📖 Financial Identifiers Glossary

ISIN — International Securities Identification Number

A 12-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a specific security globally. The ISIN consists of a 2-letter country code (ISO 3166-1), a 9-character national identifier (NSIN), and a single check digit (Luhn algorithm).

Standard: ISO 6166 · Length: 12 characters · Scope: Global · Example: US0378331005 (Apple Inc.)

Issuing bodies: National Numbering Agencies (NNAs) in each country

WKN — Wertpapierkennnummer

A 6-character alphanumeric German securities identifier. Introduced in 1955, the WKN was the primary way to identify securities in Germany before ISINs became the international standard. German ISINs embed the WKN: DE0007664039 contains WKN 766403 (Volkswagen).

Length: 6 characters · Scope: Germany · Issued by: WM Datenservice · Example: 865985 (Apple)

CUSIP — Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures

A 9-character identifier for North American (US and Canadian) financial securities. It consists of a 6-character issuer code, a 2-character issue number, and a check digit. CUSIPs are embedded in US/CA ISINs: US0378331005.

Length: 9 characters · Scope: US, Canada · Issued by: CUSIP Global Services (S&P Global) · Example: 037833100 (Apple)

SEDOL — Stock Exchange Daily Official List

A 7-character identifier used to identify UK and Irish securities, and increasingly international securities. Originally a list of all securities traded on the London Stock Exchange, SEDOL codes now cover global equities.

Length: 7 characters · Scope: UK, Ireland, Global · Issued by: London Stock Exchange Group · Example: 2046251 (Apple)

VALOR — Valoren Number (Valorennummer)

A numeric identifier assigned by SIX Financial Information to securities traded on Swiss and Liechtenstein exchanges. Unlike most other identifiers, VALOR numbers are purely numeric and have variable length (typically 6-9 digits).

Length: 6-9 digits · Scope: Switzerland, Liechtenstein · Issued by: SIX Financial Information · Example: 3886335 (Nestlé)

FIGI — Financial Instrument Global Identifier

An open, free 12-character identifier developed by Bloomberg for uniquely identifying financial instruments. Unlike ISINs, FIGIs can identify the same security across different trading venues (through composite and share-class FIGIs).

Standard: OMG FIGI · Length: 12 characters · Scope: Global · Issued by: Bloomberg (via OpenFIGI) · Example: BBG000B9XRY4 (Apple)

LEI — Legal Entity Identifier

A 20-character code that identifies legal entities (not individual securities) participating in financial transactions. LEIs were created after the 2008 financial crisis to improve transparency. They are mandatory for many regulatory reports (MiFID II, EMIR, Dodd-Frank).

Standard: ISO 17442 · Length: 20 characters · Scope: Global · Managed by: GLEIF · Example: HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394 (Apple Inc.)

NSIN — National Securities Identifying Number

The 9-character national component within an ISIN. The NSIN is assigned by the National Numbering Agency (NNA) of each country. For the US, the NSIN is the CUSIP; for Germany, it's the WKN padded with zeros; for the UK, it's derived from the SEDOL.

Length: 9 characters · Scope: National · Example: 037833100 (Apple's NSIN = CUSIP)

CFI — Classification of Financial Instruments

A 6-character code that classifies financial instruments by type. The first character indicates the category (E=Equity, D=Debt, R=Rights, O=Options, F=Futures, etc.). Used alongside ISINs in regulatory reporting.

Standard: ISO 10962 · Length: 6 characters · Example: ESVUFR (common share, voting, free)

ANNA — Association of National Numbering Agencies

The global body coordinating ISIN allocation across 120+ countries. Each member country has an NNA that assigns ISINs to securities issued in that jurisdiction.

GLEIF — Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation

Manages the global LEI system. Oversees LEI issuing organizations (LOUs) and maintains the public LEI database. Founded by the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

WM Datenservice

The German NNA responsible for assigning WKN numbers and German ISINs. Part of the WM Group, a subsidiary of the Association of German Banks.

CUSIP Global Services

Operated by S&P Global Market Intelligence, CGS assigns CUSIP identifiers for securities in the US and Canada, and CINS numbers for international securities.

Check Digit

The last digit of an ISIN, CUSIP, or SEDOL, calculated using a mathematical algorithm (Luhn for ISIN/CUSIP, weighted for SEDOL). It validates that the identifier hasn't been mistyped.

Fungibility

Securities with the same ISIN are considered fungible — they are interchangeable and can be settled against each other. Different share classes of the same company have different ISINs.

Cross-Listing

When a company's shares trade on multiple exchanges. The ISIN remains the same globally, but tickers may differ (e.g., SAP: SAP on XETRA, SAP on NYSE — same ISIN DE0007164600).

ADR — American Depositary Receipt

A certificate issued by a US bank representing shares in a foreign company. ADRs have their own US ISIN and CUSIP, different from the underlying foreign security's identifiers.