Irish Pre-LOU Endorsed, Future LEI Guidance Planned

The Irish Stock Exchange has become the sixth pre-local operating unit (pre-LOU) to be accepted as part of the interim global legal entity identifier (LEI) system, as the Regulatory Oversight Committee (ROC) continues to explore issues related to the use of the business registry information, the transfer of the pre-LEIs and the funding of the global LEI foundation.

Following a due diligence process, the ROC has announced that the Irish Stock Exchange is compliant with the principles it published on July 27 outlining the conditions that pre-LOUs must meet to become part of the interim global LEI system. As a result of this endorsement, pre-LEI codes issued by the Irish Stock Exchange can be used for regulatory reporting in the jurisdictions represented by members of the ROC.

WM Datenservice in Germany, the Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques in France and the CFTC Interim Compliant Identifier utility in the US were all endorsed by the ROC on October 3. Turkey's Takasbank and the London Stock Exchange were endorsed on November 11.

In a statement announcing the endorsement of the Irish Stock Exchange, the ROC says it also expects to publish additional guidance about a number of aspects of the LEI system in the future, including the use of business registry information.

The statement explains "the ROC is currently seeking confirmation that there are no legal impediments within individual business registries to the collection and publication of the business registration name and the business registration number when supplied to pre-LOUs by the legal entity."

The ROC also expects to publish "both policy and technical guidance" to help pre-LOUs as they transfer pre-LEIs from one utility to another. However, the statement emphasizes that "endorsed pre-LOUs are expected to begin porting on authorized request of the registrant from this point forward without awaiting this further guidance."

The final area expected to be covered by future guidance notices is the funding of the global LEI foundation, which will manage the Central Operating Unit.