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CUSIP/ISID Plus Access User Guide

CUSIP/ISID Plus is the world's most comprehensive on-line security identification service. Use your Internet browser to access CUSIP numbers and ISID Plus global identifiers for over 525,000 Issuers and over 7 million securities.

  • Finding a security is a simple two-step process with Access.
    • Enter your search criteria - Issuer description or CUSIP/CINS number and click the Search button. Access will display a summary list of the Issuers and Issues that meet your criteria.
    • Select the specific Issuer and Issue you're looking for from the Issuer Summary list and click on the Issue Summary entry to display Issuer and Issue detail for your security.
  • Login Procedure
    • It is easy to log in to Access. Just point your browser to www.cusip.com, select the CUSIP/ISIDPlus Access link, click the Login button, and enter your User ID and Password (upper case) in the pop-up box.
  • You can select different search screens from the Access menu bar. The ID Search screen lets you search by Issuer and Issue number, Ticker, Mortgage-Backed Pool, or global identifier. The Description Search screen lets you enter issue-specific data to find a security. From the TBA screen you can verify or generate TBA CUSIPs.

Access Menu Bar

An example of an Access Description Search

A search for all Issuers starting with the word "Amazon", updated in the CUSIP database since 1/1/97 that contain the word "Common" in the security description.

The results of the search: five Issuers and a total of six Issues. The Issue Summary Screen shows the Issues that meet the search criteria for the first Issuer.

Issue Detail Screen for selected Issuer and Issue - Amazon.com:

One User ID per Person

Access allows each User ID to have only one active session. If someone tries to log in with a User ID that already has a session open, the second person will receive a warning, and can either:

  • Not log in
  • or Reset the session, effectively disconnecting the first person

To avoid this inconvenience, we recommend that each Access user be assigned a separate User ID and Password.

Sessions and "Timing Out"

When your User ID and Password are accepted, a session is opened. Access records the fact that your User ID is logged in. Your session stays active for six hours, after which it automatically times out.

Because you use Access via the Internet, you're only connected when you're actually searching the database. If your session has timed out, you will get a message indicating that you are no longer logged in; select Login on the menu bar and then re-enter your User ID and Password. You also have the option to log off the service.

Searching by Security Description

There are three ways to find a security:

1) You MUST enter Issuer information, either all or part of the Issuer name or the Issuer CUSIP or CINS number.

2) You can (and should) enter any information you have about the specific Issue you're looking for. You can specify the issue/dated date, maturity date, interest rate, and security description as well as other criteria; for dates and rates, you can specify single values or ranges.

3) You can search for an Issuer's securities that were added or updated during a specific date range.

Before you begin using Access description searches, take a few minutes to review the section on Tips for Faster Searches. As you will see, you can enter almost any type of search you may need. Occasionally, this flexibility, combined with the size of the database, can cause some searches to take much longer than necessary, return incomplete results, or may even time out before they finish. The suggestions in this section will enable you to make the most effective use of the powerful description-search capabilities of CUSIP/ISID Plus Access.

Once you have entered your search criteria, click the Search button at the bottom of the screen to start the search. The Clear button removes any criteria you may have entered.

Entering Issuer Criteria

Issuer information is entered at the top of the Security Description search screen:

To perform a search:

  • Use the Issuer Name Starts With field to enter one or more words from the beginning of the Issuer name.
  • Use the Issuer Name Contains field to enter one or more words or abbreviations that occur anywhere in the Issuer name.
  • Enter the six-character CUSIP or CINS number for the Issuer.

If you know the beginning of the Issuer name, enter it in the Starts With field. The word or phrase you enter must match the beginning of the Issuer name exactly; abbreviations are not supported. However, since CUSIP's standard names start with full words, not abbreviations, you can get the best of both worlds by combining Starts With and Contains criteria, subject to the word count limits below.

