Creating a linchpin for financial data: Toward a universal legal entity identifier

Legal Entity Identifier: What Else do You Need to Know?

“…The LEI, as defined in Bottega and Powell (2011), is a building block to data standards in the financial industry that could help with uniquely identifying entities and monitoring systemic risk. Tying additional information to the LEI will likely increase the benefits and usability of the LEI.…”

“…One of the characteristics of the LEI, as detailed in Bottega and Powell (2011), is that it should be persistent, which means that even if a company changes ownership, merges, or moves, the company should maintain the same LEI. Only when the company goes out of business should the LEI be retired.…”

“…Many factors must be considered regarding the implementation of the LEI and the related reference data. Bottega and Powell (2011) recommend that the implementation of the LEI undergo rigorous vetting as a collaborative and iterative international process. A similar process would likely benefit the implementation of the reference data to ensure that the needs of various countries are served.…”

“…The LEI is a foundational step in building data standards for the financial industry. In addition to defining the LEI, Bottega and Powell (2011) identify the need for further research regarding what reference and hierarchical data should be associated with an LEI. This paper focuses on the reference and hierarchical data that could be associated with an LEI to help accurately and uniquely identify entities and monitor systemic risk in financial markets.…”