First Options of Chicago
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First Options of Chicago, Inc. (FOC), formerly a leading stock-options clearinghouse, was owned for most of its existence by controversial securities brokerage Spear Leeds and Kellogg (SLK), since taken over by now-floundering Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs. SLK briefly sold and then repurchased FOC at a huge profit following the 1987 stock market crash.
Sold and bought
Owner Spear Leeds and Kellogg sold First Options of Chicago in 1986 to Continental Illinois Bank of Chicago for what observers considered the excessive sum of $125 million plus $35 million in subordianted debt.[1] At the time FOC was the number one provider of clearing services for stock options trading. In January, 1990 Continental Bank (later acquired by Bank of America) put FOC back on the market[2] and later that year sold it back to SLK for a mere $15 million and some future earnings. SLK later settled lawsuits accusing it of financial wrongdoing during and after the crashes of 1987 and 1989.
In 2004 First Options of Chicago became fully integrated into its original parent corporation and was renamed Spear Leeds & Kellogg, L.P.[3] One year later SLK was renamed by it parent company, Goldman Sachs, as Goldman Sachs Execution and Clearing, L.P.[4]
References
- ↑ Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. Answers.com.
- ↑ Spear Leeds & Kellogg Sec acquires First Options of Chicago Inc from Bank of America Illinois. Thomson Financial Mergers & Acquisitions.
- ↑ The Depository Trust Company - IMPORTANT. DTCC.
- ↑ Name Change—Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, L.P. to Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, L.P.. DTCC.
