Topic
Identifiers and entity resolution
Matching companies across datasets with domains, tickers, ISINs, LEIs and FIGIs.
- The identifiers that make company data joinableCompany data is only useful once it joins to what you already hold. Here are seven identifiers, what each one names, the join each one serves and how a brand reaches its listed parent.
- Building a company knowledge graph from identifiers and eventsA company graph answers questions that span datasets. This guide gives the node and edge tables, the join that finds a brand's listed parent and the way to link your own records.
- Mapping alternative data to a security masterJoining company data to securities is a many-to-many problem. This guide covers the identifiers every listed company carries, the join order, parents and brands, delistings and check digits.
- Joining licensed company data to CRM tables in SnowflakeA worked join model in Snowflake SQL: a domain normaliser, a bridge to the company ID, subdomain matching, a match-rate report and a view for sales teams, with the pitfalls named.
- ISIN vs LEI vs FIGI: company and security identifiers comparedThree codes that identify three different things. What each one names, who issues it, what you may do with it, how to validate it and which column to join on.
- Central Index Key (CIK)The number the US SEC gives each company, fund or person that files on EDGAR. What it identifies, how to format it and how to use it to join filings to a company.
- Company identifierA company identifier is a code that stays with a company when its name changes. This entry sets out what each common identifier identifies and how to choose a key.
- Corporate hierarchyA corporate hierarchy is the ownership structure of a company group. This entry covers parents, subsidiaries and brands, how to roll data up, and how Fokals links brands to listed parents.
- Domain matchingDomain matching compares the website domain two records carry. This entry shows how to normalise domains, where the method fails and how to build a domain-to-company map.
- Entity resolutionEntity resolution decides which records describe the same company and links them under one key. This entry covers the order of matching, how to measure it and the rules Fokals publishes.
- FIGIThe open 12-character code that names a financial instrument at three levels: one listing, a country composite and a global share class. How it differs from an ISIN.
- ISINThe 12-character international code for a share or a bond: a country prefix, a national number and a check digit. What it identifies, how to validate it and where it stops.
- LEIThe 20-character code for a legal entity such as a company or fund. What a record holds, how the check digits work and how an LEI maps to the securities it issues.
- Market identifier code (MIC)The four-character ISO 10383 code that names an exchange or trading venue. Operating and segment MICs, why a ticker needs one and the join mistakes to avoid.
- Security masterThe reference table that gives every security one identity, so prices, holdings and alternative data join without guesswork. What it holds and how to map a dataset to it.