Margin Requirements: History and Application

Abstract

Without a doubt, my work-Sip experience was able to fulfill all of the possible expectations I could have. My internship at the Options Clearing Corporation allowed me to see what really goes on in the exchange markets, particularly the options exchange. Only a selected few are able to work at such a prestigious place, and I was one of the fortunate ones. The first section of my report deals with the historical development of margin requirements and why we need them in an exchange. I will focus on Great Crash Era in 1929 where the first signs of a need for margin requirements were seen. I will recount some of the events that happened on these early days of the Great Depression and discuss what safeguards were installed to prevent a recurrence of these events. The second section of my paper discusses how margin requirements serve as safeguards. How do they protect brokers from losses that occurred during the Great Depression? How are they calculated? In this section I also discuss what options exactly are to give the reader a better understanding of how the options exchange functions. The third section of my SIP will show how my internship with OCC can help my in the future with my academic and professional work. What have I learned at the OCC? I will talk about some of the margin calculation projects I did while working there. I will give an example of how my better knowledge of financial markets can help me realize my future business plans. I will also list an important project that was not directly related to margin calculations, but that helped make this internship more than just a desk job.