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What I a CUIP Numer and What Doe It Mean?

A CUSIP number is Wall Street's bar code for security identification. Here's how it works.
RIAN O'CONNLL • JUL 8, 2019 7:20 PM DT

A CUSIP number is Wall Street's way of identifying an investment security, like a stock,
bond or mutual fund.

Officially, a CUSIP number (more formally known as the Committee on Uniform

Securities Identification Procedures) identifies all registered U.S. publicly-traded
companies and all U.S. government and municipal bonds. A CUSIP also identifies less
traditional investment securities, including preferred stock; funds; certificates of deposit;
syndicated loans; and U.S. and Canadian listed options.

The CUSIP number is a powerful aid in helping investment companies, investors, and xcluive Invetor Content
government regulators track a security, and is especially helpful in managing an efficient
trade clearance and settlement process. A the G7 I a
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The CUSIP system is owned by the American Bankers Association and is largely
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The CUSIP set-up was engineered by both the New York Clearing House Association in Form
partnership with the American Bankers Association. It was the ABA that created the
CUSIP committee and established regulations and procedures to guide the industry use
of CUSIP numbers. I'd Like to a
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In 1968, the CUSIP Service Bureau (now known as CUSIP Global Services) was created
to actually manage the entire CUSIP system, working with (and for) the ABA to ensure
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that CUSIP numbers would be widely available and used correctly by broker-dealers,
tock to u
bond investors and other high-profile financial industry organizations and companies.

Fast forward to today and the CUSIP system now holds data on 44 million financial
instruments, according to S&P Global, making it one of the largest holders of financial
and investment data in the world. Thetreet Dail Neletter
Want Thetreet’ best daily
Wh Would an Invetor Need a CUIP Numer? stock and investing news
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Knowing a security's CUSIP number can help a regular investor in multiple ways. every weekday?
Get our free flagship newsletter.

It can help ou more eail reearch a tock, ond or fund. On good, solid stock ign Up No
research sites, a CUSIP number is your shortcut to getting great (and more
comprehensive) research on a company or bond issuer.

You ma need it to full out ecuritie-related financial form. Often, investors are
required to fill out financial forms after the purchase of shares of stocks, funds, or form
bond purchases. Knowing the security's CUSIP number can make this process faster
and efficient.

A CUIP inure proper categorization of our ecurit purchae. Since the CUSIP
number can precisely identify a publicly-traded security, stocks, bonds and funds are
more easily found and documented. That ensures your securities trades are processed,
cleared and settled correctly.

A CUSIP number also makes it easier to identify stock owners, so they can be properly
paid out on dividends and interest earned on a securities purchase.

Ho CUIP Numer Are tructured

In working order, a security's CUSIP number includes nine characters that may have
both letters and numbers.

Each CUSIP number (yes, they're mostly referred to as "numbers" on Wall Street) offers
a unique method of singling out a security. It marks the company or issuer and denotes
the type of investment security it is (i.e., such as a stock, bond or fund.)

Structurally, the first six characters in a CUSIP (known as the "base") designates the
security's issuer, while the seventh and eighth characters identify the precise type of
security. The last component, the ninth character, is called the "check digit" and is the
least important and thereby least-used character in the CUSIP lineup, and isn't always
used to clear or settle a trade.

It's worth noting that CUSIP numbers aren't the same as the numbers used to identify
foreign stocks and securities. That system, called CUSIP International Numbering
System or CINS, has a letter as the first character in its securities identifier (to note the
security issuer's country), signaling it as a foreign security.
Ho Are CUIP Numer Aigned?

CUSIP numbers are assigned by CUSIP Global Services, the administrative organization
that handles the distribution of CUSIP numbers.

The process is fairly straightforward. CUSIP Global Services offers an online

application that companies can use to submit requests for a CUSIP number.

CSG requires the correct documentation and will insist that the application be filled out
completely and accurately. The fee for getting a CUSIP isn't exactly onerous -- it's $100
for the application fee and another $80 a year to administer the CUSIP number.

Required documentation includes various fact sheets and registration numbers tied to
the security in question. A full review of documentation needed to apply for a CUSIP can
be found at CSG's application page.

