Business and Personal Finance Dictionary

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• EXERCISE
  
  Is the action taken by the holder of an option or convertible security to convert his derivative position into the underlying security, commodity or futures. In the case of the option the exercise of a call would give the owner of the call the underlying instrument or cash settlement adjustment. In the case of a convertible bond, the owner of the bond terminates that contractual relationship in exchange for shares in the corporation. The owner of the option is the only one that exercises. However, there are mandatory exercises for expiring options that are in-the-money by more than the stipulated threshold amount. Also, there may be built-in event options that take priority over the owner of the securities right to exercise. Nevertheless, this nesting of options still defers to rules that establish which party holds, which options.
  
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