ISO/DIS 23644

Financial instrument global identifier (FIGI)

Identifiant global d'instruments financiers (FIGI)

Standards Content (sample)

DRAFT INTERNATIONAL STANDARD
ISO/DIS 23644
ISO/TC 68/SC 8 Secretariat: SNV
Voting begins on: Voting terminates on:
2018-10-16 2019-01-08
Financial instrument global identifier (FIGI)
Identifiant global d'instruments financiers (FIGI)
ICS: 03.060
THIS DOCUMENT IS A DRAFT CIRCULATED
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ISO/DIS 23644:2018(E)
RECIPIENTS OF THIS DRAFT ARE INVITED
TO SUBMIT, WITH THEIR COMMENTS,
NOTIFICATION OF ANY RELEVANT PATENT
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PROVIDE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION. ISO 2018
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ISO/DIS 23644
ISO/DIS 23644:2018(E)
Table of Contents

Foreword ..................................................................................................... v

Introduction................................................................................................. vi

1 Scope ..................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................1

2 Conformance .......................................................................................... 2

2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................2

2.2 Conformance as a Provider of Identifiers .................................................4

2.2.1 Background & Approach ........................................................................................ 4

2.2.2 Conformance ......................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Conformance as a Consuming Application ..............................................5

3 References ............................................................................................. 5

3.1 Normative References .............................................................................5

4 Terms and Definitions ............................................................................ 6

4.1 Specific Terminology ................................................................................6

4.2 Financial Terms ........................................................................................7

4.3 Identifier ...................................................................................................7

5 Symbols and Abbreviations .................................................................... 8

5.1 Symbols ...................................................................................................8

5.2 Abbreviations ...........................................................................................8

6 Architecture ............................................................................................ 9

6.1 Global Identifier Structure ........................................................................9

6.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 9

6.1.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................... 9

6.2 Global Identifier Associated Content ......................................................12

6.2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 12

6.2.2 Exchange Code ................................................................................................... 12

6.2.3 Financial Instrument Name .................................................................................. 12

6.2.4 Pricing Source ..................................................................................................... 12

6.2.5 Security Type ....................................................................................................... 13

6.2.6 Ticker ................................................................................................................... 13

6.3 Relationships Among Elements .............................................................13

6.3.1 Global Identifier .................................................................................................... 13

6.3.2 Composite Global Identifier ................................................................................. 13

6.3.3 Share Class Global Identifier ............................................................................... 14

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT

6.3.4 Exchange Code ................................................................................................... 14

6.3.5 Financial Instrument Name .................................................................................. 14

© ISO 2018

All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may

be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting

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ISO/DIS 23644

Table of Contents

Foreword ..................................................................................................... v

Introduction................................................................................................. vi

1 Scope ..................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Overview ..................................................................................................1

2 Conformance .......................................................................................... 2

2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................2

2.2 Conformance as a Provider of Identifiers .................................................4

2.2.1 Background & Approach ........................................................................................ 4

2.2.2 Conformance ......................................................................................................... 5

2.3 Conformance as a Consuming Application ..............................................5

3 References ............................................................................................. 5

3.1 Normative References .............................................................................5

4 Terms and Definitions ............................................................................ 6

4.1 Specific Terminology ................................................................................6

4.2 Financial Terms ........................................................................................7

4.3 Identifier ...................................................................................................7

5 Symbols and Abbreviations .................................................................... 8

5.1 Symbols ...................................................................................................8

5.2 Abbreviations ...........................................................................................8

6 Architecture ............................................................................................ 9

6.1 Global Identifier Structure ........................................................................9

6.1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................9

6.1.2 Syntax .................................................................................................................... 9

6.2 Global Identifier Associated Content ......................................................12

6.2.1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 12

6.2.2 Exchange Code ................................................................................................... 12

6.2.3 Financial Instrument Name .................................................................................. 12

6.2.4 Pricing Source ..................................................................................................... 12

6.2.5 Security Type ....................................................................................................... 13

6.2.6 Ticker ................................................................................................................... 13

6.3 Relationships Among Elements .............................................................13

6.3.1 Global Identifier .................................................................................................... 13

6.3.2 Composite Global Identifier ................................................................................. 13

6.3.3 Share Class Global Identifier ............................................................................... 14

6.3.4 Exchange Code ................................................................................................... 14