If you're not sure of the exact Issuer name, Contains searches provide a more general approach to description searches, since the word(s) you specify may occur anywhere in the Issuer name, not just the beginning. In addition, they support an extended version of CUSIP's standard abbreviations. To find any word in the database that has a standard abbreviation, you may specify:

  • The full word
  • The standard abbreviation; for state names, you may enter either the CUSIP state abbreviation or the two-character U.S. Postal abbreviation.
  • The plural of the word or the abbreviation, where applicable

You may specify "all except" criteria using the "but not" input field. For example, entering CHRYSLER in the Contains field, and MEDIUM in the "but not" field would locate all Chrysler Issuers except those assigned to Medium-Term Notes.

'But not' criteria must be combined with other Issuer criteria - they cannot be entered alone.

In order to improve search efficiency for all users, Access limits the number of words you may enter for description searches:

  • If you enter a Starts With word or phrase, you may enter a total of two other words or abbreviations in the Contains and/or But Not fields.
  • If you do not enter anything in the Starts With field, you may enter a total of six words or abbreviations in the Contains and But Not fields.

Searching by Activity Date

If you know approximately when your security was added or updated, you can specify that as part of your search criteria:

Securities will be selected if either the Issuer or the Issue was added or updated during the date range you specify. Dates must be entered in mm/dd/yyyy format. If you enter only a Between date, Access will search for Issuers or Issues added or updated on or after that date. You may specify an update date range by entering both dates; you may not enter the "and" date by itself.

Entering Issue Criteria

Since Access is a security identification service, it follows that the more information you enter about the specific Issue you're looking for, the better. You can enter many Issue criteria:

With one exception, Maturity and Dated Dates work the same as update dates; there must be full dates (mm/dd/yyyy) and you may enter either a specific date in the Between field or a pair of dates to define a range. The exception: If you enter only the first date, Access looks for an exact match on that date, rather than the "on or after" match used in the last update field.

Entering interest rate criteria is similar to entering dates. You may either enter a specific rate in the Between field, or a pair of rates to define a range.

The Issue Description field is similar to the Name Contains fields for Issuers; you may enter words in the Issue description, their abbreviations, or the plurals of either where appropriate. You are limited to three words (or abbreviations) each in the Issue Description and "but not" input fields.

Important note for U.S. government agency mortgage-backed pool searches: Even though pool numbers are stored as Issue descriptions, DO NOT use the Description Search screen to search for mortgage pools by Issuer name and pool number. Use the special input fields on the ID Search screen instead.

Finally, you can limit the search to a specific Group (CUSIP, CINS, or PPN) and Type (Debt or Equity) of security. To make a selection, click on the down-arrow and select the desired item from the drop-down list:

Tips for Faster Searches

Access is designed to help you quickly locate individual securities; it is not intended for screening the database. Ideally, searches should execute quickly and return a minimum number of securities to choose from. There are a few techniques you can use for description searches to help achieve these two goals:

  • Enter specific Issuer criteria. The closer you can come to entering criteria that identify the specific Issuer you're looking for, the faster the search will be. Many of the other tips below are suggestions that can help you do this.
  • Use Starts With names or Issuer Numbers if possible. For Starts With searches, Issuer names usually begin with full words, not abbreviations. For states, CUSIP (not postal) state abbreviations are used other than at the beginning, e.g., the Issuer name for a New Jersey state Issuer begins with NEW JERSEY, a Newark, New Jersey Issuer name begins with NEWARK N J.
  • Specify both Issuer and Issue criteria if you have them. The more specific you can be, the faster the search and the smaller the number of results.
  • Use meaningful words in Issuer Name Contains searches. Many Issuer names include words or abbreviations such as CNTY, CORP, INC, OF, and ST which occur frequently in the database but usually don't help much in identifying a specific Issuer. Avoid them if you can. If the Issuer name includes a frequently occurring word such as BANK, FEDERAL, or INTERNATIONAL, include other, less-common word(s) as well. Finally, you should avoid two very common abbreviations, since they apply to multiple words - CO (Colorado and company/companies) and IND (Indiana and industry/industries); use the full word instead.
  • Specify Issue dates or rates, rather than words from the Issue description. Access checks every Issue for each Issuer that meets your criteria; date and numeric comparisons are faster than text comparisons.
  • Use fewer words in Issue Description searches. When you enter Issue description and "but not" criteria, Access checks for single words faster than for multiple words. Unlike words in Issuer Name Contains searches, using meaningful words doesn't affect search speed, although it may reduce the number of results returned.
  • Specify update dates where appropriate. This may not affect the overall speed of the search too much, but it will probably reduce the number of Issues returned. This will make it easier (and faster) to isolate the one you're looking for.
  • Don't try to use the Description Search Screen for mortgage pools. Use the Government Mortgage Pool input fields on the ID Search screen instead.

