GLEIF

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) is the non-profit organization managing the global LEI system. GLEIF maintains the Global LEI Index, a public database of all registered LEI records, including entity data and ownership relationships. All data is freely accessible via gleif.org and the GLEIF API. Luxembourg company data on SYNTA-IQ is sourced directly from GLEIF.

GLEIF was established in 2014 following the G20's endorsement of the LEI as a global standard for entity identification in financial markets. Its mission is to ensure the LEI system provides open, standardized, and high-quality data. GLEIF accredits LOUs (Local Operating Units) — the bodies that issue LEIs in each jurisdiction. As of 2024, there are approximately 60 accredited LOUs globally, issuing and maintaining over 2.4 million LEI records.

The GLEIF API (api.gleif.org/api/v1) provides structured JSON access to all LEI records. Key endpoints: /lei-records/{LEI} — full entity record; /lei-records?filter[entity.legalName.name]={name} — name search; /entities — relationship data (parent/subsidiary mapping). The GLEIF relationship file, updated daily, maps all parent-subsidiary and ultimate-parent relationships for entities that have filed Level 2 data — enabling automated UBO and group structure mapping.

For international KYB, GLEIF is particularly valuable for identifying entities in jurisdictions with limited public registry data: financial institutions in emerging markets, fund vehicles registered offshore, and supranational entities. GLEIF data quality indicators (conformity flag, validation sources) help assess the reliability of the record. SYNTA-IQ uses GLEIF as the primary data source for Luxembourg companies and as a supplementary data layer for cross-border entity verification across all covered jurisdictions.

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