(Bloomberg) -- Bank of New York Mellon Corp. will award employees 10 shares of stock each, becoming one of the few Wall Street firms to extend such a benefit to its global workforce.

“This award will be provided to employees who do not otherwise receive equity so that all employees have a new way of participating in the commercial success of the enterprise,” Chief Executive Officer Robin Vince said in a note to workers. “Our company was the first to trade on the New York Stock Exchange, so it’s fitting that employees should own a part of it through its stock.”

Banks and other financial-services companies have long offered certain employees stock in addition to compensation. BNY Mellon is joining the likes of Bank of America Corp. in offering equity to most workers. Nearly all of BNY Mellon’s workforce will hold its stock after the grant, a spokesperson said.

The New York-based company’s shares have declined about 21% this year, to $45.72 at the close of Tuesday trading. The bank had more than 51,000 employees as of Sept. 30.

BNY Mellon also announced an enhanced parental-leave policy. It’s now offering 16 weeks of paid time off to both primary and secondary caregivers in the US, regardless of gender. The prior policy offered 16 weeks to the primary caregiver and two weeks to the secondary caregiver.

(Updates with details of previous policy in last paragraph. An earlier story corrected details surrounding the parental leave policy.)

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