{"id":3074,"date":"2025-10-14T19:27:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T17:27:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/?post_type=btv_wiki&#038;p=3074"},"modified":"2026-02-26T14:01:40","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T13:01:40","slug":"legal-entity-identifier","status":"publish","type":"btv_wiki","link":"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/knowledge-base\/standards-in-payments\/legal-entity-identifier\/","title":{"rendered":"Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-an-lei\">What is an LEI?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <em>Legal Entity Identifier<\/em> is an internationally recognized identification code for \u2018legal entities\u2019 such as companies, banks, foundations, and governments. Each LEI consists of a <strong>20-character alphanumeric code<\/strong> linked to basic data such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>official name of the organization<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>country of establishment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>legal form<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ownership structure (if available)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>LEIs were developed after the 2008 financial crisis, on the initiative of the <em>Financial Stability Board<\/em> (FSB), and are managed by the <em>Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation<\/em> (GLEIF). The aim is to create a global system that identifies organizations in a uniform and reliable manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why is an LEI important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Transparency:<\/strong> Parties know for sure who they are doing business with, which strengthens the integrity of markets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Security:<\/strong> Helps regulators to better detect risks, fraud, and money laundering practices.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Enforcement:<\/strong> A valid LEI is required by law for various financial transactions, such as derivatives trading.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Efficiency:<\/strong> A single global standard prevents errors caused by differing local identification systems.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For financial institutions, LEIs are essential for reliable transaction processing and risk management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use of LEIs worldwide<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>LEIs are used worldwide for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>reporting securities and derivatives transactions to regulators<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>transactions between banks and companies<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>supervision, risk analysis, and market monitoring by central banks and financial authorities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>More and more sectors are switching to LEI use to prevent identity confusion and administrative errors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">LEI in the Netherlands<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Netherlands, banks and financial institutions require their business customers to have a valid LEI for transactions where this is mandatory. LEIs are requested and managed through <strong>Local Operating Units (LOUs)<\/strong> recognized by GLEIF. Dutch organizations can easily request or renew their LEI through one of these providers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a globally unique code that identifies an organization in financial transactions. An LEI ensures greater transparency, security, and reliability in the financial markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":421,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"editor_notices":[]},"btv_subject_tax":[19],"class_list":["post-3074","btv_wiki","type-btv_wiki","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","btv_subject_tax-payment-standards"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin  - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) - Dutch Payments Association<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a global 20-character code that identifies legal entities and improves transparency and financial security.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/knowledge-base\/standards-in-payments\/legal-entity-identifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legal Entity Identifier (LEI)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a global 20-character code that identifies legal entities and improves transparency and financial security.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/knowledge-base\/standards-in-payments\/legal-entity-identifier\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dutch Payments Association\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-26T13:01:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/DE-BEELDREDAKTIE-03-134645255-jpg.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@NLbetalen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/knowledge-base\\\/standards-in-payments\\\/legal-entity-identifier\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.betaalvereniging.nl\\\/en\\\/knowledge-base\\\/standards-in-payments\\\/legal-entity-identifier\\\/\",\"name\":\"Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) - 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