SEC

Securities and Exchange Commission (US)

High Impact

SEC publishes OCC proposed rule change to strengthen clearing membership standards

Published

Sep 2, 2026

Topics

Clearing membership, Central counterparty risk management, Onboarding, Capital requirements, Operational resilience, Regulatory reporting, Protective measures, Confidential information

Executive Summary

The SEC has published a notice soliciting comments on OCC’s proposed rule change SR-OCC-2026-009, filed on August 19, 2026, to amend OCC clearing membership standards. The proposal is not a final SEC approval order and no effective date is stated in the notice. OCC proposes to strengthen applicant onboarding and ongoing Clearing Member oversight following its review of counterparty credit risk, operational resilience and evolving technology practices. Key changes include a one-year operating-history expectation or experienced senior personnel alternative, broader denial and suspension bases, risk-based minimum capital levels, new physical-office expectations unless OCC accepts a remote model, expanded reporting and due-diligence obligations, and new confidentiality duties for OCC Confidential Information. OCC would also expand delegated authority for application and business-expansion decisions and codify hearing procedures for denials and certain protective measures. Business impact is highest for current OCC Clearing Members, prospective applicants, parent or affiliate groups, risk, finance, legal, operations and compliance teams that support OCC membership governance.

What Changed

modifiedApplicant eligibility and admission review

OCC’s rules contained eligibility and admission procedures but did not include the proposed one-year operating-history standard and retained more direct Risk Committee involvement in specified approval processes.

New

Proposed Rules 201, 203 and 204 would add the operating-history expectation, formalize reapplication treatment and allow designated delegates or agents of the Risk Committee to approve or deny applications, reapplications and certain business-expansion requests.

newExpanded applicant due diligence and denial factors

OCC had authority to assess applicants against membership standards, but the proposal states that these denial factors were not articulated in the same detail in the rules.

New

Proposed Rule 204 would require faster two-business-day applicant notification for statutory disqualification or formal regulatory investigations involving the applicant or a Key Person, restrict reapplication after denial until reasons are addressed, and allow OCC to request a third-party-assessed business plan and parent or affiliate financial information.

modifiedFinancial responsibility and event-based reporting

Existing rules set minimum capital and early warning thresholds without the proposed risk-based capital overlay described in the filing.

New

Proposed Rules 301, 306A and 307C would allow higher risk-based minimum capital levels and require notification when net capital is below the greater of $12 million or 20% above the applicable Clearing Member minimum capital requirement.

newOperational, staffing and office-model requirements

The existing rule framework included operational capability standards, but did not contain the proposed physical-office formulation or the proposed specified senior role and minimum risk-management personnel requirements.

New

Proposed Rules 204, 302 and 303 would permit OCC on-site visits with at least 24 hours’ notice, require books and records inspection on request, and require experienced senior management roles with clear division of responsibility and at least four full-time risk management personnel, subject to OCC-accepted third-party service provider substitution.

modifiedProtective measures, hearings and reapplication

OCC’s rules already included protective-measure and suspension mechanisms, but the proposal states that procedures and examples would be expanded or codified for transparency.

New

Proposed Rules 203, 307, 307B, 307C and 309 would allow measures such as parent or affiliate guarantees, leverage limits, remediation of Key Person losses, enhanced controls, independent assessments and reapplication where material changes affect financial condition, operations or business strategy.

Business Impact

Who is affected

Directly affected

current OCC Clearing Members, prospective OCC Clearing Member applicants, Clearing Members seeking business expansions, and Clearing Members that may undergo material ownership or organizational changes.

Indirectly affected

parent and affiliate entities, third-party service providers, independent consultants, internal audit, legal counsel, compliance, finance, operations, risk management, treasury and business teams supporting OCC clearing access.

