The Options Clearing Corporation Board of Directors Welcomes Three New Members

CHICAGO, IL, Oct 08 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) announced today the elections of
Andrew D. Kolinsky, President of Citadel Execution Services; Philip A.
Pendergraft, Chief Executive Officer at Penson Worldwide, Inc. and Tom
Stern, CEO of optionsXpress International, to the OCC Board of Directors.

Mr. Kolinsky is President of Citadel Execution Services which is part of
the Citadel Derivatives Group, one of the largest liquidity providers in
Equities & Options in the United States. Previously he served as Managing
Director and Head of Broker Dealers Sales and Marketing with Knight
Capital Group where he was in charge of maintaining and growing the
broker dealer business while also serving as a member of Executive
Management, helping to lead in the overall direction of the company.

Mr. Pendergraft serves as Chief Executive Officer at Penson Worldwide,
Inc., one of the largest clearing brokers in the world. With more than 25
years in the securities industry, he has extensive experience, especially
in regards to his work at affiliated Penson entities. In 1995, Mr.
Pendergraft co-founded Penson Financial Services, Inc and throughout his
career has been involved in the start-up of three clearing operations.

Mr. Stern, CEO of optionsXpress International, is responsible for the
development of international business with registered companies in Europe,
Singapore, Australia and Canada. Additionally, he serves as the Chief
Administrative Officer for optionsXpress Holdings (NASDAQ: OXPS) and CFO
of optionsXpress and brokersXpress. He also acts as FINRA's primary
Executive Representative and FINOP for optionsXpress.

"We are pleased to be able to add these three distinguished new members
to OCC's Board of Directors. Their industry experience and perspective
will further enhance our Board," said Wayne Luthringshausen, OCC Chairman
and CEO.

About OCC

OCC is the world's largest derivatives clearing organization by contract
volume and open interest. Founded in 1973, OCC operates under the
jurisdiction of both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a
Derivatives Clearing Organization, and the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) as a Registered Clearing Agency. OCC now provides central
counterparty (CCP) clearing and settlement services to 13 exchanges and
platforms for options, financial and commodity futures, security futures
and securities lending transactions.

As the CCP clearinghouse for the markets it serves, OCC assumes the
counterparty risk of members involved in a trade -- becoming the buyer to
every seller and the seller to every buyer. OCC manages its risk of
member default by collecting margin (collateral). Clearing member margin
requirements are calculated using OCC's proprietary System for
Theoretical Analysis and Numerical Simulations (STANS) that uses
large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to forecast price moves and
correlations to make those margin determinations. In 1993, OCC became the
first clearinghouse to receive a 'AAA' credit rating from Standard &
Poor's Corporation, and has continued to receive that high rating every
year as a result of its risk management standards.

OCC operates as a utility clearinghouse, owned by several of its
participant exchanges but with a Board of Directors majority drawn from
its clearing members, allowing it to provide highly efficient but
low-cost solutions to the markets it serves. More information about OCC is
available through its Web site at www.optionsclearing.com.

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