What is a HIN?

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What is a HIN?

Let us explain some of the lingo that you may be seeing and hearing

What is a HIN number?

What is CHESS?

What is an SRN?

Are these questions you’ve ever asked yourself? Many people find the many acronyms and terms in the world of share trading and financial markets misleading. The team at Sell My Shares is here to help and make all aspects of dealing with your shares and financial markets easy, honest, and rewarding.

These are all questions our clients ask, and we are here to help in any way we can so you can gain a better understanding of how to sell your shares with minimal fuss or muss.

What is a HIN Number?

So, what is a HIN? Your HIN is a unique code that identifies your parcel of shares with CHESS.

OK, so what is CHESS? CHESS stands for ‘Clearing House Electronic Subregister System’, and it’s basically a computerised system that the ASX uses to track different shareholdings. CHESS keeps an electronic record of every time ownership of a share changes between buyers and sellers. HINs are unique to the entity owning the shares (i.e., ‘Jane Smith’ or ‘XYZ Pty Ltd’) and the stockbroker which that entity used to buy or sell those shares. For example, Jane Smith may have one stockbroking account with the CBA and another account with the NAB and therefore has two separate HINs: one for each account. Jane Smith can buy or sell shares in either of those accounts and those shares will each be tracked and recorded by CHESS under the relevant HIN in the relevant account and at the relevant stockbroker. This is an example of a “CHESS sponsored account”.

Hence, CHESS sponsored accounts each have their own HIN.

Each HIN is a unique ten-digit number that always begins with an ‘X’. So, if you’re looking for your HIN, check any relevant paperwork for an ‘X’ followed by ten numbers. Don’t forget, your HIN is specific to a single stockbroking account, so if you have more than one account (with different stockbrokers), you will also have more than one HIN.

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What’s the Difference Between a HIN and an SRN?

If you hold shares with a particular company (such as Telstra or Coles) held solely in the company’s share registry, then you have what’s called an Issuer Sponsored holding of shares. Issuer Sponsored shares don’t have a HIN. They’ll instead have a Security Reference Number or ‘SRN’. This is a number (usually ten or eleven digits long) which begins with an ‘I’. An SRN can generally be found on your shareholding statement (or any other mail that you’ve had sent to you by the share registry). Selling Issuer Sponsored shares can be a lot simpler than selling shares registered to a HIN.

How do I Sell Shares with a HIN?

Shares that are registered to a HIN can be sold through the stockbroker who is managing the account. However, this can become difficult if you’re not sure which stockbroker that HIN relates to. When shares form part of a deceased estate, were purchased many years ago or were inherited, then it’s not always clear which stockbroker you should be talking to.