A Security holder Reference Number (SRN) is a number that is used to identify the ownership of shares held in the share registry system and directly with the company (Issuer Sponsored). Only the company and its share registry would have a record of title and ownership of shares, which differs from the CHESS Sponsorship model whereby the ASX and its subsidiary CHESS also have a record of ownership.

Essentially, CHESS acts as a third party to validate legal ownership via its system using a Holder Identification Number (HIN).

For more information about CHESS, please refer here.

Where a HIN is used to identify that the shares are managed by a specific broker (Stake/FinClear) via CHESS (in addition to the company and its share registry), an SRN is utilised to identify the shares are managed directly with the company and its share registry alone.

Shareholders of Issuer Sponsored shares will receive an Issuer Sponsored Holding Statement which advises of them of the SRN. 

SRNs usually start with the letter 'I' followed by 10 digits to make up 11 characters in total.

If you are unsure of your SRN or can't find a Issuer Holding Statement, it is recommended that you contact the share registry.