What is a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)?
The short answer
A Legal Entity Identifier is an identifier used to identify legal entities in the global LEI system.
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): why it matters
Company records have legal and administrative contexts. A field or document should be interpreted within its source and jurisdiction, with its effective date retained.
How to assess it in practice
Check the entity record and identifier status, and keep the LEI distinct from the local company registration number. Start by defining the question the team needs to answer. Identify the relevant record or evidence, check its scope and date, and retain the reasoning behind the result. If evidence conflicts, keep that conflict visible for review.
Worked example
Illustrative workflow: a team reviewing a business adds a separate check for legal entity identifier (lei). The reviewer’s task is to check the entity record and identifier status, and keep the LEI distinct from the local company registration number. The outcome is recorded together with the supporting evidence; an unresolved question stays open rather than being converted into a positive result.
An LEI record needs renewal while the company remains registered. Do not label the company dissolved merely because the identifier record is not current.
Distinctions that matter
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) belongs to the business identifiers topic family. Read Company Registration Number alongside it to understand the adjacent question. Each page has its own intended scope; shared context does not make the concepts equivalent.
Evidence and review output
Review these
- Identifier namespace and issuer
- Original value and normalisation
- Returned identity and status scope
The review should produce
A reconciled identifier-to-entity link with the validation method and any conflict retained.
Across this family
Identifiers belong to namespaces. Retain the issuer, country context, original representation and entity scope so matching does not depend on an apparently unique string alone. Format checks are useful for input quality but do not establish current registration or entitlement to use an identifier.
A note from practice
An LEI is a separate identifier with its own reference data and lifecycle. Keep its record status distinct from the company's legal status; one is not a substitute for the other.
Limits and common mistakes
The practical boundary is important: Check the entity record and identifier status, and keep the LEI distinct from the local company registration number. Do not substitute a related label for this check or assume that missing information is a negative finding. Source-specific and jurisdiction-specific rules require their own review.
Related questions
- How do you find a Legal Entity Identifier?
- Who needs a Legal Entity Identifier?
Frequently asked questions
Which evidence should I review?
How is Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) different from D-U-N-S Number?
What should the result of the review contain?
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Related topics
- Business identifiersCompany Registration NumberA company registration number is an identifier assigned to a legal entity by its registration authority. It helps distinguish the entity from businesses with similar names. Its meaning depends on the issuing jurisdiction and register: the same character sequence can occur in unrelated systems, and a tax identifier is not necessarily the registry identifier.
- Business identifiersTax Identification Number (TIN)A tax identification number identifies a taxpayer within a particular tax administration system.
- Business identifiersVAT NumberA VAT number identifies a person or business registered for value-added tax in a particular tax system. It is used in tax-related processes and may help reconcile a counterparty’s records. It should be stored with its country or issuing context because formats and validation methods vary.
See the registry record behind every answer.
Primary, government-sourced data on 600M+ companies in 200+ countries, with full source attribution.