how cusip numbers work
pronounced q sip cusip is an acronym for the committee on uniform security identification procedures which oversees the entire cusip system just like the stock symbols assigned to the shares of a publicly traded company a cusip number is a unique identifier attached to the equity debt and other securities issued by a company it is similar to a serial number and is made up of nine digits the table below highlights some of the securities that are identified by cusip numbers 2by providing a consistent identifier that distinguishes securities cusip numbers help facilitate and ease actions and activities such as trades and settlements cusip global services creates anywhere from 1 000 to 2 000 new identifiers each day 3cusip global services is managed by factset research systems on behalf of the american bankers association aba factset purchased cusip global services from standard poor s s p in 2022 for about 1 925 billion 45the number of u s and canadian issues by the cusip system as of september 2022 latest information 6