Recent Global Regulatory Actions Reaffirm Importance of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs)

Several recent regulatory announcements have emphasized how valuable LEIs are for bringing transparency to markets and enabling more consistent and usable data to meet global requirements. The following round up summarizes these global regulatory announcements and explains the role of LEIs.

Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM)

On February 1, 2024, AFM issued a press release announcing an administrative fine was imposed on an entity that repeatedly violated transaction reporting obligations which require an entity’s LEI to be disclosed and maintain a valid ISSUED status. This incident demonstrates the importance of registering for LEIs and keeping them duly renewed.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)

ASIC proposed requiring a renewed LEI for the reporting entities, counterparty 1s, and central counterparties starting in 2024. This requirement is designed to help reinforce LEI data quality and reliability for regulators and market participants. It is also meant to enhance risk management as the Local Operating Units which manage LEI records would need to validate the information and ensure the reference data is current.

Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC)

In the United States, a CFTC revision related to OTC derivatives went live on January 29, 2024, stating that swap repositories and market participants must report all credit, interest rates, foreign exchange, and equities swaps transactions using unique product identifiers (UPIs), along with LEIs. This listed requirement means market participants involved in these transactions should continue to use LEIs when reporting their transactions to trade repositories to enhance the ability of regulators to minimize market manipulation. The full ISDA calendar of OTC derivatives compliance can be seen here.

To learn more about other global directives related to the LEI, please refer to the Global LEI Foundation’s (GLEIF) list of regulations that require or recommend the use of the LEI.

If you would like to learn more about LEI registration or if you need assistance with the renewal process, contact the Bloomberg LEI team.

To learn more about Bloomberg’s LEI service, please visit the FAQ page. To contact Bloomberg’s experienced global support team, please reach out to: lei-support@bloomberg.net