such shares have been acquired they are taken into account.

(4) This paragraph is supplemented—

(a) as regards the meaning of “material interest”, by paragraphs 31 to 33; and

(b) as regards the meaning of “associate”, by paragraph 34 (read with paragraphs 35 and 36).