Cross-border payments have relied on data formats created decades ago. Digital finance has since become the backbone of global trade, but the messaging standards struggled to keep up. That changed in November 2025, when the SWIFT coexistence period ended and ISO 20022 became the sole standard for cross-border payment messages. This shift is bigger than a technical upgrade. The new format brings a growing demand for structured, machine-readable entity identity data, and the LEI code has a clear role in that picture. What Is ISO 20022? ISO 20022 is an international financial messaging standard. It replaces older formats such as the SWIFT MT messages that banks used for decades. The difference goes beyond the technical. Each payment now carries far more structured data, including precise information about the payer and the payee, reference numbers, and fields that matter for regulatory

The EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, known as MiCA (Regulation EU 2023/1114), is the world’s first comprehensive legal framework for crypto-asset markets. It changed the rules for everyone operating in the European crypto space. One of its less-discussed requirements has nothing to do with blockchain technology. It concerns how a company proves who it is. That is where the LEI code comes in. What Is MiCA and Who Does It Cover? MiCA was adopted by the European Parliament in April 2023 and entered into force in June 2023. It rolled out in two phases. The first phase, effective from 30 June 2024, covered asset-referenced tokens (ARTs) and e-money tokens (EMTs). The second phase, effective from 30 December 2024, extended the framework to all crypto-asset service providers, referred to as CASPs. A CASP (Crypto-Asset Service Provider) is any legal entity that

What is KYB? KYB, or Know Your Business, is the process of verifying the identity, ownership structure, and legal status of business partners, suppliers, and clients — both before and during a business relationship. KYB developed as part of the broader KYC (Know Your Customer) framework. KYC covers customer due diligence in general, applying to both individuals and legal entities. KYB is more specific: it focuses on legal entities in particular. The core question is not only who the individual is, but what the company actually is, who owns it, and who acts on its behalf. KYB emerged in response to a clear regulatory gap. For decades, individual identities faced strict scrutiny, while companies operated under much weaker requirements. As a result, legal entities became a vehicle for concealing money laundering, terrorist financing, and other financial crime. In Europe, regulators

Why business identity matters for AI Artificial intelligence is transforming how companies process data, assess risk, and make decisions. Financial institutions use AI to detect fraud, assess credit risk, and verify counterparty identity. Across industries, automated systems increasingly rely on AI to screen suppliers, partners, and clients before entering into contracts or transactions. In all these cases, one shared requirement exists: the AI system needs accurate, verified information about who it is dealing with. This is exactly where the LEI code becomes essential. What does AI actually need from business data? AI is only as good as the data it relies on. This principle is especially true for business identity data. Consider a simple example: “Volkswagen AG”, “Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft”, and “VW Group” all refer to the same company. However, to a machine, these look like three completely separate entities. Furthermore,

What Is DORA? The Digital Operational Resilience Act — known as DORA — is Regulation (EU) 2022/2554, adopted by the European Parliament and the Council on 14 December 2022. The EU published it in the Official Journal on 27 December 2022. It entered into force on 16 January 2023 and became fully applicable on 17 January 2025. DORA addresses a specific gap in EU financial regulation. Before DORA, financial institutions managed operational risk primarily by setting aside capital. However, that approach did not adequately cover ICT-related disruptions, which can affect many institutions at the same time when a shared technology provider fails. Therefore, DORA introduces a uniform framework across the EU for ICT risk management, incident reporting, operational resilience testing, and oversight of third-party technology providers. Who Must Comply with DORA? DORA applies to two main groups of organisations involved

LEI is no longer limited to financial institutions Most companies initially assume that the LEI code only applies to banks or large financial institutions. However, this perception is outdated. Over the past decade, the role of LEI has expanded significantly across multiple sectors and jurisdictions. Today, companies encounter LEI requirements when they move into more advanced financial activities. For example, this includes investing in markets, applying for financing, making cross-border payments, participating in regulated environments, or interacting with financial institutions. By 2026, LEI clearly forms part of global financial infrastructure. In some countries, it is already deeply embedded into regulatory frameworks. In others, its adoption is accelerating as part of broader digitalization and transparency initiatives. As a result, the need for an LEI depends primarily on business activity rather than company size or industry alone. What is an LEI code?

The FATF Travel Rule (Recommendation 16) requires financial institutions to include information about the sender and the recipient in certain transactions. This article explains what the rule means in practice, why FATF Travel Rule compliance can be difficult, and how structured identifiers like LEI help solve this challenge. What is the FATF Travel Rule? The FATF Travel Rule is a global standard (Recommendation 16) that requires financial institutions to include verified information about the originator and beneficiary in certain financial transactions, especially cross-border payments. The purpose is to make transactions traceable and reduce the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. What is FATF and where does the Travel Rule come from? The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an international body established in 1989 by the G7. Its role is to develop global standards to combat money laundering and

Could vLEI technology replace passwords for business authentication in the future? The digital world still relies heavily on passwords. Every day, people log into systems, approve transactions, and access platforms using user accounts and passwords. In a business context, however, this approach has an important limitation. A password only proves that someone was able to access an account. It does not prove which organization that person represents or what their official role is within that organization. This is where the limitations of current authentication systems become visible. At the same time, new solutions are being developed internationally to enable organizations to prove their identity and authority in a digital and reliable way. One of these emerging solutions is vLEI technology. Why passwords are not enough for business authentication Password-based authentication was originally designed for individual users. When applied to organizations,

Why LEI Is Used in the USA In the United States, the LEI code is used in situations where a company’s activities involve regulated financial transactions or the use of professional financial services. LEI was not created as a general company identifier nor as a substitute for a business registry. Its purpose is to enable financial transactions to be processed technically correctly in situations where transaction reporting is mandatory. The U.S. approach is practical: LEI applies where a financial service provider must submit data about a transaction and where the unique identification of a legal entity is necessary for that purpose. If such an obligation does not arise, there is no need for an LEI. For a broader regulatory overview, see our detailed guide on LEI Code in the USA: What You Need to Know. In Which Situations LEI Becomes