Jurisdictions

United States, Non-U.S. jurisdictions for Non-U.S. OCC Clearing Members and home-jurisdiction AML or regulatory requirements where relevant

Business processes

OCC clearing membership application and reapplication, Business expansion request governance, Capital adequacy and early warning monitoring, Parent and affiliate financial statement collection, Operational capability and books-and-records readiness, Physical office and remote work model risk assessment, Key Person, statutory disqualification and regulatory investigation escalation, Confidential information handling, Protective measure response and hearing preparation

Estimated effort

High

Compliance risk

High

Affected Reports

OCC clearing membership application or reapplication fileBusiness expansion request packageEarly Warning Notice and net capital monitoring controlAnnual and periodic OCC due-diligence response packageParent or affiliate financial statement request workflow

Field	Validation rule
Operating history in same or substantially same business activities	Proposed Rule 201
Key Person statutory disqualification or formal regulatory investigation status	Proposed Rules 101, 204(c), 204(c)(2), 306A(c) and 307C
Physical office facility, remote office model and on-site visit readiness	Proposed Rules 204(g) and 302(b)
Parent or affiliate annual audited financial statements or alternative financial information	Proposed Rules 204(p) and 306B(b)
Net capital threshold: greater of $12 million or 20% above applicable minimum capital requirement	Proposed Rules 306A(a)(2)(A)(i) and 306A(a)(4)(B)(i)
Senior management roles and minimum full-time risk management personnel	Proposed Rule 303(a)
OCC Confidential Information handling standard	Proposed Rules 101, 203(f), 207(d) and 306(b)

Recommended Actions

7 suggested next steps· derived from source analysis

1
Confirmed actionStep 1 of 7
monitor SEC action on SR-OCC-2026-009 and any Federal Register comment deadline or approval order before treating the proposal as binding.
2
AI generatedStep 2 of 7
perform a gap assessment against the proposed OCC membership standards, focusing on capital thresholds, liquidity profile, leverage, staffing, office model, books and records, and OCC due-diligence response readiness.
3
AI generatedStep 3 of 7
create an inventory of Key Persons and define escalation procedures for statutory disqualification, formal regulatory investigations, departures and role vacancies.
4
AI generatedStep 4 of 7
map available evidence for OCC requests, including business plans, financial projections, AML/OFAC independent assessments, contingency procedures, parent or affiliate financial statements, and risk management policies.
5
AI generatedStep 5 of 7
update confidentiality controls to identify, store, restrict and evidence permitted use or disclosure of OCC Confidential Information.
6
AI generatedStep 6 of 7
review capital monitoring logic to model the proposed higher-risk capital overlay and the proposed Early Warning Notice trigger based on 20% above applicable minimum capital requirements.
7
AI generatedStep 7 of 7
assess whether any planned ownership, legal-entity, business-model or strategy changes could trigger reapplication or protective-measure risk under proposed Rule 309.

Timeline

other

May 5, 2023

SEC approved OCC’s earlier proposed rule change concerning amendments to clearing membership standards, referenced by OCC as the 2023 membership standards baseline.

publication

May 11, 2023

Federal Register publication of the SEC approval order for SR-OCC-2023-002 concerning OCC clearing membership standards.

other

Aug 19, 2026

OCC filed proposed rule change SR-OCC-2026-009 with the SEC.

publication

Sep 2, 2026

SEC issued Release No. 34-106264 publishing notice of OCC’s proposed clearing membership standards amendments and soliciting comments.

Sources

AI-generated analysis is based on the following primary sources. Always verify against the official publication.

SEC notice of proposed SRO rule changeU.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionSep 2, 2026
Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by The Options Clearing Corporation Concerning Amendments to its Clearing Membership Standards ↗
https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/occ/2026/34-106264.pdf
SEC SRO rulemaking indexU.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionDate not specified
The Options Clearing Corporation Rulemaking ↗
https://www.sec.gov/rules-regulations/self-regulatory-organization-rulemaking/occ
SEC approval orderU.S. Securities and Exchange CommissionMay 5, 2023
Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule Change by The Options Clearing Corporation Concerning the Amendment of its Clearing Membership Standards ↗
https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/occ/2023/34-97439.pdf
Federal Register noticeFederal RegisterMay 11, 2023
Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Order Granting Approval of Proposed Rule Change Concerning the Amendment of Its Clearing Membership Standards ↗
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/05/11/2023-10066/self-regulatory-organizations-the-options-clearing-corporation-order-granting-approval-of-proposed
OCC rulebookThe Options Clearing CorporationDate not specified
By-Laws and Rules ↗
https://www.theocc.com/Company-Information/Documents-and-Archives/By-Laws-and-Rules

Related Evidence

Verified source support for this analysis

The evidence agent checks whether the drafted finding is supported by official publications and relevant public source material.

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