What is a FIGI? The 12-character security ID
A FIGI is a Financial Instrument Global Identifier: a 12-character code that identifies a financial instrument, from common stock to bonds, loans and crypto assets. It is issued under an open MIT licence, it is deliberately meaningless as a string, and it never changes once assigned. If you read US institutional filings, you will meet it as the optional identifier sitting next to the CUSIP. This guide explains what a FIGI is, how it is built, and where it turns up in filings. It is not investment advice.
Definition
A FIGI
is a 12-character Financial Instrument Global Identifier for a financial instrument. The standard is owned by the Object Management Group with Bloomberg as Registration Authority. A FIGI is never reused and does not change on a corporate action. Source: OpenFIGI, OMG.
What is a FIGI made of?
The 12 characters are fixed in shape and empty of meaning. Characters 1 and 2 identify the certified provider, which is why so many FIGIs in the wild begin BBG, since Bloomberg is the certified provider. Character 3 is always an upper-case G. Characters 4 to 11 are randomly assigned upper-case consonants or digits, with vowels excluded so the code cannot spell anything. Character 12 is a numeric check digit.
The identifier carries no issuer code, no country code and no issue number. Everything descriptive lives in the metadata attached to it, not inside the string.
Who owns the FIGI standard?
The Object Management Group, an open-membership technology standards consortium, designated FIGI an official standard in September 2015 and owns the trademark. Bloomberg acts as the Registration Authority and as a certified provider, and follows the published allocation rules. In September 2021 the identifier was also published as an American National Standard, ASC X9.145-2021, by the Accredited Standards Committee X9.
12 characters
Length of a FIGI: 2 provider characters, the letter G, 8 random consonants or digits, and a check digit
Source: OpenFIGI, FIGI allocation rules
Why are there several FIGIs for one company?
Because a FIGI is assigned at more than one level. An equity gets an exchange level FIGI for each trading venue, a composite FIGI at country level that links the venues in that country, and a share class level FIGI that links every composite globally for the same class of the same instrument. A stock listed in three countries therefore has many exchange FIGIs, three composite FIGIs and one share class FIGI.
This matters when reading filings. Form 13F asks specifically for the share class level FIGI, so a FIGI taken from a 13F will not match an exchange level code pulled from a market data feed for one venue.
Where do FIGIs appear in filings?
In US institutional reporting, the FIGI is optional and sits with the CUSIP in Column 3 of the 13F Information Table. The SEC added the option in amendments adopted on 23 June 2022, effective 3 January 2023, and was explicit that it is in addition to the CUSIP and not instead of it. For how the two compare, see FIGI vs CUSIP. For the other codes you will meet in a filing, see CUSIP vs ISIN and what is a LEI.
Flock resolves the identifiers on each filing it reads back to the security they belong to, and keeps every holding linked to its source filing and date. What the data means for your money is your call to make.
Frequently asked questions
What does FIGI stand for?
Financial Instrument Global Identifier. It is a 12-character code that identifies a financial instrument across asset classes. The standard is owned by the Object Management Group, which designated it an official standard in September 2015, with Bloomberg as Registration Authority. Source: OpenFIGI, OMG.
How is a FIGI structured?
Twelve characters. The first two identify the certified provider, the third is always the letter G, characters four to eleven are randomly assigned consonants or digits with no vowels, and the twelfth is a numeric check digit. Source: OpenFIGI, FIGI allocation rules.
Does a FIGI change after a corporate action?
No. A FIGI does not change as a result of any corporate action, is never reused, and stays with the instrument in perpetuity. That permanence is the main difference from identifiers that are reassigned when an issuer or issue changes. Source: OpenFIGI, FIGI allocation rules.
Which FIGI appears on a US 13F filing?
The share class level FIGI, and only optionally. Form 13F asks for the 9-digit CUSIP in Column 3 and permits a manager to add the 12-character share class level FIGI alongside it. Source: SEC, Form 13F Special Instruction 11.b.iii.
Flock tracks these filings, sourced, dated, and linked back to the original. See what smart-money entities disclosed, without the guesswork about what it means.
Disclosures shown are public regulatory filings. Data may be delayed or incomplete. Smart-money entities may no longer hold positions shown. Not investment advice.