Options Clearing Corporation
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), founded in 1973, is (as of 2006) the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, as well as a clearing firm in commodity futures, commodity options, and security futures. By acting as guarantor, they ensure that the obligations of the contracts they clear are fulfilled.
OCC operates under the jurisdiction of both the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Under its SEC jurisdiction, OCC clears transactions for put and call options on common stock and other equity issues, stock indexes, foreign currencies, interest rate composites and single-stock futures. As a registered Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) under CFTC jurisdiction, OCC offer clearing and settlement services for transactions in futures and options on futures contracts.
Overseeing OCC is a clearing member dominated board of directors. OCC operates as an industry utility and receives most of its revenue from clearing fees charged to its members.
Participant Exchanges and Clearing Members
OCC's participant exchanges include: American Stock Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange, International Securities Exchange, NYSE Arca, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, and the Boston Stock Exchange. Clearing members serve both professional traders and public customers and comprise approximately 130 of the largest U.S. broker-dealers, futures commission merchants and non-U.S. securities firms.
OCC also clears commodity contracts traded on CBOE Futures Exchange and Philadelphia Board of Trade, as well as security futures contracts traded on OneChicago.
