what is the options clearing corporation occ 
the options clearing corporation occ is an organization that acts as both the issuer and guarantor for options and futures contracts the largest equity derivatives clearing organization in the world it operates under the jurisdiction of the commodities futures trading commission cftc and the u s securities and exchange commission sec the occ should not be confused with the u s treasury s office of the comptroller of the currency which also goes by the acronym occ understanding the options clearing corporation occ the objective of the occ which was founded in 1973 is to instill stability in the equity derivatives market according to its mission statement the occ is a customer driven clearing organization that delivers risk management clearance and settlement services 1under its sec jurisdiction the occ clears transactions for put and call options stock indexes foreign currencies and interest rate composites as a registered derivatives clearing organization dco under cftc jurisdiction it provides clearing and settlement services for transactions in futures products as well as options on futures 1the occ also offers central counterparty clearing and settlement services for securities lending transactions the organization essentially acts as a guarantor to ensure the obligations of the contracts it clears are fulfilled a board of directors b of d populated by representatives from exchanges clearing members and management oversee the occ and most of its revenue comes from clearing fees charged to its members the occ also provides research services and other value added solutions that support and grow the markets that it serves the corporation serves 16 different exchanges including the c2 options exchange chicago board options exchange international securities exchange nasdaq bx options nasdaq phlx nyse american options and nyse arca options 2the occ cleared 9 93 billion contracts in 2021 the industry s highest ever annual volume 3history of the options clearing corporation occ the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis brought new scrutiny and purpose to the occ changes were made so it could adapt its operations to better address risk federal regulators began to see the occ as an increasingly integral part of the governance and oversight of the markets the heightened attention focused on the organization brought with it some unfavorable assessments by regulators in 2013 the sec criticized the occ s management and planning for the way it handled market wide issues the sec also said the occ s management at that time lacked appropriate supervision in terms of corporate governance the sec further cited numerous conflicts of interest with the management and board of directors which called into question the organization s commitment to regulatory compliance 4this led to the introduction of new executive leadership including the addition of new positions to reinforce the occ s compliance efforts the occ s management and leadership currently consist of a diverse team of people from different parts of the investment world including exchanges clearing members and other directors 5 as of oct 2022 key figures include 