Settlement Date & Period Definition
The date on which a transaction or a derivative contract has to be completed by passing real ownership of an asset to the buyer in exchange for the required price. Based on the type of securities purchased, it takes 1-3 days to settle a trading order once it is performed. Weekend, bank holidays, as well as exchange holidays, are not included in this date. When anyone buys or sells an asset, there are two important dates to remember: the transaction date (also known as the trade date) & the settlement date.
The former is the date on which a transaction takes place, while the latter is the date on which the transaction is completed, and when the buyer receives possession of the asset. It’s vital to note that the settlement doesn’t occur on the same day as the trade since delivering the asset and transferring money for it requires time.
Assume that someone placed an online trade order on Tuesday, October 25, and it was fulfilled that day. As a result, Tuesday, October 25 will be that person’s trading day. The settlement date will thus be Friday, October 28, 3 days following the transaction date, and will be denoted as T+3, where T represents the trade date. The amount of time it takes to settle a claim is determined by the kind of asset and the location.
The period between the trade date—the month, day, and year on which a deal is executed in the market—and the settlement day—when a deal is declared final—is referred to as the settlement period. When buying or selling stock or different assets, both parties have to fulfill their responsibilities in order to finalize the deal. The buyer should pay for the securities during this period, and the seller should transfer the assets. The person who is buying becomes the holder of the record of the asset on the last day of this period.
Once the ownership of the asset is moved, money is paid, and the buyer becomes the new owner of the asset, the deal is termed settled.
Various kinds of securities have different settlement times, which can range from 1-3 trading days from the day of purchase.
As securities trading transitioned from manual to digital transactions, the length of this time has shifted. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had originally set the settlement period at 5 working days. This was altered from 5 to 3 working days in 1993 when the SEC reduced the settlement term. It implies that if no holidays fall between Tuesday and Friday, a trade initiated on Tuesday will be finalized on Friday.
The Securities and Exchange Commission changed the settlement time from 3 to 2 working days in 2017 to assist mitigate the credit and market risks that involved parties encountered. The need for a 2-day waiting time was prompted by technological advancements, which allowed parties to conduct trades and transfer ownership of assets fast and easily.
When speaking of this time frame, brokers use “T+” to indicate the number of working days it will require to finish the transaction. “T+1” signifies “transaction date and 1 day,” for instance. For forex transactions, brokers can offer a longer settlement period.
Its Price
The settlement price, often known as the close price, is the amount at which a derivatives agreement settles at the end of a trading day. This is also the market price at which a certain contract starts trading on the subsequent working day. It is generally established by averaging the spot price in the last moments of a trading period or by the price of the final deal before the market close.
As an example, let’s say before the end of a trading day, the final trade of the derivatives contract ABC is $50. As a result, the ABC settlement price will be shown as $50. For traders, the settlement price of a derivatives contract is critical since it shows if they won or lost funds on that specific trading day. This price indicates whether or not traders need to deposit money to their margin accounts to reimburse if any losses have occurred.
The Meaning of Settlement Price
A settlement price serves as a benchmark for determining the value of ongoing derivatives contracts, as well as determining their value at expiry. On the settlement day, this price is achieved.
This price can be determined in a variety of ways, although it is usually calculated by pre-determined methods that vary significantly based on the exchange and the traded item.
These prices are usually calculated using price averages over a set period of time. Settlement prices can be estimated based on activities that occur over the course of a trading day (including the open & close prices) or activities that occur within a specified timeframe inside a trading day.
The opening price represents the value of a security at the start of a trading day on a certain exchange, whereas the closing price shows the value of that same asset at the end of that day. Since off-hours activities occur when the market is first closed, the end price may vary from the following day’s starting price in circumstances when assets are traded on several exchanges.
Although close and open prices are typically managed in the same manner from one exchange to another, there isn’t any basis for determining settlement prices on multiple exchanges, resulting in differences across worldwide marketplaces.
See also: What is Averaging Down?
