LEI for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

There's a common misconception that the LEI is only for large financial firms. In fact it applies to any legal entity that transacts in the financial markets — including small and medium-sized enterprises.

Why an SME may need an LEI

Many SMEs encounter the LEI requirement the moment they:

invest the company's reserves in securities;
open a securities account at a bank or broker;
enter derivatives contracts, for example to hedge currency risk.

In each of these cases, MiFID II and EMIR require the company to be identified by a valid LEI.

The practical upside

Obtaining an LEI is simple and based on details an SME already has — name, enterprise number (BCE) and registered address. (See How to register an LEI.)

In Belgium, compliance with these requirements is supervised by the FSMA (the Financial Services and Markets Authority).

See also Who needs an LEI? and LEI for trading stocks and securities.