Instrument Master Data Quality

Downstream breaks cluster by use. Settlement fails when the identifier map, depository eligibility, or place of settlement is wrong. Tax processing fails when withholding or issuance attributes are blank or stale. Corporate actions fail when terms, ratios, or old-to-new identifiers are not as-of the event. Regulatory reporting fails when CFI, issuer LEI, or MIC is missing or inconsistent with the terms. Aggregation fails when a listing FIGI, a share-class FIGI, and an ISIN are treated as the same grain.

Identifier quality is a map, not a single code. ISIN and CUSIP identify the security for custody and settlement. FIGI can pin a listing, a composite, or a share class. DTI and contract address identify the token. A quality rule that stores all of them without checking that they join one economic instrument still splits positions. A quality rule that collapses every FIGI level into one quantity still mis-aggregates listings as share class.

Classification quality is consistency with terms. CFI says what the instrument is. Coupon, maturity, optionality, and currency say how it behaves. When those disagree, reporting and servicing follow the wrong playbook. Issuer LEI and MIC are links, not decorations: they are how tax, concentration, and venue reporting join the record to a person and a market.

Timeliness is as-of, not last-file-wins. Pool factors, ex-dates, called maturities, and identifier replacements have event time. A correct coupon entered tomorrow does not explain yesterday's accrual. Token decimal precision and dual-key links for tokenized securities are the same class of test: if they are wrong, quantity and cash are wrong by construction.

Sources include vendor reference files, numbering agencies, OpenFIGI maps, DTI registries, issuer and agent notices, CSD eligibility lists, and internal overrides. Normalization is not the quality control. Normalization produces a candidate row. Quality is the set of tests that row must pass for a named use.

Completeness is per workflow. Instruct may require ISIN or CUSIP, PSET or CSD eligibility, and currency. Accrual may require day count, coupon, and factor. Reporting may require CFI, issuer LEI, and MIC. A dashboard that scores "percent complete" across all fields still releases a bond into settlement with no depository eligibility.

Uniqueness and mapping are where FIGI earns its keep in operations. Duplicate masters for one ISIN split custody recon. Mapping a venue FIGI to share-class quantity inflates or hides exposure. Mapping a DTI to the wrong ISIN breaks the dual-key join for a tokenized line. Identifier mapping is a quality rule with an owner, not a nightly spreadsheet.

Exceptions need a blocked consumer. If CFI is unknown, reporting should not silently guess. If maturity was overridden, accrual should carry the approver. If a corporate-action identifier replacement is unconfirmed, entitlement should wait. Data quality management that only ranks records still lets the bottom rank instruct.

Evidence is the version stamp. Lineage shows which file supplied the day count. Approval shows who overrode it. The consumer stamp shows which test result settlement, tax, or the report actually used. Conversational queries are useful only after those are records: which instruments failed uniqueness this week, which CFI-term mismatches still enrich reporting, which overrides lack an approver, which listing FIGIs were aggregated as share class.