CUSIP/CINS is the primary identifier for every security in the database.

The database also includes other identifiers for many securities, and Access allows you to search using them. To search by security identifier, select ID Search from the menu bar, enter the identifier in the appropriate section, and click the Search button.

Although you may enter any security identifier, Access will return only securities your subscription option allows you to see; e.g., if a CUSIP-only subscriber enters a CINS number or a SEDOL, the search will return no results.

Searching by CUSIP/CINS Number

If you know the CUSIP or CINS number for a security, you may enter it directly to obtain the standard description and any other information available for your subscription:

You may enter the Issuer number alone, or both Issuer number and Issue number. If you have only the Issuer number and some information about the Issue other than its number, use the Issuer number field at the top of the Description Search screen.

Search by Exchange/Ticker Symbol

The CUSIP database contains ticker symbols for many U.S. traded securities:

Click the down-arrow to select the exchange, and then enter the ticker symbol.

Search for Mortgage Pools

Access provides CUSIP/pool number cross-reference for over 2.5 million mortgage pools issued by U.S. government agencies such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae:

If your subscription includes access to CUSIP data, you can search for these securities by selecting the agency from the drop-down list and entering the pool number.

The standard display format for many pool numbers includes leading 0's; the size varies by agency, and may include a prefix. You may enter the pool number with or without leading 0's, but if you enter them, you must use the correct number; e.g., if the pool number displays as 001234, you may enter either 1234 or 001234, but not 01234. The same applies if there is a prefix; e.g., you can enter either E5-12 or E5-0012 to search for pool number E5-0012, but not E5-012.

Global Numbering System (International Number) Searches

You may search for a security using either its ISIN or the local identifier assigned by other National Numbering Agencies:

ISINs are stored directly, or select the agency (click the down-arrow) and enter the number. ISINs are available for almost all Issues in ISIDPlus. In addition, ISIN searches can be used to locate many other Issues for which CUSIP is the primary or substitute national numbering agency.

Note: Only ISIDPlus subscribers have access to the global name/description/number cross-reference information.

Issuer/Issue Summary Display

After you enter a security identifier or a description and click on the Search button, Access searches the database for Issuers and Issues that meet your criteria. Access displays two summary windows: a list of Issuers and a list of Issues for the first Issuer that meets your criteria.

For example, to display a list of Issuers starting with the word "Amazon", select Description Search from the menu bar and enter:

Access displays the twelve Issuers whose names match your criteria. The Ct column indicates how many Issues for each of them meet your criteria; in this case, all Issues are shown, since no Issue criteria were specified. If an Issuer has been dropped or suspended, the Drop/Susp column will contain a D. Access does not display Issuers or Issues that have been withdrawn.

Issuer Summary Screen:

Note: If more than 150 Issuers meet your criteria, Access will display only the first 150, along with a warning that the display is not complete. In this case, you will probably want to re-do the search using more specific criteria as suggested in the Tips for Faster Searches section.

The bottom half of the summary results screen displays the Issues for the first Issuer. If you specified issue criteria, the list includes only those Issues that satisfy them.

