National Day of Mourning

FINRA published Information Notice 12/4/18 describing changes to the Contrary Exercise Advice (“CEA,” also known as “Expiring Exercise Declaration” or “EED”) cut-off time for options that expire on December 5, 2018.

As announced by The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) and the national options exchanges, due to the National Day of Mourning on December 5, 2018, the Contrary Exercise Advice (“CEA,” also known as “Expiring Exercise Declaration” or “EED”) cut-off time for options that expire on December 5, 2018, will be modified as follows:

• Option holders will have until 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time (ET) on December 5, 2018, to make a final decision to exercise or not exercise an expiring option. Members may not accept exercise instructions for customer or non-customer accounts after 10:00 a.m. ET.
• OCC processing timeframes are not changing due to the day of mourning. See OCC Information Memo #44125 for OCC processing times.

For all other options, the normal exercise advice and CEA cut-off times apply.

For additional information on cut-off times, see FINRA Rule 2360.

Regulatory  Notice 18-39 provides guidance to members regarding SEA Rules 15c3-1, 15c3-3, 17a-5(a) through (d), Rule 204 under Regulation SHO, FINRA Rules 4210, 4230(b), 4521 and 4524, and Federal Reserve Board Regulation T in the event of such an unexpected close. The Notice addresses, among other things, the circumstances under which the day of the unexpected close should be considered a regular business day versus a non-business day for purposes of these rules.