DTCC needs to stay at home more.

Financial News, June, 2003

What is it about international securities identification numbers (Isins) that makes everyone behave in such an odd way? They should be inoffensive, uncontroversial things with the full backing of everyone who is interested in knowing precisely what instrument they are buying and selling.Yet nothing appears to upset the industry more, or bring out its worst characteristics, than a discussion about the relative merits of a globally accepted numbering standard.

Here is an example from the 1992 Clearance and Settlement Systems Status Report, published by the Group of Thirty (G30). In it, all the big markets were asked how they were getting on with the group's 1989 recommendations. Some were more honest than others but this response on Isin implementation from the...

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