Build a durable system of record
Keep the identifiers returned by the service without making a private code the foundation of your data model.
Entity resolution without identifier lock-in
Know the company. Own the key.
Resolve messy company and instrument records onto open identifiers you can store, join, and redistribute. Anchor the entity on LEI, connect the instrument, and leave CUSIP lock-in behind.
Reference data should be infrastructure.
CUSIP is proprietary, and commercial use or redistribution can carry licensing obligations. That turns a neutral join key into a recurring dependency that travels into products, exports, customers, and audits. Open identifiers let the key do its actual job: identify the same thing everywhere.
Connect entity and instrument
Move from an instrument record to the legal entity behind it, then follow parentage and corporate history.
Share data with fewer strings attached
Use open keys in internal pipelines and customer-facing datasets without reproducing proprietary identifier data.
Use the right open identifier for the job.
No single code represents both a legal entity and every instrument it issues. The useful model connects standards instead of pretending they are interchangeable.
ISO 17442 identity with authoritative registration data and links to corporate parent structure.
An open instrument identifier standard useful for distinguishing instruments across venues and share classes.
ISO 6166 identification for cross-border instrument workflows, with jurisdiction-specific caveats.
Bring the key you already haveUse an existing identifier only as the lookup input.
Resolve and crosswalkMatch the instrument, issuer, and legal entity with provenance.
Leave on open identifiersRe-key new records around LEI and the appropriate instrument standard.
Identifying a company or instrument should not require a license to a private toll road.
That is the product principle: accept the identifiers customers already possess, resolve them, and return open identifiers—not a proprietary identifier dataset.
The public record matters.
Concerns about instrument-identifier licensing are documented, including the European Commission’s 2011 commitments decision concerning US ISIN licensing and subsequent US antitrust litigation. We state the narrower point: open infrastructure is the better foundation.
Sources: European Commission, Case COMP/39.592 · Dinosaur Financial Group litigation docket. Legal claims should receive counsel review before publication.