3 reasons why you should never let your LEI expire.

For an LEI number to remain in 'Active' status, it must always be renewed annually.  In an economy that increasingly relies on LEIs to promote secure business relationships and uniquely identify organizations, it is of utmost importance to renew them in a timely manner before they expire.

Here are the top three reasons why you should keep your LEI up to date:

1. Avoiding legal consequences: Over 120 different regulations in more than 40 legal frameworks require the use of LEIs for various reporting obligations. A further 55 regulations contain specific requirements for LEI use. An increasing number of regulations, including MiFIR and MiFID, require continuous renewal of LEIs to ensure regulatory compliance.
   Failure to comply with these regulations can lead to significant penalties. For example, in October 2020, Morgan Stanley was fined USD 5 million by the CFTC for using expired LEIs and thus violating their reporting obligations, as reported in the Securities Lending Times.
2. Timeliness of identity data: To ensure the accuracy and timeliness of organizational data, LEIs must be renewed annually. Without renewal, there is no check to see if reference data has changed. Updating only takes place at renewal, which ensures that the data is always correct.
   LEIs are increasingly being used as trusted identifiers that go far beyond fulfilling legal requirements. They are part of digital signatures in electronic documents and central elements in governance solutions. Legal entities that rely on such solutions need up-to-date and accurate data. Expired LEIs can lead to service interruptions, application failures and a loss of trust in the organization.
   In the near future, the compliance of LEI records will be indicated by a binary flag. Only active LEIs will receive this flag, which will become a key data point in many systems and processes.
3. Consistent history of LEI records: Each LEI record contains a complete history of all changes. Changes to the status from "issued" to "expired" and the expiration date are permanently recorded in the data record. Once expired, LEIs retain this status in their history forever.
   

Is your LEI inactive? Here's how to proceed

To reactivate your expired LEI, it is necessary to renew it. To do this, follow the steps we have summarized in our FAQ article "How can I reactivate my expired LEI number?".

If you are unsure when your LEI expires, you can find out via your Eunetic customer account. After logging in, access your LEI under My purchases > LEI codes and check the date in the column Expires on. Alternatively, you can also use the GLEIF (Global LEI Foundation) search to check your data.

We offer multi-year LEIs that minimize the risk of expiry and automate the annual renewal process. Our teams will ensure that your LEIs do not expire accidentally.