Settlement: when the shares are really yours

When your order matches, the trade is executed — the price is fixed and the deal is done. But the shares do not arrive in your Demat that instant, and your money does not reach the seller that instant. That transfer is settlement, and it takes a set number of working days.

The cycle is expressed as T plus a number of days, where T is the trading day. Confirm the current cycle with your broker; NEPSE has changed it before and may again.

Why the gap matters

• You generally cannot sell shares that have not settled into your Demat yet.
• Money from a sale is not available to withdraw until that sale settles.
• Working days, not calendar days. A weekend or a run of festival holidays stretches the wait considerably.