ESMA/FCA: LEI requirements under MiFIR

ESMA states that it has learned that not all investment firms will succeed in obtaining LEI codes from all their clients ahead of 3 January 2018. The same may be the case for trading venues’ non-EU issuers whose financial instruments are traded on European trading venues. Consequently, ESMA is to allow a temporary period of six months in which investment firms may provide a service triggering the obligation to submit a transaction report to the client, from which it did not previously obtain an LEI code, on the condition that before providing such service the investment firm obtains the necessary documentation from this client to apply for an LEI code on his behalf; and that trading venues report their own LEI codes instead of LEI codes of the non-EU issuers while reaching out to the non-EU issuers. FCA notes the statement and adds " We will communicate further with executing firms and approved reporting mechanisms on this issue, including the date when we intend to make the change to the validation rule related to the LEI issuance date. Until then, executing firms should not seek to submit reports that would not normally pass that validation".