The Refinitiv Business Classification (TRBC) is an industry classification of global companies. It was developed by the Reuters Group under the name Reuters Business Sector Scheme (RBSS), was rebranded to Thomson Reuters Business Classification (TRBC) when the Thomson Corporation acquired the Reuters Group in 2008, forming Thomson Reuters, and was rebranded again, to The Refinitiv Business Classification (TRBC), in 2020. Since the creation of Refinitiv in October 2018, TRBC has been owned and operated by Refinitiv and is the basis for Refinitiv Indices.

Market-based classification

TRBC is a market-based classification scheme, similar to the GICS and ICB systems. These classify companies on the basis of degree of impact on markets, rather than establishment-based classification systems such as the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).

Use

TRBC is used primarily in the Financial Investment and Advisory space, where investors identify and select groups of comparable companies and look at trends. More specifically, this could be Investment Managers allocating funds and benchmarking their portfolios; Investment Bankers highlighting acquisition targets and opportunities for financial restructuring, or more generally corporates performing competitive analysis of their peers in the marketplace.

Coverage

TRBC covers over 72,000 public companies in 130 countries and provides a classification history going back to 1999.

Versions

Four versions of the classification scheme have been published: RBSS 2004, TRBC 2008, TRBC 2012 and TRBC 2020. The first two versions had four levels: Economic sectors, Business sectors, Industry groups, and Industries. The third version added a fifth level, Activities.

Structure

The TRBC classification scheme has a five-level hierarchical structure:

Classification scheme

The TRBC classification scheme is shown below. Note that the acronym NEC stands for "not elsewhere classified". The use of this acronym, with the same meaning, is common in classification schemes, for example the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) uses it. The sectors are broadly the same as other systems such as ICB, except for the addition of Institutions, Associations & Organizations; Government Activity and Academic & Educational Services.