DDocket
Talk to us

Data sources / Filings and registries

GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier records

Legal entities issued an LEI, with reference data and reported relationship information where available. Many acquisition candidates have no LEI; this is an identifier system, not a universal company census.

Last reviewed · report an error

Publisher
Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation
Access
Free
Coverage
Legal entities issued an LEI, with reference data and reported relationship information where available. Many acquisition candidates have no LEI; this is an identifier system, not a universal company census.
Identifiers
LEI; Local registration authority identifier
Freshness
Registration and renewal-driven; inspect validation and relationship dates.
Official URL
https://search.gleif.org/

What it can establish

Use GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier records for a defined acquisition-research question. Match each record to the right entity using its identifiers (LEI, Local registration authority identifier) before accepting its contents, and keep Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation's own scope and attribution on the finding.

  • A standardized legal-entity identifier and the corresponding reference data, including registration and validation context.
  • Reported direct or ultimate accounting-consolidation parent relationships where available, including relevant reporting exceptions.

What it cannot establish

  • Every beneficial owner, the full shareholder register, or corporate control relationships that differ from the reported accounting relationship.
  • That an entity without an LEI does not exist, or that a lapsed registration means an operating business has ceased trading.

A search that returns nothing in GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier records describes the search performed. Coverage here is legal entities issued an LEI, with reference data and reported relationship information where available, so a missing record becomes a negative finding only where that coverage reaches the company in question and the evidence standard supports the inference. Otherwise the question stays open.

How Docket uses it

Your acquisition criteria become the agents' questions. GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier records can support some of them and leave others unanswered; its freshness (registration and renewal-driven; inspect validation and relationship dates) is weighed answer by answer and it receives no blanket reliability score.

  • Triage. Connects a legal entity to a durable LEI while checking jurisdiction and registered-name context.
  • Scout. Collects reported parent links with their relationship definitions and any exception language.
  • Audit. Checks whether retained relationship data supports the exact ownership wording and whether freshness qualifies the conclusion.

Scout records typed answers from a fixed list with verbatim quotations from retained pages. Audit reviews only the retained material, with every fetch tool denied. It settles supported contradictions, strikes unquotable answers and leaves gaps visible. See the research-agent method and screening criteria guide for the surrounding workflow.

Pitfalls and review questions

  • An accounting parent and an ultimate beneficial owner are different concepts. Preserve the record's own relationship label.
  • Registration status describes the LEI record. It should not silently become a target's operating status, investment eligibility or independence classification.

Level 1 and Level 2

The Legal Entity Identifier is a 20-character code defined in an international standard and issued through accredited organisations. Level 1 data answers who is who: the entity's legal name, registered address, jurisdiction, registration authority and number, status and renewal date. Level 2 data answers who owns whom, recording an entity's direct and ultimate accounting-consolidating parents or an explicit statement of why none is reported.

The foundation that oversees the system publishes a daily file of all records, and relationship and exception files, as free downloads, plus a search interface. Having an LEI is required in some financial markets, so coverage is stronger among financial and larger companies than among small operating businesses.

Reading parent information

Level 2 relationships are reported by the entity under an accounting definition of consolidation, and where no relationship is reported there may be a reporting exception, for example that the parent is not available or that the entity chose not to disclose. Absence of a parent record therefore does not mean there is no parent. The common data file formats specify how exceptions are expressed.

Renewal matters: an LEI lapses if not renewed yearly, and a lapsed record carries stale data. Check the status and last update date before relying on a record. Treat reported parentage as the entity's claim, validated by the issuing organisation's checks, not an independent finding of control.

Illustration (fictional)

A researcher examining a fund-administration firm looks up its LEI record, which lists a direct parent and an ultimate parent with their own identifiers. The researcher opens each parent's record and compares names and addresses with registry data, records the chain with the retrieval date, and flags that the relationship is self-reported and describes accounting consolidation, which differs from legal ownership percentages.

Related sources

Filings and registries

State business registries

Legal existence, registered name, entity identifier and the particular status or filing information made public by that jurisdiction.

Filings and registries

UK Companies House

The company number, registered particulars, filing history and disclosures visible in the official record.

Filings and registries

OpenCorporates

An indexed company name, jurisdiction and identifier, with source provenance where provided in the record.

Relevant sector playbooks

Related reference pages and articles

Sources and further reading

These links identify research contexts to investigate, rather than conclusions about sector attractiveness. Ask how GLEIF Legal Entity Identifier records would be used on your list or return to the complete source directory.

Send us ten targets. We research them for free.

A target list and your acquisition criteria are enough. You get back company records with scores, the evidence behind every field, and the questions the public record could not answer.

Start an enquiry →Open the platform