Company identifiers
In the course of your research you may need to merge sets of data collected in one source, into another source. Unique identifiers can become useful. The tables below provide information for some selected company identifiers.
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Downloading identifiers from a database
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Database Tickers CUSIPs ISINs SEDOLs DS Code Others Comments Bloomberg Yes Yes Yes Yes No BB Ticker Compustat Industrial (WRDS) Yes Yes No No No CIK, GCKEY CRPS
(WRDS)Yes Yes No No No PERMCO,
PERMNODatastream (Static Queries) Yes* Yes Yes Yes Yes IBES ticker Tomson ticker *Modified Ticker; U: for NYSE and AMEX; @ for Nasdaq Execucomp
(WRDS)Yes Yes No No No GVKEY I/B/E/S (WRDS) Yes Yes
(8 digit)No No No IBES ticker ORBIS Yes No Yes Yes
NoNo BvD ID;
D & B Duns
(US & Canada only)No more SEDOLs as of Oct. 2015 SDC Global New Issues Yes Yes Yes Yes No SDC
M&AYes Yes No Yes Yes S&P Capital IQ Yes No No No No CIK, GVKEY Thomson One
(web + Excel add-in)Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes IBES ticker, CIK (web), DS Mnemonic
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Uploading lists of identifiers in a database
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Database Tickers CUSIPs ISINs SEDOLs DS Code Others Comments Bloomberg Yes Yes Yes Yes No Bloomberg unique identifier (BBGID) Compustat Industrial (WRDS) Yes Yes No No No GCKEY CRPS
(WRDS)Yes Yes No No No PERMCO,
PERMNODatastream (Static Queries) Yes Yes Yes Yes* Yes *For SEDOLs starting with letters, add UK in front ie: for B020QX2 us UKB020QX2 Execucomp
(WRDS)Yes Yes No No No GVKEY I/B/E/S (WRDS) Yes Yes
(8 digit)No No No IBES ticker ORBIS Yes No Yes Yes
NoNo D&B
(US & Canada firms only)
BvD IDNo more SEDOLs as of Oct. 2015 SDC Global New Issues Yes No Yes Yes No SDC
M&AYes No No Yes Yes S&P Capital IQ Yes No Yes* No No S&P Capital IQ ID *Inconsistent, ISIN were uploaded using a different ID type Thomson One
(web + Excel addin)Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Many! *tested add-in only Caution:
Tickers are not always reliable as they can be reused.
ISINs can identify a security but not the exchange on which it trades.
Some databases may have missing identifiers.
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How to upload a list
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In Bloomberg
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In Excel, paste your identifiers then use the following formula:
=BDP(A1&"isin","PX_Last") for instance where A1 is your first pasted ISIN number, and PX_Last is the item you are requesting.
For a list of mnemonic of items use FLDS <GO>.
If you upload a list of tickers, use this =BDP(A1&"US Equity","PX_last").
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in Bloomberg using the PRTU function
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With an existing list of codes in Excel (ISIN, SEDOLs, Tickers, CUSIPs), open the PRTU <GO>, create a list.
Select your codes, click on the top right of the selection until you see a cross with four arrows then drag to the ‘Search’ box on the PRTU screen.
The codes will appear in the Cash column.
If the ISIN, SEDOL fields do not appear, go to Settings>User Display and select them, they will be populated automatically. Click on Export to export to and excel file.
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In S&P Capital IQ
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Go to My Capital IQ>Watch List>Create.
Note: ISIN numbers can be uploaded by using the copy/pasting in the ‘search’ field vs actually uploading a file.
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In Datastream
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Step 1: Paste your identifiers in an Excel sheet and click Create List from Range> Fill the Give a List File Name (.LLT) box name click OK.
Step 2: Open a new Static or Time Series request and choose the List Picker icon (under Find Series), call up your list and proceed as usual.
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In ORBIS
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Click on: Identification Numbers>stock and securities numbers.
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In SDC
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Copy the identifiers from a text file or an excel file, launch a request and select ‘All Items’ when the ‘Search Items’ window appears.
Type in the type of identifier you wish to upload and double click on it.
In the pop up window right click to paste the identifiers (CTRL+V will not work). Click OK.
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In Thomson Excel
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Add-in: paste your identifiers in a spreadsheet, from the Thomson menu click Report>Select identifier from range>Add items>export
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Useful links & tools
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- User's Guide for converting Company level CUSIPs to CRSP CUSIPs from Princeton University.
- CUSIP Converter from WRDS (WRDS login required – WRDS Research Tab>WRDS Tools)
- Convert tickers or CUSIPs to PERMCO/PERMNO (WRDS login required)
- CCM: CRSP/COMPUSTAT Merged (WRDS login required)
- In Thomson One Banker Excel add in, use the 'Data Item' look up tool to quickly transform a given set of identifiers into another one: Select the range of identifiers>in the Item column select the output you want (SEDOL, CUSIPs, DS Code etc…) and click export.
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Definitions
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Stock identifiers in I/B/E/S
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US Firms: Bloomberg (and other data sources) can be reconciled with I/B/E/S based on CUSIP.
European Firms: European firms do not have a CUSIP, unlike US Firms. I/B/E/S therefore attributes a composite CUSIP based on the SEDOL identifier of European firms, based on the following rule:
I/B/E/S CUSIP = [country identifier][6 character SEDOL]
where
[6 character SEDOL] is the firm’s 7 character SEDOL from which the last character is omitted
[country identifier] is as followsCountry prefix Austria EA Belgium EB Cyprus EO Denmark SD Finland SF France EF Greece EH Germany ED Ireland EZ Italy EI Iceland SI Luxembourg EL Netherlands EN Norway SN Portugal EP Spain EE Sweden SS Switzerland ES UK EX Beware of the following:
- Irish stocks are often dual listed in the UK. Don’t mix the UK SEDOL with the Irish one.
- Dual listings may mean that some I/B/E/S data may be associated with other identifiers while they relate to the same company. The data may be in other currencies than that of the main listing (e.g. Nordea).
- SEDOLs change over time, e.g. as companies merge or take other corporate action, and companies relocate their headquarters.
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