Annual Report
2025
2025 Annual Report
2
Contents
Chair’s Statement
CEO’s Statement
Consolidated Financial Statements 2025
Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements 2025
Independent Auditor’s Report
Overview of Professional Advisors
Contact Us
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2025 Annual Report
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Chair’s Statement
The Global Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) System continued to
grow in strength and influence throughout 2025. Thanks to the
support of all of GLEIF’s partners and stakeholders, we marked a
new record in 2025, with nearly 3 million active LEIs in issuance.
The GLEIF ecosystem was bolstered by the onboarding of
six verifiable LEI (vLEI) issuers, also referred to as Qualified
vLEI Issuers (QVIs), and a Validation Agent (VA). Importantly,
the geographies and markets touched by the LEI and vLEI
expanded greatly too, thanks to increased collaboration.
With the launch of the Partner Program, GLEIF announced
seven new strategic partnerships, with organizations
including Chainlink, Companies House, Finternet Lab, the
IOTA Foundation, Open Ownership, Qichacha, and the Swiss
Federal Statistical Office.
Collaboration has always been strategically important
to GLEIF. It’s a critical driver in hardwiring trust, through
verifiable organizational identity, into every business
relationship. Our partnerships help to further the broad
public good delivered by the LEI and vLEI, by providing
channels through which we can frame and offer verifiable
organizational identity as a trust and transparency solution
for different markets and use cases.
Considering the high volume of submissions to GLEIF’s
inaugural vLEI hackathon events from numerous
international participants, it’s clear that we are successfully
building community engagement through initiatives designed
for that very purpose.
The engagement at the annual Global LEI System Forum,
which took place in Sydney, Australia in October 2025 was
very strong. This event gave regulators, LEI and vLEI Issuers,
financial institutions, technology providers, and market
participants a unique opportunity to come together and
exchange ideas on the evolving role of the LEI and vLEI. The
event is always high energy, well attended and both introduces
and reaffirms valuable and constructive connections.
Building on this global momentum, regional engagement also
intensified throughout the year. The first GLEIF Board meeting
held in Brazil was followed by a series of engagements in São
Paulo and Brasília with key private sector associations, such as
the Brazilian Federation of Banks (Febraban), and public sector
institutions, including the Central Bank of Brazil (Banco Central
do Brasil), the Federal Revenue of Brazil (Receita Federal do
Brasil), the Secretariat of Foreign Trade (Secretaria de Comércio
Exterior – SECEX), the Executive Secretariat of the Foreign
Trade Chamber (Secretaria-Executiva da Câmara de Comércio
Exterior – SE/CAMEX), the Brazilian Trade and Investment
Promotion Agency (ApexBrasil), and the Brazilian Securities and
Exchange Commission (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários – CVM).
These meetings underscored the importance of strengthening
collaboration with national authorities and market participants
to advance LEI adoption at the regional level. In September,
the first International LEI Conference in Latin America brought
together representatives from 15 countries. The event was co-
organized by the Central Bank of Mexico and the Bank of Spain,
in collaboration with the Regulatory Oversight Committee
(ROC), GLEIF, the Association of Supervisors of Banks of the
Americas (ASBA), Central American Council of Superintendents
of Banks, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions (CCSBSO),
and the Executive Secretariat of the Central American
Monetary Council (SECMCA). The conference highlighted the
growing recognition of the LEI as a key tool in combating money
laundering and terrorist financing, in line with the updated
Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Recommendation 16.
As I reflect on these highlights, I am reminded that one of
GLEIF’s core values has always been, and will continue to be,
central to our progress - openness.
2025: Key achievements
The past twelve months have been busy and progressive. I am
happy to have observed an exemplary leadership transition
driven by Alexandre Kech as he marked his first full year as
GLEIF’s CEO in June 2025. A visionary five-year strategy, which
was approved by the Board, sets out appropriately ambitious
plans to drive adoption of the LEI and vLEI across global
markets and sectors, predominantly in cross-border payments,
global value chains and digital assets. Initiatives in support of
that strategy are well underway.
Supporting global innovation
GLEIF broke new ground by hosting a series of global vLEI
hackathon events in New York, Hong Kong and Frankfurt.
The goal was to give teams around the world the opportunity
to showcase innovative ideas to shape the future of digital
organizational identity and highlight the transformative
potential of the vLEI. The ideas and solutions presented
demonstrated how the vLEI can help shape the next
generation of trusted digital interactions and accelerate
the development of a global digital trust infrastructure.
