The LEI in Numbers: Marking One Year of the New LEI Data Formats
One year on since the implementation of the Regulatory Oversight Committee’s policies on new data formats, we reflect on the progress made and highlight how this data is enhancing business operations for members of the Global LEI System
Author: Stephan Wolf
Date: 2023-04-20
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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 Q1 2023, highlights that over 63,000 LEIs were issued globally throughout the quarter. At the end of the quarter, the total active LEI population was 2.25 million, representing a quarterly growth rate of 2.9%.
For a further summary of the past quarter’s data, the below infographic contains the key statistics from Q1 2023.
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 first quarter’s report marks one year since the implementation of the Regulatory Oversight Committee’s policies on new LEI data formats. These new formats expanded the scope of the data contained in each LEI, helping to create more transparency in the global marketplace and broaden the utility of the Global LEI System for users everywhere.
Since the implementation of these policies, the Global LEI Index has seen significant and sustained growth in reported data across the formats. At the end of Q1 2023, over 5,000 entities were identified as government entities and 30 as international organizations (up from 4,800 and 27, respectively, in Q4 2022). In addition, over 107,000 legal entities reported fund relationship structures, an increase of over 19,000 on the previous quarter.
These policies deliver myriad benefits for global data consumers and have been welcomed by industry participants.
“As both an LEI Issuer within the Global LEI System, as well as a global provider of financial and entity data, Bloomberg has had a unique perspective on the impact that the upgraded LEI data formats has had on the industry,” comments Steve Meizanis, Global Head of Symbology and LEI Services at Bloomberg. “As an LEI issuer, the additional data sets provided by the entities themselves allows us to more accurately verify up-to-date information for which an LEI is issued or renewed. For example, the inclusion of entity events ensures that not only is an LEI initially validated, but as the reference data of the entity changes over time, so will the associated data of the LEI record.”
“From the viewpoint of a financial data provider, another key aspect of the new formats is the further distinction of funds and their relationships. By having additional information, such as the Fund Manager and Umbrella Fund directly linked to the fund LEI, it allows data providers which incorporate GLEIF records to offer greater clarity, depth, and certainty of funds data to its downstream clients. Bloomberg looks forward to continuing its partnership with GLEIF and supporting the ongoing growth and usage of the Global LEI System.”
Beyond the new data formats, Q1 also saw positive trends in global LEI issuance. Saudi Arabia again had the highest jurisdictional LEI growth rate at 24.1%, as the Saudi Credit Bureau’s LEI initiative with the Saudi Central Bank supported sustained progress in the region. Also included in the top five growth jurisdictions were India (8.2%), Hungary (6.5%), Türkiye (5.6%), and United Arab Emirates (5%).
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.
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 2023.
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Stephan Wolf was the CEO of the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) (2014 - 2024). Since March 2024, he has led the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s Industry Advisory Board (IAB) of the Digital Standards Initiative, the global platform for digital trade standards alignment, adoption, and engagement. Before he was appointed as Chair, he had been serving as Vice-Chair of the IAB since 2023. In the same year, he was elected to the Board of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Germany.
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 strategies. 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.
