Options Clearing Corporation or OCC, founded in 1973, is (as of 2011) the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, providing central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 14 exchanges and platforms for options, financial and commodity futures, security futures and securities lending transactions. By acting as guarantor, OCC ensures 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 Commodity 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.
Read more about Options Clearing Corporation: Participant Exchanges and Clearing Members, Margining
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