The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has opened a New Jersey office to extend its global reach in proximity to the financial capital of the US.
The launch comes as part of GLEIF’s twofold strategy to improve on-the-ground collaboration with American financial institutions to encourage voluntary adoption of the legal entity identifier (LEI) and to support pilot programmes of companies aiming to implement the LEI across the financial services sector.
Developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the LEI is a 20-character, alpha-numeric code based on the ISO 17442 standard. It uses key reference information to provide unique identification and assert ownership of legal entities involved in financial transactions.
GLEIF aims to promote the adoption of the LEI within the banking industry to identify and verify counterparties, as well as improve efficiency in client onboarding processes.
The foundation’s New Jersey office will be led by managing director Karla McKenna in a team that includes Peter Warms in his new appointment as business development manager from Bloomberg.
Stephan Wolf, CEO of GLEIF, commented: “GLEIF is committed to working with the global banking community to ensure that the opportunities for efficiencies afforded by wider use of the LEI can be harnessed in the near to mid-term. The sector is on the edge of a transformation; banks and financial institutions already familiar with mandated LEI usage in capital markets now recognise the advantages of extending its use beyond regulatory reporting.”
“GLEIF’s new US office brings us closer to our stakeholders in this important market at this critical time. LEI issuance in the US is the highest across all countries globally, and we recognise the importance of accessible and engaged GLEIF resources on the ground to help drive LEI issuance beyond regulation.”
Wolf added: “Our move into North America sends a clear message to our banking industry stakeholders in the region: GLEIF is here to help the sector benefit from broader LEI integration across business banking lines. We are here to assist you.”
