Revised EU regulations will soon require that companies and entities need an international Legal Entity Identifier code (LEI code) for orders concerning financial instruments. Companies and entities must have an LEI code for orders concerning derivatives from 1 November 2017 and for orders concerning publicly traded financial instruments from January 2018.
The LEI code is a global organisational code which identifies legal entities on the financial market and aims to improve the market’s transparency. LEI codes are needed for financial instrument transactions and derivative contracts. To learn more about LEI codes and determine whether your company or entity needs one, please visit the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority’s website.
In Finland, LEI codes are granted by the Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) for one year at a time. To apply for an LEI code, please visit PRH’s website.
Leading expert Inna Aaltonen from Finance Finland (FFI) explains that merely owning financial instruments does not require a company or entity to have an LEI code. “But if you intend to deal in financial instruments in the near future, you should file your application now. With applications presumably piling in late this year and early next year, processing times may draw out. Legal entity customers should waste no time in obtaining their LEI code; without it, securities and financial instrument transactions will fall through.”