Who Needs an LEI?
It is important to distinguish between being eligible for an LEI and being required to have one. As defined in ISO standard 17442, any legal entity that enters into a financial transaction is eligible for an LEI.
As defined in ISO 17442, the standard underlying the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), the term ‘legal entity’ includes, but is not limited to, unique parties that are legally or financially responsible for the performance of financial transactions or have the legal right in their jurisdiction to enter independently into legal contracts, regardless of whether they are incorporated or constituted in some other way (e.g. trust, partnership, contractual). It excludes natural persons, but includes governmental organizations and supranationals.
Any legal requirement to have an LEI will come from national financial regulators. Below are examples of legal requirements in Singapore and Europe that will determine if your company requires an LEI.
(i) Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) OTC Derivatives Trade Reporting - Securities and Futures
Since April 2014, any organisation subjected to the above is required to have an LEI. More details can be found here.
(i) Derivatives Trading and the European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR)
Since February 2014, any organisation participating in the trade of derivatives is required to comply with the EMR (EuropeanMarket Infrastructure Regulation) and obligated to have an LEI.
(ii) Compliance with the European MiFID II/MiFIR regulation
As of January 2018, in accordance with the new European MiFID II/MiFIR regulation (Art.26 of regulation nr.600/2014), European financial institutions must notify their national financial services authority / regulator of all transactions carried out relating to certain financial instruments. Each legal entity, active in trade of financial instruments offered on a trading platform (or underlying products being exchanged on a platform), such as shares, bonds, warrants, state loans, warrants, state loans and state notes is required to be identified with an LEI. (This measure does not apply to some investments, investment insurances, term deposits, deposits and savings certificates products.)
All legal entities wishing to purchase or sell one of the above mentioned financial instruments, is required to identify itself by an LEI. The legal entity is responsible for obtaining its own LEI.
A list of regulatory initiatives relevant to LEI adoption is available here.
1. Looking to transfer your LEI account to GS1? Click here to transfer today!
2. Is your LEI expiring soon? Click here to extend the validity of your LEI number quickly!
You may contact us via email to LEI_Support@gs1.org.sg or call us @ 6826 3047 for any other queries on LEI.
Alternatively, you may also want to download our user guide for more assistance on the LEI registration.