LEI Worldwide opens office in India to support LEI growth in the region

In lieu of the growing Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) requirements in India under the auspices of The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), it has become the fastest growing jurisdiction for LEI adoption.

The decision to expand operation into India comes after the executive team completed an on-site visit to Mumbai and Pune, where they engaged in a series of high level meetings with existing partners, clients, local banking institutions.

LEI Worldwide are extremely proud to partner with OneNexus Outsourcing Partners LLP, who provide a full suite of client support and back office services in Fund administration, Ops & technology back office support & consulting start ups for growth in the India market. This partnership will strengthen local appreciation and expertise within the region.

The expansion is reflective of the sentiments on the ground in India, that there is an increased service level demand for LEI management, and requirement for an LEI management platform, where scaling a large portfolio of LEIs is simplified through the use of a system such as RAMP and dedicated support team.

With India ascending as a global economic powerhouse, the country’s commitment to LEI adoption is testament to the countries goals of developing their presence on the international stage in terms of trade and its integration into the global financial ecosystem.

The incorporation of the LEI as a universal identifier will prove ’forward-thinking’ as the EU and UK slowly move towards the same levels of adoption. Currently entities under the Reserve Bank of India any transactions exceeding value of 50 Crore, must be represented with an LEI for both counterparties and the intermediary.

Since 2017, a litany of LEI mandates spanning derivatives markets, lending markets, large value payments and cross-border trades have been steadily introduced by RBI. The Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) also utilize the LEI as a tool to track financial exposures, and we see this currently in Europe now most recently to track cyber risks under DORA regulation.

This momentum has created a large adoption wave in the region over the last year. India experienced 9.9% growth in the last 2024 with a total of 219,000 LEIs, and in order to meet the demands of this growing market, LEI Worldwide have strengthened their commitment in the region by opening a local support office.

Chetan Agarwal, CEO & Founder of OneNexus stated: "We are thrilled to partner with LEI as their India representative. This partnership allows us to combine our strengths & drive impactful change in India market. I look forward to collaborate with Darragh & Team to achieve our common goals".

Darragh Hayes, CEO of LEI Worldwide stated: By establishing a local presence, LEI Worldwide aims to offer quicker turnaround times, improve customer engagement, and simplify the LEI management process. The Pune office will serve as a hub for future innovations in the LEI space, leveraging RAMP technology to client experience and develop our vLEI offering in the region. We are delighted to have partnered with Chetan and team in OneNexus to deliver a world class support and back office infrastructure. India is a burgeoning economy, and playing a small but important role in that is an incredibly exciting prospect.

The LEI Worldwide expansion reflects our vision of making the LEI system more accessible and efficient, ultimately fostering increased transparency and accountability in global financial markets.

LEI Worldwide is thoroughly excited about the potential to support Indian businesses, financial institutions, and government bodies in achieving a robust financial ecosystem through utilisation of the global LEI system. 

This expansion comes with a series of client and partner announcements which will be made in the coming days and weeks.. Stay tuned!

For more information or to get in touch with our local team in India please contact us below.