LEI Lookup & GLEIF API: Batch LEI, Name, BIC & ISIN Search

What is an LEI, and what does this LEI lookup do?

An LEI (Legal Entity Identifier) is the 20-character ISO 17442 code that identifies a legal entity in financial transactions and regulatory reports. The Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (GLEIF) publishes every LEI record through its official public API.

This Actor is an LEI lookup and LEI validator on top of the GLEIF API. Paste LEIs, legal names, BICs, ISINs or business register numbers and get one clean row per input, with a clear status (found, ambiguous, possible_match, not_found, invalid_input), the entity's registration status, and optionally its direct and ultimate parents and children. Independent tool; not affiliated with or endorsed by GLEIF.

Price: $0.002 per returned entity record. Invalid, not-found and error rows are free. You only pay for saved results. Set maxResults to cap the cost.

Quick start: GLEIF API and LEI lookup

1. Click Try for free, keep the prefilled input and press Start.
2. Or call it from code:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/clearpath-data~lei-lookup/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"leis": ["5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R12", "W38RGI023J3WT1HWRP32", "5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R13"], "names": ["Apple Inc.", "Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft"], "bics": ["DEUTDEFF"], "isins": ["US0378331005"]}'

Sample output: LEI data

input	status	lei	legalName	country
5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R13	invalid_input
5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R12	found	5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R12	Bloomberg Finance L.P.	US
W38RGI023J3WT1HWRP32	found	W38RGI023J3WT1HWRP32	Siemens Aktiengesellschaft	DE
DEUTDEFF	found	7LTWFZYICNSX8D621K86	DEUTSCHE BANK AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT	DE
US0378331005	found	HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394	Apple Inc.	US

Sample rows: real output of test run on 2026-10-09, trimmed to a few columns. The invalid_input row was caught by the ISO 17442 checksum before any API call, so it was free.

Input

Field	Type	Default	What it does
leis	array		20-character LEI codes, one per line (commas also work). Checksums are verified before any request. Looked up 100 per API request.
names	array		Legal names, one per line. Exact matches (ignoring case, accents, punctuation and common legal-form spellings such as AG / Aktiengesellschaft) are returned as found or ambiguous. Without an exact match you get the closest names as possible_match rows for review.
bics	array		8- or 11-character BICs. 8-character codes are treated as the head office (XXX). Uses the SWIFT BIC-to-LEI mapping published by GLEIF.
isins	array		12-character ISINs of securities; returns the issuer's LEI record. Uses the ANNA ISIN-to-LEI mapping published by GLEIF (coverage depends on the issuing agency).
registrationNumbers	array		Business register numbers exactly as the register writes them (e.g. "HRB 6684"). The same number can exist in several registers, so add a country filter when you can.
nameMatching	string	"exact_then_similar"	With "Exact names only", inputs without an exact name match get a not_found row that lists the closest names.
maxCandidatesPerName	integer	3	How many rows to return when a name or registration number is ambiguous or only has similar matches. Each row is a charged record.
preferPrimaryRecord	boolean	true	If several records share the exact name but only one is an ACTIVE entity with an ISSUED LEI that is not a branch, return that one as found (the others are mentioned in statusDetail). Turn off to get every exact match as ambiguous.
countries	array		2-letter ISO country codes, e.g. DE, US. Applied to name and registration-number searches and checked on LEI, BIC and ISIN results (non-matching records get a free filtered_out row).
entityStatus	string	"ANY"	Whether the legal entity itself still exists.
registrationStatuses	array		Keep only LEIs in these registration statuses. Empty = all. ISSUED means renewed and current; LAPSED means not renewed on time.
includeDirectParent	boolean	true	Add the direct accounting-consolidating parent, or the reason none is reported (e.g. NATURAL_PERSONS, NON_CONSOLIDATING). One extra API request per record; turn off for faster large batches.
includeUltimateParent	boolean	true	Add the ultimate parent, or the reason none is reported. One extra API request per record; turn off for faster large batches.
includeDirectChildren	boolean	false	Add the entities this one directly consolidates (LEI, name, country, statuses) and their total count. One request per 200 children; skipped when GLEIF reports none.
includeUltimateChildren	boolean	false	Add the entities for which this one is the ultimate parent, and their total count.
maxChildrenPerEntity	integer	100	Cap on listed children per record and type (max 1,000; GLEIF serves 200 per request). The total count is always reported. 0 = count only (one request).
maxRequestsPerMinute	integer	50	GLEIF allows 60 requests per minute per user. The Actor never goes above 60 and backs off when GLEIF asks it to.
includeRawRecord	boolean	false	Add the full original GLEIF record attributes as rawRecord.

