Winning the draw gives you the right to buy, not the shares themselves. There is a separate step — confirming the purchase — and if you miss its deadline the right simply disappears.
Every year people win, fail to notice, and lose the allocation. The result is usually shown in the account screen rather than announced loudly, so the habit of checking on the result day matters.
Declining after winning carries a penalty at some brokers and none at others. It is worth knowing which of your accounts is which before you apply.
First, check the result. It appears in your account on the announcement date. Some brokers email you and some do not, so do not rely on the email arriving.
Second, put the money in. The amount is the offer price multiplied by 100 shares. Brokers that require a deposit up front will already be holding it; brokers that do not will need the money now.
Third, confirm the purchase. This is the step people forget. Funding the account is not the same as confirming, and an account with the money sitting in it still loses the allocation if this step is skipped.
Fourth, decide what to do on listing day — sell at the opening price, or hold.
The window for confirming is usually a few business days, and it closes during the afternoon of the final day rather than at midnight. Matsui, for example, requires the money in the account by 15:45 on the last day of the purchase window.
The exact time differs by broker, so check it on the result day rather than assuming you have until the end of the day.
Matsui excludes you from IPO and PO draws for six months. That is the heaviest penalty among the brokers listed on this site.
SMBC Nikko blocks new applications for about a month, and — this is the part that catches people — your existing applications for other listings are voided at the same time.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley behaves similarly for a first-round win: about a month of no online applications, and applications in progress are cancelled. Declining a reserve or additional allocation carries no penalty there.
SBI imposes no suspension, but the IPO Challenge Points you spent on that application are gone.
Nomura has no fixed suspension, but once you have confirmed or declined you cannot undo it, and missing the window counts as giving up the right.
The practical rule: only apply for listings you could actually pay for.
A reserve allocation means you move up if someone who won declines. It is a real chance, not a consolation message.
At some brokers you have to declare that you still want the shares in order to stay in line, and if you do nothing you drop out. Read what the screen asks you to do rather than waiting.
If you plan to sell at the opening price, place a market order before trading starts, and it will execute at whatever the opening price turns out to be.
If you want to protect against a weak open, a limit order lets you set the price you will accept, at the cost of possibly not selling at all.
There is no obligation to sell on day one. Holding is a legitimate choice — it is simply a different decision, made for different reasons.
Not noticing the win, because no email arrived. Check the account on the result day.
Funding the account and stopping there. Confirming the purchase is a separate action and the most common thing people miss.
Applying for more listings than the household could pay for if all of them won at once. Some of those wins will have to be declined, and the penalties land on real accounts.
Winning gives you a right that expires. Check the result, fund the account, confirm the purchase — all three, within a window that closes in the afternoon. Know your broker's penalty for declining before you apply, and apply only within what you can pay.
Nothing here is investment advice. Shares can and do open below their offer price.
Read this article in Japanese →