To display Issues for a different Issuer, click on the box to the left of the Issuer number. The Issue Summary window will then display Issues for the Issuer selected.

To see the issue number, click the Issue Num box on the far right of issue row. Click the box on the left side of the issue row to see the Issue Detail Box, which contains information for a specific issue.

Note: The Issuer number column displays as asterisks (*) for NNA users.

Issue Summary Screen:

You should specify Issue criteria whenever you can, since Issuers will not display unless they meet both Issuer and Issue criteria. For example, if you're looking for common shares, adding COMMON as the Issue Description criteria would reduce your search results in the above example to six Issuers and seven Issues.

The Issue Summary window displays basic descriptive information for all issues. As with the Issuer Summary, the Drop/Susp column will contain a D for Issues with that status.

To display the Issue number, click Issue Num box on the far right of the issue row. Click the box on the left side of the issue row to see the Issue Detail Box, which contains all issuer and issue information.

Note: The current version of Access will display a maximum of 150 Issues for an Issuer. If you receive a warning that your search results are incomplete, re-enter your search using more specific criteria.

Displaying Issuer/Issue Details

To display full details for a security, first select it by clicking on its entry in the Issue summary window. Here's the detail screen for the Amazon.com from the example in the previous section.

Display for a CUSIP/ISID Plus subscription:

To return to the summary screen, click on the Close button. Since the detail screen is a separate window, it will stay open until you close it. If you select another Issue from the summary window without closing the previous detail window, both detail windows will display; this might be useful for comparing securities. However, open windows use system resources on your PC, so you should avoid too many at the same time.

The specific data items you will see on the detail screen is determined by the information stored in the database and by the type of subscription you have to Access.

You may print the information on the detail screen or export it to a text file.

TBA CUSIPs

In order to achieve Straight-Through Processing, the CUSIP Service Bureau worked with the Mortgage Backed Securities Clearing Corporation to develop a specialized numbering scheme for TBAs.

U.S. government Agencies - GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC - issue "To Be Announced" (TBA) securities on a monthly basis. TBAs can have settlement dates from one to twelve months later. TBAs provide a means of trading mortgage pools before they are issued and are the mortgage-backed security equivalent of "When Issued" stocks.

Printing and Exporting Search Results

In addition to displaying Access search results, you may save them either by printing them or, for Issue details, writing the results to a text file.

Printing

Use your browser's print facility to print any search or result screen in Access. In most cases, browsers print the current active window, if more than one is open, not the whole screen. Since the summary screen has two windows, Issuer Summary and Issue Summary, you may have to print each separately.

Exporting

The Export button on the Issue Detail window enables you to store all of the information displayed on your screen in a text file for use in other applications. Information for each security is written to a separate file.

The specific steps needed to create export files depend on several factors, such as your browser and operating system software, security and virus-checking filters built into your Internet connection, etc. In general, the process will be similar to the process you use to download files from the Internet.

Access export file formats are fixed. Data items in the file are enclosed in quotes (") and separated by commas. The file contains placeholders (,"",) for data items that are empty in the database or that your subscription option does not allow you to see. Access includes an extended version of CUSIP's standard abbreviations. When you specify words that have standard abbreviations in Contains or But Not fields for Issuer names and Issue descriptions, entering the full word, the standard abbreviation, or, where appropriate, the plural of either will find every entry that includes any of them. For states, you can use the full state name, the CUSIP state abbreviation, or the U.S. Postal code.

The on-line Help File contains a list of all the abbreviations supported by Access. If the database contains the word in the first column, you may enter it, or any of the words or phrases in the second column in a Contains search field.

Two notes apply to the use of abbreviations in Access:

  • Abbreviations are not supported in Starts With searches. However, you may use the Starts With field to enter the word or phrase at the beginning of the Issuer name, and then enter one or two additional words (or abbreviations or plurals) in the Contains and/or But Not fields.
  • Issuer names and Issue descriptions for most CINS Issues are assigned by other national numbering agencies, and therefore do not conform to CUSIP naming and abbreviation standards. The Access update process builds abbreviation cross-references for CINS Issues where possible, but the results are less comprehensive than for CUSIP Issuer names and Issue descriptions.

