LEI Regulation Spotlight
The People’s Bank of China
Overview
Learn how the People’s Bank of China advances financial transparency and cross-border oversight through LEI adoption, and how the identifier supports risk management and regulatory reporting across China’s banking sector.PBoC promotes LEI adoption for cross-border payments, trade finance, and financial standardisation, aligned with FSB and G20 objectives.
Financial institutions and corporates are encouraged to use LEI in cross-border payments, trade finance, and securities activities to strengthen AML/CFT supervision and data consistency.
Objectives and scope
PBoC encourages financial institutions and corporates to use LEIs in cross-border payments, trade finance, and securities activities. The goal is to strengthen AML/CFT supervision and improve data consistency between domestic and international regulatory systems. In 2023, the PBoC, alongside the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), published guidance promoting LEI use in cross-border payments and credit information systems. This aligns China with the Financial Stability Board’s (FSB) and FATF’s recommendations for LEI integration.Why organisation identity matters
In global trade and finance, counterparties often operate across multiple jurisdictions with inconsistent naming conventions. The LEI enables accurate matching and verification of Chinese and foreign entities in transaction monitoring, reducing risks related to misidentification or fraud.Implementation insight
Chinese financial institutions can:
Request
Require LEIs from overseas counterparties in RMB cross-border transactions
Include
2. Incorporate LEIs into SWIFT and ISO 20022 messages.
Relationships
Coordinate with global LEI Issuers to maintain accuracy.
RapidLEI support and next steps
RapidLEI collaborates with accredited Chinese LOUs to streamline LEI registration for domestic and international market participants. Automated API enables seamless integration for financial institutions involved in trade and cross-border payments.
Key resources
- What is an LEI? An introduction to Legal Entity Identifiers and the LEI ecosystem
- The push for LEI adoption to expedite China’s digitisation