Legal Entity Identifier

A Legal Entity Identifier (or LEI), is a unique 20-character code that identifies distinct legal entities that engage in financial transactions.[1] The LEI is a global standard, designed to be non-proprietary data that is freely accessible to all.[2] Over 435,000 legal entities from more than 195 countries have now been issued with LEIs.[3]

Online LEI code validator: http://leicodevalidator.com

History

The LEI system was developed by the G20,[4] in response to the inability of financial institutions to identify organisations uniquely, so that their financial transactions in different national jurisdictions can be fully tracked.[5] The first LEIs were issued in December 2012.[6]

Code Structure

Structure of LEI codes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 18 19 20
LOU-
Code
Res-
erved
Entity-
Identification
Check-
sum
G.E. Financing GmbH
5493 00 84UKLVMY22DS 16
Jaguar Land Rover Ltd
2138 00 WSGIIZCXF1P5 72
British Broadcasting Corporation
5493 00 0IBP32UQZ0KL 24

The technical specification for LEI is ISO 17442.[7] An LEI consists of a 20-character alphanumeric string, with the first 4 characters identifying the Local Operating Unit (LOU) that issued the LEI. Characters 5 & 6 are reserved as '00'. Characters 7-18 are the unique alphanumeric string assigned to the organisation by the LOU. The final 2 characters are checksum digits.[8]

References

  1. "The Legal Entity Identifier Regulatory Oversight Committee". LEI ROC. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  2. "What is an LEI?". GLEIF. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  3. "Open LEIs homepage". Open LEIs. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  4. "What is the LEI system?". Open LEIs. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  5. "The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) Is Good News for Financial Technology Developers". Data.gov. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  6. "Legal Entity Identifier Resource Center". Sifma. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  7. "The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) Is Good News for Financial Technology Developers". Data.gov. Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  8. "The Structure of the LEI Code". GLEIF. Retrieved 26 May 2016.


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