Risk Statements and Disclosures

Business Continuity Plan

  • Summary

OptionsHouse developed a Business Continuity Plan ("BCP") that explains our response to events that could disrupt our business. Because it is impossible to plan for all possible Significant Business Disruptions ("SBD"), OptionsHouse's approach focuses on protecting our customers' assets, restoring communication and regular business operations, and maintaining the flexibility to respond to a wide variety of SBD's.

  • Contacting OptionsHouse

In the event of an SBD, you can contact OptionsHouse with questions in one of the following ways:

01 Email customerservice@optionshouse.com
02 Call the OptionsHouse Customer Service Department at one of the following telephone numbers:
Toll free at: (877) 653-2500
Toll call at: (312) 765-0200

You may also check the OptionsHouse website at www.OptionsHouse.com for messages and contact instructions. If the methods above are unsuccessful, contact our clearing firm at (800) 696-3585 and they will assist you in gaining access to your funds and securities.

  • The Plan

OptionsHouse intends to quickly recover from an SBD and resume normal business operations. In the event of a SBD, OptionsHouse priorities will be the safety of our employees, securing OptionsHouse books and records, assessing our financial and operational situation, and restoring the OptionsHouse website and trading functionality.

The OptionsHouse BCP covers:
01 Data backup and recovery
02 All mission critical systems
03 Financial and operational assessments
04 Alternative communications with our customers, employees, and regulators
05 Alternate physical locations of employees
06 Critical supplier, contractor, bank, and counter-party impact
07 Regulatory reporting
08 Assuring our customers have prompt access to their funds and securities if we are unable to continue our business

OptionsHouse's clearing firm, Penson Financial Services, Inc., backs up our important records at a geographically separate location. While every emergency situation poses unique problems based on external factors, such as time of day and the severity of the disruption, we have been advised by our clearing firm that its objective is to restore its own operations and be able to complete existing transactions and accept new transactions and payments within one business day. Customer orders and requests for funds and securities could be delayed during this period.

Significant Business Disruptions can vary in scope. For example, the SBD may only affect OptionsHouse, it may affect the building in which OptionsHouse is located, the city in which OptionsHouse is located, or the entire region in which OptionsHouse is located. Within each of those areas, the severity of the disruption can vary from minimal to severe. In the event of a SBD that applies to only OptionsHouse or the building in which OptionsHouse resides, we will relocate our operations and restore business operations as quickly as possible. In the event of a SBD that affects the city or region in which OptionsHouse is located, we will relocate our operation outside of the affected area and restore business operations as quickly as possible. In either case, OptionsHouse plans to continue operations and will transfer operations to our clearing firm if necessary. OptionsHouse will try to notify its customers as to how best to contact us via our website or a recorded message on our phone system.

  • Additional Information

The OptionsHouse BCP is updated at least annually. If you have any further questions about our BCP, please contact us at compliance@optionshouse.com or call us toll free at (877) 653-2500

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