U.S. Options Industry Creates New Lifetime Contribution Award and “Crowd of Fame”
CHICAGO (March 7, 2019) – OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization, today announced the creation of the U.S. Options Lifetime Contribution Award. The award was created by the U.S. options exchanges and the Options Industry Council (OIC), an industry resource provided by OCC.
The award will be presented annually to individuals who have made significant contributions to the listed options market and the advancement of the U.S. listed options industry, whether through market structure, industry education, trading or support for overall product development. This award will be in addition to the industry’s Joseph W. Sullivan Options Industry Achievement Award.
The 2019 Lifetime Contribution Award recipients will be honored at this year’s Options Industry Conference, hosted by the MIAX Exchange Group™ (MIAX™) and OCC in Miami, Florida, on May 1–3.
The recipients of the Lifetime Contribution Award will be inducted into the OIC’s newly-formed “Crowd of Fame”, along with all previous Sullivan Award winners, at the Options Industry Conference. The award and the Crowd of Fame were created to recognize a more expansive group of leaders and establish a place for the industry to honor their contributions.
“We are delighted to be hosting the 37th annual Options Industry Conference in Miami, Florida, and excited to honor the first-ever Lifetime Contribution Award and Sullivan Award winners along with their friends, families and colleagues at this year’s conference,” said Thomas P. Gallagher, Chairman and CEO of MIAX.
The following individuals are the 2019 recipients of the Lifetime Contribution Award:
Tom Brady, Cboe (retired)
Kim L. Koppien, NYSE Options
Joe Levin, Cboe (posthumous)
Daniel May, The May Foundation
Dennis May, SMS Factory
William H. Morgan, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Jon Najarian, Najarian Family Office and Investitute
Anthony Saliba, Matrix Holding Group
Andy Schwarz, AGS Specialists, LLC
Lee Tenzer, LETCO
Thomas Young, Independent Member, PHX
“The creation of this award and the ‘Crowd of Fame’ is a nice way to recognize the contributions that various individuals have made on behalf of the options industry to make these markets more resilient, transparent and innovative to the benefit of retail investors, financial advisors, and institutions who use these markets,” said Mary Savoie, Executive Director of OIC.
John Smollen, EVP, Head of Exchange Traded Products for MIAX, added, “We are proud of our role in making this award possible. We are also very appreciative and would like to recognize the collaborative efforts of our fellow exchanges, the OIC and the members of the Options Industry Council Roundtable in helping to establish this award.”
For more information about the 2019 Options Industry Conference, visit: https://www.optionsconference.com
Media Contact:
David Prosperi
312-322-4484
dprosperi@theocc.com
About OIC
OIC is an industry resource provided by OCC, the world’s largest equity derivatives clearing organization. Its mission is to provide free and unbiased education to retail investors, financial advisors and institutions about the benefits and risks of exchange-listed options. OIC offers education which includes webinars, online classes, podcasts, videos, investing tools, and live help. OIC’s Roundtable is OIC’s advisory group and is comprised of representatives from the exchanges, member brokerage firms and OCC. For more information on the educational services OIC provides for investors, visit www.OptionsEducation.org.
About OCC
OCC is the world's largest equity derivatives clearing organization and the foundation for secure markets. Founded in 1973, OCC operates under the jurisdiction of both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a registered clearing agency and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a Derivatives Clearing Organization. Named 2018 Best Clearing House by Markets Media, and Clearing House of the Year – The Americas by FOW, OCC now provides central counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 20 exchanges and trading platforms for options, financial futures, security futures, and securities lending transactions. More information about OCC is available at www.theocc.com.