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The code changes were announced a week ahead of schedule at: http://www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/Z1/preview/Code_changes/
Many of the tables will also have altered structures: http://www.federalreserve.gov/Releases/Z1/preview/accessible/
Why the changes? The Federal Reserve Board routinely alters the Flow of Funds Accounts to reflect changes in the economy and accounting methods. However, for the 2010:Q2 edition, there are an unusually large number of changes: 354 codes (indicators) have been renamed.
- One-for-one: 330 of the old codes have been replaced by 330 entirely new codes.
- Consolidated: Four pairs of indicators are redundant, so 8 of the old codes are reduced to 4 novel codes.
- Repurposed: Eight pairs of indicators such that A is renamed C (a new code) and B is renamed A (an old code). The nine-digit code numbers are not merely sequential; they encode information (sector, instrument type, series type) so, in the course of improvement, some of the codes have necessarily been transferred to a related but distinct indicator.
Which changed, exactly? The full list of 354 code changes listed in the attached Microsoft Excel file. Note that these are not Data Buffet mnemonics: each code may have several related time series.
Because of these changes, Data Buffet has gained over 1,100 quarterly series (a comparable number will need to be marked as discontinued). It has also gained over 4,300 annual series, because the FRB now publishes annual counterparts to all quarterly indicators.
Can I get the new numbers? All of the new series are now (Friday 4:30 pm ET) available in Data Buffet, but have not necessarily been (a) labeled in their individual metadata, or (b) added to the catalog.
However, because our mnemonics are based on the FRB's codes, you can consult the so-called "coded tables" edition of the Flow of Funds and guess our mnemonics. Each code may have several related time series. For example, to retrieve all quarterly time series related to code nnn, use a wildcard expression like this: ?nnnQ.US . More specifically, for all quarterly SAAR flow series, use: ZFAnnnQ.US .
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