Regulatory Oversight

     ISE is a self-regulatory organization (SRO) registered as a national securities exchange and operating under the auspices of the SEC. As such, ISE has established operating rules designed to provide the public with a fair, orderly and highly efficient market that gives the highest priority to customer orders. ISE received SEC approval as a registered exchange on February 24, 2000.

     As a registered securities exchange ISE is a member-owner of, and clears its transactions through, The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC). OCC, which operates under the jurisdiction of the SEC, clears and guarantees the trades executed on all U.S. options exchanges and is the first clearinghouse worldwide to receive a “AAA” credit rating from Standard & Poor’s Corporation. As an SEC regulated exchange and member-owner of OCC, the options contracts traded on ISE are fully fungible with the options of the same companies traded on the other options exchanges.