Export File Format

The Export button on the Issue detail screen can be used to store the data items you can see on the screen to a text file. Each Issue is written to a separate, variable-length file with the data items enclosed in quotes (") and separated by commas (,).

Data items are written to the file in the order below. The file includes placeholders (,"", entries) for data items not available in the database or not visible to you due to your subscription option.

Issuer Data Items

1. Issuer number

2. Issuer name

3. Issuer status (D for dropped or suspended, otherwise empty)

4. Issuer group (CUSIP, ISID, etc.)

5. Issuer type (Corp, Muni, Govt)

6. Date Issuer last updated

7. Issuer domicile

8. Issuer state (U.S. Postal code)

9 - 12. Issuer foreign names (up to four pairs of values - e.g., "French", "[French name]")

Issue Data Items

13. Issue number

14. Issue ISIN

15. Issue status (D for dropped or suspended, otherwise empty)

16. Issue group (CUSIP, PPN, etc.)

17. Issue type (debt, equity)

18. Date Issue last updated

19. Reserved

20. Issue description

21. Dated date

22. Interest rate

23. Maturity date

24. Reserved

25. Currency

26. Alternative minimum tax (Y/N)

27. Bank qualified (Y/N)

28. Callable (Y/N)

29. First coupon date

30. Initial Public Offering (Y/N)

31. ISO CFI code (value followed by space and O or U for Official or Unofficial)

32. US (ANSI) CFI code

33. Depository eligible (Y/N)

34. Pre-refunded (Y/N)

35 - 37. Reserved

38. Underwriter name

39. Bond Counsel name

40 - 41. Reserved

42. Bond Form

43. Insured by

44 - 51. Reserved

52 - 61. "Exchange","Ticker symbol" (up to ten)

ISID and Euro-related Data

62 - 63. Reserved

64. Previous ID

65. Successor ID

66. Indenture year

67. Telekurs country code

68. Telekurs currency code

69. Primary language

70. Security type

71 - 95. Global numbering system - "Agency","Foreign number" (up to twenty-five)

96 - 99. Foreign language description (up to four pairs of values - e.g., "French","[French desc]" )

100. Old currency

101. Old par value

102. Old Nominal value

103. New nominal value

104. Redenomination effective date

105. Redenomination method

Subscription Options

Access offers a variety of subscription options to meet customer needs. In general, the type of subscription determines:

  • Which portion(s) of the database you are allowed to see
  • How soon you are allowed to see an Issue after it is added to the database, and other update date related restrictions
  • How much Issue detail information you are allowed to see
  • Rules associated with your subscription may limit search results; e.g., searches by CUSIP-only subscribers will not return CINS Issues. There may also be limitations on the data returned to you as a result of a search.

The choices for each of these categories are outlined below. For more information on available subscription options, contact the CUSIP Sales Department at (212)438-4500.

Database Segments

  • CUSIP-only
  • Mortgage-backed only
  • CINS-only
  • ISIDPlus-only
  • CUSIP/ISIDPlus combined

Add/Update Date/Time Restrictions

  • Near-real-time - you will be able to search for additions and updates to the CUSIP database within five minutes.
  • Daily - you are limited to database transactions through the previous workday.
  • Weekly - you are limited to database transactions through the previous Thursday.

Customer Service

If you have any questions about the Access Login process, contact Customer Service at (212)438-4800.

Access is available seven days a week, twenty-two hours a day. The service is not available from midnight to 2 a.m. New York time for system backups.

Distributed exclusively in the Americas by Standard & Poor's.

© 2002 Standard & Poor's. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language, in any form by any means, without the written permission of Standard & Poor's.

CUSIP® and CINS® are trademarks of the American Bankers Association.

2002-1



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