Lately, I had a position on AAPL, Long stock of 100 share Long 170 Call x 1 Short 172.5 Call x 2 AAPL expired at 175, and when I checked the statement, I got charged for three times the assignment fee. I then talk to the trading desk, and they also confirmed that assignment fee is charged on per contract basis. My question is whether assignment fee charged on per contract basis is an industry norm ? lugui
The industry norm is per strike. At my last firm, we charged what we charge for a stock trade, because we had no process to charge per strike. Your broker can charge what they want as long as they disclose it. https://www.lightspeed.com/pricing/other-fees/ Options Exercise/Assignment Fee $15.00 Who is your broker? Bob
Unless your broker has a special deal on assignment and exercise (for example, free at IBKR), you have should have two transactions to close. Exercise of your long 170 call results in buying 100 shares and assignment of the two short 172.5 calls results in the sale of 200 shares. IMO, sticking you for a 3rd commission is a rip off.
The OCC charges your clearing broker $1.00/per line. https://www.theocc.com/membership/schedule-of-fees/
Ha! I was not aware that there is such a thing - none of the brokers I’ve worked with ever charged me for it (actually, probably there was a flat fee regardless of size).