Private Company CUSIPs Bring Proven Identification Standards to Private Markets
NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 06, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CUSIP Global Services (CGS) today announced a collaboration with MSCI to expand CUSIP coverage to late-stage, venture-backed private companies.
Through this collaboration, MSCI is providing CGS with access to MSCI Private Company Insights: its market-leading database of U.S.-domiciled, late-stage VC-backed private companies with at least one share class. Data attributes sourced from MSCI to be provided alongside the private company CUSIP identifier include the jurisdiction in which a company is domiciled, dividend details, company name, asset type, and sector and geography classification from PACS™, MSCI's Private Asset Classification Standard.
CUSIP Global Services (CGS), managed by FactSet, is the trusted originator of quality identifiers used worldwide. The CUSIP is a nine-character alphanumeric security identifier that captures the unique attributes of issuers and their financial instruments throughout the U.S. and Canada. Widely recognized as an industry standard in the financial markets, the CUSIP is a foundational building block that allows for efficient trading, clearing, settlement, and data management across dozens of asset classes. Private markets have historically not had a standard identifier, resulting in the use of manual, error-prone solutions for security tracking and identity resolution.
“The ability to quickly, consistently and accurately identify private market companies with the equivalent level of rigor and standardization that exists in public markets is a critical step in facilitating the secondary trading of private shares,” said Scott Preiss, Managing Director and Global Head, CGS, at FactSet. “Through this breakthrough collaboration with MSCI, we’re making it possible for investors to participate in private markets using the comparable, trusted standard for identity resolution that public markets have relied upon for decades to track the movement of securities throughout financial markets.”
“Private markets are taking on greater prominence in the global financial ecosystem, yet they still lack the foundational infrastructure that has long underpinned public markets,” said Luke Flemmer, Head of Private Assets at MSCI. “MSCI has already helped lead the way with the launch of PACS™. By now partnering with CGS to bring the CUSIPs to private companies, MSCI is helping build the common language investors need to identify, compare, and act on private market exposures with confidence. We see this collaboration as an important step in an ongoing process to bring standardized identification to a broader set of private market investments.”
By pairing MSCI’s deep domain expertise in private markets reference data with CGS’ proven data ontologies and data feed capabilities, the two firms have been able to build upon and expand the initiative CGS launched in 2025.
MSCI Private Company Insights provides daily pricing, valuation, transaction, and liquidity data for private company securities. The platform covers more than 2,000 private companies and more than $5 trillion in estimated valuation reflected across its coverage universe. Private company CUSIP information is available at CUSIP.com.
For more information on CGS, please visit http://www.cusip.com/.
About CUSIP Global Services
CUSIP Global Services (CGS) is the global leader in securities identification. The financial services industry relies on CGS’ unrivaled experience in uniquely identifying instruments and entities to support efficient global capital markets. Its extensive focus on standardization over the past 50 plus years has helped CGS earn its reputation as the industry standard provider of reliable, timely reference data. CGS is also a founding member of the Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) and co-operates ANNA’s hub of ISIN data, the ANNA Service Bureau. CGS is managed on behalf of the American Bankers Association (ABA) by FactSet Research Systems Inc., with a Board of Trustees that represents the voices of leading financial institutions. For more information, visit www.cusip.com.
For More Information:
John Roderick
J. Roderick Public Relations for CUSIP Global Services
john@jroderick.com
+1 (631) 584.2200
