Issued by S&P Capital IQ Compustat
Website
http://www.compustat.com/search.aspx?term=GVKEY
Type
Entity (company or instrument)
Status
Private
Definition
The Global Company Key or GVKEY is a unique six-digit number key assigned to each company (issue, currency, index) in the Capital IQ Compustat database. It is a company (issue, currency, index) identifier similar to a TICKER symbol. It represents the primary key for a company that is an index constituent.
Additional Information
A GVKEY can be applied to a public company, a private company, a tracking stock, a structured product, an Exchange Traded Fund, a subsidiary, a PREFASB record, a PROFORMA record, an Exchangeable Share or a component of a Dual-Listed Company.
Wikipedia Entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compustat