LEI

A 20-character ISO 17442 standard identifier assigned to legal entities participating in financial transactions. Managed by the Global LEI System (GLEIF). Required for MiFID II reporting (EU), EMIR derivatives reporting, and many cross-border financial transactions. The LEI includes "who is who" data (name, address) and "who owns whom" data (parent-subsidiary relationships). Verified and renewed annually.

The LEI system was created following the 2008 financial crisis, when regulators could not quickly identify which institutions held exposure to failing counterparties. Over 2.4 million LEIs have been issued worldwide. LEI issuance is handled by Local Operating Units (LOUs) — accredited organizations like Bloomberg LEI, Ubisecure, and WM Datenservice — at a cost of approximately $65-200 per year for initial issuance and renewal.

The LEI code structure: characters 1-4 identify the LOU that issued the code; characters 5-18 are a unique alphanumeric string; characters 19-20 are check digits. Each LEI record includes Level 1 data (entity name, registered address, legal form, registration status) and Level 2 data (parent relationships — ultimate parent and direct parent). Level 2 data enables automatic UBO mapping for simple corporate structures.

For Luxembourg companies, SYNTA-IQ directly integrates GLEIF data, providing LEI, entity status, registration dates, and parent-subsidiary relationships. The GLEIF API is free and publicly accessible, making it a valuable starting point for international KYB workflows — particularly for financial institutions, fund administrators, and compliance teams operating across multiple jurisdictions.

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