SEC and CFTC Penalize Options Clearing Corporation for Non-Compliance

SEC and CFTC charged Options Clearing Corporation with failing to establish and maintain adequate risk management policies. According to the respective orders of SEC and CFTC, the Chicago-based Options Clearing Corporation failed to establish and enforce policies and procedures involving financial risk management, operational requirements, and information-systems security. SEC also found that Options Clearing Corporation changed policies on core risk management issues without obtaining the required SEC approval. Without admitting or denying the findings of SEC and CFTC, the Options Clearing Corporation has agreed to pay a combined penalty of USD 15 million under the SEC order and USD 5 million under the CFTC order. The Options Clearing Corporation also plans to hire an independent compliance auditor to assess its remediation of the violations and subsequent compliance efforts.