Advance commitment

Advance commitment

A promise to sell an asset before the seller has lined up purchase of the asset. This seller can offset risk by purchasing a futures contract to fix the sales price approximately.

Advance Commitment

A promise to undertake some activity before it is done. For example, a futures contract is an advance commitment to buy or sell an asset for a certain price at some point in the future. Likewise, in short-selling, one sells a security one does not own, and thus makes an advance commitment to buy it at some point in the future to ensure a smooth transaction.