Trading options from Germany: Eurex contract specifications, portfolio margin, access to US options, PRIIPs restrictions and costs

What you will learn

• The key contract specifications of Eurex equity and index options and why they matter for sizing.
• How portfolio-based margin (Eurex Clearing Prisma, often called SPAN-style) differs from fixed margin.
• What the PRIIPs rules mean for a German retail trader who wants US options.
• How to compute the all-in cost of a multi-leg trade in euros.

Explanation

Eurex, the derivatives exchange of Deutsche Börse, is the home market for options on German and many European shares and indices. Three specifications decide your size and risk:

• Contract size and multiplier. Most Eurex single-stock options cover 100 shares, but some contracts differ, so always read the specification. DAX options (product code ODAX) are worth €5 per index point; EURO STOXX 50 options (OESX) are worth €10 per index point. A 100-point DAX spread therefore has a width of €500, a 50-point EURO STOXX 50 spread also €500.
• Exercise style and settlement. Eurex index options are European-style and cash-settled; single-stock options are generally American-style with physical delivery of shares. This matters for the assignment mechanics in lesson 10.
• Expiry. Monthly series expire on the third Friday; weekly series on other Fridays. DAX options settle on an intraday auction price; check the current specification.

Margin. Since 2013 Eurex Clearing has used Prisma, a portfolio-based margin model that replaced the older risk-based margining. Like the SPAN method used by many US futures exchanges, it revalues the whole portfolio under many price and volatility scenarios and charges the worst plausible loss, giving offsets between positions that hedge each other. Two consequences: a defined-risk spread needs far less margin than a naked short, and margin rises with volatility, exactly when a margin call hurts most. Brokers may add their own surcharge.

Access to US options and PRIIPs. Under the EU PRIIPs regulation, a retail client in the EU may only be sold a packaged product if a Key Information Document (KID) exists. US-domiciled ETFs usually have no KID, which is why German retail investors generally cannot buy them. Listed US options are different: the OCC publishes KIDs for the options and futures it clears in EU languages, so brokers that serve German retail clients can offer US-listed options, including options on US ETFs. The catch: assignment on a US ETF option leaves you holding an ETF you may not buy, and many brokers then require a prompt close. Check your broker's current policy as of 2026.

Costs. Visible costs are commission per contract, exchange and clearing fees and currency conversion for USD trades; the invisible cost is the bid-ask spread on each leg. German tax treatment of option results is covered in the course German investor taxes; check with a Steuerberater.

Worked example

Hypothetical example: an iron condor on DAX options versus one on EURO STOXX 50 options. All premiums and fees are invented round numbers; taxes are excluded.

The two trades are economically identical once points are converted into euros. Commissions alone consume more than a tenth of the credit; if the bid-ask spread costs another 0.5 point per leg on the DAX condor (4 × 0.5 × €5 = €10 per round trip), total friction is €26, about 17% of the credit. Small-credit condors are hard to run profitably from a retail account.

Margin comparison: for the same share at €80, a cash-secured short €72 put covers 100 shares, so €7,200 of buying power for a €210 premium (2.9%). A €72/€67 put spread needs roughly its maximum loss (€500 minus credit) under portfolio margin, so the same €7,200 could fund many spreads, and many spreads means much more total risk.

Common mistake

Practice activity

You sell a EURO STOXX 50 put credit spread: short 4,800 put, long 4,750 put, net credit 12 points. Commission is €1.50 per contract, paid on opening and again on closing. (a) Compute width, credit, maximum loss and break-even in index points and euros. (b) Compute total commission and its share of the credit. (c) The same trade on the DAX would need what width in points to equal €500?

Key takeaways

• Read the multiplier first: ODAX €5 per point, OESX €10 per point, equity options usually 100 shares.
• Eurex index options are European and cash-settled; stock options are American with physical delivery.
• Portfolio margin (Prisma, SPAN-style) rewards defined-risk spreads but rises with volatility; size by maximum loss, not by margin.
• Under PRIIPs, US-domiciled ETFs are usually unavailable to German retail investors, but OCC-cleared US options have KIDs and are offered by several brokers; check current rules.

Next step

In the final lesson you bring everything together in a written options playbook with a strategy-selection matrix and a paper-traded month.