Under European rules, investment firms executing transactions in financial instruments must report complete and accurate details to their regulators. This requires a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) to be held by both EU and non-EU market participants in a variety of circumstances in order to trade or clear.  Once a legal entity obtains an LEI code, the code stays with the legal entity for its existence (there is a yearly renewal fee) and can be provided to the counterparty at the time of the transaction.

Most banks and large funds in Australia have required an LEI for some years now but, of recent times, some smaller funds (including some SMSFs) have been requested by counterparties, such as their stockbroker or bank, to provide a LEI in order to trade in EU assets.

If SMSF trustees find that a proposed transaction is affected then the transaction will not be able to proceed until an LEI has been obtained. We are able to arrange these in around 5 business days if required.