Exercise Date

In the context of options, exercise dates are the dates on which traders opt to realise the intrinsic value of in-the-money options positions. In a call option, exercise means buying the underlying from the counterparty at the strike price in the options contract; in a put option, exercise means selling the underlying at the strike price. Unlike European style and Bermudan style options (where exercise can only take place at expiry in the case of the former and on specified dates in the case of the latter), American style options allow exercise at any time prior to expiry.