6.3.5 Financial Instrument Name .................................................................................. 14

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6.3.6 Pricing Source ...................................................................................................... 15

6.3.7 Security Type ....................................................................................................... 15

6.3.8 Ticker ................................................................................................................... 15

7 Controlled Vocabularies .......................................................................17

7.1 Overview ................................................................................................17

7.2 Security Types ........................................................................................17

7.3 Pricing Sources ......................................................................................17

8 FIGI Ontology .......................................................................................19

8.1 Ontology Architecture and Namespaces ................................................19

8.2 Global Instrument Identifiers Ontology ...................................................20

8.2.1 Ontology Metadata ............................................................................................... 20

8.2.2 Top-Level Class Hierarchy................................................................................... 22

8.2.3 Financial Instruments ........................................................................................... 24

8.2.4 Identifiers .............................................................................................................27

8.2.5 Security Types ..................................................................................................... 30

Annex A - Shared Semantics Treatments ................................................33

Annex B - Creation of New Identifiers ......................................................35

Annex C - Allocation of Identifier Prefixes ................................................39

Annex D - Other Standards in the Financial Space...................................41

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Foreword

ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO

member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical

committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has the right

to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in liaison with

ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all

matters of electrotechnical standardization.

The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described in the ISO/

IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular the different approval criteria needed for the different types of ISO documents should

be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2

(see www.iso.org/directives).

Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent rights. ISO

shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights. Details of any patent rights identified during the

development of the document will be in the Introduction and/or on the ISO list of patent declarations received (see

www.iso.org/patents).

Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not constitute an

endorsement.

For an explanation on the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions related to

conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles

in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) see the following URL: www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.

This document was prepared by the Object Management Group (OMG) and was adopted, under the Fast Track procedure,

by ISO/TC 68?SC 8, Financial services - Reference data for financial services.
This document is related to:

• ITU-T Recommendation X.902 (1995) | ISO/IEC 10746-2:1995, Information Technology - Open Distributed

Processing - Reference Model: Foundations

• ITU-T Recommendation X.903 (1995) | ISO/IEC 10746-3:1995, Information Technology - Open Distributed

Processing - Reference Model: Architecture

• ITU-T Recommendation X.920 (1997) | ISO/IEC 14750:1997, Information Technology - Open Distributed

Processing - Interface Definition Language

Apart from this Foreword, and editorial changes to accommodate compatibility with the ISO format, the text of this

document is identical with that for the OMG specification for Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI), v1.0.

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Introduction

The rapid growth of distributed processing has led to a need for a coordinating framework for this standardization and

ITU-T Recommendations X.901-904 | ISO/IEC 10746, the Reference Model of Open Distributed Processing (RM-ODP)

provides such a framework. It defines an architecture within which support of distribution, interoperability and portability

can be integrated.

RM-ODP Part 2 (ISO/IEC 10746-2) defines the foundational concepts and modeling framework for describing distributed

systems. The scopes and objectives of the RM-ODP Part 2 and the UML, while related, are not the same and, in a number

of cases, the RM-ODP Part 2 and the UML specification use the same term for concepts which are related but not

identical (e.g., interface). Nevertheless, a specification using the Part 2 modeling concepts can be expressed using UML

with appropriate extensions (using stereotypes, tags, and constraints).

RM-ODP Part 3 (ISO/IEC 10746-3) specifies a generic architecture of open distributed systems, expressed using the

foundational concepts and framework defined in Part 2. Given the relation between UML as a modeling language and Part

3 of the RM-ODP standard, it is easy to show that UML is suitable as a notation for the individual viewpoint

specifications defined by the RM-ODP.

