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Loading Trading Guide content…Understand how share ownership structures differ, what a HIN means, and how the structure can change by platform and market.
CHESS sponsorship and custody describe different ways holdings can be recorded or held. They are not a good-versus-bad score. Select a concept to understand what it means.
Concept
Your shares are registered directly in your name on the ASX under your own Holder Identification Number (HIN), rather than being held by the broker on your behalf.
Because the holding is in your name, you can usually move it to another broker without selling first. Transfer fees may apply.
Glossary wording reviewed 2026-09-22.
This section reads Trading Guide's structured custody records. A row marked unverified is shown as unverified rather than treated as confirmed.
Recorded structure
CMC Invest · Australian Securities Exchange
Your shares are registered directly in your name on the ASX under your own Holder Identification Number (HIN), rather than being held by the broker on your behalf.
Registered holder
You / your entity
The holder is registered on the CHESS subregister.
Identifier
HIN
A Holder Identification Number identifies the sponsored holder in CHESS.
Market scope
Australian CHESS securities
CHESS is Australian market infrastructure; do not assume the same structure applies to overseas holdings.
CHESS-sponsored
ASX describes a CHESS-sponsored holder as the person or entity registered in CHESS as the owner of the securities. The sponsored holder is identified by a HIN.
ASX holder-management source ↗Custodial / omnibus
ASX notes that an investor may instead have a beneficial interest where legal title is held by a custodian, including through an omnibus structure. The provider's terms determine how that arrangement operates.
ASX ownership source ↗CHESS is an Australian market infrastructure concept. A platform can use CHESS sponsorship for Australian holdings and a custodial structure for international holdings, so a single platform should not be given one universal ownership label.