Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)

The global financial crisis highlighted significant obstacles to identifying and tracing financial transactions across the international financial system. The identification of legal entities with a unique, global identifier is a key component for improving financial data, for instance to support a more accurate and timely aggregation of data on the same entity from different sources, especially on a cross-border basis.  The development of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) by the FSB contributes to and facilitates many financial stability objectives, including improved risk management in firms, better assessment of micro and macroprudential risks, facilitation of orderly resolution, and enabling higher quality and accuracy of financial data overall. In 2012, responding to a request from the G20, the FSB set out recommendations and proposals to implement a global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). This included 15 High Level Principles for a global LEI system and 35 recommendations for the development of a unique identification system for parties to financial transactions. The FSB recommendations were endorsed by the G20 at the Los Cabos Summit in June 2012.

 The LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) took over the responsibility for development and implementation of the Global LEI System in January 2013. The FSB established the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) as a non-for-profit foundation the following year.

The FSB continues to promote LEI uses to support regulatory actions and data quality. In 2022, the FSB recommended actions to promote the adoption of the LEI to address the frictions in cross-border payments in order to help achieve the goals of the G20 roadmap for faster, cheaper, more inclusive and more transparent cross-border payments.

In 2024, the FSB published a report looking at progress in implementing these recommendations.

Further information on the LEI ROC can be found at leiroc.org.

Further information on the GLEIF can be found at gleif.org.