OTC

Over the counter. As opposed to on exchange, or regulated market, or MTF. It's a quaint old notion that you could pop into your local branch of your investment bank and acquire a derivative contract from a teller, but there it is.

OTC really means a private, bilateral contract, on bespoke terms, in contrast to one that is standardized, public and traded on exchange.

Examples of OTC contracts

• Swaps traded under an ISDA Master Agreement (as long as they are not cleared derivatives)
• Securities lending and repo transactions

Conduct of Business

This is an article about the FCA’s conduct of business rules, known by its chapter in the FCA Sourcebook, COBS, which implement, among other things, MiFID (directive 2004/39/EC (EUR Lex) and implementing directive 2006/73/EC (EUR Lex)).