SEBI has decided to increase the liquidity in the secondary market for corporate bonds by way of minimal number of ISINs (International Securities Identification Numbers).
An International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) uniquely identifies a security. Its structure is defined in ISO 6166.
Securities for which ISINs are issued include bonds, commercial paper, stocks and warrants.
The ISIN code is a 12-character alpha-numerical code that does not contain information characterizing financial instruments but serves for uniform identification of a security through normalization of the assigned National Number, where one exists, at trading and settlement.
Securities to which ISINs can be issued include debt securities, shares, options, derivatives and futures. ISIN cannot specify a particular trading location in this case, and another identifier, typically MIC (Market Identifier Code) or the three-letter exchange code, will have to be specified in addition to the ISIN.
The Currency of the trade will also be required to uniquely identify the instrument using this method.
