Store Date Settlement For Free

It's when ownership passes from the seller to you, and you pay the balance of the sale price. The seller sets the settlement date in the contract of sale. As a general rule, property settlement periods are usually 30 to 90 days, but they can be longer or shorter.

For example, suppose you placed an online trade order on Monday, June 8, and it was executed on the same day. So, Monday, June 8, becomes your trading date. Then the settlement date will be Thursday, June 11, three days after the trade date and represented as T+3, where T is the trade date.

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. For some products, such as mutual funds, settlement occurs on a different timeline.

Funds cannot be sold until after settlement. Note: Some security types listed in the table may not be traded online.

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).

The rationale for the delayed settlement is to give time for the seller to get documents to the settlement and for the purchaser to clear the funds required for settlement. T+2 is the standard settlement period for normal trades on a stock exchange, and any other conditions need to be handled on an "off-market" basis.

Investors must complete or "settle" their security transactions within two business days. This settlement cycle is known as "T+2," shorthand for "trade date plus two days."