How to Fill Out and Submit the CHESS Sponsorship Transfer Form

To switch stockbrokers without selling your shares, you complete a CHESS sponsorship transfer form and send it to your new broker, who then pulls your holdings across electronically while your Holder Identification Number (HIN) stays with you. The form is formally titled “Holder’s Request to Transfer Holdings to Another CHESS Sponsor,” and each broker supplies its own copy as part of account opening.¹ When your details match what the old broker has on file, the move finishes in a few business days.

What to Gather Before You Fill It In

Four pieces of information sit at the heart of the form:

Your HIN. A 12-character code starting with “X” followed by 11 digits. It appears on any CHESS holding statement you have been issued.
Your current broker’s Participant Identification Number (PID). Usually printed on holding statements or trade confirmations; your broker can confirm it.
Your new broker’s PID. Supplied when you open the new account or request the form.
Your registered name and address, exactly as they appear on your CHESS statements. Not your current address if that differs from what the broker has on file — the registered address.

That last point is where most transfers go wrong. The system compares what you write against the outgoing broker’s records character by character, and any inconsistency causes a rejection. If you have moved house, married, or shortened your name on paperwork since your HIN was set up, update those details with your current broker first and wait for the change to take effect before you submit the transfer.

Filling In the Form

The format varies slightly between brokers, but the required fields are standardized by ASX.¹

At the top, you identify both brokers. Enter the PID and name of the broker giving up control of your securities (your current broker), then the PID and name of the broker taking over (your new broker). Your HIN goes alongside the current broker’s details.

Full or Partial Transfer

You then tick one of two options:¹

All securities including your HIN. Everything on the HIN moves across, and the HIN itself follows. Choose this if you are leaving your current broker completely.
A portion of your securities. Only the stock lines you nominate move. You then complete Section A, listing each security by name, ASX code, or ISIN code, with the number of units.

A partial transfer can leave you with two HINs: the original stays active at the current broker for whatever you left behind, and a new one may be created at the receiving broker for the securities you moved. That is worth planning around if you prefer to keep all your holdings under a single identifier.

Registration Details and Signatures

Below the transfer selection, write your holder registration details exactly as they appear on your CHESS holding statements. Copy them character for character; the system treats any deviation as a possible unauthorized request.

Every registered holder has to sign. For a joint account, that means every person named on the HIN provides their own signature. The form also accepts:¹

A person acting under a power of attorney, who signs for all holders and declares they have no notice the power has been revoked.
For a company holding, the sole director, two directors, or a director with the company secretary.

Each signature needs the signer’s printed name, the date, and the office held where relevant.

Where to Send It

The completed form goes to your new broker, not the one you are leaving. The new broker is the party that enters the transfer instruction into CHESS and effectively pulls your holdings across. Most brokers accept the form through a secure upload on their platform or an electronic signature workflow; if a paper form is required, send it to the broker’s settlements team by tracked mail.

Before entering anything into CHESS, the receiving broker runs identity verification to meet anti-money laundering and know-your-client obligations. New clients should expect to supply photo ID and proof of address at this point. Nothing moves until those checks clear.

What Happens After You Submit

Once the form is validated, the new broker enters a transfer instruction into CHESS. That sends an electronic message to the outgoing broker telling them a claim has been made on your HIN.² The outgoing broker checks that the registration details match and that nothing is holding the account up — unsettled trades, a margin loan, or other obligations.

If everything matches, the outgoing broker acknowledges the transfer and CHESS processes the change. You do nothing further; the two brokers and ASX Settlement exchange the data electronically.

If registration details are inconsistent or inaccurate, the registry contacts the initiating broker to try to resolve it. If the required documentation is not provided or corrected within five business days, the registry can reject the request with a reason code, and the new broker will let you know.³

How Long It Takes and How to Confirm

A clean transfer usually completes within one to three business days after both brokers have processed the instruction. Anything longer typically points to a registration mismatch, an unsettled trade, or an outstanding debt at the outgoing broker.

When it is done, ASX Settlement issues a new CHESS holding statement showing your existing HIN with the new sponsoring broker’s details. You will get it by mail or through your broker’s online portal, depending on how electronic communications are configured. You can also log into the new broker’s platform and check the holdings page — your share quantities and HIN should appear exactly as they did at the previous broker. If they are missing, ask the new broker’s support team to check for CHESS error messages.

Why Transfers Get Rejected

Nearly every failed transfer traces back to registration details that do not line up. The patterns to watch for:

Name discrepancy. Using a middle initial where the account has your full middle name, or the reverse. Married-name versus maiden-name mismatches fall here too.
Address mismatch. You updated your address with one party but not the other. The form must show the address your current broker has on file, which may not be where you actually live now.
Unsettled trades. Australia uses T+2 settlement, and if a recent trade has not settled yet, the outgoing broker may block the transfer until it does.⁴
Outstanding obligations. Margin loans, unpaid fees, or other debts tied to the account must be cleared before the broker releases the holdings.
Missing signatures. A joint-HIN form missing one holder’s signature comes straight back.

If your transfer is rejected, the new broker should give you the specific reason code. Correct the underlying issue — fix the detail, settle the trade, collect the missing signature — and resubmit.

When This Form Is Not the Right One

The CHESS sponsorship transfer form only moves holdings already on the CHESS sub-register from one broker to another. Two situations use a different process.

If your shares are issuer-sponsored, they sit on the issuer’s register under a Securityholder Reference Number (SRN) rather than a HIN. SRNs start with “I”; HINs start with “X.” To bring issuer-sponsored shares under broker sponsorship you sign a sponsorship agreement with the broker and provide the SRN, and the broker instructs the share registry to convert the holding. If you hold a mix, each type has to be handled separately.⁴

If you are dealing with a deceased shareholder’s holdings, CHESS places a “death holder record lock” on the HIN and you cannot use the sponsorship transfer form to deal with the shares. Releasing the lock requires a certified death certificate, certified probate or letters of administration, and a Standard Transfer Form or Off-Market Transfer Form depending on what you are doing. Executors should contact the deceased’s broker early, because the broker will also need to run KYC checks on the executor if they are not already a client.⁵

Fees and Tax

CHESS itself does not charge investors for processing a sponsorship transfer, but brokers can. The outgoing broker may apply a transfer-out fee, and the receiving broker may charge for incoming transfers, particularly where international securities are involved. These fees are not standardized, so ask both brokers upfront. Some waive the charge to win your business.

A sponsorship transfer changes who manages your holdings, not who owns them. Because no disposal occurs, the transfer is not a capital gains tax event. The ATO lists the specific CGT events for shares — selling, gifting, transferring to a spouse after a relationship breakdown, share buybacks, and liquidation — and changing brokers is not on that list.⁶ Your cost base for each parcel carries over unchanged.

One practical thing to do before you leave the old broker: download or export your historical purchase records, including dates and prices. The new broker’s platform may not import that history, and without it the capital gains calculation when you eventually sell becomes much harder.

1
ASX Online. Holder’s Request to Transfer Holdings to Another CHESS Sponsor
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ASX. Settlement
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ASX Online. Transfers Between Holdings
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ASX. Holding Shares on the CHESS Subregister or the Issuer Sponsored Subregister
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ASX. CHESS Settlement Procedure Guidelines – Client Holder
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Australian Taxation Office. Disposing of Shares