The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF), the independent global body responsible for coordinating the issuance and management of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) has completed its Annual Accreditation Verification (AAV), upholding Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc as the sole Local Operating Unit (LOU) for Nigeria.
The annual certification exercise, a thorough process instituted by GLEIF, is an assessment exercise aimed at monitoring and accrediting the compliance and performance of all LOUs, globally.
In his report, the Chief Executive Officer of GLEIF, Mr Stephan Wolf, GLEIF, commended Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure for its adherence to global standards in issuance, administration and management of LEI.
“GLEIF reviewed the updated controls as documented by CSCS Nigeria and rescored the related sections. All sections passed the requirements.
“CSCS Nigeria has met the minimum requirements of the AAV process.
“GLEIF wishes to emphasize the importance of ensuring full compliance with all GLEIF requirements as a basic requirement for continued accreditation and the ability to issue LEIs,” he said.
Whilst reacting to the report, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of CSCS Plc, Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri said, “this is a testament to our continuous investments in systems and people towards ensuring global best practice in everything that we do.
“I am pleased with the impressive operational review report on our LEI services and accompanying commendation from GLEIF, particularly as it reinforces our commitment to new initiatives targeted at deepening LEI penetration in Nigeria and the broader African continent.”
Mr Jalo-Waziri used the opportunity to call on all Nigerian corporates that are yet to enrol for LEI to take advantage of the seamless process and avoid probable exclusion from the global market, as regulators across the world increasingly advocate and legislate for LEI as a mandatory KYC requirement for cross-border transactions.
“As part of our initiatives to further attract foreign investors to the country, CSCS is democratizing the issuance of International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) for all eligible securities, as this remains a notable prerequisite for most global fund managers to invest in an offshore financial asset,” Mr Jalo-Waziri noted.
Since the certification of CSCS as the LOU for Nigeria in 2013, it has successfully upheld the gold standards of GLEIF and continue to deepen awareness and market penetration of LEI within Nigeria’s capital market and the broader financial services sector.
As a critical infrastructure for the capital market, CSCS values its role in integrating Nigeria’s financial market into the global economy by supporting market participants in complying with global best practice in entity and securities identification.
In response to the vast opportunities but inherent risks presented by the integration of global financial markets, GLEIF was established with the responsibility of issuing unique identities, known as LEI, to all companies which have or may have cross-border transactions.
The LEI is an ISO 17442 standard, which consists of a 20-digit alphanumeric code, unique to each legal entity and is increasingly positioned as a key requirement for companies to participate in cross border transactions.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Dipo Olowookere