CHESS (Clearing House Electronic Subregister System) is the computer system used by the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) to record shareholdings and manage the settlement of share transactions.
There are a number of advantages to having your shares CHESS sponsored by CommSec, you can:
- Automatically keep track of your portfolio and its market value online
- Immediately place sell orders online without the need to provide additional information, such as an SRN (Security Reference Number), because all the required information is at hand
- Generally place a buy order without a deposit if you have sufficient CHESS holdings already sponsored by CommSec
- Update your personal information with CommSec, once, rather than updating separately with multiple share registries
There are two ways for shares to be held:
CHESS Sponsored Shares - Shares that are registered with a stock broker (CommSec or another broker). CHESS Sponsored Shares are allocated a Holder Identification Number (HIN) by the broker.
Issuer Sponsored Shares - Shares that are managed by the issuer of those shares via the issuer's Share Registry. Issuer Sponsored Shares can be traded through any broker, providing conditions set out by that broker are met. Issuer Sponsored Shares are allocated a Security Reference Number (SRN).