LEI News & Insights

The European Commission have announced the long-awaited AML Package and new regulatory body to govern its implementation and compliance.

The package put forth aims to put in place a new watchdog called the EU AML Authority (AMLA) and draft a new single EU Rulebook for AML/CFT obligations.

A new EU regulatory watchdog has been proposed in order to ensure the private sector correctly and consistently applies EU AML rules.

In a bid to fight money-laundering, so called "dirty money" and counter terrorism financing, the ambitious package of legislative proposals is set to strengthen the existing EU’s AML and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) rules. The overall aim of this package is to improve detection of suspicious activities and transactions, and tighten up and loose spots in the system.

For example, there is set to be an EU wide limit of €10,000 of large cash payments as this is the single most common way for criminals to launder money. 

In addition, the use of crypto-anonymous wallets will be prohibited, similarly to anonymous bank accounts. The Legal Entity Identifier will greatly help reconcile payments between counterparties in transactions and help flag any suspicious trends or activity.

The LEI is quickly becoming the mark of trust in the global financial system.

The proposal put forward on 20th July 2021 is set to include a revision of the 2015 Regulation on Transfers of Funds. Within which is a proposal for a new law which allows authorities combat AML/CFT by tracing sources of funds, or "crypto-assets". In order to achieve this the EU will mandate the use of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) for both payer and payees.

The proposal states "(the LEI)could easily be included in existing payment message formats". This could indicate the LEI is set to overtake, or bolster the IBAN as a primary means of identifying the entities behind bank transactions on a corporate, rather than individual level. 

To find out more about the new package put forward by the European Commission, check out the link provided to the page on the EC website: Anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism legislative package.

The LEI has been required in India since 2017 in order to increase market transparency and identify fraud in the financial transactions. All financial borrowers and lenders in India have been mandated to obtain an LEI. According to the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) the LEI has been introduced in a phased approach for market participants in the over the counter (OTC) derivative and non-derivative markets as also for large corporate borrowers.

The LEI in India has also been introduced for all payments/transactions of value ₹50 crore and above undertaken by organisations/corporates using Reserve Bank-run Centralised Payment Systems viz. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).

The RBI states that its members should prepare for the phased rollout of the LEI, in particular those who engage in large value transactions (+₹50 crore) and those who use payment messages such as NEFTS & RTGS. 

RTGS: The LEI shall be reported in the ‘Remittance information’ field.
NEFTS: For outward debit messages, LEI information shall be provided in ‘Sender to Receiver Information’ field.

Companies in India may apply for a Legal Entity Identifier through an agent such as LEI Worldwide.  Existing LEI codes may be transferred to LEI Worldwide for management and maintenance. 

You can find more information from the RBI on their dedicated webpage notification here: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/NotificationUser.aspx?Id=12010&Mode=0

Please click Register LEI in India below to obtain a new LEI, or click Transfer LEI to begin to move your existing LEI to LEI Worldwide.