GMEI Utility vs LEI Register
The Global LEI System encourages competition between LEI issuers and registrators to benefit legal entities seeking an LEI. The price of issuing and maintaining an LEI has, therefore, been left to the organizations themselves. This explains why some companies charge double the cost of their competitors.
On July 27 2023, the GMEI Utility was officially closed. Registrations, renewals and transfers are no longer accepted
| GMEI Utility | LEI Register |
| initial registration cost (1 year) 102€ | initial registration cost (1 year) 69€ |
| annual renewal cost of 83€ | annual renewal cost of 69€ |
| multiyear renewal – does not offer | multiyear renewal for five years – 50€/per year |
| multiyear renewal for 5 years – 50€/per year |
*The prices have been displayed without VAT, which will be added when applicable
**Available at: https://gmei.dtcc.com/pricing [Accessed 29 June 2023]
***Prices have been converted from USD to EUR on 29 June 2023
Who issues LEI numbers?
The G20 developed the Global LEI System (GLEIF) in 2011 in response to the 2008 global financial crisis.
Obtaining a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is easy – you must pick a preferred business partner from all the LEI-issuing and registering organizations. The choice can be between various Global Legal Entity Foundation (GLEIF) accredited Local Operating Units (LOUs) or Registration Agents.
An LOU can issue LEIs to legal entities participating in financial transactions. Although LOUs themselves can register LEIs for clients, they typically choose to leave reaching customers and dealing with the possible challenges to Registration Agents.
GLEIF created the concept of the Registration Agent to streamline the issuance of LEIs. They help legal entities like you who want to obtain an LEI number. Registration Agents success is determined by the efficiency of their systems and by how well they can simplify the LEI registration or renewal process for their clients.
LEI pricing structure
The fees charged for issuing and maintaining an LEI are entirely a matter of the LOU or Registration Agent. This explains the diverse price differences you’ll encounter when researching partners to register with. An LEI number can cost you anywhere between 69€+VAT and 150€+VAT, depending on your chosen partner’s profit formula.
What you often don’t hear about within that system is that the organization’s charging structure determines the LEI prices and has nothing to do with the value of the LEI number itself. The code is simply a tool that enables you to identify active legal entities in the financial market quickly.
GMEI Utility
Legal entities from all jurisdictions involved in financial transactions can use the GMEI Utility to register for globally accepted LEIs. With data quality validation procedures in over 230 jurisdictions, GMEI Utility allows organizations with multiple legal entity subsidiaries and affiliates worldwide to register and maintain reference data for all entities in one place.
The GMEI Utility is a GLEIF-accredited LOU that collaborates with several other Registration Agents.
With GMEI, the initial registration of your LEI will cost 102€+VAT and renewal 83€+VAT per LEI.
Pricing [online].
Available at: https://gmei.dtcc.com/pricing [Accessed 17 April 2024].
LEI Register
LEI Register is an official Registration Agent. Since early 2018, we have been helping legal entities apply for new LEI numbers or transfer and renew existing LEI numbers. We have successfully pursued our goal of making the LEI registration process simple, automated, fast, and affordable. LEI Register has built a loyal customer base by offering the lowest prices on the market while maintaining active, 7-day-a-week customer support in 35 countries.
The cost of registering an LEI with LEI Register is 69€+VAT, and the same goes for yearly renewals unless you sign up for multiyear renewals. LEI Register introduced this concept in 2018, becoming a standard among many service providers.
Multiyear renewals are designed to help you save time and money. LEI Register will be responsible for renewing your LEI before the annual expiry date, which will help avoid unpleasant scenarios like your transactions being blocked due to a lapsed LEI.
You can choose between a 3- and 5-year period, with the first costing €60+VAT per year and the second as low as €50+VAT per year.
LEI Data Quality
To clarify the concept of data quality, GLEIF has defined, in close dialog with the LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee and the LEI issuing organizations, a set of measurable quality criteria using standards developed by the International Organisation for Standardization (ISO).
GLEIF releases monthly Global LEI Data Quality Reports and LEI Issuer Data Quality reports, which can be accessed from the GLEIF Data Quality Management.
Comparing the Business Entity Data B.V. (GMEI Utility, a service of BED BV) to our Ubisecure Oy (RapidLEI) partner, you’ll find that the key metric Average Total Data Quality Score (TDQS) has remained a strong 99.99 for both of the LEI service providers. This signifies that the quality of work these two LOUs put out is equally excellent.
Data Quality Report (2022) [online].
Available at: https://www.gleif.org/en/lei-data/gleif-data-quality-management [Accessed 17 April 2024].
Key takeaways
- The price of issuing and maintaining an LEI is not structured and has been left to each LEI issuer and Registration Agent to construct.
- The LEI price reflects your chosen partner’s profit formula and has nothing to do with the value of your LEI.
- To check your service provider’s data quality, visit GLEIF Data Quality Management Reports
