Ex-Coupon

Ex-Coupon

Ex-coupon is a bond or preferred stock that does not include the interest payment or dividend when purchased or sold. If the debt security is purchased on or after the ex-coupon date, the seller retains the right to receive the next due interest payment, and no coupon is included with the bond. A bond that is ex coupon is sold or bought with the knowledge that the investor will not receive the next coupon payment from the bond. If an investor purchases a bond sometime between the last coupon payment and the next coupon payment, s/he will receive the interest as s/he will be the bondholder of record. The price for a bond trading cum-coupon is referred to as the full or dirty price, which is the agreed purchase price plus accrued interest.

Ex-coupon refers to a fixed-income security that is trading without anticipated interest or coupon payments.

What Is Ex-Coupon?

Ex-coupon is a bond or preferred stock that does not include the interest payment or dividend when purchased or sold. A bond that is ex coupon is sold or bought with the knowledge that the investor will not receive the next coupon payment from the bond. The lack of interest payments should be taken into account when purchasing the bond and discounted accordingly.

Ex-coupon is also referred to as ex-interest, and can be compared with a stock that is trading ex-dividend.

Ex-coupon refers to a fixed-income security that is trading without anticipated interest or coupon payments.
As a result, ex-coupon bonds are sold at a discount to make up for the missed cash flows.
Most bonds in the U.S. trade cum-coupon and are quoted with a "dirty price", while bond markets in Europe traditionally trade ex-coupon with a "clean price" quote.

Understanding Ex-Coupon

The period when coupon payments are made to bondholders is disclosed in the bond indenture at the time of issuance. Some bonds pay interest payments annually, others do so semi-annually, quarterly, or monthly. The coupon interest is paid to the bondholder of record. If an investor purchases a bond sometime between the last coupon payment and the next coupon payment, s/he will receive the interest as s/he will be the bondholder of record. The amount of interest over this period that will be credited to the buyer is called the accrued interest.

However, since the buyer does not earn all of the interest accrued over this period, s/he must pay the bond seller the portion of the interest that the seller earned before selling the bond.

Ex-Coupon Date

The ex-coupon date can be defined as the date by which the trade must occur if the buyer is to receive the upcoming coupon. The ex-coupon date is the first day the bond starts trading without the coupon attached to it. If the debt security is purchased on or after the ex-coupon date, the seller retains the right to receive the next due interest payment, and no coupon is included with the bond. Therefore, the investor must buy or sell the asset before the ex-coupon date to get it with a coupon linked to it.

Example of Ex-Coupon

For example, assume a bond has a fixed coupon that is to be paid semi-annually on June 1 and December 1 every year. If a bondholder sells this bond on October 1, the buyer receives the coupon payment on the next scheduled coupon date, December 1. In this case, the buyer must pay the seller the interest accrued from June 1 to October 1. This interest is embedded in the purchase price of the bond.

Ex-Coupon vs. Cum-Coupon

The purchase price of the bond can take two forms – cum-coupon and ex-coupon. In the United States, bonds always trade cum-coupon, that is, with coupon. The price for a bond trading cum-coupon is referred to as the full or dirty price, which is the agreed purchase price plus accrued interest.

Some bond markets outside of the U.S. trade ex-coupon that is, without the coupon. Buyers of these bonds only pay the agreed purchase price for the bond (the clean price) and forego the next coupon payment. The seller collects and keeps the next interest due after the sale since s/he is registered as the holder of the bond on that date. However, since the buyer will own the bond during a small fraction of the coupon period, the seller must pay him the interest that accrues during that brief period.

Related terms:

Accrued Interest Adjustment

Accrued interest adjustment lowers a fixed-income security buyer's taxable interest income by reducing the extra interest amount that is paid to them. read more

Accrued Interest & Example

Accrued interest refers to the interest that has been incurred on a loan or other financial obligation but has not yet been paid out. read more

Bond Valuation

Bond valuation is a technique for determining the theoretical fair value of a particular bond. read more

Bond : Understanding What a Bond Is

A bond is a fixed income investment in which an investor loans money to an entity (corporate or governmental) that borrows the funds for a defined period of time at a fixed interest rate. read more

Clean Price

The clean price is the price of a coupon bond that doesn't include any accrued interest between the coupon payments for the bond. read more

Coupon Rate

A coupon rate is the yield paid by a fixed income security, which is the annual coupon payments divided by the bond's face or par value. read more

Cum Coupon

Cum coupon is a bond priced with the expectation that a seller will include the current coupon for the bond when the transaction is settled. read more

Dirty Price

A dirty price is a bond pricing quote that includes the cost of a bond that as well as accrued interest. read more

Ex-Dividend : Examples & Key Dates

Ex-dividend is a classification in stock trading that indicates when a declared dividend belongs to the seller rather than the buyer. read more

Indenture Defined

An indenture is a legal and binding contract, often between a bond issuer and bondholders. read more