News

April 5, 2018


MSC provides update on Legal Entity Identifier Requirement

 
WINNIPEG  The Manitoba Securities Commission (MSC) reminds derivatives market participants about the requirement to obtain a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) under MSC Rule 91-507 Trade Repositories and Derivatives Data Reporting.
 
This news release replaces the news release issued by the MSC on October 29, 2014.

MSC Rule 91-507 requires that reporting counterparties and designated trade repositories (DTRs) identify all counterparties to a transaction by reference to an LEI (or an alternate identifier in the circumstances described in section 28 of the rule). This requirement took effect on October 31, 2014 and applies to all over-the-counter derivatives transactions that are reportable under the rule. Non-reporting counterparties should give reporting counterparties all relevant information required under MSC Rule 91-507, including their LEI, in order to assist reporting counterparties with meeting their obligations under the rule.
 
Obtaining and Renewing an LEI
Each local counterparty to a transaction required to be reported under MSC Rule 91-507 must obtain an LEI, if eligible, in accordance with the standards set by the Global Legal Entity Identifier System.
Instructions on how to obtain an LEI from one of the accredited local operating units (LOUs) can be found at: https://www.gleif.org/en/about-lei/how-to-get-an-lei-find-lei-issuing-organizations.
 
Once an LEI is allocated to a party, it must be renewed annually to ensure the data is accurate. Any LEI that is not actively renewed within one year of its creation will lapse.
 
Impediments to Data Reporting
The MSC is aware that legal barriers to reporting counterparty information to DTRs may still exist in a number of foreign jurisdictions, including data protection laws, blocking statutes, state secrecy laws, and bank secrecy laws. Reporting counterparties faced with these legal impediments should apply for exemptive relief from the MSC if they have not already done so.  The MSC expects that the operational challenges to obtaining counterparty LEIs that existed following initial implementation of the rule have been minimized and no longer present a significant barrier to reporting this information.
MSC’s Compliance Focus
The MSC continues to monitor progress in the uptake of the use of LEIs across jurisdictions. In the near term, the MSC is focused on monitoring non-reporting of LEIs where counterparties are located in jurisdictions where LEI reporting is a mandatory requirement and no legal impediments to reporting this information are present.
The Manitoba Securities Commission is a division of the Manitoba Financial Services Agency, a Special Operating Agency of the Government of Manitoba that protects investors and promotes fair and efficient capital markets throughout the province.
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For industry inquiries:
Paula White
Manitoba Securities Commission
204-945-5195
paula.white@gov.mb.ca
For media inquiries:
Jason Booth
Manitoba Securities Commission
204-945-1660
Jason.booth@gov.mb.ca