Adding shares and securities 108-19092749

Search the Select Product (SIP) screen. If the company can be found on the SIP screen, it is a listed Australian public company. To search, key one of the following fields and select Continue:

• Company name (either type in the first 3 or 4 letters of the company's name only, or type in the first initial of the company followed by '?')
• ASX/Foreign Product ID
• Company code
• Australian Companies Number (ACN)

Public companies that are not listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) may be listed on another stock exchange, or they may be unlisted.

The Financial Industry and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin has a list of alternatively listed public companies, as well as some known unlisted public companies.

An increasing number of customers hold shares in companies that are listed on overseas stock exchanges. The assessment of these shares is the same as shares listed on the various Australian stock exchanges. The latest available share price is used to calculate the value of the shares held by the customer.

A significant number of shares that are listed on overseas stock exchanges are held within the shares database.

If the overseas shares are not held within the shares database then check the Financial Investment and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin.

The Financial Investment and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin has a list of some known unlisted public companies.

These can usually be identified by checking the full name of the company on the customer's documents. If it has Pty or Pty Ltd after the company name it is a 'proprietary limited' company and is a private company. If it has 'Limited' or 'LTD' after the company name, it is likely to be a public company.

Features of credit union or building society shares:

• are no changes to the value or the number of shares
• there is no possibility of income being generated by the share (that is, dividends)
• they cannot be transferred
• they can only be redeemed when the credit union account(s) is closed
• the details of the member share are not always available on a customer's account statement(s)

The share value usually varies between institutions. While these member shares are technically a financial asset, they have little value. They will have little or no impact on the customer's payments.

Debt securities:

• are a way to borrow money
• are used by governments, financial institutions and companies
• can be banknote, government bonds, certificate of deposit
• have defined terms, such as interest rate or value, date of maturity

These are not shares.

For more information, see the Financial Investment and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin.

Equity securities:

• are an investment in the stock of a company
• are ordinary shares
• are where the holder has a claim over the earnings and assets of the company
• can be volatile in their value
• can be common stocks, derivative contracts such as forwards, futures, an option or warrant and swaps

Customers must advise Services Australia of any changes to their options and warrants. This includes:

• the number of units
• the time set for conversion, and/or expiry date

If a customer has borrowed to purchase shares or securities, this is known as margin lending or gearing. Margin loans are assessed under the Assets and Income Tests as loans and liabilities against assets. See the Financial Investment and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin for coding and assessment instructions.

A property trust:

• is a trust fund which invests in property
• can include all property types, for example:
• residential
• factories, or
• shopping centres
• has an investment manager
• has investors who buy units in the trust
• if the trust is listed with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) it is called a listed
• property trust, or
• company share

Some companies issue shares in the company to their employees. The assessment is based on terms and conditions assigned to the shares. These are ordinary shares.

The customer needs to provide a share statement which has:

• the date of issue
• terms and conditions of the share plan

For more information, see the Financial Investment and Network Support (FINS) Bulletin for Employee Share Plans.

An option is available for different products, mainly in shares. Options are contracts to buy or sell nominated shares during a specified period. Options on shares are available for purchase or sale through an organised exchange, such as the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

A warrant is a form of option, which gives the holder the right to buy or sell a share at a pre-determined price. Warrants are traded on the ASX through the same trading system as ordinary shares.

Generally, a customer will know if they hold an option or a warrant.