Trading & Options · Profile from Trading and Options Research Companion
Optiver
The Amsterdam options market maker founded on 9 Apr 1986 by Johann Kaemingk, Ruud Vlek and Chris Oomen as a market maker on the European Options Exchange (EOE), whose name comes from the Dutch optieverhandelaar, "option trader" (Wikipedia). Forty years later it is one of the few private market makers that publishes its group results. Its own releases give net trading income of €4.556bn and net profit of €1.769bn for 2025, with €5.49bn of equity and 2,233 full-time staff (Optiver release, 31 Mar 2026). That puts it in the same league as the US options leaders — Citadel Securities, Susquehanna and Jane Street — although those firms' figures are only "reported" from press and bond documents. Optiver calls itself a leading global market maker in listed SPX options (Optiver, Oct 2021). It also carries one of the clearest enforcement records in the industry: the CFTC's 2008 "banging the close" case over NYMEX crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures in March 2007, settled on 19 Apr 2012 for $14m ($13m penalty plus $1m disgorgement), with commodity trading bans of two to eight years for three former officers (CFTC releases 5521-08 and 6239-12).
At a glance
- Founded
- 9 Apr 1986, Amsterdam, by Johann Kaemingk, Ruud Vlek and Chris Oomen, as an options market maker on the European Options Exchange (now Euronext) (Wikipedia)
- Headquarters
- Amsterdam; offices in Chicago (US headquarters, options), Austin, New York, London, Sydney (since 1996), Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei and Mumbai (since 2024) (Optiver website, Nov 2026)
- Ownership / structure
- Private; Optiver Holding B.V. is the group parent (CFTC 2008 release; Wikipedia); the shareholder structure is not described here (verify)
- Leadership (2026)
- Jan Boomaars, CEO (Optiver releases 2024–26); Rutger Brinkhuis, CEO of Optiver US (Optiver, May 2024)
- Business lines
- Market making and proprietary trading in listed derivatives (equity and index options, futures), cash equities, ETFs, bonds and FX; strategic investments (Optiver PSI, since Oct 2021); European power and gas trading via a majority stake in Northpool (completed 3 Nov 2026) (Optiver releases)
- Scale (dated, company-published)
- Net trading income: €3.290bn (2022), €2.773bn (2023), €3.494bn (2024), €4.556bn (2025). Net profit attributable to equity holders: €1.286bn (2022), >€1.158bn (2023), €1.369bn (2024), €1.769bn (2025). Equity: €3.568bn (end-2022), €4.1bn (end-2023), €4.905bn (end-2024), €5.490bn (end-2025). Staff ~2,100 (2024), 2,233 FTE (2025). Trades on 50+ exchanges and platforms (Wikipedia); "over 10 million trades executed daily" (Optiver, 2026)
- Regulators
- CFTC and NFA, SEC and FINRA, exchange rulebooks (Cboe, Nasdaq, CME) in the US; the AFM and De Nederlandsche Bank in the Netherlands (verify which licences); the FCA (London); ASIC (Sydney); SEBI (Mumbai — a SEBI-licensed member of NSE and BSE per an Optiver job posting, verify)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding on the EOE floor (1986); Sydney and Asia-Pacific expansion (1996–2014); the NYMEX "banging the close" case (2007–12); launch market maker for long-dated SPX options and US index-options leadership (2021–); Optiver PSI and venue investments (2021–24); India (2024–); exchange quoting discipline (2009–25); record results (2022–25); Northpool and European energy trading (2026)
9 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1986
Founding on the European Options Exchange
Founding
1996
Sydney and Asia Pacific Expansion
New markets (international expansion), including a reported market exit
2007
NYMEX Banging the Close and CFTC Case
Large trade or position / regulatory, enforcement and legal action (a failure)
2021
Principal Strategic Investments and Venue Stakes
Strategic investment / market-structure bet (exchanges, data, crypto infrastructure)
2021
SPX LEAPS and US Index Options Leadership
Exchange listing or product / market-structure bet
2024
India Expansion and the Mumbai Office
New market / strategy expansion
2025
Exchange Quoting Fines and Compliance Load
Regulatory action (minor exchange discipline)
2025
Record Results and the Volatility Dividend
Outcome / market regime (and a disclosure choice: publishing group results)
2026
Northpool and European Energy Trading
Acquisition / strategy pivot (new asset class)