This International Standard defines a method for automating the counting of Function Points that is generally consistent

with the Function Point Counting Practices Manual, Release 4.3.1 (IFPUG CPM) produced by the International Function

Point Users Group (IFPUG). Guidelines in this specification may differ from those in the IFPUG CPM at points where

subjective judgments have to be replaced by the rules needed for automation. The IFPUG CPM was selected as the anchor

for this specification because it is the most widely used functional measurement specification with a large supporting

infrastructure maintained by a professional organization.
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ISO/DIS 23644:2018(E)

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO/DIS 23644

Information technology - Object Management Group
R R
Financial Instrument Global Identifier (FIGI 1.0)
1Scope
1.1 Overview

The development of a Financial Instrument Global Identifier originated out of the recognition that chaos theory has

nothing on the complexity generated everyday by the millions-perhaps billions-of security transactions that cross trading

floors, clearinghouses, and exchanges all over the world. Almost every aspect of securities management is based on

closed systems that use proprietary identifiers that are privately owned and licensed. Closing each deal is as much an

exercise in translation as it is in transaction processing, as traders, investors, and brokers wrestle with multiple proprietary

formats to determine what a security is, who owns it, how much it is worth, and when the deal should be closed. It

introduces a tremendous amount of friction into the trade lifecycle and creates opaqueness where clarity is sought. In

addition, the use of proprietary identifiers adds significant cost and overhead when users wish to integrate data from

disparate sources or migrate to a different market data system.

The evolution of advanced symbologies has helped the securities industry grow, but the limitations and costs imposed by

the closed systems have become more apparent as companies and institutions continue to integrate operations on a global

scale. Proprietary symbology now stands as one of the most significant barriers to increased efficiency and innovation in

an industry that sorely needs it. Moreover, the lack of common identifiers is a key roadblock to achieving the holy grail

of straight-through processing (STP).
Points of Note:

Licensing fees require firms to pay for each symbol system they use. International firms bear an especially heavy burden,

because they often have to license several symbologies in order to manage trading operations in several countries.

Restrictions imposed by proprietary symbologies prevent companies from easily mapping one set of codes to another.

This hinders integration of market data from diverse sources as well as efforts to automate trade and settlement activities.

Market data consumers who adopt proprietary symbols for use in their own systems must not only pay licensing fees, but

such symbols also lead to significant future costs associated with efforts to connect to emerging trading systems.

Proprietary trading environments may have worked well for years; but they are a byproduct of a time when data systems

operated largely as islands that did not have to interoperate with other systems.

Current trends dictate a different approach. Markets, customers, and governments are demanding greater connectivity,

transparency, and efficiency. What’s more, the openness of Internet-based systems has profoundly altered the way

businesses-and individuals-collect, manage, and share information. Thus, in addition to new regulations that demand

clarity and accountability, the move to open symbology is being driven by growing investor and institutional demands.

Adopting an open system of shared symbology establishes the foundation for a tremendous leap forward in the efficient

trade and settlement of securities as well as data management and reporting of financial instruments more generally.

Such a system will allow firms and technology service providers to shift resources from laborious, inefficient processes to

new investments in tools and products that will better serve clients.
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An open system answers the call for greater transparency. Eliminating the need to remove proprietary IDs and re-map

financial instruments will greatly simplify the steps needed to migrate between market data platforms and trading

systems. Availability of a central symbology reference will facilitate mapping between users’ internal systems and create

opportunities for integration and automation of the global enterprise. This is to say that this standard represents a novel

solution in the market that is not currently covered by other identifiers currently in circulation.

This specification lays out the details of the Financial Instrument Global Identifier across two dimensions:

1. The specification of the structure of the Global Identifier itself—what is/is not valid as a Global Identifier and how a

Global Identifier is constructed and validated.

2. An ontological model specifying the relationship between the Global Identifier and other closely related information.

This International Standard has been created with the clear understanding that a published interface for creating identifiers

and linking together relevant parties, e.g., Certified Providers or the Registration Authority, through the use of technology

is a critical part of the operationalization of this standard. While high level descriptions of the various types of

organizations that need to be involved as well as high level descriptions of the interactions between such organizations

has been included in this International Standard, they are included on the understanding that there will need to be a

subsequent standard produced that details the necessary technical infrastructures and service level agreements for all

participating organizations. To be clear, the technical specification of those services and service level agreements is out of

scope for this document.
Global Identifier concepts are documented using two forms of definition:

1. A structured ontology specification of the concept, and its relationships to others, represented using the Web

Ontology Language (OWL), in the form of (a) RDF/XML serialized OWL, (b) ODM (Ontology Definition

Metamodel)-compliant ODM XMI, and (c) ODM-compliant UML XMI.

2. Natural language definitions which represent the concepts in natural language using the vocabulary of the finance

industry.

