GLEIF and Companies House, two key entities in the business registry and identification sphere, have embarked on a collaboration.
The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) is renowned for facilitating unique business identifications globally, while Companies House operates as the official UK business registry, maintaining registration data and documentation for UK entities.
The core reason for this partnership is to simplify and accelerate the international identifiability and discoverability of UK businesses. This strategic alliance aims to integrate a direct URL link into the Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) records of UK companies. This link will enable global LEI data users to access each entity’s Companies House registration data and documentation with a single click, enhancing transparency and streamlining due diligence processes worldwide.
GLEIF is instrumental in providing a standardized approach to business identification worldwide through its management of the Global LEI Index, a publicly accessible data bank. This system ensures that every LEI is linked to a verified company identity record, enhancing the clarity and uniqueness of legal entity identification globally. On the other hand, Companies House serves as a critical resource for UK business data, offering comprehensive information about registered companies which is crucial for various statutory and transactional purposes.
This partnership not only facilitates Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Supplier (KYS) checks but also removes several barriers that typically complicate the due diligence process. By eliminating the need to navigate through multiple verification steps and manual searches, it promises significant operational efficiencies and greater exposure for UK businesses, especially SMEs aiming to expand internationally.
Furthermore, the initiative builds on GLEIF’s previous successful collaboration with The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce (KVK), setting a precedent for future partnerships with other business registries globally. By leveraging the LEI as a central data connector, GLEIF continues to advance global corporate transparency and combat economic crime.
GLEIF CEO Alexandre Kech said, “GLEIF and Companies House are on a mission to drive corporate transparency, bringing significant benefits to global marketplaces engaging with the UK. Enabling LEI data users to click through to the registration data and official documentation will make the ‘business of doing business’ with UK firms faster and easier to navigate. By connecting directly to the official data about these organizations we’re simplifying due diligence for counterparties all around the world. This initiative reaffirms the benefits of leveraging the LEI as a central data connector to all business registries, everywhere.”
Companies House Chief Executive Louise Smyth commented, “Thanks to our collaboration with GLEIF, LEI data users can now directly access a wide range of business data held at Companies House simply and securely, enabling a new level of transparency for UK firms. This creates new efficiencies in overseas partner due diligence processes and will help highlight new opportunities for UK companies to use their LEI when operating across borders and jurisdictions.”
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