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Standard & Poor’s, the world’s leading index provider, and The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization, announced today that S&P has licensed the OCC to clear Over-The-Counter (OTC) options based on the S&P 500.
This landmark agreement represents the first time that central counterparty clearing will be available for OTC options based on the S&P 500, and marks OCC’s first step into OTC equity derivatives clearing.
The licensing agreement between S&P and OCC, which also covers the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600, will provide for greater risk management in the OTC equity derivatives marketplace served by these key indices. OCC will leverage its existing systems to provide clearing services. Pending regulatory approval, OCC expects to launch the service in summer 2011.
“OCC is pleased to work with S&P in taking this first step toward bringing the CCP clearing benefits of greater efficiency and risk reduction to the OTC equity derivatives arena,” said Wayne P. Luthringshausen, OCC Chairman and CEO. “We will continue to work with our clearing members and market participants to best serve the needs of this evolving marketplace.”
“This landmark licensing agreement is a prime example of Standard & Poor’s helping to bring greater transparency and precision to the U.S. marketplace,” says Alex Matturri, Executive Managing Director at S&P Indices. “It also marks the first time that any index provider has licensed its indices for central counterparty clearing.”
Widely considered the single best gauge of the U.S. equity market since its launch in 1957, the S&P 500 is the world’s most followed stock market index with $1.1 trillion directly indexed and $4.83 trillion benchmarked to it.
