There are 3 forms of LEI relief available for firms to rely on, depending on the client or counterparty’s location.
As a general rule, you must report your client’s or counterparty’s LEI unless your situation falls under one of these exceptions and you meet respective conditions of that exemption as set out in this article.
Relief 1 – where your client is an Australian entity or a foreign entity acting through its Australian branch
Upon the expiry of previous conditional relief from having to report LEIs, some new exemptions were granted by ASIC which took effect from 1 October 2019.
Relief 2 & 3 – where your client is a foreign entity that transacts from outside Australia
Relief 3 will only kick in once relief 2 expires on 31 March 2020.
TRAction’s recommendations
- Continue dialogue with your clients about obtaining their LEI
- Start reporting the LEI where it is available
- Document procedures and evidence to support compliance with the above conditions
How to obtain an LEI
LEIs are issued by Local Operating Units accredited by the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF). A list of all Local Operating Units can be found on the GLEIF website.
Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about LEI requirements.
References
Relief 1, 2 & 3 can be found in s6(1), s6(1A) and s6(1B) respectively at ASIC Corporations (Derivatives Transaction Reporting Exemption) Instrument 2015/844.
[Updated – 4 November 2020] Relief 1&2 expired on 1 April 2020. Relief 3 can be found in s6(1A) and s6(1B) respectively at ASIC Corporations (Derivatives Transaction Reporting Exemption) Instrument 2015/844.
If you have any questions, please contact us.