Additional LEAPS® Options on S&P 500 Index offer expirations in December 2024, December 2025, December 2026 Aims to meet institutional demand to trade SPX options in a listed and centrally cleared marketplace Optiver expected to serve as market maker, contribute to liquidity provision and client order flow
Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe: CBOE), a leading provider of global market infrastructure and tradable products, today announced it plans to list additional LEAPS® (Long-Term Equity AnticiPation Securities) options on the S&P 500 Index (SPX) that offer expiration dates in December 2024, December 2025 and December 2026, respectively, on Cboe Option Exchange, beginning November 1, 2021.
Designed for market participants looking to invest for a longer time-horizon, LEAPS options have the same characteristics as standard options, but with extended expiration dates of several years into the future. LEAPS options aim to provide market participants with effective and efficient tools to trade, manage risk or gain exposure to the broad market for a much longer time frame than standard options with monthly expirations.
With the additional listings, Cboe continues to broaden accessibility and provide ease of use to its index options products in the listed market, while further expanding its customer base. Significantly, the offerings will provide institutional investors who are currently trading SPX options only in the over-the-counter (OTC) market, with solutions to trade SPX options in a regulated and transparent marketplace that offers price discovery, central clearing and liquidity.
"We are seeing growing interest from asset managers, insurance companies and pensions globally to trade longer-dated SPX options on-exchange, and are pleased to meet increased customer demand with these additional listings," said Arianne Criqui, Senior Vice President, Head of Derivatives and Global Client Services. "Many institutional investors have been longtime users of LEAPS options, and as their assets under management continue to grow, we expect these listed options will become an increasingly important hedging tool for investors seeking to manage risk."
In addition, Cboe has secured support from Optiver, a leading global market maker, who is expected to help contribute to the provision of liquidity and client order flow to these options when they launch.
"With the listing of three-, four- and five-year SPX options on Cboe, market participants will have the opportunity to access longer-dated derivatives strategies in the world's most active index on-exchange," said Leaf Wade, Institutional Trading Lead at Optiver. "We're proud to collaborate with Cboe on the launch of these listings, an important step in the move from over-the-counter trading to the listed and centrally-cleared space. As launch market maker – and a leading market maker globally in listed SPX options – we look forward to offering investors more efficient derivatives capability."
Exchange-traded options offer investors robust price discovery, price improvement and displayed liquidity. Market participants also benefit generally from exchange transactions over OTC transactions due to trade reporting and exchange surveillance of trading. Further, exchange-traded options are also centrally cleared, which eliminates counterparty risk and limits systemic risks associated with non-centrally cleared OTC derivatives.
SPX options are exclusively listed on Cboe Options Exchange and are among the most actively traded index options products in the world. SPX options are designed to help investors gain efficient exposure to the