The document defines and explains the International Securities Identification Number (ISIN). It is a 12-character alpha-numeric code that uniquely identifies securities, including stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, for settlement purposes. The ISIN contains information about the issuer's country, security type, and check digit calculated using a modulo 10 algorithm. The ISIN system was developed in the 1980s and gained global acceptance in the 1990s to facilitate electronic trading of securities around the world.

1. ISIN
Domain : Financial Services / Securities

2. WHAT IS THE – ISIN?
• International Securities Identification Number.
• A code that uniquely identifies a specific security.
• The organization that allocates ISINs in any particular country is the country's respective
National Numbering Agency (NNA).
• All internationally traded securities issuers are urged to use this numbering scheme.
• Now, accepted as an standard by all the countries.
• Generally consists of three parts:
• A two letter country code.
• A nine character alpha-numeric national security identifier.
• A single check digit.
•

3. FOR ISIN : US0378331005
US 037833100 5
Country Name
CUSIP
Check Digit

4. HISTORY :
• First employed in 1981.
• At that point it had not reached wide global acceptance until 1989, when the G30
countries recommended ISIN adoption.
• In 1990, the Association of National Numbering Agencies, was formed and endorsed
by the International Organization for Standardization, or “ISO”.
• The Global ISIN Access Mechanism was developed in 1994 to facilitate the electronic
exchange of ISIN information across the different numbering bodies and today shares
wide popularity throughout the world.
• They have been commission with the implementation and availability of ISIN numbers
throughout the world.
• To further this goal, ANNA has created an information exchange process called
“GIAM-2”, which uses the Internet and CD-ROM technologies to achieve its goals.

5. DIGGING THE ISIN FORMAT :
• First two digits are country code
• The 3rd position is used to identify the issuer type (A: Central govt. ,B :State gov.
,D :Union Territories, F :Mutual Funds, E : Company/Corporation etc.)
• Next four letters to identify the Company(each company is assigned with a
unique number starts from 0001A up to 999F).
• Next two digits identifies the type of security in question like shares, debentures
etc.
• Next two digits are serially issued for each security of the issuer entering the
system.
• Last is the Check digit to validate the ISIN.

6. • First convert any letters to numbers by adding their ordinal position in the
alphabet to 9, (so as an example, A = 10 and M = 22).
• Starting with the right most digit (not the check digit), every other digit is
multiplied by two.
• The resulting string of digits (numbers greater than 9 becoming two separate
digits) are added up.
• Divide it by 10 and keep track of the remainder.
• Take the10 modulo of the sum.
• The resulting sum, including the check-digit, is a multiple of 10. Unless its = 0,
then your check digit is 10.
CALCULATION OF CHECK DIGIT :

7. APPLE INC. ISIN= US037833100-5
• Notice it has the country code "US" on the front, 9 digits in the middle and a check digit = 5. Here’s how you
determine how the check digit is calculated...
1. Convert any letters to numbers: U = 30, S = 28. So the ISIN (WITHOUT the CHECK DIGIT) changes from
US037833100 to -> 3028037833100.
2. Collect all numbers in an “odd” position (this means the 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc…) in one group and all the numbers in an
“even” position in another group. Thus, we have 3028037833100 = (3, 2, 0, 7, 3, 1, 0), (0, 8, 3, 8, 3, 0) = “odds”,
“evens”
3. Find the group above that contains the LAST DIGIT from the original (non-check digit) number (in this case it
would be the “odds” since it has “0” in it. Multiply all the numbers in this group by 2 to get: 2*(3, 2, 0, 7, 3, 1, 0) =
(6, 4, 0, 14, 6, 2, 0)
4. Add up the individual digits (so 14 = 1 + 4) from BOTH groups to get: (6 + 4 + 0 + (1 + 4) + 6 + 2 + 0) + (0 + 8 +
3 + 8 + 3 + 0) = 45
5. Divide by 10 and keep track of the remainder – so we have 45/10 = 4 with remainder = 5
6. Subtract the remainder from 10, so we have: 10 - 5 = 5
7. The above is your Check digit UNLESS it = 0, then your check digit is 10. In the case of Apple, Inc. the check digit
is 5 as listed above in it’s ISIN.

8. TRY IT YOURSELF!
• What could be the check digit of ISIN = AU0000XVGZA_ ??..
Provide your answers below in
the comment box and get
exciting surprises!!...

9. Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is…
Source : Bhagvad Gita