Bloomberg has launched a new functionality to provide exchanges, data providers, custodians and other organizations direct access to multiple tools for identifying, mapping and requesting the Financial Instrument Global Identifier (Figi).
Based on Bloomberg's Open Symbology, Figi is a free and open data standard and unique identifier of financial instruments that can be used across all global asset classes, including syndicated loans, common stock, options, derivatives, futures, corporate and government bonds, municipals, currencies, and mortgage products. These new web-based tools, OpenFigi.com and the OpenFigi API, will help organisations search for existing Figis, request identifiers for new securities and cross-reference, or map, Figis to other third-party identifiers, said Richard Robinson (pictured), head of strategy and industry relations for Bloomberg's Open Symbology group.
According to Robinson, the new mapping tools will help streamline trading activities throughout the transaction lifecycle by helping trading systems to retrieve data and allowing for more powerful searches.
"These tools also will speed up the process as firms will be able to submit queries and symbols without having to wait for end-of-day files," said Robinson. "The Figi covers structured products, as well as all global asset classes, and we think this will be a valuable tool for issuers who can come to OpenFigi.com to request the corresponding Figi for their products. The launch is in line with other developments we are driving to increase data quality and address market need around transparency and efficiency."
One of the goals for the new tools is to enable organizations to break through the complexities of financial instrument identification and mapping by providing a central solution of unique identifiers across all asset classes, said Robinson. "By utilizing Figi to identify instruments, all information about those instruments can flow seamlessly between the systems of sell-side and buy-side firms as well as data vendors. This approach reduces cost, increases data quality and increases speed for all participants involved," he said.
The new portal will enable users to search the available Open Symbology data, access news and updates related to the Figi, and obtain the OpenFigi API specification. The website also provides search criteria including access to increased coverage, the inclusion of additional fields, such as 'share class Figi', and options to narrow down and pinpoint the results, which can be exported to excel files without usage restrictions. Bloomberg's Open Symbology team will also use the site to share its subject-matter expertise about symbology, data quality, data governance, metadata and ontology, according to Robinson.
The launch responds to the need to have a comprehensive and universal identifier methodology, a standard "missing in the financial markets almost since inception", according to Robinson.
"The industry is based on market participants trading assets and products with a counterparty but a universal system has never been in place for identifying and describing those financial instruments," said Robinson. "Trading has also been fragmented by asset class, jurisdictions and a combination of both (bonds in Germany are identified differently than bonds in the US, for example). We believe these new tools will help to bring standard naming conventions for financial instruments to the market. Figis are completely free and open to use and could be a very powerful development for the market, helping to address the complexities of financial instrument identification and mapping."
In addition to mapping from third-party identifiers, and providing related metadata, results can be further filtered using exchange and market identifier codes (Mic) codes. Information on check digit calculation and how to request assignment of a Figi for internal revenue service (IRS) and funds is also available where one has not yet been assigned proactively through the standard process. Requests for Figi assignment is limited to those parties issuing an instrument, and requires verification against the existing dataset.
Bloomberg has been building an open system for instrument identification for some time including a unique and unchanging ID for every instrument at the issuer-level to help address issues around duplication, said Robinson. "The Figi standard is now a neutral standard, administered by Bloomberg under the auspices of the Object Management Group. It is the financial industry's only independent open data standard for instrument identification - free to use, free to issue and free to redistribute," said Robinson. "With Figi, we are bringing the industry together by closing the gap in existing symbology systems. As the financial industry's only open data standard for instrument identification, Figi delivers all of the benefits at absolutely no cost."
According to Robinson, the launch follows on Bloomberg's recent work with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (Isda) on issues surrounding the identification of equity derivatives in the OTC derivatives market as an active member of a number of Isda steering groups focusing on both OTC equity derivatives and structured products. "Based on that work, we will continue to respond to industry needs," said Robinson. "The Figi will add considerable value in this process as it can be applied to any product and can be used functionally in the live trading cycle. We have also been doing some work on interest rate swaps and structured notes, as well as futures and options. The goal is to cover every product and instrument out there and increase connectivity to exchanges, as well as to build a closer relationship with issuers so they can use a Figi at the point of issue, before trading even starts."
Registered users will have the ability to perform bulk-related services but users do not need to be registered, or be a Bloomberg customer, and there are no charges, fees, or license restrictions on the data obtained from the website.
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