On 9 July 2024, the Bank of England (BoE) published a speech by its executive director for payments, Victoria Cleland, on ‘A multi-tool for cross-border payments: the power of Legal Entity Identifiers’. In the speech, Ms Cleland discusses the potential benefits of Legal Entity Identifiers (LEIs) for payments, the role that they can play in enhancing cross-border payments, and steps that could be taken to drive their uptake and use.
Potential benefits of LEIs
Ms Cleland explains that the launch of LEIs in 2012, which was followed by the launch of the Global LEI Foundation (GLEIF) ten years ago, were important steps towards a more transparent, safer and efficient financial system. She notes that LEIs are now “firmly part of the financial system furniture”, enabling the clear identification of specific entities.
Beneficial use cases highlighted in the speech include:
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Reconciliation processes could be enhanced by adoption of LEIs as an identifier in e-invoices passed between comp