Why you need an LEI in the UK

A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is often required in the UK when you trade, borrow, or report in regulated markets. Banks and counterparties use the LEI to verify who they are dealing with and to streamline onboarding and compliance checks.

UK reporting regimes reference LEIs across payments, securities, and derivatives activity. If your firm participates in CHAPS payments, EMIR reporting, or MiFID II reporting, an active LEI is typically required to submit or execute transactions.

Keeping your LEI active also helps with audits, KYC refreshes, and cross-border activity. It provides a single global identifier that reduces mismatches and keeps your entity data aligned across systems.