Uniform Symbology


Uniform Symbology, in the context of European financial markets, refers to a common scheme to refer to securities, adopted by European markets in 2008. The original announcement reads as follows:

In order to facilitate orderly and efficient trading of securities across multiple markets, the founders of the Committee on Uniform Symbology agreed to create and adopt a common securities symbology to uniformly identify securities traded across Europe. A committee was formed for the purpose of
which was to create, maintain and modify as necessary the uniform methodology for securities symbology to be applied to the securities and to develop and use the Uniform Symbology in furtherance of the committee’s aims and objectives. Since the founding of the Committee on Uniform Symbology other members have joined including: Turquoise, NYSE Euronext and QUOTE MTF.

Symbology Algorithm

The Uniform Symbology Algorithm is designed to be human readable, fit into 6 characters, have no symbol clashes and where possible, be derivable from another, freely available code.
It will consist of a stock code followed by a single, lower case letter designating the primary listing exchange.
The stock code will be derived from the “local code” published by the primary exchange. These will be truncated where necessary.
If the local code contains a single letter class designator of A through Z then the single letter class designator shall be retained and the code will be truncated to a maximum of 4 characters, plus the single letter class designator. For some Nordic stocks the share designator will be prefixed with “SDB”. In this case the “SDB” should be removed and the single letter class designator will be retained.
Any codes containing spaces, periods, underscores or second words will be truncated at the space, period, etc.
All remaining non-alphanumeric characters should be removed.

Stock Code Truncation Examples

Local CodeTruncated Local CodeNotes
VGAS SDBVGAS“ SDB” Removed.
NDA SEKNDA“ SEK” Removed.
MAERSK BMAERB“MAERSK” Truncated to “MAER”, “B” retained.
ASSA BASSAB“ ” removed, “B” retained.
ATCO AATCOA“ ” removed, “A” retained.
ATCO BATCOBA/B share distinction retained.
BP.BP“.” Removed.
BT.ABT“.A” Truncated.
F&CFC“&” removed
Y&Z BYZB“&” removed, “ “ removed, “B” retained
TWW SDBBTWWB“ “ removed, “SDB” removed, “B” retained

Market codes by market centre (including examples)

Note that in some cases a market code suffix is shared by multiple listing markets. For example, the letter "y" is used for stocks listed on the Athens, Cyprus and Malta exchanges.
Market CentreMICMarket CodeSample Local CodeSample Uniform Symbology CodeSample Company NameRIC Suffix
Copenhagen Stock ExchangeXCSEcDANSKDANSKcDanske Bank OrdCO
Deutsche Borse/GermanyXETRdEXS1EXS1diShares DAX ETFDE
Euronext AmsterdamXAMSaHEIAHEIAaHeinekenAS
Euronext BrusselsXBRUbINBINBbINBEVBR
Euronext ParisXPARpRNORNOpRenaultPA
Euronext Lisbon/PortugalXLISuALTRALTRuALTRI SGPSLS
Bucharest Stock ExchangeXBSEfAMOAMOfAmonil SA
Bulgaria Stock ExchangeXBULf5BT5BTfVivacom
NASDAQ OMX Vilnius/LithuaniaXLITfAGP1LAGP1LfAlita Group AB
NASDAQ OMX Riga/LatviaXRISfGRZ1RGRZ1RfGrobina
NASDAQ OMX Tallinn/EstoniaXTALfPRF1TPRF1TFPremia Foods AS
Helsinki Stock ExchangeXHELhNOK1VNOK1VhNokiaHE
Irish Stock ExchangeXDUBiGNCGNCiGreencore Group plcI
Johannesburg Stock ExchangeXJSEjAGLAGLjAnglo American plcJ
Prague Stock ExchangeXPRAkBOREYBOREYBorealis Exploration
London Stock ExchangeXLONlVODVODlVodafone Group OrdL
Madrid/Spain XMADeCOLCOLeBOLSA DE MADRIDMC
Borsa Italiana/MilanXMILmSPMSPMmSaipemMI
USA Securities/New YorknQQQQQQQQnPowershares QQQ
Oslo Stock ExchangeXOSLoNHYNHYoNorsk HydroOL
PLUS-SX Stock Exchange/LondonXPLUqAFCAFCqArsenal Holdings plc
Reykjavik, IcelandXICErOSSROSSRrOssur Ord
Stockholm Stock ExchangeXSTOsVOLBVOLBsVolvo B OrdST
Budapest Stock ExchangeXBUDtOTPOTPtOTP Bank PLC
Ljubljana Stock Exchange/SloveniaXLJUtABKNABKNtAbanka Vipa DD
Bratislava Stock Exchange/SlovakiaXBRAt1SEA01AE1SEA0tSemat AS
Vienna Stock ExchangeXWBOvVIGVIGvVienna Insurance GroupVI
Warsaw Stock ExchangeXWARwTPETPEwTAURON PEWA
BATS Chi-X Europe RIECHIXxIEEMIEEMxiShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETFCHI
Luxembourg Stock ExchangeXLUXxBIPBIPxBIP Investment Partners
Athens Stock ExchangeXATHyINTETINTETyIntertech SA
Cyprus Stock ExchangeXCYSySEASSEASySea Star Capital
Malta Stock ExchangeXMALyHSBHSByHSBC Bank Malta PLC
Swiss Exchange/ZurichXVTXzUBSNUBSNzUBS N OrdVX
Swiss Exchange/ZurichXSWXzACINACINzAcino Holding AGS