Importing Joint and Non-Beneficial Shareholdings from ASIC
Most ASIC company extracts import cleanly. Two situations need a little understanding because ASIC records them in a way that doesn't map one-to-one onto how StructureGram models ownership: joint shareholdings (two or more people holding the same parcel) and non-beneficial shareholdings (shares held on behalf of someone else, usually via a trust). This page explains what StructureGram does with them and what to check on the review screen.
If you want the underlying concepts first, see Joint Holdings and Non-Beneficial Ownership and Trusts. This page is about the import of those things specifically.
Why these are tricky
ASIC's "Shares Held" (or "Members") section lists each shareholding as a row. Two columns matter here:
- The holder name. ASIC often puts multiple people in a single name field — e.g.
ROBERT CAMERON & JACQUELINE HOOPER. That's one row in ASIC, but two people in reality. - The "Beneficially Owned" column.
Yesmeans the registered holder owns the shares for their own benefit.Nomeans they hold them for someone else — almost always signalling a trust sitting behind the registered holder.
StructureGram models ownership by substance, not just by what's on the register:
- A joint holding becomes a single joint-holding parcel that the holders own together, rather than two unrelated shareholdings.
- A non-beneficial holding usually becomes a trust interposed between the registered holder and the company:
Holder → Trust → Company, where the holder is a trustee.
The import has to bridge ASIC's flat rows to this richer model. Most of the work happens automatically; the review screen is where you confirm or adjust.
What StructureGram does on import
When you import an ASIC extract, the system classifies every shareholding row into one of three places, and surfaces each on its own review tab:
| ASIC row | Becomes | Review tab |
|---|---|---|
| Single holder, beneficially owned | A direct shareholder relationship | Relationships |
| Joint holders, beneficially owned | A joint-holding parcel | Joint Holdings |
| Single OR joint holder, not beneficially owned | A non-beneficial holding (trust interposition by default) | Non-Beneficial Holdings |
A row appears on exactly one tab — never two. This means the decision you make for a shareholding lives in one place, with no risk of conflicting choices on different tabs.
Joint holders are split automatically
When ASIC packs two people into one name field (A & B, A && B, or A AND B), StructureGram splits them into separate individual entities and groups them into a joint holding. It also detects joint holdings that ASIC didn't label as joint but which clearly are — for example, two separate rows with identical share class, share count, and residential address are inferred to be the same joint parcel.
Non-beneficial holders get a trust by default
When a row is marked "Beneficially Owned: No", StructureGram defaults to interposing a trust — creating a placeholder "Holding Trust", making the registered holder(s) trustees of it, and giving the trust the shareholding. You can change this on the review screen (see below).
Reviewing the import
The Non-Beneficial Holdings tab
Each non-beneficial shareholding gives you three choices:
- Interpose trust (default) — insert a trust between the holder and the company. You can use a placeholder trust, link to an existing trust, or create a new named trust.
- Change to beneficially owned — you disagree with ASIC's flag; there's no trust, the registered holder is the real owner. The shareholding is created directly (a single shareholder edge, or a joint parcel if there are multiple holders).
- Skip — don't import this shareholding at all.
The Joint Holdings tab
Each detected joint holding shows the grouped holders and the parcel they'll create. You can import it as-is or skip it. Joints inferred from matching addresses are flagged for you to review, since the inference is a best guess.
The Relationships tab
This shows the straightforward relationships — directors, secretaries, and beneficially-held single shareholdings. Joint and non-beneficial shareholdings are not here; they're managed on their own tabs. This keeps the Relationships tab an accurate list of exactly what will be imported through the regular path.
How the four combinations import
| Beneficially owned | Not beneficially owned | |
|---|---|---|
| Single holder | Direct Holder → Company shareholding | Default: Holder → Trust → Company (holder is trustee). Or correct-to-beneficial → direct shareholding. |
| Joint holders | One joint-holding parcel: [Holders] → Company | Default: [Holders] → Trust → Company (all holders are trustees of one trust). Or correct-to-beneficial → joint parcel. |
This works whether the holder is an individual or a company. A company can be a trustee of an interposed trust (e.g. a corporate trustee), and a company can be a joint holder.
