> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://initiativ.gitbook.io/initiativ/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://initiativ.gitbook.io/initiativ/mm_internal/3.-products-and-market-structure/3.2-trading-hours-and-settlement.md).

# 3.2 Trading Hours and Settlement

## Trading Hours

Opening hours are market specific and are published per market in the contract specifications and the annual calendar. At launch, EUA spot and EUA futures both trade continuously on each Business Day from 08:00 to 18:00 CET. Running spot on the same full session as futures is deliberate: it keeps spot versus future spreads tradable throughout the day rather than only in a morning window.

| Phase                   | Time (CET)     | Description                                                                                                                                              |
| ----------------------- | -------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Continuous trading      | 08:00 to 18:00 | Real-time order matching under strict price-time priority. No opening or closing auction.                                                                |
| Settlement price window | 17:05 to 17:15 | The window over which the daily settlement price is measured as the VWAP of executed trades. Trading is unaffected and runs normally through the window. |
| Close                   | 18:00          | End of the continuous session.                                                                                                                           |

Daylight savings: all times are CET or CEST and adjust automatically with the standard European transitions.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Pending.** Spot session hours are provisional. Two open decisions can shorten them. First, whether a daily future is listed (Section 3.1), which affects the viable spot schedule. Second, whether the CCP supports a spread product with one physical spot leg and one futures leg carrying different cash and margin treatment. If cross-product spreads are not supported, spot could instead close at the registry cutoff. The registry cutoff falls earlier in the afternoon, well before the 18:00 session close, so closing spot at the cutoff would mean every spot trade settles same day (T0), removing the T+1 tail that afternoon trades otherwise incur. The full-session assumption holds only while the spread case does.
{% endhint %}

## Settlement Timing

Settlement timing differs by product and is constrained by the wider registry and clearing infrastructure rather than by the Exchange. The Exchange’s aspiration is settlement as close to instantaneous as the surrounding infrastructure allows, and the platform is capable of atomic settlement on its own side.

In practice at launch:

* **Spot:** Trades matched on or before the registry cutoff settle the same Business Day (T0). Trades matched after the cutoff settle the next Business Day (T+1). The cutoff reflects registry operating hours and is confirmed with the clearing partner, dependent on the national registry through which the CCP operates.
* **Futures:** Physical delivery into the registry on a T+1 basis (target), per the contract specifications.

As registry and clearing infrastructure evolves, the Exchange intends to compress these timings toward its near-instantaneous aspiration.

## Settlement Price

The daily settlement price for each instrument is the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of trades executed in the settlement price window (17:05 to 17:15 CET) on the relevant Business Day.

The settlement price is determined at the close of the settlement window (17:15) and published after a short interval, during which the Exchange runs validation and, where needed, fallback checks; the Exchange therefore knows the price before it is published, and a short publication delay is normal and consistent with incumbent practice.

Where insufficient volume trades in the window to produce a representative price, the settlement price is determined through a defined fallback cascade, with the Exchange retaining discretion to override where the resulting price would not be representative. The full fallback procedures and the scope of that discretion are set out in the Settlement Price Methodology \[link to be added once the detailed document is produced].

Carried forward as flagged open items: shortened sessions, the holiday calendar, clock synchronisation, and the amendment notice period.