Why was I charged for a dividend?

With the change to T+1 settlement the standard record date will be the business day after the trade is made based on trade date plus one business day. This change will need to be considered for when to place a trade to be recognized as an owner of record…

The most common instance of this will occur when an account holder held a short option position prior to the ex-dividend date. In the event a long options holder exercises the position prior to ex-dividend date, the short holder may be assigned. Such action may lead to an account holding a short stock position over the ex-dividend date and will therefore be charged the dividend…

If you close a securities position which resulted from an option assignment on the date it was assigned to your account, it will be considered a day trade.  Similarly, if you close a securities position which resulted from an option exercise on the date it was exercised to your account, it will be considered a day trade…

If you are maintaining a settled short position in a U.S. security as of the close of business one business day prior to the Record Date (this is also one business day prior to the Ex-Dividend Date) you will be liable to the lender for the dividend. If you bought in the position thereafter, the trade would not settle in time for you to avoid that payment obligation…