Inside the LEI is a quarterly newsletter that analyzes the LEI database and the progress made in LEI registrations around the world. The current issue takes a close look at the penetration of the LEI among important market participants, such as subsidiaries of the world’s biggest banks and regulated entities. The key points are below:
• Only 13% of the universe of almost 250,000 listed, rated, and regulated financial market entities have LEIs.
• Overall lapse rate has increased to 27% from 24% in January.
• Of the seventeen largest regulators in the G-20 and/or EU, BaFin (Germany) is the only regulator with LEIs assigned to more than 50% of entities.

Alan Samuels, Vice President of Alacra Reference Data Services, says: “Market participants understand the value of the LEI, yet the banks we’ve analyzed only requested LEIs for 5-15% of their own corporate hierarchies, which is very disappointing. Hedge funds are in the same boat, with only 42% of the top 200 global hedge funds having requested an LEI.” He adds: “The overall lapse rate is also something that needs to be tracked carefully - while 20,000 new LEIs have been issued in the last quarter, around 15,000 have not been renewed.”

Since LEI registration began in 2012, around 430,000 LEIs have been assigned. In the last quarter, the LOUs issued just over 20,000 new LEIs. Issuance continues to be driven by a small number of LOUs, with over 85% of the new LEIs issued by only 4 LOUs: GMEI (US), WM Datenservice (Germany), London Stock Exchange (UK) and Unione Italiana per le Camere di Commercio, Industria, Artigianato e Agricoltura (Italy).