assign (redirected from assignability)

Assign

The act of clearing houses and brokerages selecting short option and future contract holders to deliver underlying securities or commodities of maturing or exercised/tendered contracts.

Notes:

Not all contracts will typically be exercised or tendered, and those that are need to be settled with delivery of the underlying security/commodity. Most often clearing houses will randomly allocate assigned contracts to brokerages who in turn randomly select which of their clients will assigned.

See also: Assignment, Broker, Clearing House, Commodity, Exercise, Futures Contract, Option, Underlying

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assign

To decide which writer of an option or futures contract (the party that is short the security) will be required to perform the terms of the contract. Clearing corporations and brokerage companies usually assign this responsibility in a random manner when the holders of the contracts ask for delivery of the asset specified in the contract.