About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

Talking Reference Data with Andrew Delaney: On the Enduring Appeal of the LEI

Subscribe to our newsletter

It’s a sad day indeed when dinner party conversation turns to a 20-digit number. And yet, if asked what is the most compelling topic of coverage in our sphere of influence, I feel compelled to include within the top three at least: the LEI.

Of course, explaining what the LEI is all about – and how our industry is doing its bit to avoid the collapse of the global financial system – is marginally more exciting in the dinner party context. But even over a pint with London industry colleagues, the question of ‘What’s all the fuss about?’ comes up over and over, usually answered with a shrug of the shoulders and a cursory, ‘Fancy another one?’

And yet – through the great endeavours of my colleague Sarah Underwood – Reference Data Review continues to ‘own’ the topic of the GLEIS and entity data management a full two years since we first started to cover it in earnest. We have a packed panel at our forthcoming Data Management Summit in New York on May 13. And our LEI webinars – the latest one from a few weeks back is accessible here and our next one is scheduled for early June – continue to draw the crowds.

Part of the enduring appeal is certainly due to the ‘stick’ of regulation – most recently the introduction of EMIR and the decision by several regulators to require use of the LEI for their reporting requirements. But I also reckon the quality of our commentators – in particular, regulars like Pete Warms of Bloomberg and Tim Lind of Thomson Reuters – and their willingness to share their knowledge and experiences in this area, has been a major factor in their success.

Another of our regulars – Steve Goldstein of Alacra – has certainly helped bring some sparkle to what could otherwise be something of a dreary topic for dinner party conversation. His latest caper: a video that explains the importance of entity data that could be understood by an inquisitive teenager, to steal the catchphrase of a former editor of mine.

Take a look.

I think this is a clever and simple way of getting across some fairly complex concepts. It’s short and to the point, and I expect we’ll see a lot more of this kind of approach, particularly as a way of catching people’s attention and enticing them to delve a little more deeply to learn more.

I can’t help thinking that I’ll be keeping this on my iPhone, just to add a little spice to those dinner parties….

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: Managing unstructured data and extracting value

Unstructured data offers untapped potential but the platforms, tools and technologies to support it are nascent, often deployed for a specific problem with little reuse of common technologies from application to application. What are the challenges of managing and analysing this data and what are the considerations when making investments in this area? Data quality, consistency...

BLOG

APAC Data Management Leaders Revealed in Inaugural A-Team Insight Awards Introduction

A-Team Group is pleased to announce the winners of the inaugural Capital Markets Technology APAC Awards 2025. These awards celebrate the technology providers and financial institutions at the forefront of innovation across the Asia Pacific region. Coinciding with the announcement, we have also launched our comprehensive annual report, “The State of Capital Markets Technology in...

EVENT

RegTech Summit New York

Now in its 9th year, the RegTech Summit in New York will bring together the RegTech ecosystem to explore how the North American capital markets financial industry can leverage technology to drive innovation, cut costs and support regulatory change.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...