It stands for when issued; a financial transaction that involves trading a security that has not yet been issued, but rather is scheduled to be issued on a future date. This refers to a conditional offer to trade a would-be issued security, subject to the actual future issuance. There are various instruments that are traded on a when-issued basis, including treasury securities, primary issues of stocks and bonds, stock splits, and so on.

Underwriters of new issues usually canvass prospect investors in order to book, in advance, a portion of the would-be-issued securities. The purchase orders become effective once the securities are actually issued. Such orders (orders when issued) are also known as “orders with ice” or “orders when distributed“.