Reference
LEI glossary
The vocabulary of the Legal Entity Identifier system, in plain terms.
- LEI
- Legal Entity Identifier — a 20-character ISO 17442 code uniquely identifying a legal entity.
- GLEIF
- Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation — the non-profit that oversees the LEI system and publishes the data.
- LOU
- Local Operating Unit — an organisation accredited to issue and maintain LEIs. The first four characters of an LEI identify it.
- ELF
- Entity Legal Form — an ISO 20275 code for a legal form (e.g. Aktiengesellschaft, Limited Company).
- ISIN
- International Securities Identification Number — a 12-character code for a security; GLEIF maps ISINs to their issuer's LEI.
- BIC
- Business Identifier Code — the SWIFT code identifying a bank or financial institution; mapped to LEIs.
- MIC
- Market Identifier Code — an ISO 10383 code for a trading venue or market; mapped to LEIs.
- Registration authority
- The business registry (e.g. a national companies register) where an entity is recorded; cited in its LEI data.
- Reporting exception
- A recorded reason why a parent relationship is not disclosed — for example, no consolidating parent exists.
- Golden copy
- GLEIF's authoritative published dataset of all LEI records, released several times a day.
- Level 1 / Level 2
- Level 1 is an entity's own reference data (“who is who”); Level 2 is its ownership relationships (“who owns whom”).
- Consolidation
- The accounting relationship the LEI system tracks: a parent that consolidates a subsidiary's financials.