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Value dates and broken dates, explained

Updated July 20261 min readReviewed by Just's benchmarking team
The short answer

Every FX trade has two dates: the trade date, when the deal is agreed, and the value date, when the currency actually changes hands. For a spot trade the gap between them is fixed by market convention, not by either party - two business days for almost every currency pair, one business day for a small handful. Weekends and public holidays push the value date further out, but they never change the rate you agreed.

What a value date is

A value date is the day the two currencies are actually delivered and received. It is distinct from the trade date, when the price itself is agreed. On a spot trade the two dates sit close together but are never the same day. On a forward, they can be months apart.

Value date: the date the two currencies actually change hands, distinct from the trade date when the deal itself is agreed. Spot, fixed tenors and broken dates are all value-date conventions.

Why spot isn't same-day

A spot trade is a bilateral agreement to exchange currencies now, for value one or two business days later. The gap is historical and operational, not a technology limit. It reflects how long the correspondent banking chain in each currency's home market has conventionally taken to confirm and settle a trade, and the convention has held even as the underlying systems have gotten faster.

The T+1 vs T+2 rule

Standard spot settlement is two business days (T+2) for almost every currency pair. A small handful settle in one business day (T+1) instead.

SPOT SETTLEMENT · BY CURRENCY PAIRConvention
T+1 · one business dayUSDCAD · USDTRY · USDRUB · USDPHP
T+2 · two business daysEvery other pair

Weekends and holidays

Business days, not calendar days, set the count, so weekends and public holidays push the value date out. A EURNOK spot trade agreed on a Friday values the following Tuesday - two business days forward, skipping the weekend. A public holiday in either currency's home country, falling between the trade date and the value date, pushes settlement a further day out again.

FAQ

Why does a EURNOK trade on Friday settle on Tuesday?
Spot settlement counts business days, not calendar days. EURNOK is T+2, two business days forward. Agreed on a Friday, the two business days fall on Monday and Tuesday, so the value date is Tuesday.
Does a bank holiday change the value date?
Yes. A public holiday in either currency's home country, falling between the trade date and the value date, pushes settlement a further business day out.
Is the one-day vs two-day settlement rule about technology?
No. It is a historical, operational market convention built around how the correspondent banking chain in each currency's home market has traditionally confirmed and settled a trade. It has stuck even though the underlying systems could move faster.
Does the same value-date logic apply to forwards?
Yes, just further out, and a forward can settle on a broken date: a value date that falls between the standard quoted tenors. See how broken dates are priced for the detail.
Related
FX forwards: pricing, cost, and how to benchmark them → FX forwards vs options: what each one costs → Glossary →
Every trade scored against the real market rate, never the mid. Read the methodology
Terms used here: value date · broken date · spot
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