A market identifier code, or MIC, is a four-character code that identifies a trading venue: an exchange, a trading platform, a regulated or non-regulated market or a trade reporting facility. It is defined in ISO 10383, and examples are XNAS for Nasdaq and XLON for the London Stock Exchange.
Operating and segment MICs
An operating MIC identifies the entity that runs a market in a country. A segment MIC identifies a section of it that specialises in certain instruments or is regulated differently, and points to its operating MIC. Both have the same format.
XNGS, the Nasdaq Global Select Market, is a segment of the operating MIC XNAS, and XTKS, the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a segment of the operating MIC XJPX. Once allocated, a MIC never changes, and requests for new ones come from the market organisation that operates the venue.
How the list is kept
The registration authority for ISO 10383, SWIFT, publishes the MIC list on the second Monday of each month. Each code is marked active, updated or expired, so keep expired codes in your reference data for old records.
Using a MIC
A ticker is unique only within a venue, so a ticker with a MIC names one listing. A MIC is not a provider's exchange code: Provider exchange codes such as US or LN cover a country or a main venue and are not MICs. Normalise segment MICs to their operating MIC before joining, or a Nasdaq listing carried as XNAS in one table and XNGS in another will not match.
In Fokals data
Every listed company carries its MIC, the ISO 10383 code of its venue, beside its ticker, ISIN, LEI and FIGI. Join to market data on ticker with MIC, or on ISIN or FIGI, and every listing of the company index is keyed the same way.
In the illustrative record of Acme Robotics the pair is ticker ACME and MIC XNAS. The data dictionary lists the fields, and ISIN, LEI and FIGI compared covers the other identifiers.
Related terms
- ISIN: the code of the security that trades on the venue.
- FIGI: the code of one listing on one venue.
- Security master: where tickers, MICs and ISINs are kept together.
- Entity resolution: matching records that describe the same entity.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a MIC and a ticker?
A MIC names a market and a ticker names a security on a market. The same ticker can denote different companies on different exchanges, so a ticker alone is ambiguous. Together, ticker and MIC identify one listing. A MIC never changes once allocated, while a ticker can be reassigned.
Is a MIC the same as an exchange code?
Not always. A MIC is the ISO 10383 code. Many data providers use their own exchange codes, which may cover a whole country or a main venue, and some are two letters long. Map provider codes to MICs in a table you keep, and store both.
Where can I find the list of MICs?
The ISO 10383 registration authority publishes it as a file on the ISO 20022 website. Each row gives the MIC, its operating MIC, whether it is operating or segment, the market name, the legal entity, the country, the status and the dates. The list is published monthly, and changes take effect two weeks later.