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The LEI in Numbers: Enhancing Data Quality With New LEI Data Formats

Accelerating Transparency and Trust in the Global Marketplace


Author: Stephan Wolf

  • Date: 2022-07-27
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The Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF) is proud of its ongoing transparency initiatives, including its open approach to providing unrestricted access to the latest LEI data from around the world with the Quarterly LEI System Business Reports, which are made publicly available free of charge. Through this ‘LEI in Numbers’ blog series, GLEIF aims to highlight key data from the latest report, explaining trends and profiling successes from the global LEI rollout.

The latest report, covering Q2 2022, highlights that over 56,000 LEIs were issued globally throughout the quarter, representing a growth rate of 2.8%. This brings the total active LEI population to 2.07 million.

For a further summary of the past quarter’s data, the below infographic contains the key statistics from Q2 2022.

So-called ‘competitive markets’ refer to those with over 1,000 LEIs, based on the number of LEI issuers providing services in the jurisdiction. The most competitive markets are those with the most LEI issuers per jurisdiction, with similar market share, and vice versa for the least competitive markets.

The second quarter’s report is the first to contain data drawn from the new LEI data formats outlined in the latest ROC policies. These new formats have expanded the scope of the data contained in each LEI, creating yet more transparency in the global marketplace, and broadening the utility of the Global LEI System for users everywhere.

Firstly, the changes allow for the structured classification of public sector entities, allowing certain legal entities to be classified as General Government Entities or International Organizations. In Q2, almost 4,000 government entities and 14 international organizations were reported.

Secondly, the new LEI formats now require the inclusion of Legal Entity Event data. This expansion will ensure the Global LEI System delivers the most accurate and up-to-date information about legal entities as they evolve and will allow users of the GLEIS to identify and track specific events which update or change either the entity itself or its legal relationships to other entities. Over time, this will stimulate the retirement of old LEIs and the creation of new ones, both through simple events, such as a name change or a change in entity legal form, as well as more complex events, such as reverse takeovers, mergers, and acquisitions.

Lastly, by updating the way entity relationships which impact investment funds are recorded, the new data formats also facilitate the standardized collection of fund relationship information at the global level. The last quarters figures show over 57,000 legal entities reporting fund relationships across three distinct fund relationship types: Fund Management Entity (75.6%); Umbrella Structure (23.9%); and Master-Feeder relationships (0.5%).

The new policies have already made a meaningful impact and have been welcomed by the industry.

“As an accredited issuer of LEIs, Bloomberg welcomes the new Common Data Formats,” said Steve Meizanis, Global Head of Symbology and LEI Services at Bloomberg. “The additional data being collected around mutual funds, government entities, and corporate events allows the LEI to meet the evolving entity identification needs of the industry. We are proud to be a part of the global effort to adopt LEIs, enhance financial data quality and bring more transparency and consistency to the capital markets.”

For the full report, which includes further detail on the status of LEI issuance and growth potential, the level of competition between LEI issuing organizations in the Global LEI System, and Level 1 and 2 reference data, please visit the Global LEI System Business Reports page.

Readers to note that, in March 2022, the CDF formats were updated based on the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) policies: Legal Entity Events (formerly referred to as “Corporate Actions") and Data History in the Global LEI System, Policy on Fund Relationships and Guidelines for the registration of Investment Funds in the Global LEI System, and LEI Eligibility for General Government Entities Guidance Document.

If you are interested in reviewing the latest daily LEI data, our Global LEI System Statistics Dashboard contains daily statistics on the total and active number of LEIs issued. This feature now enables any user to review historical data by geography, increasing transparency on the overall progress of the LEI.

For further detail or to access historical data, please visit the Global LEI System Business Report Archive. We look forward to sharing our progress each quarter as we continue to drive LEI adoption in 2022.

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About the author:

Stephan Wolf is the CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). In 2023, he was elected as a member of the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Germany. In 2021, he was appointed to an all-new Industry Advisory Board (IAB) as part of the global ICC Digital Standards Initiative (DSI). In that capacity, he serves as co-chair of the workstream on ‚Trusted Technology Environment‘. Between January 2017 and June 2020, Mr. Wolf was Co-convener of the International Organization for Standardization Technical Committee 68 FinTech Technical Advisory Group (ISO TC 68 FinTech TAG). In January 2017, Mr. Wolf was named one of the Top 100 Leaders in Identity by One World Identity. He has extensive experience in establishing data operations and global implementation strategy. He has led the advancement of key business and product development strategies throughout his career. Mr. Wolf co-founded IS Innovative Software GmbH in 1989 and served first as its managing director. He was later named spokesman of the executive board of its successor, IS.Teledata AG. This company ultimately became part of Interactive Data Corporation, where Mr. Wolf held the role of CTO. Mr. Wolf holds a university degree in business administration from J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main.


Tags for this article:
Global LEI System Business Reports, Global LEI Index, Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), LEI Issuers (Local Operating Units - LOUs), LEI Renewal, Open Data, Data Management, Level 1 / Business Card Data (Who is Who), Level 2 / Relationship Data (Who Owns Whom)