The survey aims to understand how alternative identifiers might impact financial entities under the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and the Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA). It also targets Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) who will need to comply with specific record-keeping requirements. Responses are being collected until 12 November 2024.

Introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, the LEI is a universal alphanumeric code that ensures accurate identification of legal entities involved in financial transactions. This uniformity helps financial regulators monitor market activity, enforce compliance, and prevent misidentification due to inconsistent naming conventions across systems. The LEI has become a regulatory requirement for both financial and non-financial entities, mandated by EU regulations like MiFID II and MiFIR, which introduced a “no-LEI-no-trade” rule to ensure client identification accuracy.

Under DORA, ESMA proposes that information and communication technology (ICT) service providers for financial entities should use LEIs. Similarly, MiCA requires LEIs for participants in crypto transactions. While industry feedback generally supports LEIs, the European Commission has suggested allowing non-financial entities the option to use the European Unique Identifier (EUID) instead. Unlike the LEI, the EUID is a simpler company identification code for EU businesses but lacks the detailed data and strong validation standards provided by the LEI.

ESMA’s survey will influence future regulatory decisions, potentially introducing flexible identifier options to accommodate varied reporting needs across financial and crypto sectors. This could make compliance easier for smaller entities while maintaining high standards for data accuracy in financial oversight.

ESMA’s press release can be found here and the survey can be accessed here.