Re-importing the same extract
If you import the same ASIC extract a second time — to pick up changes, or after refreshing the file — StructureGram tries to avoid creating duplicates:
- Entities (the company, individuals, company shareholders) are matched against what already exists. Exact matches link automatically; likely-but-not-certain matches ask you to choose Link or Create.
- Non-beneficial chains are recognised: if a
Company → Trust → Holderschain already exists from a prior import, the matching non-beneficial holding defaults to Skip with an "Already imported" badge, so you don't create a second holding trust.
The re-import duplicate detection for trusts only works once the company and all holders are linked to their existing entities. If you choose "Create" for any of them, the chain can't be matched — so link them and the dedup will recognise the existing trust.
Edge cases worth knowing
Joint holders merged into one record. Occasionally the extraction reads ROBERT CAMERON & JACQUELINE HOOPER as a single person named "Robert Cameron & Jacqueline" with surname "Hooper". StructureGram has a recovery step that detects the &/and inside a name field and splits it back into two people. If you ever see a single individual whose name still contains "&", flag it — but in practice the recovery handles it.
Company shareholders. A company holding shares non-beneficially is unusual but valid (it's acting as a corporate trustee or nominee). It imports the same way as an individual non-beneficial holder — a trust is interposed with the company as trustee. If you believe the company really is the beneficial owner, use "Change to beneficially owned".
The "Beneficially Owned" column can be misread. This column sits next to "Fully Paid" in the ASIC layout, and both are Yes/No. If you notice a shareholding classified as non-beneficial that you know is beneficial (or vice-versa), use the review controls to correct it — the import respects your decision over the extracted flag, and records that you overrode the source.
Historical shareholdings. Ceased or historical members are excluded by default. Turn on "Include historical data" if you want to review them too.
Troubleshooting
A shareholder I expected isn't on the Relationships tab. If it's a joint or non-beneficial shareholding, it won't be on Relationships — check the Joint Holdings and Non-Beneficial Holdings tabs. Each shareholding lives on exactly one tab.
On the diagram, a shareholder became a "Holding Trust" instead of a direct shareholder. That shareholding was marked "Beneficially Owned: No" in the ASIC extract, so StructureGram interposed a trust by default. If there's genuinely no trust, re-run the import (or edit) and choose "Change to beneficially owned" for that holding.
Re-import created a second "Holding Trust" instead of reusing the first. The trust dedup needs the company and every holder linked to their existing entities. If any defaulted to "Create", the existing chain couldn't be matched. Link them and the dedup will find the existing trust and default to Skip.
Two people who jointly hold shares were imported as two separate shareholdings. ASIC didn't label them as joint and they didn't match on address, so the inference didn't fire. You can model them as a joint holding manually after import — see Joint Holdings.
The trust StructureGram created has a generic placeholder name.
The default name is {Company} Holding Trust. Rename it to the real trust name once you know it — the re-import dedup matches on the relationship structure, not the name, so renaming won't break future imports.
Best Practice
- Link existing entities before deciding joint/non-beneficial actions. The trust dedup, the "existing trust" picker, and accurate duplicate detection all work better once the company and holders are linked.
- Treat "Beneficially Owned: No" as a strong hint, not gospel. It usually means a trust — but sometimes it's a nominee with no formal trust deed. Use "Change to beneficially owned" when you have evidence the registered holder is the substantive owner.
- Check each tab before importing. The summary counts on the import panel tell you how many shareholdings will be created, joined, or interposed. A quick scan of the Non-Beneficial and Joint Holdings tabs confirms the structure matches your understanding of the company.
- Rename placeholder trusts promptly. Future-you will thank present-you for replacing "Acme Pty Ltd Holding Trust" with the trust's actual name.
Related Topics
- Joint Holdings — the concept and how to model joint parcels.
- Non-Beneficial Ownership and Trusts — why trusts are interposed and how legal vs beneficial ownership differs.
- Data Importing — all import sources.
- Trust Entities — managing the trusts that get created.