I believe this is the main reason behind the recent sales by PA, and KB. Both have a slew of options, and as I understand it, following the deemed disposition rule, those get taxed as income when exercised. There may be some provision for tax deferral, I'm not clear on that point, but either way there's going to be one heck of a tax bill when all's said and done. Then there's the question of taxation in Ecuador....LOL!

Given that the company may be sold soon, and that renumeration may be in stock of the acquirer (another deemed disposition?) I'd be screaming at the guy too if I was his accountant. You need to set aside reserves for this sort of thing so you aren't blindsided and forced to sell assets at an inopportune moment.

Let's not forget the matter of estate planning either. These guys are flying around in helicopters and trampling through jungle where the risk of encountering unexploded ordinance is higher than, say, downtown Vancouver. There was a war there not too long ago, don't forget.

Anyway, that's my take on it. Obviously I'm not a tax accountant, and neither is anyone else here, or we'd have picked up on this earlier.

ebear