Options and counterparty risk

Shweser mock says although a forward conversion with options avoids counterparty risk, the equity forward sale and the total return equity swap use a derivatives dealer and thus include counterparty risk.

How does a forward conversion with options not have counterparty risk? If you are long, there is someone short, so there is a counterparty isn’t there?

Forward conversion with options = buy a put sell a call with same strike price on same underlying. It is equivalent to a forward but uses options. Options are exchange traded and have a clearinghouse which eliminates counterparts risk

How do you know if the options are OTC or exchange traded? I thought puts and calls were all OTC but clearly not.