A Study On Option Contract

Option contract is the researching object of this dissertation, and the legal problems relating to the option contract is a fully new researching field in international financial law. Although option contract isn't formally traded in China Mainland until now, it has already been put on the agenda. The purpose of this dissertation is to correct the misunderstanding on the option contract, to interpret veraciously the major legal problems of the option contract, and to contribute the legal theories to the option trading in China. As far as the structure is concerned, this dissertation is divided into five chapters, excluding the introduction part.Chapter 1 analyzes and introduces the concept, the classification and the articles of the option contract. Just as its name implies, option contract means "the contract concerning option", so this chapter starts to construe the concept of "option" and "contract" before that of option contract. By correcting the misunderstanding on the concept of option, this chapter makes a legal analysis on the concept of option, and then further clearly defines the concept of option contract combining with the definition of "contract". This chapter also introduces the classification and articles of option contract, laying the foundation for the further research.Chapter 2 concentrates on the legal property of option contract. The legal property of option contract determines the status of option contract in the whole legal system, thus it is not only a theoretic problem, but also a practical problem called for urgent attention. This chapter gives prominence to the legal property of option contract by contrasting option contract with the other related concepts. Firstly this chapter makes a comparative analysis on the option contract and contact for sale, unilateral contract, conditional contract, pre-contract, securities and so on, then compares the option contract with gambling contract, insurance contract, standard contract, future contract and so forth, finally defines the legal property of option contract based on the conclusion mentioned above.Chapter 3 is devoted to the subject and object of option contract. Though the subject of Over-The-Counter option contract is easily ascertained, the subject of Exchange-traded option contract is rather complicated to determine. There are many civil subjects involving in option contract from concluding to clearing, such as option investor, Option Exchange Member, Option Clearing House Member, Option Clearing House and so on. This chapter examines the subject who can directly enjoy the rights and assume the obligations in option contract in his own name. This chapter then discusses the object of option contract, and clarifies whether commodity, rights, legal relation, or action serves as the object of option contract.Chapter 4 focuses on the level and content of option contract. Before analyzing the content of option contract, this chapter investigates the level of option contract. There are many legal relationships associated with option contract, such as the relationship of claim and debt concerning premium, the relationship of claim and debt concerning enabling option, the legal relationship of option, the relationship of claim and debt concerning the price of underlying assets, the relationship of claim and debt concerning the ownership of underlying assets, this chapter demonstrates which legal relationship should be included in the option contractual relationship. This chapter subsequently discusses the specific rights and obligations comprised in the content of the option contractual relationship.Chapter 5 deals with the creation, modification, extinguishment and governing law of option contract. Firstly, this chapter discusses respectively on the manners of creation of Over-The-Counter option contract and Exchange-traded option contract. Secondly, this chapter discusses at great length the different manners of the modification and termination of option contract. Thirdly, according to the theory of contractual depecage, this chapter reviews the governing law of the capacity, form, creation and validity of option contract respectively.