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ISIN Number
Practical Law Glossary Item 0-386-1954 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
ISIN Number
ISIN is an acronym for International Securities Identification Number. ISIN numbers are the unique 12-digit numbers that are recognized by the International Standards Organization, located in Geneva, Switzerland, as security identifiers for cross-border securities transactions. A US company is required to obtain an ISIN number in connection with each security offered in an SEC-registered offering and certain types of unregistered offerings (such as a Regulation S offering). An ISIN consists of three parts:
- A two letter country code. International securities cleared through Clearstream or Euroclear use "XS" as the country code.
- A nine-character, alpha-numeric national security identifier. The nine-digit security identifier is the National Securities Identifying Number, or NSIN, assigned by governing bodies in each country, known as the national numbering agency (NNA). In the US and Canada, the NNA is the CUSIP organization, meaning that CUSIP numbers can easily be converted into ISINs by adding the "US" or "CA" country code to the beginning of the existing CUSIP code and adding an additional check digit at the end.
- A single check digit.