Anna Steps Foward as IGI Registration Authority, But Awaits EC Licensing Resolution

BRUSSELS—The Association of National Numbering Agencies (Anna) expects to be named as the registration authority in the draft of the issuer guarantor identifier (IGI) standard. However, it is still awaiting the outcome of the European Commission (EC) investigation into the S&P licensing issue to decide whether it will retain this role once the IGI standard is fully developed, officials tell Inside Reference Data.

At the last ISO TC68/SC4 meeting in May, The SC4 members gave SC4 working group 6 (TC68/SC4/WG6) the go-ahead to continue working on the IGI standard.

Still, Anna awaits the EC resolution in expectation that it will then have the necessary clarity around any intellectual property or licensing claims on the identifiers if it were to become the registration authority for the IGI.

London-based Dan Kuhnel, chairman of Anna, which is the registration authority for the ISIN and CFI standards, says that while it is keen to move ahead, the association has to ensure there is enough clarity around the licensing of the standards prior to making a final decision of becoming the registration authority of the IGI. 

"While we are keen to undertake more responsibility, we need to make sure the existing and new standards are compliant with what the EC rules," he says.

Waiting for the EC stance is essential, as that resolution will maintain what parameters need to be adhered to regarding any licensing and intellectual property right issues in respect of ISO standards. Kuhnel says: "We are still trying to move forward so we have as much in place as possible, pending the release of whatever ruling the EC publishes."

Identifying the Scope of the BIC Initiative

Meanwhile, before the scope and coverage of the IGI is fully developed and confirmed, Anna will also need to know the exact scope of the initiative aimed at extending the BIC to ensure both identifiers complement one another. "It is not in the interest of anyone to have two identifiers that focus on exactly the same areas and do the same thing," says Kuhnel.

Last year, Swift the registration authority for the ISO-registered bank identifier code (BIC) standard, obtained the go-ahead from its board to extend the BIC to corporates and non-financial institutions, and has been engaged in several industry consultations over the past 12–18 months to establish the current market needs for legal entity identification (Inside Reference Data, November 2009).

The discussion leading to the BIC extension approval was initially pushed by the increasing need to address business entity identification, something that became apparent during the credit crunch, when firms realized they struggled to calculate exposure to entities.

Swift is now planning to finish the work done to extend the scope of BICs to non-financial institutions, and expects to complete the new BIC directory, dubbed LEI, by early 2011.

Earlier this year Swift began to clean up the existing BIC Directory, aiming to delete the obsolete codes and enrich it with additional attributes to enable unique and unambiguous identification of entities.

Brussels-based Paul Janssens, senior product manager, reference data, Swift, says: "The quality of the data is the most important, so we will be proactive to ensure the data is maintained and that it always remains accurate and complete." He adds that while Swift expects to complete it by end of year, the cleansing and enrichment of the directory will then become an ongoing exercise.

London-based Richard Young, manager, industry programs, Swift, says: "During the course of this year, we are going to define the new LEI directory, which will be separate from the existing BIC directories, which are bound up."

According to Swift, the LEI will have broad and granular coverage, reflecting legal entities and hierarchies. Swift will also segregate the role of the BIC as an identifier and as an address available for use on the Swift network as has traditionally been the case.