LEI & TReDS

A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is the 20-character global identifier for the entities that transact in the financial markets, issued under the framework of the RBI and the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) guidelines — required for the participants in the over-the-counter derivatives markets and the large corporate borrowers under the RBI's directions, and increasingly for the entities making high-value cross-border payments under the RBI's instructions. The LEI is obtained from the local operating units (LOUs) accredited by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation, and it identifies the entity uniquely across the markets.

The LEI is the financial identity of the entity in the derivatives and the large-value transaction markets. The RBI has progressively required the LEI for the OTC derivatives counterparties, for the large corporate borrowers, and for the cross-border payments above the prescribed thresholds — VERIFY: the RBI's instructions on the LEI for the cross-border transactions require it for the individual transactions above a notified amount. Without the LEI, the entity cannot participate in the markets that require it.

The cost of the missing LEI is the blocked transaction: the derivatives that cannot be executed, the large-value payment that cannot be processed, the borrowing that the bank cannot service without the identifier. The LEI is cheap and quick; the absence of it stops the transaction at the counter.

This service is for entities that transact in the financial markets — the corporates, the funds, the banks and the NBFCs. We determine the LEI requirement under the RBI's framework, prepare and submit the application to the accredited LOU, manage the renewal and the reference data updates, and maintain the LEI so the entity's market transactions are never blocked for the lack of the identifier.