Two controlled vocabularies in rdf format, one specifying the list of possible values for security types, one specifying the

list of possible values for pricing sources. These lists are subject to growth over time as new security types are either

invented or incorporated into FIGI and as new pricing sources are taken into account.

This International Standard covers both the content of the models, and the underlying architecture employed for

producing and presenting the model.

This model is developed from a previously existing infrastructure that is currently active and had issued in excess of 150

million FIGI-compliant identifiers to date. The currently issued identifiers are freely available on a web site and through

data files and are delivered upon request in bulk on a daily basis to interested parties. The purpose of this International

Standard, however is to specify the structure of the Identifier itself and its relationship to key information elements rather

than to specify the technology and related interfaces used to generate, access, and manage the identifiers.

2 Conformance
2.1 Introduction

An identifier is in conformance with this International Standard if, and only if, all of the following conditions are met:

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Requirement Description Reference

Syntax of identifier The identifier shall be a twelve (12) character string as 6.2.1

follows:
• Position 1: any upper case alphabetical
character excluding vowels (but including “Y”)
• Position 2: any upper case alphabetical
character excluding vowels (but including “Y”)
• Position 3: the letter “G”
• Positions 4-11: any alphanumeric character
excluding vowels (but including “Y”) that, in
combination with positions 1 and 2 does not
constitute a duplicate of an existing string.
• Position 12: check digit (see 6.1.2 for
algorithm).
Qualification: positions 1 and 2 cannot be the
following sequences:
BS, BM, GG, GB, VG

Uniqueness of identifier The identifier shall be a twelve character string, as 6.2.1

specified above, that has never been assigned as a
Financial Instrument Global Identifier.

Composite Global Identifier If a global identifier is to be designated as a Composite 6.2.1

Global Identifier, it shall have at least one Global
Identifier associated with it.

Share Class Global Identifier If a global identifier is to be designated as a Share Class 6.2.1

Global Identifier, it shall have at least one Composite
Global Identifier associated with it.
Exchange Code A global identifier will have either zero (0) or one (1) 6.2.2
exchange code associated with it.

Financial Instrument Name Each global identifier will have at least one name, 6.2.3

which need not be unique to the identifier.
Pricing Source A global identifier will have any finite number of 6.2.4
pricing sources, including zero (0) associated with it.
Security Type A global identifier will be associated with at least one 6.2.5
(1) Security Type.
Ticker A global identifer will have at least one ticker 6.2.6
associated with it. That ticker need not be unique to the
identifier.
There are no degrees of conformance.
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2.2 Conformance as a Provider of Identifiers
2.2.1 Background & Approach

In order to support the accurate assignment of identifiers it is vital that a single financial instrument, appropriately

understood, be identified by exactly one identifier. Further, it must be the case that a particular identifier, unless it is a

composite or share class Identifier (see Clause 6), identifies exactly one financial instrument. In order to support this,

then, it is necessary that when an Identifier is created two conditions are met:

1. Uniqueness of Identifier: the twelve character string (see Clause 6 for details) is unique and has never been used at

any time for a FIGI.

2. Uniqueness of the Financial Instrument: the financial instrument being identified does not already have a FIGI

associated with it.

In order to ensure that these two conditions are met there are two basic approaches that might be considered:

• One comprehensive system of record (perhaps with non-official copies embedded in other organizations) that can serve

as the single point of reference against which to check Financial Instruments and Identifiers.

• A consistently applied mechanism by which both Identifiers and Financial Instruments are partitioned and distributed

amongst multiple systems.

The second approach is essentially the approach taken in support of the LEI effort. This approach has had its challenges,

but one might argue that it is now stable and operating properly and that since it is a working system that is fully

specified, we would do well to adopt that model for FIGI. While it is certainly the case that the multiple provider

approach to generating LEIs is better now than it was at the outset, the system is still far from perfect. Again, the key

factor in assigning an identifier, be it for LEI or FIGI, is to ensure that the identifier is unique and that the thing being

identified is unique. In the former case, the system in place for LEI is working fine; by distributing unique identifier

characteristics across multiple providers, the only possibility of a duplicate identifier is in a case where one provider

reuses a string. While this is a possibility, it is not a real problem. In the latter case, this amounts to ensuring that the

entity identified does not already have an identifier
...