All were exceptional in the quality and depth of expertise
they presented and, on behalf of GLEIF, I express my thanks
and admiration to all the submitting organizations and
congratulate the winners: MSC Trustgate (EMEA), The London
Stock Exchange (Americas) and Dataswyft (Asia).
Supporting compliance
A number of developments across the globe during 2025
have paved the way for the LEI and vLEI to play a greater
future role in an international framework for regulated
market transparency, particularly in relation to cross-border
transactions, including digital assets.
At the supra-national level, the FATF has published its updated
Recommendation 16 to enhance payment transparency, which
explicitly references the LEI as a key, trusted identifier for
legal persons in domestic and cross-border payments and
value transfers.
In the European Union (EU), the recast Transfer of Funds
Regulation (TFR) requires EU entities to disclose their LEI for
digital transfers. The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA)
goes further, requiring issuers to provide an LEI when making
disclosures and requiring Crypto-Asset Service Providers
(CASPs) to obtain an LEI before being licensed.
Elsewhere, from May 2025, the Bank of England mandated
the inclusion of LEIs for all CHAPS payments for all financial
institutions. Ongoing consultations by the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the UK’s
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) equally present further
opportunities to expand the use of the LEI across emerging
regulatory frameworks. In the UK, the FCA’s consultation
also points to the LEI as a relevant tool for organizational
identification in digital asset markets. This matters because
consistent identifiers make disclosures easier to compare and
supervise across firms, products, and jurisdictions.
As the digital asset market begins to be regulated in a similar
manner to traditional finance, it is increasingly apparent that,
beyond its foundational use in traditional finance, the LEI, and
particularly the vLEI, can now play a pivotal role in bridging
the trust gap.
What lies ahead?
Through 2026 and beyond, we remain committed to further
strengthening the ecosystem. Yet, it’s true that the process of
building a more open and transparent digital economy cannot
be achieved by a single organization. It takes a sustained,
meaningful collaboration from a diverse range of stakeholders
who share the common objective of increasing cross-border
trust in global markets. That community is exactly what we are
building, thanks to the commitment and participation of our
partners within the Global LEI System.
I want to thank my GLEIF colleagues, the Board, the ROC
and all of our partners within the Global LEI System for your
dedication throughout 2025 to making one verifiable, trusted,
global identity behind every business possible.
Teresa A Glasser
Chair of the Board of Directors
Global Legal Entity Identifier
Foundation (GLEIF)
2025 Annual Report
4
CEO’s Statement
Throughout 2025, continued digitalization across industry
and global trade amplified the growing need for verifiable
organizational identity to be hardwired into every business
relationship. The foundation of trust is the ability to
unambiguously identify legal entities globally. The convergence
of regulation demanding transparency and the growing need
for businesses to engage digitally across the global economy
highlights an urgent need for greater openness, accountability,
and interoperability across borders and ecosystems.
In 2025, the mainstream use of generative AI accelerated.
Agentic AI-powered systems and transactions are not far
behind. This underscores the importance of universal, verifiable
organizational identity management in the evolving tech
landscape. Not only has it become a strategic pillar of digital
trust, it’s now an essential security component in the ‘digital life’
we will lead in the future.
Last year, GLEIF had three clear objectives to pursue in line with
its five-year strategy:
• Achieving broader global LEI coverage across all regions.
• Growing LEI utility and volume.
• Advocating for the vLEI and its supporting infrastructure
to become the prominent protocol for managing verifiable
organizational credentials.
GLEIF made a progressive start on this strategy last year.
Below, we celebrate the successes that propelled us towards
achieving our vision: one verifiable, trusted, global identity
behind every business.
2025 in review
A strong regional focus driving LEI and vLEI adoption
Asia-Pacific remains a significant LEI growth region. In 2025,
India had the highest LEI issuance volumes, while Japan
and India had the first and third highest LEI renewal rates,
respectively, in the world. GLEIF opened a new office in China,
to better support regional LEI and vLEI demand and improve
engagement with local stakeholders and authorities. We also
welcomed six new QVIs within the APAC region: Certizen, China
Financial Certification Authority (CFCA), Finema, Shanghai
Electronic Certification Authority Co., Ltd. (SHECA), TOPPAN
Edge, and TradeGo.
India’s success in embedding the LEI within its economy to
promote greater trust and transparency is due to a proactive
regulatory agenda. Regulatory compliance remains a key focus
for GLEIF’s strategic activities in the region, particularly across
capital and money markets, cross-border payments, trade
finance, global and regional value chains, and Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG). Indeed, the LEI’s influence grew
across all regions in 2025, thanks to the EU’s Digital Operational
Resilience Act (DORA) and the FATF updated Recommendation
16, which is recognized across G7 nations.
