SUNRISE NEWS, Lagos, August 7, 2020 – The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) says the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc is the sole Local Operating Unit (LOU) for Nigeria following its Annual Accreditation Verification (AAV).
Mr Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, CSCS, made this known in a statement on Friday in Lagos.
GLEIF is the independent global body responsible for coordinating the issuance and management of Legal Entity Identifier (LEI).
The annual certification exercise, a thorough process instituted by GLEIF, is an assessment aimed at monitoring and accrediting the compliance and performance of all Louis globally.
Mr Stephan Wolf, Chief Executive Officer of GLEIF, commended Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure for adherence to global standards in issuance, administration and management of Lei, according to the stetement.
“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 emphasise the importance of ensuring full compliance with all GLEIF requirements as a basic requirement for continued accreditation and the ability to issue LEIs,” the statement quoted Wolf as saying .
It added that the feat was a testament to CSCS’s continuous investments in systems and people toward ensuring global best practices in everything it did.
“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 broader African continent,” it said.
It called on all Nigerian corporates yet to enroll for LEI to take advantage of the seamless process and avoid probable exclusion from the global market.
It noted that regulators across the world increasingly advocated and legislated 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 democratising 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,” it said.
It added that since the certification of CSCS as the LOU for Nigeria in 2013, CSCS had successfully upheld the gold standards of GLEIF and continued 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 practices 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 alpha numeric code, unique to each legal entity and is increasingly positioned as a key requirement for companies to participate in cross border transactions,” it added. (NAN)