Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) are one-of-a-kind alpha-numeric codes that are frequently (and increasingly) required by any company that want to participate in a cross-border financial transaction. The LEI system is quickly becoming a world standard.

Any company that conducts cross-border financial activities within, through, or out of the EU and the UK must already have an LEI. LEIs are already required or will be required by regulators in the United States, Canada, and Asia-Pacific. A single supranational non-profit organisation ensures the global LEI system's operational integrity. Local and worldwide LEI operating units issue the codes themselves.

The reference details for the registered entity - name, type, address, local registration authority and registration number, ownership, and so on - are then made public.