A Legal Entity Identifier (“LEI”) is a unique 20-character alphanumeric global identifier assigned to legal entities. The LEI connects key reference information such as the entity name, the legal/headquarter addresses and registration numbers (e.g. ABN, ACN, ARSN) enabling the clear identification of legal entities. Additionally, the LEI provides information about an entity’s direct and ultimate accounting consolidating parents, thus answering the questions of 'who is who’ and ‘who owns whom’.
Once issued, the LEI can be used to represent the entity in financial transaction reporting and organisation identity assurance use cases.
The LEI system is overseen by the Global Legal Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), a Swiss based not for profit organisation established by the Financial Stability Board in 2014.