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Legal Entity Identifiers: Introduction to LEI | International Tax Lawyer & Attorney

The Legal Entity Identifiers (“LEI”) is a method to identify legal entities that engage in financial transactions. Let’s discuss LEI in more detail.

LEI: Background Information

The establishment of LEI was driven by the recognition by regulators around the world that there is a complete lack of transparency with respect to identifying parties to international transactions. Each business entity is registered at the national level, but another country’s authorities would have great difficulty identifying this entity in an international transaction, including whether this entity has taken consistent tax positions in both countries.

Establishment of LEI; Additional Initiatives

Hence, on the initiative of the largest twenty economies of the world (“G-20“), the Financial Stability Board (“FSB”) developed the framework of Global LEI System (“GLEIS”). FSB was created in 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis (it replaced the Financial Stability Forum or “FSF”).

Additionally, in January of 2013, a LEI Regulatory Oversight Committee (“ROC”) was created. ROC is a group of over 70 public authorities from member-countries and additional observers from more than 50 countries. The job of the ROC is coordination and oversight of the worldwide LEI framework.

On May 9, 2017, the ROC announced that it has launched data collection on parent entities in the Global Legal Entity Identifiers System – this is the so-called “relationship data”. The member countries (especially in the European Union (“EU”)) will use this data in a number of regulatory initiatives. For example, as of 2018, the EU uses the relationship data for the purposes of commodity derivative reporting.

How LEI Works

The LEI is a 20-character, alpha-numeric code, to uniquely identify legally distinct entities that engage in financial transactions. The code incorporates the following information:

1.the official name of the legal entity as recorded in the official registers;
2.the registered address of that legal entity;
3.the country of formation;
4.codes for the representation of names of countries and their subdivisions;
5.the date of the first Legal Entity Identifier assignment; the date of last update of the information; and the date of expiration, if applicable.

Here is how the numbering system works:

•Characters 1–4: A four-character prefix allocated uniquely to each LOU.
•Characters 5–6: Two reserved characters set to zero.
•Characters 7–18: Entity—specific part of the code generated and assigned by LOUs according to transparent, sound, and robust allocation policies.
•Characters 19–20: Two check digits as described in the ISO 17442 standard.

Jurisdictions With Rules Referring to LEI

Over 40 jurisdictions have rules that refer to Legal Entity Identifiers: Argentina, Australia, Canada, 31 members of the European Union and European Economic Area, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Mexico, Russia, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. IGOs such as Basel Committee on Banking Supervision and International Organization of Securities Commissions also use Legal Entity Identifiers.

Could LEI Be Used for CRS and FATCA Purposes?

Sherayzen Law Office, like many other commentators, believes that there is a possibility that the LEI would be a better alternative than Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) for CRS and FATCA purposes. First of all, it would be more efficient to have one identification system across all compliance terrains. Second, Legal Entity Identifiers are actually more popular than GIINs. As of December 7, 2017, there were 830,477 LEIs issued versus a mere less than 300,000 GIINs.

Official Treasury Currency Conversion Rates of December 31, 2008

This post describes the Official 2008 FBAR Conversion Rates that should be used by U.S. taxpayers engaged in a voluntary disclosure of foreign financial accounts and filing late FBARs for 2008.  Every year, the U.S. Department of Treasure publishes its official currency conversion rates (they are called “Treasury’s Financial Management Service rates”); I will refer to the “FBAR Conversion Rates”.   The schedule table of these rates for each year is used to prepare an FBAR for the corresponding year.

The latest  (October, 2013) FBAR instructions require the use of Treasury’s Financial Management Service rates, if available, to determine the maximum value of a foreign bank account. In particular, the FBAR instructions state:

In the case of non-United States currency, convert the maximum account value for each account into United States dollars. Convert foreign currency by using the Treasury’s Financial Management Service rate (this rate may be found at www.fms.treas.gov) from the last day of the calendar year. If no Treasury Financial Management Service rate is available, use another verifiable exchange rate and provide the source of that rate. In valuing currency of a country that uses multiple exchange rates, use the rate that would apply if the currency in the account were converted into United States dollars on the last day of the calendar year.

For this reason, the international tax attorneys take their time to compile these rates with all updates. For your convenience, Sherayzen Law Office provides a table of the official  2008 FBAR Conversion Rates below (keep in mind, you still need to refer to the official website for any updates).

OFFICIAL 2008 FBAR CONVERSION RATES

COUNTRY-CURRENCY F.C. TO $1.00
AFGHANISTAN – AFGHANI 47.0100
ALBANIA – LEK 91.0800
ALGERIA – DINAR 69.8740
ANGOLA – KWANZA 75.0000
ANTIGUA – BARBUDA – E. CARIBBEAN DOLLAR 2.7000
ARGENTINA-PESO 3.4530
ARMENIA – DRAM 307.0000
AUSTRALIA – DOLLAR 1.3910
AUSTRIA – EURO 0.7310
AZERBAIJAN – MANAT 0.8200
BAHAMAS – DOLLAR 1.0000
BAHRAIN – DINAR 0.3770
BANGLADESH – TAKA 68.0000
BARBADOS – DOLLAR 2.0200
BELARUS – RUBLE 2657.0000
BELGIUM-EURO 0.7310
BELIZE – DOLLAR 2.0000
BENIN – CFA FRANC 479.5000
BERMUDA – DOLLAR 1.0000
BOLIVIA – BOLIVIANO 6.9400
BOSNIA-HERCEGOVINA MARKA 1.4300
BOTSWANA – PULA 7.5470
BRAZIL – REAL 2.2310
BRUNEI – DOLLAR 1.4720
BULGARIA – LEV 1.4300
BURKINA FASO – CFA FRANC 479.5000
BURMA – KYAT 450.0000
BURUNDI – FRANC 1200.0000
CAMBODIA (KHMER) – RIEL 4077.0000
CAMEROON – CFA FRANC 479.5000
CANADA – DOLLAR 1.1910
CAPE VERDE – ESCUDO 79.8560
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC – CFA FRANC 479.5000
CHAD – CFA FRANC 479.5000
CHILE – PESO 630.5000
CHINA – RENMINBI 6.8330
COLOMBIA – PESO 2213.9000
COMOROS – FRANC 361.3500
CONGO – CFA FRANC 479.5000
COSTA RICA – COLON 557.7000
COTE D’IVOIRE – CFA FRANC 479.5000
CROATIA – KUNA 5.2000
CUBA-PESO 0.9260
CYPRUS – POUND 0.3980
CZECH – KORUNA 18.7830
DEM REP OF CONGO-CONGOLESE FRANC 655.0000
DENMARK – KRONE 5.4480
DJIBOUTI – FRANC 177.0000
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – PESO 35.3200
EAST TIMOR-DILI 1.0000
ECAUDOR-DOLARES 1.0000
EGYPT – POUND 5.4700
EL SALVADOR-DOLARES 1.0000
EQUATORIAL GUINEA – CFA FRANC 479.5000
ERITREA – NAKFA 15.0000
ESTONIA – KROON 11.4400
ETHIOPIA – BIRR 10.4500
EURO ZONE – EURO 0.7310
FIJI – DOLLAR 1.7190
FINLAND-EURO 0.7310
FRANCE-EURO 0.7310
GABON – CFA FRANC 479.5000
GAMBIA – DALASI 27.0000
GEORGIA-LARI 1.6700
GERMANY FRG-EURO 0.7310
GHANA – CEDI 1.2760
GREECE-EURO 0.7310
GRENADA – EAST CARIBBEAN DOLLAR 2.7000
GUATEMALA-QUENTZEL 7.8100
GUINEA – FRANC 4536.0000
GUINEA BISSAU – CFA FRANC 479.5000
GUYANA – DOLLAR 200.3400
HAITI – GOURDE 39.2500
HONDURAS – LEMPIRA 18.9000
HONG KONG – DOLLAR 7.7510
HUNGARY – FORINT 195.7500
ICELAND – KRONA 123.1700
INDIA – RUPEE 48.2000
INDONESIA – RUPIAH 10700.0000
IRAN – RIAL 8229.0000
IRAQ – DINAR 1140.0000
IRELAND-EURO 0.7310
ISRAEL-SHEKEL 3.8780
ITALY-EURO 0.7310
JAMAICA – DOLLAR 80.5000
JAPAN – YEN 92.6500
JERESALEM-SHEKEL 3.8780
JORDAN – DINAR 0.7080
KAZAKHSTAN – TENGE 120.9000
KENYA – SHILLING 78.1500
KOREA – WON 1292.3000
KUWAIT – DINAR 0.2820
KYRGYZSTAN – SOM 39.4000
LAOS – KIP 8468.0000
LATVIA – LATS 0.5160
LEBANON – POUND 1500.0000
LESOTHO – SOUTH AFRICAN RAND 9.4660
LIBERIA – U.S. DOLLAR 49.0000
LIBYA-DINAR 1.2860
LITHUANIA – LITAS 2.5230
LUXEMBOURG-EURO 0.7310
MACAO – MOP 8.0000
MACEDONIA FYROM – DENAR 43.0500
MADAGASCAR-ARIA 1897.4100
MALAWI – KWACHA 142.0060
MALAYSIA – RINGGIT 3.4980
MALI – CFA FRANC 479.5000
MALTA – LIRA 0.2940
MARSHALLS ISLANDS – DOLLAR 1.0000
MARTINIQUE-EURO 0.7310
MAURITANIA – OUGUIYA 260.0000
MAURITIUS – RUPEE 31.7500
MEXICO – NEW PESO 13.4270
MICRONESIA – DOLLAR 1.0000
MOLDOVA – LEU 10.3300
MONGOLIA – TUGRIK 1295.0200
MONTENEGRO-EURO 0.7310
MOROCCO – DIRHAM 8.3830
MOZAMBIQUE – METICAL 25.2400
NAMIBIA-DOLLAR 9.4660
NEPAL – RUPEE 77.6500
NETHERLANDS-EURO 0.7310
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES – GUILDER 1.7800
NEW ZEALAND – DOLLAR 1.6690
NICARAGUA – CORDOBA 19.8400
NIGER – CFA FRANC 479.5000
NIGERIA – NAIRA 138.9000
NORWAY – KRONE 6.8720
OMAN – RIAL 0.3850
PAKISTAN – RUPEE 77.7000
PALAU-DOLLAR 1.0000
PANAMA – BALBOA 1.0000
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – KINA 2.5450
PARAGUAY – GUARANI 4880.0000
PERU – INTI 0.0000
PERU – NUEVO SOL 3.1400
PHILIPPINES – PESO 46.3400
POLAND – ZLOTY 2.9340
PORTUGAL-EURO 0.7310
QATAR – RIYAL 3.6410
ROMANIA – LEU 3.0100
RUSSIA-RUBLE 29.1450
RWANDA – FRANC 558.4000
SAO TOME & PRINCIPE – DOBRAS 15841.7530
SAUDI ARABIA – RIYAL 3.7500
SENEGAL – CFA FRANC 479.5000
SERBIA-DINAR 67.2200
SEYCHELLES – RUPEE 15.8360
SIERRA LEONE – LEONE 3000.0000
SINGAPORE – DOLLAR 1.4710
SLOVAK REPUBLIC – KORUNA 21.5460
SLOVENIA-EURO 0.7310
SOLOMON ISLANDS – DOLLAR 7.7520
SOUTH AFRICA – RAND 9.4660
SPAIN-EURO 0.7310
SRI LANKA – RUPEE 113.7300
ST LUCIA – EC DOLLAR 2.7000
SUDAN-POUND 2.1720
SURINAME – GUILDER 2.8000
SWAZILAND – LILANGENI 9.4660
SWEDEN – KRONA 7.7500
SWITZERLAND – FRANC 1.0980
SYRIA – POUND 46.5000
TAIWAN – DOLLAR 32.9650
TAJIKISTAN-SOMONI 3.4800
TANZANIA – SHILLING 1334.0000
THAILAND – BAHT 34.8200
TOGO – CFA FRANC 479.5000
TONGA – PA’ANGA 2.0480
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO – DOLLAR 6.2400
TUNISIA – DINAR 1.3320
TURKEY-LIRA 1.5330
TURKMENISTAN – MANAT 14215.0000
UGANDA – SHILLING 1935.0000
UKRAINE – HRYVNIA 8.0000
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – DIRHAM 3.6730
UNITED KINGDOM – POUND STERLING 0.6570
URUGUAY – NEW PESO 24.2500
UZBEKISTAN – SOM 1399.0000
VANUATU – VATU 108.5000
VENEZUELA – BOLIVAR 2150.0000
VENZEULA – NEW BOLIVAR 2.1500
VIETNAM – DONG 17426.0000
WESTERN SAMOA – TALA 2.7610
YEMEN – RIAL 199.0000
YUGOSLAVIA – DINAR 67.2200
ZAMBIA-KWACHA 4880.0000
ZIMBABWE – DOLLAR 6000000000.0000