Uniform Symbology
Introduction '''Uniform Symbology''' (also known as '''UMTF'''), in the context of European financial markets, refers to a common scheme to refer to securities ("symbols"), 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 (BATS Europe, Chi-X Europe - now Cboe Europe - andNASDAQ OMX Europe) agreed to create and adopt a common securities symbology to uniformly identify securities traded across Europe. A committee was formed for the purpose ofwhich was to create, maintain and modify as necessary the uniform methodology for securities symbology (Uniform 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. (See links to some of the market's press releases in the External links section below.)
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 (e.g. “STE A”) 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 (A through Z) designator. For some Nordic stocks the share designator will be prefixed with “SDB” (e.g. “SDBA”). In this case the “SDB” should be removed and the single letter class (A through Z) designator will be retained.Any codes containing spaces, periods, underscores or second words (other than the single letter class (A through Z) described above) will be truncated at the space, period, etc.All remaining non-alphanumeric characters should be removed.===Stock Code Truncation Examples=== Local Code Truncated Local Code Notes VGAS  SDB VGAS “  SDB” Removed. NDA  SEK NDA “  SEK” Removed. MAERSK  B MAERB “MAERSK” Truncated to “MAER”, “B” retained. ASSA  B ASSAB “ ” removed, “B” retained. ATCO A ATCOA “ ” removed, “A” retained. ATCO B ATCOB A/B share distinction retained. BP. BP “.” Removed. BT.A BT “.A” Truncated. F&C FC “&” removed Y&Z B YZB “&” removed, “ “ removed, “B” retained TWW SDBB TWWB “ “ 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 Centre''''''MIC''''''Market Code''''''Sample Local Code''''''Sample Uniform Symbology Code''''''Sample Company Name''''''RIC Suffix'''Copenhagen Stock ExchangeXCSEcDANSKDANSKcDanske Bank OrdCODeutsche Borse/GermanyXETRdEXS1EXS1diShares DAX ETFDEEuronext AmsterdamXAMSaHEIAHEIAaHeinekenASEuronext BrusselsXBRUbINBINBbINBEVBREuronext ParisXPARpRNORNOpRenaultPAEuronext Lisbon/PortugalXLISuALTRALTRuALTRI SGPSLSBucharest Stock ExchangeXBSEfAMOAMOfAmonil SABulgaria Stock ExchangeXBULf5BT5BTfVivacomNASDAQ OMX Vilnius/Lithuania XLITfAGP1LAGP1LfAlita Group ABNASDAQ OMX Riga/Latvia XRISfGRZ1RGRZ1RfGrobinaNASDAQ OMX Tallinn/Estonia XTALfPRF1TPRF1TFPremia Foods ASHelsinki Stock ExchangeXHELhNOK1VNOK1VhNokiaHEIrish Stock ExchangeXDUBiGNCGNCiGreencore Group plcIJohannesburg Stock ExchangeXJSEjAGLAGLjAnglo American plcJPrague Stock ExchangeXPRAkBOREYBOREYBorealis ExplorationLondon Stock ExchangeXLONlVODVODlVodafone Group OrdLBolsa de MadridXMADeCOLCOLeInmobiliaria ColonialMCBorsa Italiana/MilanXMILmSPMSPMmSaipemMInQQQQQQQQnPowershares QQQOslo Stock ExchangeXOSLoNHYNHYoNorsk HydroOLPLUS-SX Stock Exchange/LondonXPLUqAFCAFCqArsenal Holdings plcReykjavik, IcelandXICErOSSROSSRrOssur OrdStockholm Stock ExchangeXSTOsVOLBVOLBsVolvo B OrdSTBudapest Stock ExchangeXBUDtOTPOTPtOTP Bank PLCLjubljana Stock Exchange/SloveniaXLJUtABKNABKNtAbanka Vipa DDBratislava Stock Exchange/SlovakiaXBRAt1SEA01AE1SEA0tSemat ASVienna Stock ExchangeXWBOvVIGVIGvVienna Insurance GroupVIWarsaw Stock ExchangeXWARwTPETPEwTAURON PEWACboe EuropeCHIXxIEEMIEEMxiShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETFCHILuxembourg Stock ExchangeXLUXxBIPBIPxBIP Investment PartnersAthens Stock ExchangeXATHyINTETINTETyIntertech SACyprus Stock ExchangeXCYSySEASSEASySea Star CapitalMalta Stock ExchangeXMALyHSBHSByHSBC Bank Malta PLCSwiss Exchange/Zurich(blue chip)XVTXzUBSNUBSNzUBS N OrdVXSwiss Exchange/Zurich(non-blue chip)XSWXzACINACINzAcino Holding AGS
References  Turquoise Technical specifications, version 1.1 (May 2009)
External links *  Chi-X announcement*  BATS Europe newsletter (with announcement as Item#4)*  NASDAQ OMX Europe announcement (with announcement as Item#2)*  Turquoise announcement*  QuoteMTF announcement*  NYSE Arca announcement*  Chi-X Europe Uniform Symbology