The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) has expanded its collaboration with SWIFT by providing certification for the mapping of the market identifier code (MIC) to the legal entity identifier (LEI).
The MIC is an International Organization for Standardization code used to process and clear trades.
Mapping the MIC to the LEI will further enable market participants that use GLEIF and SWIFT data to link and cross-reference key entity identifiers.
The initiative is expected to ease the process of gathering, aggregating and reconciling counterparty information based on interoperability across parallel identity platforms, says SWIFT.
Following the successful certification process, GLEIF will publish open-source relationship files monthly, in a CSV format, which will map the MIC to the LEI.
Currently, more than two million LEIs have been issued to legal entities globally. Of the approximate 2600 MICs assigned to date, approximately 50 per cent of them currently pertain to organisations that are legal entities or foreign branches and, therefore, qualify for the mapping against LEIs.
The mapping service is free of charge and aimed at financial institutions and public authorities involved in risk analysis and market monitoring.
The cooperation between GLEIF and SWIFT builds on a partnership established in 2018 to link the business identifier code (BIC) to the LEI.
Stephan Wolf, CEO of GLEIF, says: "The mapping of open LEI data to the MIC enables market participants to efficiently and accurately gather and cross-check counterparty information, decreasing the cost and potential for manual error.
“The LEI is a critical data connector globally and GLEIF’s continued pursuit of enhanced interoperability between the LEI and other identifier systems worldwide helps ensure that the highest quality entity identification reference data is obtainable to all. This makes it easier to conduct compliance, know-your-customer, regulatory reporting, and due diligence."
Anne Suprenant, head of standards registration authority at SWIFT, comments: "Collaborating with GLEIF on the certification of mapping the MIC with the LEI, is a significant milestone. Following the success of the BIC-mapping exercise, we have now extended the benefits of cross-identifier mapping to a broader audience. We now offer entity identification efficiencies that support greater trust and transparency for global market participants."
The news comes in the same month that GLEIF welcomed Sparkasse Bank Malta and Diligencia as validation agents.
With the addition of these two firms, the number of GLEIF validation agents reaches 10 globally — spanning Africa, China, Europe, India, the Middle East and North America.
