GLEIF welcomes J.P. Morgan as the first Validation Agent in the Global LEI System

By Megha Bhattacharya

The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) today announced that J.P. Morgan has become the first Validation Agent in the Global LEI System. The Validation Agent Framework allows financial institutions to boost their customer experience, speed up client lifecycle management and reduce costs with the implementation of KYC and AML onboarding procedures.

J.P. Morgan’s MD, Reference Data Strategy, George Brandman, commented, “Working as a Validation Agent will allow us to improve our client onboarding experience as well as create valuable industry LEI reference data. If a majority of financial institutions implemented this service, it would greatly multiply the number of LEIs in production to the benefit of all.”

J.P. Morgan and LEI issuer, Business Entity Data B.V. (BED), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), have together issued the first LEI under the new Validation Agent model, via BED’s GMEI Utility service. According to GLEIF, the Validation Agents can leverage new opportunities to increase client value and achieve market differentiation.

Stephan Wolf, CEO, GLEIF, commented, “By becoming Validation Agents, financial institutions realize a range of operational and strategic benefits, both now and in the longer-term. Not only can J.P. Morgan streamline its client onboarding and lifecycle management processes, thereby improving its customer experience, it can also use the LEIs in innovative service offerings.”

“Increasing LEI volumes and broadening their usage will solve the issue of trust in financial transactions globally,” added Wolf. “Validation Agents like J.P. Morgan will play a key part in making this vision a reality. They contribute to growth across the entire financial ecosystem and ultimately will benefit all stakeholders and the broader global economy.”