Selling Australian Shares in the UK

We regularly receive queries about how to sell Australian shares in the UK, both from expatriate Australians and from British citizens. For historical reasons, there are many UK households with small amounts of Australian share scrip hiding in the bottom of drawers and other dusty places.  Often the amounts involved are quite small and this complicates matters because there isn’t really, to our knowledge, a cost and time effective way of selling small Australian share volumes in the UK.

At the present time, the options for those wishing to sell Australian public company shares (ie. Australian Stock Exchange listed shares) from the UK would appear to be as follows:

1. Establish an account with a licensed Australian broker.  We can assist in this respect and it is probably the best path if you have multiple lines of shares to sell and/or the quantity is such that you may be able to negotiate better than standard broking rates. In any event, it may be necessary if Option 2) (see below) does not apply because of the type of shares you wish to sell.

1. There are situations where an Australian broker can sell your shares without it being necessary for you to establish an account.  Two brokers who offer this service at low brokerage rates are Andrew West Stockbroking and Spareshares.com.au – although they cannot trade in certain shares. Both websites explain which shares they can, and cannot, trade in and you should ensure that your shares meet these requirements.  Note that both websites are focussed on the Australian market and you will need to make separate arrangements regarding the remittance of any proceeds into any foreign bank account. This will probably cost you an additional service fee and probably conversion of any remittance into GBP at “tourist” rates.

1. There are some situations where we can arrange the private purchase of small parcels of Australian shares and direct payment into a British bank account.  Any offered price would be at a discount to the current traded price in the Australia, recognizing the time, trading and administration costs associated with such a purchase.  Please contact us through the Inquiry form below if you wish to consider this alternative – providing all relevant details of the shares you hold.  

Complete the Investments inquiry form