Beyond compliance, we are committed to driving global
innovation. In 2025, GLEIF’s first vLEI hackathons received
110 submissions from both established industry players and
startups. The range and quality of entries highlight the
significant potential of the vLEI to deliver value for businesses
worldwide and the creative ideas shaping the future of digital
organizational identity. We stand ready to support innovations
and pilots and are excited by the limitless opportunities that can
be unlocked in the future by the LEI and vLEI.
In 2026, GLEIF will continue to strengthen collaboration globally,
deepening relationships with regulators, market participants,
and digital identity innovators. We will also focus on South
America and the Middle-East and Africa as LEI and vLEI growth
markets, where early-stage LEI adoption offers opportunities
for greater inclusion and empowerment.
Strengthening the business case for the LEI and vLEI
Extending collaboration through a Global Partners Program
Collaboration is central to the Global LEI System’s success. In
2025, GLEIF launched its Global Partners Program, to unify data
vendors, financial institutions, corporates, and tech innovators
around accelerating LEI and vLEI adoption. The program will
advance secure and transparent business interactions and
promote sustainable growth across the global digital economy.
The LEI: A valuable data connector for businesses worldwide
During 2025, we successfully extended the reach of the Global
LEI System through collaborative partnerships, which reinforce
the value of the LEI as a data connector, delivering benefits for
data users everywhere.
• GLEIF established linking initiatives with the UK’s
Companies House and the Swiss Federal Statistical
Office, boosting identifiability and discoverability of UK
and Swiss businesses worldwide.
• A mapping initiative was also announced with Qichacha, a
leading Chinese business information platform boasting a
database of over 500 million legal entities. The goal here too
is to boost visibility of Chinese businesses on a global stage.
• GLEIF and Open Ownership launched the Global Open Data
Integration Network (GODIN). This initiative enhances global
data interoperability and accessibility by aligning open data
to widely recognized global frameworks like the Global LEI
System and the Beneficial Ownership Data Standard.
Broadening LEI and vLEI adoption across industries
The value of the LEI and vLEI continued to align with the
requirements of organizational identity initiatives across
sectors and use cases.
Finance and cross-border payments:
• The application of the EU’s DORA had a positive impact
on LEI adoption throughout 2025 and signaled a major
implementation outside of capital markets.
• FATF’s updated Recommendation 16, for the first time,
references the LEI as a key identifier for legal persons
in domestic and cross-border transactions. This brings
obvious benefits in being able to unequivocally identify
legal entities involved in transactions. It also signals that
trusted organizational identity is becoming a cornerstone
of transparency across all forms of cross-border
transactions and interactions.
Digital assets / crypto:
• GLEIF and Chainlink partnered to deliver an institutional-
grade identity solution for the blockchain industry. Using
GLEIF’s vLEI, the solution embeds verifiable organizational
identity directly into onchain wallets, smart contracts, and
tokenized assets.
• GLEIF also worked with the Cardano Foundation and
Key State Capital to enable verifiable smart contracts,
providing a cryptographic way to link issuers to their digital
assets and therefore avoiding fraud.
Digital trade and global supply chains:
• GLEIF collaborated with the IOTA Foundation to explore
how the LEI and vLEI can bring secure, verifiable digital
identity to global supply chains. Initial proof-of-concept
projects are investigating real-world applications such
as streamlining customs checks, simplifying supply
chain processes, enabling secure digital payments, and
expanding access to trade finance, while contributing to
the development of digital public infrastructure worldwide.
• A strategic MoU between GLEIF and Finternet Lab
promotes integration of vLEI credentials and open digital
tools for secure, interoperable ecosystems supporting the
global digital economy. Joint initiatives will focus on real-
world use cases of the vLEI across finance, sustainability,
and supply chains, with pilots, hackathons, and efforts to
define common standards and governance models.
2026: Continued opportunities
As we look to the year ahead, the urgency for an internationally-
recognized digital identity management infrastructure, such as
the Global LEI System, is intensifying. There are two main drivers:
• Empowerment and opportunity, resulting from the need to
embed trust in an increasingly digital global marketplace; and
• Compliance, as regulatory calls for transparency grow louder.
Globally, we are at a critical inflection point and in this
environment of growing adoption and acceptance of the LEI and
vLEI, a real opportunity presents. I look forward to continuing
to drive GLEIF towards its vision in 2026, and I wish to thank all
my GLEIF colleagues, the Board, the ROC, and GLEIF’s partners
worldwide who share the same desire for collective success.
Alexandre Kech
Chief Executive Officer
Global Legal Entity Identifier
Foundation (GLEIF)