The Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA), the organisation whose members are responsible for assigning ISIN, FISN & CFI codes, has announced a new Benchmarks Task Force designed to aid in understanding and developing the process for obtaining ISINs for referential instruments in particular, indices and reference rates.
The organisation writes that following application of the EU Benchmark Regulation on 1 January 2018, where benchmark administrators are required to provide an ISIN where available to identify their indices, there has been increased industry interest on the use of ISINs for identification of referential instruments. As the Registration Authority for the ISO 6166 ISIN standard, ANNA writes that it has a responsibility to ensure that both allocation and accessibility of ISINs meet the needs of the market.
The purpose of the Benchmarks Task Force is to enable collaboration between ANNA and global benchmark administrators to better understand their requirements, provide clarity where needed, explore any challenges in relation to the ISIN allocation practices and mutually determine the best way forward to assist the market. Output from the task force, where appropriate, will also feed into the ISO systematic review of the ISIN standard to assist in shaping how the standard should reflect the ISIN allocation requirements for referential instruments, ANNA writes.
Emma Kalliomaki, Managing Director of ANNA, says: “ANNA as an organisation is constantly looking at ways to work with the industry in a collaborative manner to help address market needs. By working directly with benchmark administrators, we will be able to hear first-hand the challenges they face and help address some of the practical applications of the ISIN standard, as well as deliver the feedback received directly into the ISO 6166 revision process. We have had great interest in the task force already, and would welcome further participation from other benchmark administrators.”
