Please explain to layman — OCC Memo 50218, dated March 22 2022 — on VanEck Russia ETF (RSX) options?

External question — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: user116038 Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/questions/150062 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. I bought put options on RSX that shall expire April 1 2022. Obviously, I want to sell them for cash through my discount broker, Questrade, as soon as possible! I fail to understand anything in https://infomemo.theocc.com/infomemos?number=50218 . Please simplify it. Does OCC Memo 50218 mean that after March 22 2022, I can sell my April 1 2022 RSX put options for cash through my discount broker Questrade — normally, like before RSX stopped trading ? Date: March 22, 2022 Subject: VanEck Russia ETF - Settlement Update Option Symbol: RSX Effective Immediately * * * Effective March 16, 2022, the National Securities Clearing Corporation (“NSCC”) no longer accepted RSX exercise and assignment activity for settlement. As a result all exercise and assignment activity for RSX options beginning March 16, 2022 were subject to broker to broker settlement, as stated in OCC Information Memos #50188 and #50208. OCC was informed that RSX shares are CNS eligible. As a result, all exercise and assignment activity for RSX options from March 22, 2022 and after, will no longer be subject to broker to broker settlement. Exercise and assignment activity for RSX options will settle through NSCC. Exercise and assignment activity for RSX options between March 16, 2022 and March 21, 2022, will remain subject to broker to broker settlement. The deliverable for RSX options will remain the underlying 100 VanEck Russia ETF (RSX) shares.

External answer — Personal Finance Stack Exchange Author: Justine Krejcha Original post: https://money.stackexchange.com/a/150063 License: CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ Adaptation: HTML converted to plain text; contact email addresses removed. The NSCC, which clears securities trades, was previously not settling options for a little while. NSCC has reversed course on this, so broker-to-broker settlement (which is what was used before) is no longer being used. It's a settlements thing mostly and just means that RSX option exercises will be settled how they normally are