What is the meaning of ticker symbols that start with 0 (zero) on the London Stock Exchange?

Question

On the London Stock Exchange, I noticed that the ticker for the Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF is 0LMO. Searching further, I noticed that many other Vanguard ETFs also have tickers that start with "0" (zero): screenshot. I also noticed that many American stocks traded in the form of CREST Depository Interests (CDI} have tickers that start with zero. For example, MICROSOFT ORD (CDI) has ticker 0QYP.

Is there any significance when the first letter of a ticker symbol is "0" (zero)? If so, what does it mean when the first letter of the ticker symbol is zero? Is there an authoritative reference for its meaning?

Answer 1

It appears that they are all part of the GES (Global Equity Segment) Securities, as opposed to the UK and European Securities.

What is the GES? With Global Equity Segment, investors are able to trade certain US blue chips and US-listed Asian ADRs during London hours.

Benefits of using the Global Equity Segment

• Trade global equities on the world’s most international exchange
• Trade during a convenient time zone
• Trade and settle in USD
• No stamp duty

Utilising a well-established CREST Depository Interest (CDI) workflow means investors can trade and settle international securities in London quickly, cheaply and efficiently. The ability to move CDIs quickly and easily between markets allows for cross-border execution and settlement within a T+2 settlement cycle. Investors can buy securities in London and sell in New York on the same day during regular trading hours. Both trades would then settle T+2 in respective markets.

You can download the current list here: https://docs.londonstockexchange.com/sites/default/files/documents/GES%20Securities%20List.xlsx

Answer 2

To understand the answer here, one must first understand how the London Stock Exchange categorizes securities. According to the Guide to the Trading System:

From a business perspective an individual instrument is assigned to a grouping known as a trading sector. A collection of trading sectors are grouped together to form a trading segment. A specific Trading Service is a number of trading segments that share the same market model.

In other words, under the London Stock Exchange, there are several Trading Services. Under each Trading Service, there are many Trading Segments. Under each Trading Segment, there are many Trading Sectors. Under each Trading Sector, there are securities. Each security belongs to one Trading Sector.

Trading Services

The Trading Services differ by market model (e.g. order-driven, quote-driven, periodic call auctions, etc.). Examples of Trading Services:

• SETS — An order-driven Trading Service used for liquid securities.

• SEAQ — A quote-driven Trading Service used for fixed income securities.

• SETSqx — Quote-driven for some securities. Conducts 5 call auctions per trading day. Used for less liquid securities (e.g. those listed on AIM).

• European Quoting Service (EQS) — A quote-driven Trading Service.

  • EQS is for trading securities that are listed on other EU Regulated Markets, other EU Multilateral Trading Facilities (MTF), and Swiss exchanges. From my understanding, EQS came into being after EU regulations (MiFID) provided the framework to allow securities to trade on stock exchanges where they are not listed (similar to the situation in the US where NASDAQ-listed stocks can be traded on the NYSE, and NYSE-listed stocks can be traded on the NASDAQ).
  • EQS is only for liquid securities. European securities considered non-liquid are instead traded on the SETSqx Trading Service.

Trading Segments and Trading Sectors

Examples of Trading Segments include "Exchange Traded Products" ("ETCS"), which is part of the "SETS" Trading Service. This "ETCS" Trading Segment is further divided into many Trading Sectors, including Trading Sectors for exchange-traded funds, exchange-traded notes, exchange-traded commodities, etc.

Securities are categorized into Trading Segments and Trading Sectors because securities differ in how they are traded (e.g. maximum permissible spread by market makers, place of settlement, allowed order types [iceberg orders, stop orders, etc.], etc.). The list of all Trading Services, Trading Segments, and Trading Sectors is provided in "Millennium Exchange and TRADEcho Business Parameters".

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Now that we have the necessary London Stock Exchange vocabulary, we are able to give an answer to the question.

What is the meaning of ticker symbols that start with 0 (zero) on the London Stock Exchange?

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find an authoritative reference from the London Stock Exchange's website. From observations, tickers^† that begin with zero are:

• All securities under the European Quoting Service (EQS).

• All non-liquid European securities not in EQS that end up under SETSqx instead. Specifically, these are securities categorized under Trading Segment "SSX4" and Trading Sector "SXEL".

• All securities under the Global Equity Segment (GES) of the "SETS" Trading Service.

  GES was launched in 2019. Foreign stocks under GES are traded on "SETS" and settled in CREST (the UK's central securities depository) in form of CREST Depository Interests (CDI).

Examples using the tickers mentioned in the OP's question and in the comments:

• Prosus NV (symbol: 0A28) — This is a security under EQS.
• Vanguard FTSE All-World ex-US ETF (symbol: 0LMO) — This is a security under SETSqx SSX4 SXEL. For some reason, the "country of share register" for this security is Germany.
• MICROSOFT ORD (CDI) (symbol: 0QYP) — This is a security under GES.

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^† In the London Stock Exchange's documents, ticker symbols (e.g. TSCO, BARC, HSBA, etc.) are known as "Tradable Instrument Display Mnemonics" (TIDM).

Answer 3

Not really an answer, but too long for a comment - if you look at a site like eoddata.com/stocklist/LSE/0.htm that lists all symbols available on a given exchange, you see a massive list starting with 0 (similar to the number starting with other alphabetic characters). There are also a handful starting with other non-0 digits.