Settlement and the make-up
At the end of a market there is no negotiation. The index is compiled one final time from the events the market defined, and every open position on it is valued at that single number — the make-up.
One number, applied once
Fixed-odds settlement decides whether a selection won. Spread settlement decides what the number is, and everything else follows from arithmetic. There is no partial win, no accumulator of legs and no dependant bet: there is a make-up, an entry price, a money per point, and a multiplication.
make-up = 3 goals × 10 = 30 points
realised = (30 − 29) × £3 = +£3
the same market sold at 26 · £3 per point: (26 − 30) × £3 = −£12
the same market bought at 29 at £20 per point: (30 − 29) × £20 = +£20
a larger money per point scales the result rather than the accuracy of the view
The last line is the reason size is not skill. At £20 per point, being right by one point is worth £20, and being wrong by twenty is worth £400; the multiplier does not distinguish between the two.
What can delay or change a make-up
| Case | What the rules define | Why it matters to a position |
|---|---|---|
| The event is abandoned | Whether the market is voided, settled on the events already counted, or carried to the rearranged fixture | A void returns the position rather than settling it; a carry keeps the margin tied up for weeks |
| The event runs long | Whether the index uses the scheduled time or the actual playing time, and for how much longer goals still count | A time-based index makes up at the number the rules name, not at the number on the stadium clock |
| A result is corrected | The deadline by which the named source's correction is applied | A correction after the deadline does not reopen the market: the make-up stands as applied |
| An event is reclassified | Whether a goal later credited to another player, or a booking later rescinded, still counts | On a shirt-number index a reclassified goal can change the make-up by tens of points |
None of those four has a universal answer, which is why the market's own definition is the only document that settles an argument about a settle figure. Where a reader believes a make-up is wrong, the mechanism is a query to the firm against its own published rules — the general shape of that route is described on the network's escalation desk rather than here, because it is a complaint process rather than a settlement one.
Suspension is not settlement
Markets are suspended around events the firm cannot price safely: a goal under review, a card, a starting line-up change, a fast unconfirmed move. Between the suspension and the resumption a position cannot be closed, and the index may already have moved by the time it can be. This is the single most important practical difference between a market that settles quietly and one that jumps, and it is why the risk page treats the worst plausible make-up as the figure to size against rather than the current quote.
When settled money arrives
Settlement is not instantaneous in the account. A make-up is applied, the position closes at that value, and the money moves from the open position line to the cash balance within the firm's settlement process — which its terms define, and which can be anything from minutes to a couple of days depending on the market and the checks the firm applies. Until then the gain is on the statement and not in the balance, and any charge described on the cost page accrues up to the point the position actually ends.
The link below is disclosed and is the only commercial element on this page. It is not a market and nothing here quotes a price, a make-up or a firm.
Open the partner accountWhere this sits in the desk
- What the index counts — the formula the make-up applies.
- Running profit and loss — the unrealised number that the make-up replaces.
- Margin, calls and stops — why a position may never reach its make-up.
- When the loss outruns the stake — what a distant make-up costs.