Four dates run most entitlement logic. The announcement date is when the board says what will be paid, how much, and when. The ex-date is when the share starts trading without the benefit: deals before it are cum, deals on or after it are ex. The record date is the register snapshot the paying agent actually uses. The payment date is when cash (or stock) moves — often the same day as record in bearer markets, two to four weeks later in registered markets.
Two counterparties can override the calendar. A special-ex trade in the cum period leaves the benefit with the seller; a special-cum trade in the ex period gives it to the buyer. The price adjusts, and a claim is usually needed because the register still follows ordinary rules.
Thames Industrial plc declares an interim of 12p, record Thursday, payable three weeks later. Atlantic Horizon UCITS ICAV’s CREST position at record date is what State Street will be paid on. If the ICAV sold shares special-ex in the cum window, the register may show a smaller holding than the fund is economically owed, and Dublin still has to book a claim before NAV is honest.
Nippon Industrials KK’s split uses the same four-date skeleton with almost no cash. Ex-date is when the Tokyo price adjusts; the register rewrite is the record/effective moment; the Dublin books must show twice the shares at half the price before dealing starts on the new basis.
Cum-ex taught Europe that these dates are a tax control, not only an operations calendar. An Irish UCITS that reclaims withholding it was never entitled to is not “being efficient”. It is filing a false claim. Dublin, the depositary, and State Street all need the same ex-date on German names as well as on Thames Industrial.
Price adjustment is the market’s version of the same calendar. Thames Industrial drops about 12p on ex-date if the cash dividend is 12p. Nippon Industrials halves on the split ex-date. If Atlantic Horizon’s PMS still carries the old price against the new quantity, or the old quantity against the new price, NAV is wrong even when the cash is right.