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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.
Printable version Downloading identifiers from a database
| 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, PERMNO | |
| Datastream (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 |
| No | 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&A | Yes | 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 |
Uploading lists of identifiers in a database
| 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, PERMNO | |
| Datastream (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 |
| No | D&B (US & Canada firms only) BvD ID | No more SEDOLs as of Oct. 2015 |
| SDC Global New Issues | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | ||
| SDC M&A | Yes | 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.
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").
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.
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.
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.
Click on: Identification Numbers>stock and securities numbers.
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.
Add-in: paste your identifiers in a spreadsheet, from the Thomson menu click Report>Select identifier from range>Add items>export
Useful links & tools
- User's Guide for converting Company level CUSIPs to CRSP CUSIPs from Princeton.
- 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.
Stock identifiers in I/B/E/S
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 follows
| Country | 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.
