EIOPA consults on revised Guidelines on the use of the Legal Entity Identifier

The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) launched today a consultation on revised Guidelines on the use of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). LEI is now widely used by the financial industry especially in the European Union, not only for identification of legal entities but also for data quality purposes, supporting activities in the area of financial stability, oversight and supervision as well as consumer protection.

Following the introduction of LEI in 2012, EIOPA issued its own Guidelines on the use of the LEI in October 2014. EIOPA identified a need to review and subsequently revise its current Guidelines due to several reasons:

The focus of this public consultation refer to the scope (and its clarity) of entities that should have a Legal Entity Identifier. The suggested scope is broader than before. Apart from Institutions for Occupational Retirement Provision (IORPs) and insurance and reinsurance undertakings the context of branches and intermediaries is introduced. The revised Guidelines also consider the need for a better and wider identification of groups of entities as well as third country branches. The revised Guidelines also cover the necessity to use LEI code for identification purposes when competent authorities report to EIOPA.

EIOPA is also seeking to feedback from stakeholders regarding the impact assessment in particular on proportionality aspects when it comes to IORPs and intermediaries. All interested stakeholders are invited to provide comments by 30 June 2021.