Change to Beneficial Ownership

Understanding the ‘Beneficially Owned?’ Question on ASIC Form 484

When notifying the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) about changes to shareholders via Form 484, you are required to answer the question, ‘Beneficially owned?’ Understanding this question is essential for accurate reporting and compliance.

What Does ‘Beneficially Owned?’ Mean?

The question asks whether the shares are beneficially owned by the shareholder or held on behalf of a trust or another party.

• Beneficial Ownership: If the shares are beneficially owned, it means the shareholder enjoys the benefits of the shares, such as dividends, voting rights, and any capital gains.
• Non-Beneficial Ownership: If the shares are not beneficially owned, the shareholder is holding the shares on behalf of another party or a trust. In this case, the benefits of the shares are passed on to the ultimate beneficial owner.

When to Use Change to Beneficial Ownership

This function is used when:

• The beneficial owner of existing shares changes (e.g., the person or entity that enjoys the benefits of the shares changes).

• The trustee remains the same, but the underlying beneficial owner (such as a trust beneficiary or a new trust) changes.

  • Example: Trustee Pty Ltd holds shares on behalf of Trust A but now will hold the same shares on behalf of Trust B.

Notification Requirements

If a change to the beneficial owner status takes place, this must be notified to ASIC on Form 484 within 28 days of the change.

Navigation 

From the Main Toolbar, go to Company.
Select the Company from the list.
Select Shareholders

Click
 

Select Change to Beneficial Ownership

Instructions

CAS 360 will display the Change to Beneficial Ownership screen.

Field	Explanation
Transaction Date	Input the Date of Change to Beneficial Ownership.
Shareholder	In the shareholder field, CAS 360 will display a list of the company's current shareholders.
Beneficial Owner	CAS 360 will automatically prefill this field if there is a beneficial owner.
New Beneficial Owner	Begin typing the new shareholder's name. CAS 360 will begin searching the Global Contacts screen for the person. If the Contact has not been previously added to the Global Contact screen, Add New will appear. Click Add New to add a new contact. Leave this field blank if the shares are now beneficially held by the shareholder. How to remove non beneficial ownership This can be done by processing a change to beneficial ownership, but leaving the new beneficial owner field blank.
Share Type	In the Share type field, CAS 360 will display a list of the share types the shareholder holds.
Number Of Shares	Input the number of shares changing beneficial ownership.
Meeting Status	Select the meeting status of the member which will appear on the Resolutions.
Notes	Click to add extra notes to appear on the Register of Members.

Click

The Change of Beneficial Owner transaction will now appear in the Shareholders screen. Hover the mouse over the icon to display the name of the Beneficial Owner, as well as their Address, Email, Mobile, TFN, ABN and Place of Birth as seen below. 

Forms Prepared

In the Document Production screen, CAS 360 will automatically select the documents required:

• Directors Meeting Minute or Resolution
• ASIC Form - Change to Company Details Form 484 Section C
• Register of Members
• Share Certificate
• Members Meeting Minute 
• Members Consent
• Share Transfer form

Note: ASIC does not keep detailed information for the beneficial owner, but only the beneficial ownership status.

CAS 360 allows you to prepare documents and then notify ASIC through electronic lodgement via the Documents Screen. For more information on how to do so, click here.

Note: Simply editing the beneficially held status on an existing allotment or share transaction will not generate a lodgement form. If you change the beneficial status that way, CAS 360 does not automatically prepare ASIC Form 484. To produce a lodgement form (for ASIC), the change must be processed using the Change to Beneficial Ownership transaction instead of editing the allotment or existing share entry. This ensures the correct form is prepared for lodgement with ASIC