The Loan Syndications and Trading Association and Standard & Poor's have launched an improved online CUSIP (Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures) system. The new platform speeds up the process of assigning CUSIP numbers and allows users to input additional details about deals online.
Ted Basta, v.p. of market data at the LSTA, said the new system is far less time-consuming than the previous one. He said agent banks can now issue a new CUSIP and have a report created on the deal within 24 hours. The new system also has additional functionality. Users can now view and download information about a deal online and input additional details of an issuance, such as issue and maturity dates. Users can also cancel a CUSIP without having to contact S&P, which operates the system.
The LSTA and S&P improved the system in response to banks' demands for the online CUSIP system to be updated. Demand has increased for more functionality as more banks have come to use the system since it was launched two years ago. Twenty-five banks use the online CUSIP system compared to eight banks when it was launched.