Market data symbology refers to the system of codes and symbols to uniquely identify financial instruments and their attributes.

Ticker Symbols

Alphabetic codes used to uniquely identify securities on exchange, examples:

• AAPL for Apple Inc.
• TSLA for Tesla Inc.

ISIN (International Securities Identification Number)

A 12-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a security, used globally. Example:

• US0378331005 for Apple Inc.
• US88160R1014 for Tesla Inc.

CUSIP (Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures)

A 9-character alphanumeric code used in the United States to identify securities. Example:

• 037833100 for Apple Inc.
• 88160R101 for Tesla Inc.

SEDOL (Stock Exchange Daily Official List)

A 7-character alphanumeric code used in the United Kingdom and Ireland to identify securities. Example:

• 0263494 for Apple Inc.
• 0734644 for Tesla Inc.

FIGI (Financial Instrument Global Identifier)

A 12-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a financial instrument, used globally. Example:

• BBG000B9XRY4 for Apple Inc.
• BBG000B9XRY5 for Tesla Inc.

RIC (Reuters Instrument Code)

An alphanumeric code used to identify financial instruments, primarily in the Reuters trading platform. Example:

• AAPL.O for Apple Inc.
• TSLA.O for Tesla Inc.

Summary of Market Data Identifiers

Identifier	Length	Coverage	Structure	Primary Use	Key Benefits	Limitations
Ticker Symbol	1-5 chars	Exchange-specific	No specific structure	Quick trading reference	Simple, widely recognized	Not globally unique
ISIN	12 chars	Global	Country(2) + NSIN(9) + *cd(1)	Cross-border trading	Universal standard	Complex calculation
CUSIP (Q-sip)	9 chars	North America	Issuer(6) + issue type(2) + cd(1)	US/Canada trading	Widely used in North America	Regional only, proprietary
SEDOL	7 chars	UK/Ireland	Alphanumeric no vowels + cd(1)	UK securities trading	Efficient for UK market	Limited geographic scope
FIGI (Formerly BBGID)	12 chars	Global	Consonants(2) + 'G' + Alphanumeric no vowels(8) + cd(1)	Bloomberg ecosystem	Open-source, free	Less widely adopted
RIC	Variable	Global	Alphanumeric, often with exchange suffix	Reuters trading platform	Widely used in Reuters	Not standardized globally

Where:

• cd: Check Digit

Summary of Market Data Identifiers