Unlocking Global Opportunity: Why Harmonised Standards are Our Superpower in Capital Markets

Drawn from her keynote speech given at our General Meeting in Split, Croatia, this blog, authored by our Vice Chair Laura Stanley highlights the often overlooked, but absolutely essential to capital markets subject: standards—and specifically, the power of harmonised standards to unlock opportunities, especially in developing markets, while strengthening the global financial ecosystem.

The Unsung Heroes: Standards

ANNA is the official registration authority for two critical ISO standards: the ISIN (International Securities Identification Number), a unique ID for financial instruments, and FISN (Financial Instrument Short Name), a human-readable alias describing the instrument.

At ANNA, we know standards play a far bigger role than many realise. Our National Numbering Agencies (NNAs) act as local experts, supporting their communities and escalating challenges internationally. However, for some, the foundational role of identifier standards may not be so obviously recognisable. 

These identifiers—ISINs, CFIs (Classification of Financial Instruments) and FISNs may seem small, but they are vital for:

• Transparency and Consistency: Ensuring clear, uniform data across multiple systems during a trade’s lifecycle
• Automation & Risk Reduction: Machine-readable identifiers enable automation, enhancing operational resilience and lowering data management costs
• Regulatory Support & Investor Confidence: Helping organisations meet regulations and focus on innovation, improving transparency and market stability
• Continuous Evolution: Maintaining open, transparent markets with rigorous governance through industry collaboration —evolving standards, including for digital assets

Why Harmonisation is a Game-Changer

Having standards is crucial, but harmonisation is where the real value lies. Inconsistent application causes friction, mapping errors, stale data, inefficiencies, and higher costs—ultimately, data management becomes a real headache and liquidity is harmed. With so many different identifiers for various asset classes, levels of granularity, and jurisdictions, fragmentation in data processing is a real risk.

Critically, it’s harmonisation that enables interoperability with the ANNA Service Bureau (ASB) consolidating ISIN, FISN, and CFI data, to help NNAs respond to any cross-jurisdictional queries. Harmonisation also enables scalability, expanding the use of standards beyond traditional rolesand supports liquidity & cross-border trading by facilitating free capital flow internationally.

A great example is the ISIN-LEI initiative between GLEIF and ANNA, showing how complementary standards improve data quality and harmonisation. In today’s global markets, local codes no longer suffice. Cross-border trading is standard, so embracing global standards is essential for competitiveness and interoperability.

Seizing Strategic Opportunities

As capital markets evolve, the benefits of harmonisation grow stronger. We’ve seen ISIN adoption in developing economies improve transparency and enhance regulatory reporting by reducing counterparty risk and simplifying verification, as well as simplifying compliance. Even in developed markets, for new regulations like DORA, standards help identify critical suppliers more easily.

With emerging technologies like GenAI and blockchain, we have a unique opportunity to innovate while reducing costs and complexity through collaboration and open-source data sharing. Embedding standards early helps developing markets build resilient, inclusive, and future-ready capital markets.

ANNA – A Shared Responsibility and Global Benefits

ANNA acts as a bridge between members and regulators, clarifying requirements and promoting best practices. It offers a harmonised global framework that enhances systemic stability, enables faster operational resilience, and supports sustainable finance, ESG transparency, and digital innovation.

ANNA leads the way in promoting global standards like ISIN and its commitment includes:

• Supporting developing markets in adopting standards
• Collaborating with regulators and industry to evolve standards with new technologies
• Driving innovation while ensuring reliability—examples include digital assets, XT ISINs, and linking to the DTI
• Engaging members through working groups and workshops to address regulations, challenges, and opportunities

Importantly, ANNA ensures ISO obligations are met: ISINs and FISNs are allocated free or at cost, and basic descriptive data remains freely accessible. But harmonisation requires collective effort—alignment, open dialogue, and a shared vision for capital markets’ future are the key to delivering global benefits.

The Bottom Line

Reliable data empowers innovation and more than ever, in a world of mobile capital, standards are the anchors of trust. Standards are more than compliance—they build confidence. They’re about people, not just systems. And they’re about shaping the future of capital markets—together.