Introduction
A holding period is a mandatory time restriction that prevents shares from being sold or transferred until they become available. You can use a holding period to support regulatory requirements, manage liquidity, or apply a lock-up after shares vest.
In Ledgy, a holding period is attached to a share issuance or an equity-settlement transaction. It is not attached directly to an option or equity grant.
This article explains how Ledgy calculates holding periods, how account admins can add or update them, and what stakeholders see on their dashboard.
How does Ledgy calculate a holding period?
When you enable a holding period, choose one of two modes:
Months – Enter a whole number of months. Ledgy adds this duration to the vesting date of each tranche. If shares vest on different dates, they can have different availability dates.
Date – Enter a specific Shares tradable on date. The relevant shares become available on that date. This is useful when a lock-up ends on a fixed calendar date, such as after an IPO or public listing.
Important: Choose either Months or Date. Do not enter both a duration and a Shares tradable on date.
Shares become tradable on the displayed availability date, not the day after it.
How do I add a holding period?
You need to be an account admin to add or update a holding period.
Go to Ownership > Transactions.
Create or edit a share issuance or equity-settlement transaction.
Open the Holding period section.
Turn on Enabled.
Select Months or Date.
Enter the number of months or the Shares tradable on date.
Save the transaction and publish it when you are ready for it to appear in the cap table.
Only mandatory holding periods are currently available.
How do I update holding periods in bulk?
To apply the same holding period to several supported transactions:
Go to Ownership > Transactions.
Select the relevant share issuance or equity-settlement transactions.
Choose Bulk edit and select Holding period.
Choose whether to set or clear the holding period.
If you are setting one, select Months or Date and enter the value.
Review and apply the change.
Existing month-based holding periods remain month-based unless you deliberately change them to Date. Editing another field does not convert them automatically.
How do I import holding periods with Excel?
The share issuance and equity-settlement import templates include holding-period columns.
To use Months, enter the holding period duration in months.
To use Date, enter the date in the Shares tradable on column.
Do not complete both columns for the same transaction.
Ledgy validates the spreadsheet before importing it and highlights rows that need correcting.
What do stakeholders see?
Stakeholders see shares that are still in a mandatory holding period as unavailable on their dashboard.
On the stakeholder dashboard, under Your equity, shares currently in a holding period appear in a greyed-out block, as shown below.
Stakeholders can select See details to view the affected number of shares and the date beside Available on. On that date, the shares are added to their available balance, provided they have vested.
A holding period does not change the vesting schedule. Shares must vest before they can become available.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a holding period and a restriction period?
A holding period is a time-based lock attached to specific shares created by a share issuance or equity settlement. It controls when those shares become available.
A restriction period is a broader company-wide or share-class rule. It can prevent selected transaction types during a defined period and can affect multiple stakeholders.
Learn more in What is a restriction period?
Can I change an existing month-based holding period to a date?
Yes. Edit the supported transaction, open Holding period, select Date, and enter the Shares tradable on date. You can also update supported transactions in bulk.
Will existing holding periods change automatically?
No. Existing month-based records keep their current duration and calculation unless you deliberately update them.
Can I set a voluntary holding period?
No. Ledgy currently supports mandatory holding periods only.
Does the Months/Date option apply to Deferred Compensation awards?
No. Deferred Compensation uses separate holding-period settings and is not covered by this workflow.
Can I add a holding period directly to an option grant?
No. Add it to the share issuance or equity-settlement transaction that creates the shares.