The Derivatives Service Bureau (DSB), founded by the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) to facilitate the allocation and maintenance of International Securities Identification Numbers (ISINs), Classification of Financial Instrument codes (CFIs) and Financial Instrument Short Names (FISNs), for OTC derivatives, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded “Best Reference Data Initiative” as part of WatersTechnology’s Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Data Awards 2020.

Emma Kalliomaki, Managing Director of ANNA and the DSB, said, “The DSB is delighted to be recognised by WatersTechnology and the industry for its outstanding work with reference data. The DSB serves as a data alignment facilitator for OTC derivative reference data – which is increasingly being used to drive operational efficiencies alongside regulatory reporting needs. We look forward to continue working with industry stakeholders to help address regulatory challenges and compliance for OTC derivatives including future implementation of the Unique Product Identifier (UPI) to further complement the existing suite of reference data standards for OTC derivatives.”

Malavika Solanki, a member of the DSB Management Team, said, “We are very proud to have won  this award for Best Reference Data Initiative. We welcome the recognition as we look to the future and continue our collaboration with others in industry on the Unique Product Identifier (UPI), transition to the latest version of the CFI standard, as well as delivering on a range of other initiatives. The DSB remains focused on working in partnership with our diverse range of users, as we help them address their data challenges - be it by providing open source standardization tools or free to use datasets. Continually improving data alignment and ensuring infrastructure stability is integral to everything we do and will be long into the future." 

Max Bowie, WatersTechnology, said, “The DSB has won the Best Reference Data Initiative in the Inside Market Data and Inside Reference Awards this year in recognition of work on behalf of the industry to improve data quality and standardisation for OTC Derivatives. WatersTechnology is delighted to present this award, reflecting the importance they place on high quality reference data.”

Today, the DSB has over 4,100 users across 470 firms, spanning every category of institution from the buy-side and sell-side through to trading venues, custodians, wealth managers, data vendors and more. Now used in 33 countries, the DSB was founded following the European regulatory mandate in 2016 for the ISIN to be used for uniquely identifying and reporting OTC derivatives under MiFID II. Market participants drive the ongoing service evolution and have directly lead to further investigation of a range of enhancements to deliver broader data efficiencies in a cost-efficient manner.