Business Entity Data special report

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Cautious Optimism

Hearing from experienced end-user firm data managers and data services providers for this special report on business entity data, we find a mostly optimistic outlook about the implementation of the legal entity identifier (LEI), which has dominated recent discussions about business entity data as a whole.

CIBC's Allie Harris uses precisely those words- "cautiously optimistic"-in her response to our Virtual Roundtable questions. She sees the LEI administrators' work moving forward, as do colleagues sych as DTCC's Ron Jordan, who points to the 90,000 CICI interim LEI identifiers issued so far. HSBC's Lorraine Waters calls the level of recognition for the need for consistent and standardized identification of market participants "encouraging."

Overall, our Virtual Roundtable participants say there is greater support and awareness for business entity data projects than there once was, and higher-level executives are spending more time on them than they have done previously. There are a few caveats, although at this time they seem to be minor ones. HSBC's Waters sounds a note we've heard before-that there are too many administrative bodies and interested parties involved in how the LEI is implemented. SIX Financial Information's Darren Marsh says the LEI is not a "silver bullet" that will solve all data quality issues, but a good first step. And although Deloitte & Touche's Sam Auxier says entity identifiers aren't adding a lot of value yet, he does see momentum increasing for their use.

While optimism is high that implementation of the LEI will be an improvement for business entity data, some concerns remain. At this stage, however, it appears they will not undermine its completion.

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