Chicago's Options Clearing Corporation says it has successfully completed operational readiness testing in preparation for the approval and start of trading in single stock futures.
Testing followed SEC approval in June of a rule change allowing OCC to clear security futures for any registered national securities exchange, national securities association or contract market.
Approximately 20 external users, including clearing members and service bureaus, participated in the testing this summer. Because product specifications for security futures have not yet been announced by the exchanges, OCC created models of single stock and narrow based index futures for the testing scenarios.
Principal-to-principal trading in stock futures is expected to begin in the US mid-next week, with full customer trading following in December.