The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) has announced that it is lowering its clearing fees for the third time since April 2004, with this latest move dropping the fee 29 percent for most trades.
The OCC Board of Directors has decided to further reduce clearing fees for options from the discounted fee schedule currently in place as a result of the record contract volume experienced through the first five months of 2005.
The new fee schedule, which will reduce the base discounted fee from $.07 per contract to $.05 per contract, will be implemented as of the July 1, 2005 trade date and will remain in place until further action by the Board.
“We hope that this fee discount will be beneficial to both our Clearing Members and their customers and will translate into even greater volumes throughout the year for the marketplaces we serve,” said OCC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Wayne Luthringshausen.
This fee reduction is the third since April 1, 2004, bringing clearing fees to about half of what they were at the beginning of last year. Additionally, OCC annually provides its Clearing Members with a clearing fee refund once OCC operational expenses are met. The 2004 refund was the largest at more than $47.4 million.
Underlying the discounts is the dramatic growth in trading volume, which saw an annual record of more than 1 billion contracts traded in 2004. Through the end of May this year, volume is 15 percent better than at the same point last year. Three of the five months this year have also set new monthly trading volume records.