ISO 10962, generally known as CFI (Classification of Financial Instruments) is a six-letter-code used in the financial services industry to classify and describe the structure and function of a financial instrument (in the form of

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or contract). It is an international standard approved by the

International Organization for Standardization The International Organization for Standardization (ISO ) is an international standard development organization composed of representatives from the national standards organizations of member countries. Membership requirements are given in Art ...

(ISO). Since 1 July 2017, each financial instrument should receive a CFI at the same time it is allocated an ISIN (International Security Identification Number) by the respective National Numbering Agency (NNA). The CFI is attributed to a financial instrument at the time when the financial instrument is issued; it will normally not change during the life of that instrument. Each of the six letters of the CFI represents a specific characteristic of the financial instrument (e.g. ''ESVUFB'' is used to describe a typical registered share). Those capital

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s are drawn from the

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. The first letter of the code is the E for Equity ( shares and other instruments of that nature), D for

Debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

(particularly bonds), C for Collective Investment Vehicles, (i.e.

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), etc. The purpose of the ISO 10962 standard is to provide a recognized standard for describing all financial instruments, which is recognized world-wide by all operators and computer systems in the financial and banking industries. Classification of financial instrument (CFI) Code is used to define and describe

financial instruments Financial instruments are monetary contracts between parties. They can be created, traded, modified and settled. They can be cash (currency), evidence of an ownership interest in an entity or a contractual right to receive or deliver in the form ...

as a uniform set of codes for all market participants. The code is issued by the members o
ANNA, the Association of National Numbering Agencies
The group is currently working to simplify the structure so that as to increase its use by non-governmental market participants.

History of ISO 10962 Modification

* Standard was first accepted and published in 1997 as ISO 10962:1997 * Its first revision, published in 2001, was ISO 10962:2001 * In 2006, FIX Protocol group published a proposal for changes of the standard for Consultation. * The last revised and accepted version of the standard is ISO 10962:2015 and was published by ISO in 2015. * In 2019 a revised version mainly related to OTC derivatives was published and the latest version externalizing the CFI codes was published in 2021.

Background and Goals of Introduction

Where distinct entities transact it is seen as helpful to establish a common transaction language. The CFI code is meant to provide the most comprehensive information possible, while at the same time maintaining the code manageability, provides a standard for identification of type of instrument and their main high level characteristics, determined by the intrinsic characteristics of the financial instrument, which would be independent of the individual names or conventions of a given country or financial institution. This principle avoids confusion arising from different linguistic usage as well as redundancy, while allowing an objective comparison of the instruments across markets. CFI codes also aim to simplify electronic communication between participants, improve understanding of the characteristics of financial instruments for the investors, and allow securities grouping in a consistent manner for reporting and categorization purposes.

Structure of CFI Code

* The first character indicates the highest level of category of the Security. * The second character refers to the groups within each category. * The next four characters refer to four attributes, that varies between groups. * The letter X always means ''Not Appl./Undefined''.

Tabulated Structure of CFI Code

References

External links

* ttp://www.isin.com ISIN Assistance
Detailed description of each CFI level by SIX Financial Information
{{ISO standards Security identifier types #10962 Financial regulation Financial metadata