As from 3 January 2018, all legal entities operating on financial markets will have to own an LEI. GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg offers now LEIs as registration agent.

Proud to support even more organisations by providing them with an LEI

As from 3 January 2018, all legal entities operating on financial markets will have to possess an LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) to keep on buying or selling shares, bonds, warrants, government bonds and derivatives. The LEI is a number that makes it possible to identify transactions on financial markets and to ensure their safety.

From now on, you can talk to GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg to obtain an LEI. GS1 has more than 40 years of experience in the identification of unique products and entities in various sectors. In doing so, the organisation now extends its activities to the financial sector.

"GS1 is the absolute reference when a unique code is necessary to identify places, logistic units, products or anything else", states Jan Somers, CEO of GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg. "Acting as a registration agent of GS1 Germany, we are proud to be able to support even more organisations of all types by providing them with a unique LEI," concludes Somers.

The LEI

An LEI is an alphanumeric code of 20 characters that enables identification of legal entities active on financial markets. As from January 2018, the purchase or sale of shares, bonds, warrants, government bonds and derivatives will be impossible without an LEI. Thousands of organisations in Belgium will need an LEI.

As from next year, financial institutions will have to declare all the transactions of their clients in some financial instruments to their surveillance authorities, in this case the FSMA.

That is why Europe has set up a new compulsory identification for every legal entity exchanging financial instruments. This concerns purchases and sales (including those outside stock exchanges), some transfers and donations. Some investment funds, investment insurances, term investments and savings bonds are not concerned by the obligation to possess an LEI.

Today, all legal entities who carry out transactions in derivatives already need an LEI. The extension to almost all financial instruments is part of the new European MiFID II/MiFIR regulations.

Additional links

• GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg and the LEI code
• About GS1 Belgium & Luxembourg
• The GLEIF (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation)