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  1. Fonteum
  2. /
  3. Glossary
  4. /
  5. LEI
Fonteum Data GlossaryData Standards

What is an LEI?

An LEI is a 20-character Legal Entity Identifier used to identify legal entities in financial and other official transactions. LEI records connect the code to reference data such as legal name, address, registration authority, and status. GLEIF publishes the Global LEI Index and daily Golden Copy files.

Full name: Legal Entity Identifier

Short explanation

The Legal Entity Identifier is a 20-character alphanumeric code based on ISO 17442 and used to identify legal entities. The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation maintains the Global LEI System and publishes LEI reference data, including legal name, registered address, headquarters address, entity status, registration authority, and renewal status. In entity-resolution work, LEI is useful because it is cross-jurisdictional and tied to structured reference data.

Related platform: Entity graph - resolved organization records

Last updated: 2026-07-11Reviewed by: Fonteum data standards desk — Source-provenance editorial review. Definitions checked against primary federal sources.

How it’s used

  • Financial-market identity: LEIs identify legal entities participating in financial and other official transactions.
  • GLEIF reference data: the Global LEI Index and Golden Copy files provide open LEI records and related reference data.
  • Fonteum uses LEI only on unambiguous matches so an organization record can link local register identifiers with cross-border legal-entity identity.

Frequently asked questions

How many characters are in an LEI?
An LEI has 20 alphanumeric characters.
Who publishes LEI reference data?
GLEIF publishes the Global LEI Index and Golden Copy files with LEI records and reference data.
Is an LEI tied to a local company register?
An LEI can include registration-authority reference data, but it is a global identifier and should be read alongside local register identifiers such as company number, SIREN, or NZBN.

Related terms

  • UK Company Number
  • SIREN
  • SIRET
  • NZBN
  • ABN
  • ACN
  • Entity Resolution
  • Provenance

Explore in Fonteum

How Fonteum sources, resolves, and publishes data tied to this term.

  • PlatformEntity graph - resolved organization records
  • PlatformIdentity graph source surface
  • PlatformProvider and organization data API

Authoritative sources

  • GLEIF: introducing the LEI↗
  • GLEIF: Golden Copy and Delta files↗
← All glossary terms

What’s on file, by the numbers

Platform snapshot · 2026-07-15

13.4Mproviders & companiesProviders, organizations, owners, and facilities on file
26.2Msource-linked factsSource-linked field facts in the dated platform snapshot
—sources liveCrosswalk-resolved sources with a proved content transition in the preceding 45 days
111sources integratedActive registry rows; integration does not establish a load
13state Medicaid jurisdictionsDistinct states represented in the state-exclusions serving table

Built on the authoritative federal record

The primary sources, named on every page.

These are the federal agencies whose public datasets Fonteum ingests and attributes — the issuing authorities, not customers or partners. Every figure on the site links back to one of them.

  • CMS
  • HHS-OIG
  • HRSA
  • FDA
  • NLM
  • NUCC
  • Census
  • BLS
  • BEA

See the full source registry, with license and refresh cadence for each →

Reproducible by design

Published figures name their source and date.

Source and date

Published research identifies its government file and observation date. Source-file SHA-256 coverage is disclosed separately; facts do not currently link deterministically to signatures.

Reproducible SQL

Each study ships the exact query behind its figures, run against the same dated copy of the federal file we used. Re-run it yourself.

Daily observations

The platform records table row counts daily. Those observations detect local drift; they do not imply that an upstream publisher released or Fonteum ingested new data that day.

Named medical review

Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

Read the full provenance and attestation methodology →

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Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

© 2026 Fonteum LLC. All rights reserved.

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A public-records graph that exposes source and observation metadata where supplied.

Fonteum's provenance ledger contained 26.2M source-linked facts on July 12, 2026. All but 14 carried a source-file SHA-256; 0 linked deterministically to a signature. Inspect a supplied snapshot id at fonteum.com/verify · source-mark coverage and limitations.
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