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General about Legal Entity Identifier

General

Information regarding the LEI

The global financial crisis of 2008 revealed that financial markets had insufficient transparency and safeguards. The G20 countries thus proposed the introduction of a global identification system that was realised in the form of the LEI system by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), the members of which are representatives of the corresponding financial conduct authorities.


The FSB established the Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF). This accredited LEIReg as an official LEI issuing agency in 2017 and is, together with the LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee (LEIROC), responsible for the supranational monitoring of the various LEI issuing agencies.


Per MiFID II, each independent legal entity requiring unrestricted access to financial markets has been legally obligated, since January 2018, to identify itself in the form of an LEI. Only once they have been issued with an LEI are they permitted to deal in securities and derivatives. This definitive entity identification system is designed to prevent malpractice, such as money laundering and market abuse, in connection with international financial transactions.


For more information, click here to view a short tutorial on the subject of the LEI system.

Information about data publication

Information about LEIReg Portal - access and data adjustments