Record date
The day a company checks its list of shareholders to decide who gets a dividend, bonus or other corporate action.
The record date is the cut-off a company uses to decide who gets a dividend, a bonus issue or another corporate action. If the shares are in your demat account at the end of that day, you are on the list. Because Indian shares settle on T+1, you need to buy at least one trading day before the record date, which is why the ex-date and record date usually fall on the same day. Read the full guide in record date vs ex-date.
Questions people ask
What is the record date for a dividend?
The day the company looks at its shareholder records to decide who receives the dividend. Anyone holding the shares in their demat account at the end of that day is paid.
Is the record date the same as the ex-date?
In India, usually yes. Shares settle one trading day after a trade (T+1), so a share bought on the record date arrives too late. That makes the record date the first day the share trades without the dividend. A trading holiday can push the two apart.
How much notice does a company give of a record date?
Under SEBI's listing rules, a listed company must tell the stock exchanges its record date, and the purpose, at least three working days in advance, not counting the day it informs them or the record date itself.
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