Record Date

The record date is the day a company takes a snapshot of its shareholder register to determine who receives a declared dividend or gets to vote at a shareholder meeting. If your shares are settled in your name by the close of the record date, you are on the list.

Under the US T+1 settlement cycle the record date and the ex-dividend date fall on the same day. That sequencing is the whole system: the ex-date is derived from the record date the board announces, working backward through settlement math so that anyone buying before the ex-date settles in time.

For traders the record date itself is a non-event — eligibility was decided by the ex-date. It matters operationally for corporate actions: proxy voting rights, spin-off distributions, and rights offerings all key off the record-date shareholder list.