According to CSG, the CUSIP application form and accompanying electronic

documentation are all that is needed to complete the request. You'll be contacted by a
CSG representative after the application form has been thoroughly reviewed.

Ho to Locate Your CUIP Numer

Historically, it's been problematic for average investors to get their hands on a stock,
bond or mutual fund's CUSIP number.

That's by design, as the CUSIP database, run by S&P Global, is and has been primarily
earmarked for investment firms who rely on a security's CUSIP to clear and process
trades faster and easier.

Wall Street trading firms pay a fee for access (usually to S&P Global, but other data
providers can be involved, too) to CUSIP data -- not just for the numbers, but for any data
accumulated in the creation of the CUSIP number, including who bought or sold a
security.

That said, investors increasingly have access to CUSIP number in this, the digital age.
These web-based platforms can provide CUSIP information to Main Street investors.

Pulicl Traded Companie

Companies whose stock trades on the major financial exchanges carry their CUSIP
numbers on their web sites, usually on their investor-relations page. For example,
Microsoft's
(MFT) - Get Free Report

CUSIP number (594918104) can be found on its investorrelations page under the
"questions and answers" section, which is common for most publicly traded companies.

The Municipal ecuritie Rulemaking oard

The MSRB also offers CUSIP numbers via Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA)
system.

On Variou ecurit Document

Securities trades tend to generate a lot of paperwork, and on that paperwork, especially
purchase orders and financial statements, will include a CUSIP number. The stock or
security certificate will also have the CUSIP number.

On Fidelit' We ite

Mutual fund giant Fidelity offers an easy-peasy way to find a fixed-income (bond)
security's CUSIP number on its

corporate web site

Just type in the kind of bond you're looking for and add in the exact name of the security
and the CUSIP will pop right up, along with other key data.

Fidelity also offers a web page to find the CUSIP on individual publicly traded companies
using that company's stock symbol.

On QuantumOnline.com

Another quick and easy way to locate a CUSIP number is via Quantum Online's stock and
security lookup database. Just like with the Fidelity site, simply enter in the stock symbol
and you'll be directed to the company's financial page, where you can find the stock's
CUSIP number.

Via a aic Google earch

It's relatively easy to fund a publicly-traded stock's CUSIP number via a basic Google
search.

For instance, type in "Amazon CUSIP" on Google and you'll be led directly to a data
directory on Investing.com that includes all critical financial information on (AMZN) - Get
Free Report , including its CUSIP number.
What' the Di erence eteen a Ticker mol and a CUIP Numer?

While both a CUSIP and a stock-ticker symbol both identify publicly traded securities,
that's where the similarity ends.

For example, a stock symbol is used on the front end of a trade, to identify a stock a
buyer may want to purchase. The ticker symbol is widely used by broker, market makers
and other trading professionals to accurately send security pricing and availability
information (which used to be done on an old-fashioned teletype device, hence the
name "ticker").

The stock symbol also allows a potential buyer to better research and purchase the
stock, before the CUSIP number's job comes into play.

That job comes at the purchase, as a CUSIP number will appear on the trade
confirmation, and it continues afterward as the stock certificate and related paperwork
will all include the CUSIP number, thus making it easier to organize and document the
security going forward.

CUIP Numer and Real-Life ecuritie

Using the search tools listed above, you can find the CUSIP number of any publicly
traded security.

For instance, a quick look at Google will find the CUSIP numbers of these widely-traded
stocks.

Compan CUIP

Ford Motor (F) - Get Free Report 345370BY5

3M (MMM) - Get Free Report 88579Y101

Facebook (F) - Get Free Report 30303M102

Southwest Airlines (LUV) - Get Free Report 844741108

Coca-Cola (KO) - Get Free Report 191216AZ3

The Takeaa on CUIP

Think of CUSIP numbers as Wall Street's "bar codes" -- identifiers that allow for the
proper designation, recording and documentation of publicly traded information.

That makes CUSIPs invaluable to both investors and investment firms and third-party
trading partners. With a CUSIP, any security can be immediately accessed for trading
information, security identification, and for security financial documentation needs.

No doubt about it, the CUSIP makes life easier for any party attached to a securities
trade, clearance, settlement, and documentation.

And it's been that way for over 50 years.

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Y RIAN O'CONNLL

Follo rianOC65142093

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