About the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN)

The ISIN standard is used worldwide to identify specific securities, such as bonds, stocks (common and preferred), futures, warrants, rights, trusts, commercial paper and options. ISINs are assigned to securities to facilitate unambiguous clearing and settlement procedures. They are composed of a 12-digit alphanumeric code and act to unify different ticker symbols “which can vary by exchange and currency” for the same security.

STRUCTURE

• There are three parts to an ISIN as exemplified by US-049580485-1 (the dashes do not count; they are there to add clarity). The code can be broken down as follows:

• A two-letter country code, drawn from a list (ISO 6166) prepared by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This code is assigned according to the location of a company’s head office. A special code, ‘XS’, is used for international securities cleared through Pan-European clearing systems, like Euroclear and CEDEL. Depository receipt ISIN usage is unique in that the country code for the security is that of the receipt issuer, not that of the underlying security.

• A nine-digit numeric identifier called the National Securities Identifying Number (NSIN) and assigned by each country or region. If a national number is composed of less than nine digits, it is padded with leading zeros to become an NSIN. The numeric identifier has no intrinsic meaning; it is essentially a serial number.

• A single check-digit. The digit is calculated based upon the preceding 11 characters/digits and uses a sum modulo 10 algorithm and helps ensure against counterfeit numbers.

• Universal acceptance of ISIN is important in meeting the goal of “global straight through processing” (GSTP), which is the electronic handling of the trade clearing and settlement without manual intervention. ISINs are used by share custodians to track holdings of institutional investors in a format which is consistent across markets worldwide.