The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced today that it has won the “Best Innovation by a Clearing House - Americas” Award for 2010 from FOW, a leading global derivatives publication, for its efforts in the Options Symbology Initiative (OSI).
The OSI project began in 2005 with the goal of overhauling the previous method of identifying exchange-listed options contracts from a five character alpha code to an OSI key which clearly identifies the underlying product as well as the expiration date, put/call denotation and finally uses decimal strike prices instead of fractions. The industry wide changeover was successfully implemented on February 12, 2010.
FOW’s Awards for Innovation were first awarded last year and aim to recognize organizations for specific innovations that have the potential to impact the market for the better. The distinction was announced in London last week at FOW’s annual ceremony marking the accomplishments over the last year by the global derivatives industry. OCC President and COO Michael Cahill accepted on behalf of OCC.
“OCC has taken great pride for many years in our ability to provide innovative solutions for the markets we serve. That’s why being recognized by FOW with this award for our work on the Options Symbology Initiative is such an honor,” said Michael Cahill, OCC President and COO. “However, this particular innovation would not have been accomplished without the commitment and dedication of industry professionals from the broker-dealer, exchange, vendor and clearing communities who worked together with OCC staff to make the conversion to a more intuitive symbology a reality.”
The judges noted that OSI has improved the efficiency of the options market, allowing the use of such product innovations as weekly contracts to expand. The previous nomenclature used to identify exchange-listed options hindered such an offering. While standard options contracts expire monthly, the weekly expirations limit investor expenses while offering additional ways to manage risk in the short term.