Security

Overview

The Security element describes an individual financial instrument — its identification, classification, and any analyst actions taken on it within a research product. It is the instrument-level counterpart to Issuer, representing the specific tradable item (a particular equity line, bond, derivative, etc.) issued by an entity, and it carries the actionable intelligence (ratings, target prices, estimates, coverage status) that drives investment decisions (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.55, user-guide-2.2 p.37). Because securities are always issued by an entity, Security is structurally subordinate to Issuer: it appears inside the SecurityDetails container, which in turn sits under an Issuer inside IssuerDetails (sources: data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.55, user-guide-2.2 p.37, level-one-2.5 p.13). Multiple Security elements may be present to describe several instruments issued by the same issuer (for example, common stock plus a related ADR or preferred line), with the primaryIndicator attribute distinguishing the featured security from those mentioned substantively but not centrally [level-one-2.4 p.13].

Usage

Use Security inside SecurityDetails whenever research discusses one or more specific instruments. The element supports unbounded occurrences within its parent, and when SecurityDetails is present it MUST contain at least one Security (sources: level-one-2.2 p.18, level-one-2.5 p.13). Required content at Level One compliance: - primaryIndicator attribute (Yes/No) - At least one SecurityID child with idType and idValue - Exactly one AssetClass child - Exactly one AssetType child (sources: level-one-2.5 pp.13–15, level-one-2.3.1 pp.13–15) Primary designation. When ProductFocus is set to Security, at least one Security must be marked primary via primaryIndicator="Yes" (sources: user-guide-2.2 p.37, data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.55). Featured securities should be flagged primary; securities discussed substantively but not centrally should be marked non-primary [level-one-2.2 p.19]. Action attributes. Optional attributes — coverageAction, ratingAction, targetPriceAction, estimateAction, and weightingAction — signal that the publisher is changing coverage, rating, target price, earnings estimate, or weighting for this security in this product. Use them only when an actual change is being signalled (sources: level-one-2.4 p.14, data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.55). Selectivity. Only include identifiers for securities (and their issuers) that are substantively discussed. Do not list securities that appear only in tables or are mentioned in passing — doing so creates metadata noise and misleads downstream consumers about report content [data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.17]. Typical children (full schema): SecurityID, SecurityFinancials, FinancialDates, SectorIndustry, AssetClass, AssetType, SecurityType, Rating, Weighting [data-dictionary-2.5.1 p.55].

Rules

• MUSTEvery Security MUST be attached to an Issuer element, since securities are always issued by an issuing entity.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.55] [RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.37] [RIXML Research Suite Data Dictionary v3.0 (DRAFT) p.55]↗
• MUSTWhen SecurityDetails is present, it MUST contain at least one Security element.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.18] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.13] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.13] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.13]
• MUSTSecurity MUST carry the primaryIndicator attribute, and at least one Security MUST be marked primary when ProductFocus is set to Security.[RIXML User Guide v2.2 p.37] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.55] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.13]
• MUSTSecurity MUST contain at least one SecurityID child, with idType and idValue populated.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.14] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.14] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.4 p.14] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.14]
• MUSTSecurity MUST contain exactly one AssetClass child and exactly one AssetType child to classify the instrument.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3.1 p.15] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.15]
• SHOULDSecurity identification SHOULD include multiple universally accepted identifiers (e.g. CUSIP, SEDOL, ISIN, Bloomberg, RIC) via repeated SecurityID children, to ensure compatibility across vendor systems.[Best Practices for Publishing RIXML p.11]
• SHOULDPublishers SHOULD NOT emit Security entries for instruments that are only mentioned briefly (for example, those appearing only in tables); only securities substantively discussed in the report should be tagged.[RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.17]
• INFORMATIVEAt Level One compliance, the child elements FinancialDates, SecurityType, SectorIndustry, and Weighting are not required under Security and need not be populated by Level One producers or consumed by Level One consumers. They MAY still appear without breaking compliance.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.2 p.19] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.3 p.13] [RIXML Level One Addendum v2.5 p.14]
• INFORMATIVEWhen coverageAction, targetPriceAction, ratingAction, or estimateAction is present, it signals that the publisher is changing the corresponding coverage status, target price, rating, or earnings estimate for this security in this product.[RIXML Level One Addendum v2.4 p.14] [RIXML Research Data Dictionary v2.5.1 p.55]
• SHOULDWhen the topic of the report carries an identifier — i.e. when Issuer, Security, or Index tag sets are present — the issuerType attribute SHOULD be supplied.[RIXML v3 Taxonomy Review Summary: Identifiers p.4]↗

Relationships

• requires-parentIssuer — Security is structurally dependent on Issuer: a security cannot exist independently and must be attached to the issuing entity.
• child-ofSecurityDetails — Security appears inside the SecurityDetails container, which holds one or more securities for a given issuer.
• requires-childSecurityID — Security requires at least one SecurityID to provide a symbol or code identifying the instrument.
• requires-childAssetClass — Security requires a single AssetClass child to classify the instrument's asset class.
• requires-childAssetType — Security requires a single AssetType child to classify the instrument's asset type.
• qualified-bySecurityFinancials — SecurityFinancials supplies security-level financial metrics (e.g. target prices, analyst estimates) tied to this Security.
• qualified-byRating — Rating elements under Security carry the publisher's recommendation on the instrument; multiple ratings (e.g. across rating aspects) may be present.
• qualified-byWeighting — Weighting describes how the publisher weights the security (e.g. portfolio weighting); not required at Level One.
• qualified-bySectorIndustry — SectorIndustry classifies the security into sector/industry taxonomies; not required at Level One.
• contrasts-withFocusEnum.SectorIndustry — When ProductFocus uses SectorIndustry, the report emphasises sector/industry analysis rather than individual Security entries, so security-level primary designation is less central.