Encouraging US Regulators to Adopt & Use the Legal Entity Identifiers

SIFMA provides comments to the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) encouraging a more fulsome adoption and use by the US regulatory community of the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI). The need for improved data and information supported by a LEI standard was specifically recognized in the Dodd-Frank Act, and is supported by the Financial Stability Board (FSB). Having a uniform, global legal entity identifier will help regulators and supervisors, researchers and firms to better measure and monitor systemic risk, as well as to more effectively measure and manage counterparty exposure and improve operational efficiencies. Critically, this standard will help support the shared objective of a more stable financial system. The global industry and regulatory community are strongly supportive of the Global LEI System (GLEIS) initiative and the benefits to operational efficiencies, systemic risk management and financial stability that it would provide.