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This comprehensive explanation has been generated from 192 GitHub source documents. All source documents are searchable here.
Last updated: October 7, 2025
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For authoritative documentation, please consult the official GLEIF vLEI trainings and the ToIP Glossary.
Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20-character alphanumeric code (ISO 17442 standard) that uniquely identifies legally registered organizations globally, serving as the foundation for GLEIF's vLEI (verifiable LEI) credential ecosystem built on KERI infrastructure.
The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a globally unique identifier for legal entities participating in financial transactions and business activities. Established by the G20 and Financial Stability Board following the 2008 financial crisis, the LEI is:
As of 2023, over 2.2 million LEIs have been issued to legal entities worldwide through a network of 39 Local Operating Units (LOUs) operating under GLEIF's oversight.
Within the KERI/ACDC ecosystem, the LEI serves as the foundational identifier for the vLEI (verifiable Legal Entity Identifier) system, which transforms traditional LEIs into cryptographically verifiable credentials:
The LEI appears as a required attribute in multiple vLEI credential types:
When implementing vLEI credential issuance:
The LEI provides the bridge between traditional regulatory identity (maintained in GLEIS) and cryptographic identity (managed through KERI):
This creates a hierarchical trust model where regulatory identity (LEI) and cryptographic identity (AID) are cryptographically bound through ACDC credentials anchored to KELs.
Before issuing vLEI credentials, QVIs must verify that the LEI:
This verification process ensures that vLEI credentials maintain cryptographic binding to authoritative regulatory data, enabling automated verification of organizational identity without requiring real-time access to centralized registries.