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Margin and Escrow Receipts

This microwebsite www.cboe.com/margin provides a summary of the margin requirements and escrow receipt program that apply to options traded on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). This is only a brief summary and should only serve as a supplement to careful review of relevant CBOE rules and federal securities laws dealing with margin requirements. For more information on margin requirements for options, please contact CBOE's Department of Member Firm Regulation at (312) 786-7718.

Key sections of this microwebsite cover the following topics:

  • Strategy-based Margin rules have been applied to listed options for more than three decades.


  • New Portfolio Margin rules for equity options and other positions become effective in April 2007. (In 2005 the SEC approved portfolio margining for certain stock index options positions.) In certain cases the new portfolio margining requirements may be applied in lieu of the strategy-based margin requirements.


  • Margin Requirements Examples for Sample Options-based Positions. A 2007 table providing comparisons of strategy-based and portfolio margin requirements for 38 different positions.


  • Security Futures Margin Examples. A document with examples of synthetic long ETF positions (options) offset with an index futures contract that is not eligible for portfolio margining compared to examples using the same synthetic ETF positions offset with a security futures contract on a broad-based ETF.


  • Escrow Receipts. Many institutional accounts maintain their assets at a custodian bank, not at a broker-dealer. Exchange margin rules allow a broker-dealer to accept an "escrow agreement" in respect of short options, in lieu of cash or securities.


  • Investor Protection


  • Margin Calculators





This website is only a brief summary and should only serve as a supplement to careful review of relevant CBOE rules and federal securities laws dealing with margin requirements. The requirements explained here are based on publication date rules and regulations, and therefore, subject to change. This website should be used as a reference document and is not intended to be an all-encompassing restatement of Federal Reserve Board and Exchange margin rules. Brokerage firms may require customers to post higher margins than the minimum margins specified on this website. For more information on margin requirements for options, please contact CBOE's Department of Member Firm Regulation at (312) 786-7718. In addition please see the discussion of margins in the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options publication, Chapter 12 of the rules of the CBOE, and also the 41-page CBOE Margin Manual.

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Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Prior to buying or selling an option, a person must receive a copy of Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options (ODD). Copies of the ODD are available from your broker, by calling 1-888-OPTIONS, or from The Options Clearing Corporation, One North Wacker Drive, Suite 500, Chicago, Illinois 60606. The information on this website is provided solely for general education and information purposes and therefore should not be considered complete, precise, or current. Many of the matters discussed are subject to detailed rules, regulations, and statutory provisions which should be referred to for additional detail and are subject to changes that may not be reflected in the website information. No statement within the website should be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell a security or to provide investment advice. The inclusion of non-CBOE advertisements on the website should not be construed as an endorsement or an indication of the value of any product, service, or website. The Terms and Conditions govern use of this website and use of this website will be deemed acceptance of those Terms and Conditions.