BSPCE (French founder stock options)
BSPCE (Bons de Souscription de Parts de Créateur d’Entreprise) are share purchase warrants reserved for employees and managers of young French companies. They allow acquiring shares at a preferential price, with reduced taxation subject to minimum holding periods.
In practice
A developer joins an SEO startup at a below-market salary but receives 1,000 BSPCE at an exercise price of €1 per share. Three years later, at an acquisition price of €50 per share, the gain of €49k is taxed at 30% via the French flat tax if the holding period exceeds three years. The instrument attracts senior talent into companies that cannot yet afford market-rate salaries in cash.