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What is a Trading Day and how does it work?

A guide for admins and participants: from setup to settlement using the Dutch-auction clearing principle.

A Trading Day is a time-boxed event on Share Council in which holders of a portfolio's shares can submit buy or sell bids. At the close of the bidding window, an admin sets a clearing price — the single price at which the maximum number of shares can change hands. Everyone whose bid is compatible with the clearing price gets matched; the rest are declined. All matched trades settle at that one clearing price regardless of the original bid price.

This mechanism is called a uniform-price auction or Dutch-auction clearing: it maximises traded volume and ensures equal treatment of all participants.

For Admins: Setting Up and Managing a Trading Day

Step 1: Enable the Trading Day Feature

Go to Portfolio settings on the relevant portfolio. In the left navigation click Trade (Beta Version) then Bidding setup. Enable the Trading day setup (Beta Version) toggle to reveal the configuration fields.

Step 2: Configure the Trading Day

Set the dates: Start date (when bidding opens), Close bid window (days before the trading date on which new bids stop), and Trading day date (when clearing occurs). Set price parameters: Minimum price, Maximum price, and a Default valuation pre-filled from the portfolio valuation. Configure notifications: you can enable a launch email and a reminder email sent one day before bidding closes. Optionally enable Hide trades from other participants to keep bids private.

Step 3: Launch the Trading Day

Three buttons appear at the bottom of the configuration: Save as Draft (saves without sending emails or opening bidding), Launch Trade Day (activates the trading day and optionally sends a launch announcement to all participants), and Cancel Trade Day (irreversibly deletes the configuration and all bids). Once launched, participants can submit bids from the start date onwards.

Step 4: Monitor the Bidding Period

While bidding is open, return to Portfolio settings > Trade (Beta Version) to see the Clearing Price Overview: the live clearing price (updated in real time), matched vs. total offer volume, balance of tradeable shares, and the lowest asking price. On the circle page, the Trading day widget shows each bid with participant name, direction (BUY/SELL), quantity, and date.

Step 5: Submit the Clearing Price

After the Close bid window date passes, no new bids can be submitted. Return to Portfolio settings > Trade (Beta Version), review the Clearing Price Overview statistics, then click Send clearing price in the Clearing Price Proposal section. The system runs the Dutch-auction algorithm: buy bids at or above the clearing price are accepted; sell bids at or below are accepted; all others are declined. Each participant is immediately emailed: Bid Accepted (with clearing price, matched quantity, and payment link) or Bid Declined.

Step 6: Settlement

After the clearing price is submitted, two settlement paths are available. Path A (SEPA export): download a SEPA XML file from the Clearing Price Overview table, upload it to your banking platform, then click Finalize transaction to mark all matched trades as Completed. Path B (Batch mark as paid): use the Mark all as paid button to batch-mark all accepted bids as paid without verifying individual payments — use this when settlement is handled outside the platform.

For Participants: Placing and Managing Bids

When a trading day is launched, every participant in the portfolio receives a Trading Day Launch email with the bidding start and close dates, price range, and a link to the circle.

How to Submit a Bid

Log in to Share Council and go to Circles > open the relevant circle. Scroll down to the Trading day widget. Click + Add to open the Add trading day bid panel. Choose Buy or Sell, select your entity, enter the amount (number of shares), and your price per share (must be within the advisory range). For a sell bid you must also provide a payment link or IBAN so the matched buyer can pay you. Click Add to submit. You can only have one active bid per trading day — delete the existing one first if you want to change it.

After the Clearing Price is Submitted

You receive one of two emails. If your bid was matched (Bid Accepted): you are notified of the clearing price, the number of matched shares, and receive a link to the transaction to complete payment. Buyers must pay via the link; sellers provided payment details when bidding and will receive payment at the clearing price. If your bid was not matched (Bid Declined): your bid is closed and no action is required. You can check bid status at any time by clicking Info on your bid in the Trading day widget.

How the Dutch-Auction Clearing Works

The clearing price is the highest price at which the maximum number of shares can be traded. The algorithm works as follows: collect all buy bids (sorted highest to lowest) and sell bids (sorted lowest to highest). For each candidate price level, calculate cumulative buy demand (all buy bids at or above that price) and cumulative sell supply (all sell bids at or below). The tradeable volume equals the minimum of those two. The clearing price is the candidate price with the highest tradeable volume; on ties the highest price wins.

All matched trades execute at the same clearing price regardless of each participant's original bid. If supply and demand are unbalanced, the excess side is prorated: in excess demand, buyer orders are filled highest-price-first and the last tranche is prorated; in excess supply, seller orders are filled lowest-price-first and the last tranche is prorated.

Trading Day States

The trading day progresses through four states: Pending (before the start date — bidding not yet open), Collecting bids (from start date until the close bid window date — bids accepted), Payment window (from close bid date until the trading day date — no new bids, payments processed), and Completed (on and after the trading day date — settlement phase).

Bid Statuses

Each bid moves through its own status progression. All bids start as Collecting bid (during the bidding window). When the clearing price is submitted: matched bids become Accepted, then Awaiting payment, then Completed once payment is confirmed. Unmatched bids become Declined. Status timestamps are automatically recorded at each transition.

Constraints and Rules

Only one active trading day per portfolio at a time — the current one must complete or be cancelled before creating a new one. Each entity can have only one active bid per trading day (buy or sell, not both). Bids must fall within the minimum and maximum price range set by the admin. Sell bids require the entity to hold sufficient shares. A trading day cannot be launched if the portfolio has no payment provider configured.

Admin Checklist

  1. Go to Portfolio settings > Trade (Beta Version) > Bidding setup and enable Trading day setup.

  2. Set Start date, Close bid window (days prior), and Trading day date.

  3. Set Minimum price and Maximum price; optionally configure notifications and bid visibility.

  4. Click Launch Trade Day (or Save as Draft first).

  5. After the close date: return to the page, review statistics, and click Send clearing price.

  6. After settlement: click Finalize transaction or export a SEPA file.

Participant Checklist

  1. Watch for the Trading Day Launch email.

  2. Go to the circle page and scroll to the Trading day widget.

  3. Click + Add, choose BUY or SELL, fill in amount and price, then click Add.

  4. Watch for the Trading Day Reminder email (1 day before close).

  5. After the close date, watch for a Bid Accepted or Bid Declined email.

  6. If accepted: complete payment via the link in the email or in the transaction detail.