The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) is pleased to announce the February 12 conversion for the Options Symbology Initiative (OSI) has successfully been accomplished with firms, clearing members, exchanges and the OCC all now using the new OSI key.
Five months of industry-wide testing paved the way for an exceedingly smooth transition on Feb. 12, and follow-up reports through Feb. 16 have not revealed any problems with the first major milestone moving toward the new symbology. Prior to the conversion, all OCC Clearing Members certified they had completed the scripted industry testing that took place from September 2009 through January 2010. Many market participants had moved to the new symbology before the conversion date. The next step in the process is consolidation. Completion of the OSI transition is scheduled for mid-May.
OSI was launched in 2005 with the goal of overhauling the existing method of identifying exchange-listed options contracts. A committee of industry professionals from the broker-dealer, exchange, vendor and clearing communities have been working together on this multi-year effort to update the current nomenclature from a five character alpha code to an OSI key which clearly identifies the underlying product.
