Meeting Client and Counterparty Identifier Requirements Under MiFID II

Meeting Client and Counterparty Identifier Requirements Under MiFID II

By Thomson Reuters Risk Management Solutions

Financial institutions with activities in Europe are now in the final run up to the January 3, 2018, deadline for compliance with the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II (MiFID II). This means that they will be required to obtain a LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) in order to identify any and all clients, counterparties and issuers the firms deal with.

MiFID II and its related Markets in Financial Instruments Regulation (MiFIR) make it clear that it is not legal to trade with any entity that is unable to furnish a current LEI after the January deadline. Unlike other sets of rules around the globe that incorporate LEIs, MiFID II makes the LEI mandatory – no LEI, no trade.

There are real concerns that a lack of LEI registrations by clients in the new year could make the possibility of a widespread halt in some trading relationships and transactions quite real. Only just over 550,000 LEIs have been registered with the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) globally – adoption has been slow and many organizations remain unclear as to which entities they need to obtain an LEI for.

Despite that the corporates appear to be laggards when it comes to LEI registration, financial institutions, including banks who have to use the LEI for reporting under MiFID II seem to be much more prepared than their clients are for the coming January 3 deadline.

Today, most organizations are focused on getting their LEI coverage as complete as possible ahead of the January 3 MiFID II deadline. Some firms are taking a trading activity-based approach.

Many of the firms spoken to for this report recognize that the LEI can be the lynchpin that brings together a whole new approach to data aggregation for risk management, client engagement, and business strategy.

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