What is this standard about?
This document specifies the minimum elements of an unambiguous legal entity identifier (LEI) scheme to identify the legal entities relevant to any financial transaction.
It is applicable to legal entities, which include, but are not limited to, unique parties that are legally or financially responsible for the performance of financial transactions or have the legal right in their jurisdiction to enter independently into legal contracts, regardless of whether they are incorporated or constituted in some other way (e.g. trust, partnership, contractual). It includes governmental organizations, supranationals and individuals when acting in a business capacity1), but excludes natural persons.
The LEI is designed for automated processing. It can also be conveniently used in other media interchange when appropriate (e.g. paper document exchange).