Regulate Date Settlement For Free

The three-day rule in stocks mandates that buyers and sellers in stock transactions fully settle their business within three days of executing a trade. A buyer must send payment to the brokerage firm involved in a trade within three business days of making a purchase.

If you bought the shares with unsettled funds, you can't sell them until the funds have settled. Selling shares before the funds used to purchase them settle results in a violation of settlement regulations. The broker can suspend your account for repeated violations.

The settlement date is the date on which a trade is final, when the buyer pays the seller and the seller delivers cleared assets to the buyer. The settlement arose to deal with the complex process of clearing a transaction but has since been reduced to as little as two business days (T+2) through the use of technology.

The seller sets the date of settlement in the contract of sale. The settlement period is usually 30 to 90 days. Settlement is the date when you: pay the balance of the purchase price to the seller.

In March 2017, the SEC shortened the settlement period from T+3 to T+2 days. The SEC's new rule amendment reflects improvements in technology, increased trading volumes and changes in investment products and the trading landscape. Now, most securities transactions settle within two business days of their trade date.

When does settlement occur? For most stock trades, settlement occurs two business days after the day the order executes, or T+2 (trade date plus two days). For example, if you were to execute an order on Monday, it would typically settle on Wednesday.

On February 15, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "Commission") adopted a rule amendment to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most routine securities trades from two business days after the trade date to one business day after the trade date (or from "T+2" to "T+1" in common parlance).