Ex-dividend date

The ex-dividend date ("ex-date") is the first day a share trades without the right to its next declared dividend. A trade made before the ex-date settles in time for the new holder to be on the register at the record date. A trade made on or after it does not, so the seller keeps the dividend.

US: ex-date equals record date

US stock trades settle one business day after the trade (T+1). Since US markets moved to T+1 in May 2024, the ex-dividend date for normal cash dividends is the same business day as the record date, replacing the earlier one-day gap. A purchaser must therefore trade at least one business day before the record date. This is reflected in exchange rule changes filed with the SEC for the T+1 transition (NYSE National filing, 2024).

For STRC under its semi-monthly schedule (record dates on the 15th and the last day of the month), the ex-date normally falls on the same day as each record date. For SATA and SATS, which pay every business day with a record date on the preceding business day, the ex-date moves forward every trading day.

UK: ex-date before record date

On the London Stock Exchange, the ex-dividend date is normally the business day before the record date. The first dividend on The Smarter Web Company's MORE preferred has an ex-date of 22 October 2026 and a record date of 23 October 2026. It pays £0.2301 per share by 9 November 2026, according to the company's results-of-offer announcement, 12 October 2026. 21DC has not seen a separate declaration announcement for this payment.

Price effect

All else being equal, a share's price tends to drop by roughly the dividend amount on the ex-date. On daily-paying instruments this effect is spread into small daily steps.

What to check in the filing

• Whether the issuer or exchange states an ex-date separately
• Which market's settlement cycle applies
• The record date the ex-date relates to