Standardisation

ANNA has three main remits from ISO (International Organization for Standardization), to promote, maintain and develop the ISIN and CFI standards. 

As the Registration Authority for ISO 6166 and ISO 10962, ANNA is empowered by ISO to carry out its duties with respect to the two Standards. As the organization responsible for the publication of such standards, ISO assumes responsibility for those functions, which are essential for the standard to achieve its purpose in an efficient and practical manner.

This therefore illustrates the close working cooperation required both directly and indirectly between ISO as our governing body, the SC4 membership (the responsible ISO sub-committee focused on ISO standards related to financial instruments) and ANNA as the entity responsible for implementation of the standards.

ANNA in collaboration with ISO continually monitors the ISO 6166 and ISO 10962 standards ensuring they meet the needs of the securities industry.

All revisions of existing ISO standards, including that of the ISIN, have to be approved by the voting member countries of ISO, under the umbrella of the ISO TC68/SC4 group. ANNA has participated in every revision of the Standard in the last 20 years. It is important to note for the purpose of understanding the process that ANNA is not allowed to simply amend the standard at their own discretion. Furthermore, any change to an existing standard has to go through a voting process, which can take between 9 months and two years from the time of inception to being adopted as an official international standard.