| OCC Membership Requirements |
| Documentation |
 |
OCC Membership Application |
|
FOCUS Report |
|
Audited Financial
Statements |
|
The Findings of Securities
and Commodities Regulators |
|
$4,000 Non-refundable
Qualification Fee |
|
Brief Resumes of
Staff Responsible for P&S, Positions Reconciliation and
Margin |
| Site Visits |
A Pre-membership Examination
is conducted by representatives from OCC's Regulation Department.
The session consists of an examination of the firm's books and
records and interviews with the firm's principals and compliance
staff.
An Operations Orientation is conducted by representatives of
OCC's Membership/Operations Services area. The meeting
addresses OCC procedures, time frames, reports, input forms,
exercise and assignment, Ex-by-Ex procedures, OCC financial
and operational services and general OCC information. Specifics
of different option products are also reviewed. |
| Approval |
The Applicant's designated
examining authority (DEA) is contacted for pertinent information
relative to the firm's request for membership with OCC.
The findings of OCC staff from the meetings noted above and
the comments from the DEA are submitted to OCC's Membership
Committee (which is comprised of members of OCC's Board of Directors)
and then to OCC's Board of Directors for membership approval.
The Board meets quarterly, so the membership application
process may take up to twelve weeks after receipt of a completed
membership application. |
| Post Approval / Pre Start
Up |
| Clearing Fund |
| Once approved, and prior to start-up,
the applicant must deposit its clearing fund in cash or U.S.
government securities. The minimum clearing fund requirement
is $150,000 or such determined by the Board of Directors.
The requirement is recalculated monthly based on the firm's
proportionate share of 5% to 7% of the preceding month's average
daily aggregate margin requirement providing that the clearing
fund's total size is $1 billion. The requirement is the
greater of the minimum or the formula calculation. |
| Settlement Account |
| The Clearing Member must have indicated its settlement
account number at an OCC approved Settlement Bank and completed
the Authorization to Draft Bank Account document. |
| Clearing Member GUI |
| The Clearing Member must interface with OCC via
MyOCC and ENCORE™.
ENCORE is an on-line clearing system used for daily post-trade
and expiration input, report inquiry, on-site report printing
and the viewing/printing of OCC and participant Exchange Information
Memos. ENCORE training will be provided at the Clearing
Member location. |
| Further Information |
The Clearing Member must be prepared for settlement
the morning after the first day of option clearance. Settlement
includes premium pay or collect (dollars owed for premium are
always a cash draft) and margin. OCC accepts margin collateral
in the form of cash, Letters of Credit, U.S. Government securities
and valued securities.
The above information is a summary only. Applicants are
directed to OCC's By-Laws
and Rules for exact
requirements and corresponding interpretations.
Questions should be directed to:
Options Clearing Corporation
Member Services
Phone: (800) 621-6072
Email: Member Services
|
