Here Comes The LEI Flood

Legal entity identifier (LEI) news appeared to reach a fever pitch this month, and that's reflected in this month's issue. This surge was not exactly a complete surprise, as it revolves around the run-up to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) making its recommendations on the LEI to the G-20 in preparation for a decision expected to come out of the organization's summit in Mexico on June 18–19.

There were a few unexpected developments, however, as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) removed Swift from its role as registration authority, at the FSB's request, and Swift and the DTCC postponed the launch of their provisional LEI portal because of complications with the CFTC's interim identifier.

Also, there have been some whispers in the industry about how the LEI will be administered and by whom. Those thoughts haven't been stated formally by those making the LEI decisions or trying to influence them, but a Sifma official said his organization is waiting to see what the FSB will do. Too much may be read into that stance, but it's less than a full-fledged confirmation of the industry's favorites, as backed by the GFMA and Sifma itself: ISO, Swift and ANNA.

Another industry association, ISITC, is getting into the LEI mix with its Regulatory Working Group turning its attention there. And LEI is prominent in the current thinking and concerns of many in the industry, as was made evident in Inside Reference Data's recent webcast on regulation and standards. Panelists in that discussion see significant challenges in complying with an LEI standard.

Tim Lind of Thomson Reuters points to a need to harmonize the various LEI plans proposed by different bodies, such as the aforementioned CFTC interim identifier (CICI), ID numbers for Fatca, tax IDs and large trader identification plans. The panelists also found other issues feeding into the LEI debate, such as addressing inaccurate or missing data and combining LEI projects with business requirement work.

The current LEI drive, which appears very close to completion—and meeting the FSB imperative for March 2013 implementation—may well be nearing its decisive moments that will lock it in as a reality for the industry. It's only a hunch, but Inside Reference Data expects to see just as much or more news about LEI in the coming month.

With the LEI sucking up so much oxygen, one might think there is nothing else of importance being discussed in the data realm, but that would be wrong. The June issue of Inside Reference Data also covers enterprise data management (EDM) developments and trends, starting with a greater push behind the Financial Industry Business Ontology (FIBO), and the increased role data management is playing in risk management. These stories were on the minds of presenters at our North American Financial Information Summit (NAFIS) last month. If you missed the event, these pieces should give you a read on how risk may dictate what data projects progress. Risk applications are requiring data models that break down or bypass silos, with proper controls now in place to make that safe. And the LEI won't be the only data relevant to using EDM to support risk management.