The year 2019/20 saw a doubling of LEI registrations in Australia, according to APIR Systems, a provider of essential infrastructure for the wealth management industry in Australia, including acting as an official registration agent for the issuance of LEIs.
Coming into legal force in Australia on October 1, 2019 after numerous postponements, there has been a groundswell of sign-ups over the past six months – not least because of the hardline enforcement stance taken by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which has led some brokers to block fund owners and derivatives traders if they lack LEIs.
GS1 Australia, another major domestic issuer of LEIs, noted earlier this year that it too has reported a significant influx of requests, following on from a “major increase” in the last quarter of 2019.
Over 1.2 million LEIs have been issued internationally and 17,000 identifiers have been issued to date in Australia, as of end-2019. With the LEI deadline for foreign companies and trusts in Australia also coming into force in March 2020, and with limited relief provided by ASIC due to the coronavirus, stakeholders are continuing to work to the “no LEI, no trade” maxim.
APIR Systems this week launched multi-year registrations and renewals in response to the increased demand, enabling entities to be registered and renewed for three or five consecutive years – reflecting the broader growth of LEI activity in the Australian market.
CEO Chris Donohoe predicts a “reasonable proportion” of APIR’s 3000 LEI clients to renew on their multi-year arrangements, with the new offering also providing impetus for prospective clients seeking to streamline the level of administration associated with the renewal process.
“Instead of annual engagement, it will now only be every few years, which will significantly improve the client experience through reduced administration. It’s not only a cost saving, but we’ve also simplified the user experience when clients are applying and renewing an LEI, which is a requirement in the trading of certain financial instruments,” he explains.
