The Association of National Numbering Agencies announces completion of the implementation of revised ISO 6166 ISIN standard
International standards evolution providing market benefits

London, 28^th February 2023 – The Association of National Numbering Agencies, ANNA, a global association dedicated to the support of efficient capital markets through the use of widely embraced International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) standards, today announced the completion of the technical implementation of the revised ISO 6166 International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) standard, bringing further clarity and transparency in the identification and reporting of financial instruments through the use of international standards.

The revised ISO 6166 standard was published in February 2021, following the systematic review by ISO. The revisions included an extension of the ISO record to a wider data set, from 43 to 49 fields. ANNA agreed the implementation timeline based on the changes needed to the ANNA Service Bureau (ASB) as well as an appropriate timeframe for NNAs to enhance their internal systems to contribute the additional data to the ASB. Following implementation of the technical changes, NNAs must now formally report Legal Entity Identifiers, LEIs, the Classification of Instruments, CFIs, and the Financial Instrument Short Names, FISN, to the ASB, increasing data coverage and data quality.

In addition, the revised ISO 6166 standard includes assignment rules for tokenised financial and referential instruments as well as for OTC derivatives, as already implemented by the Derivatives Service Bureau. Emission allowances, carbon credits and baskets are also confirmed as instruments within the scope of ISIN assignment. Following the revised and published ISIN standard and together with the ASB Operators, the changes bring further clarity and transparency to the market and are now available to users on the free ISIN Lookup Service and subscribers of ASB services.

Emma Kalliomaki, MD of ANNA, said, “NNAs have worked hard to make the internal changes to their workflows. The ISIN revisions have improved clarity of terms, scope and coverage of the standard, which further enhances usability, increasing transparency and aiding risk and exposure management, thereby ultimately benefiting the market. The complementary nature of the standards has been confirmed, with the LEI, CFI, FISN and ISIN all working together to bring identification, description and classification in one suite of ISO standards.”

For further information on the new ISIN record structure, please visit here.

Media contact for ANNA

Charlotte Wilson
Streets Consulting 
+44 (0)20 7959 2235
Charlotte.wilson@streetsconsulting.com

About ANNA

The Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) is a global member association seeking to foster standardisation within the financial industry by upholding the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) principles and by promoting ISIN, FISN and CFI codes for financial instruments. This is achieved through ongoing, collaborative work with market participants, regulators and other standards bodies. 

Under ANNA’s stewardship, the role of the ISIN in enabling global financial communications has been established worldwide. Founded in 1992 by 22 numbering agencies, today ANNA’s membership continues to grow, with more than 120 global members and partners allocating ISIN, FISN and CFI codes on behalf of their local jurisdictions. By putting in place rigorous governance around the development, allocation and sharing of ISIN, FISN and CFI codes, ANNA helps facilitate open, transparent markets diminishing barriers to access, while protecting the integrity of the standards. As a result, ISIN has become the recognised global standard for unique identification for all types of financial and referential instruments, helping to connect and protect global markets.  

In addition, ANNA has established the Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), a fully automated global numbering agency to meet the specific operational and regulatory requirements of the over-the-counter derivatives markets.

For information about ANNA, its members and activities, please visit anna-web.org.