As of January 1, 2017 an LEI is also required for issuers of financial instruments listed on a regulated market in connection with obligations under the Transparency Directive.
Who’s Required to have an LEI?
New requirements state that as a client of an investment firm it is possible that you will receive or already have received a letter informing you of new LEI requirements. This is because on January 3, 2018 the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II) and Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) will enter into effect. This will have an impact on investment firms subject to supervision, but also for legal entities which are clients of such investment firms. Clients of investment firms will have to obtain an LEI in order to let the investment firm concerned (continue to) trade on their behalf or to act on their instructions. As per January 3, 2018, investment firms will be obliged to report the LEI’s of all legal entities involved in a financial transaction to the relevant regulator. In the Netherlands, this is the Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM).
Under MiFID II/MiFIR issuers of financial instruments listed and/or traded on a regulated market trading venue must also have an LEI. The operator of the trading venue is obliged to report the LEI of the issuer to the relevant regulator.
Where can an entity get an LEI?
A legal entity can obtain an LEI from an LEI issuer. At LEI.INFO not only can an entity register for their LEI, they can also advertise their company and contribute any additional information about their company that they deem essential as an entity doing business globally. Please see the following link as an example of the service www.lei.info has to offer your entity: https://lei.info/254900UIZS15MTA7H075.
The application process may take up to 24 to 48 hours. Legal entities are not obliged to obtain an LEI from an LEI issuer registered in their own country, but can chose one based on their own specific needs and cost preferences.
