The clearing house for US stock options, Options Clearing Corp, had laid out plans to register in Europe in order to assist companies in reducing their capital requirements who are based in Europe but want to trade in US equity derivatives.

The Chicago based OCC had filed for compliance with the European Market Infrastructure Regulation. This means banks registered in the region would be able to trade in US options without the need of higher capital outlays.

The process was confirmed by OCC Chief Risk Officer Michael Walinskas. He said, "We've had several big customers asking us to do this." He made the remarks during an interview conducted at the Futures Industry Association's conference held in Burgenstock in Geneva, Switzerland.

OCC had filed its application in mid-September and has been waiting for a response. Over at the US regulatory requirements, OCC would be covered by the rule requiring that the firm have enough capital to cover a default of its largest member or both its second largest and third largest members. In Europe, regulators would require a higher standard.

Walinkas added, "It's unclear to me from my reading of EMIR and related documents that the European Union intended to require clearinghouses from properly regulated jurisdictions such as the US to meet potentially stricter standards applied in the EU."