Find a company's LEI by name

List legal names in names. Exact matches (ignoring case, accents, punctuation and common legal-form spellings such as AG / Aktiengesellschaft) come back as found or ambiguous. Without an exact match you get the closest names as possible_match rows to review. Add countries (e.g. ["DE"]) to narrow the search, or set nameMatching to exact names only.

BIC to LEI

List 8- or 11-character BIC (SWIFT) codes in bics. 8-character codes are treated as the head office (XXX). The Actor uses the BIC-to-LEI mapping that GLEIF publishes with SWIFT, so a BIC that isn't in that mapping returns a free not_found row.

ISIN to LEI

List 12-character ISINs in isins to get the issuer's LEI record. This uses the ISIN-to-LEI mapping that GLEIF publishes with ANNA; coverage depends on the issuing national numbering agency, so some ISINs have no mapping.

Validate LEIs (ISO 17442 checksum)

Every code in leis is checked against the ISO 17442 check digits before any API call. Malformed codes get a free invalid_input row. Valid codes are looked up 100 per request, and registrationStatus tells you whether the LEI is ISSUED (current), LAPSED (not renewed on time), RETIRED and so on.

Parents and subsidiaries

includeDirectParent and includeUltimateParent (on by default) add the accounting-consolidating parents, or GLEIF's reason none is reported (e.g. NATURAL_PERSONS, NON_CONSOLIDATING). Turn on includeDirectChildren or includeUltimateChildren to list the entities a company consolidates; the total count is always reported and maxChildrenPerEntity caps the list.

Use cases

• KYC/KYB onboarding: check that a counterparty's LEI is valid, issued and current before you onboard it.
• Data quality: validate LEI columns in bulk; malformed codes are caught by the ISO 17442 checksum and cost nothing.
• Ownership and group structure: pull direct and ultimate parents, or an entity's children, for group-level reporting.
• Identifier mapping: match legal names, BICs, ISINs or registry numbers to LEIs.

Integrations, schedules and AI agents

• Schedules: Schedule it to re-check a list of LEIs and catch lapsed or retired registrations. See Apify schedules.
• No-code tools: send results to Google Sheets, Slack or a CRM with Apify's Make, Zapier or n8n integrations, or a webhook when a run finishes.
• AI agents and assistants (MCP): connect an MCP client to https://mcp.apify.com?tools=clearpath-data/lei-lookup with your Apify account (OAuth or API token) and the agent can run this Actor as a tool, charged per event at the prices under "How much does it cost?". Agents without an Apify account can use a prepaid token from Apify's agentic payments (experimental). See the Apify MCP server docs.

How much does it cost?

Plan	Price per LEI record
Free / Bronze	$0.002
Silver	$0.0016
Gold and above	$0.0012

Plus Apify's standard Actor-start event ($0.00005 per GB of memory).

Example: 1,000 found records on the Free plan cost $2.00.

FAQ

Where does the data come from?

GLEIF's official public API (data under the CC0 licence). Each run queries the API live, so results are as current as GLEIF's own records. GLEIF collects the data from the LEI issuing organisations (LOUs); this Actor doesn't edit it.

What do ISSUED, LAPSED and RETIRED mean?

ISSUED: the LEI is current and its data was renewed on time. LAPSED: the entity didn't renew its registration by the due date (the LEI still identifies it, but the data may be out of date). RETIRED, MERGED, ANNULLED and the other statuses mean the LEI is no longer in normal use. Use registrationStatuses to keep only some of them.

Why did a name return "ambiguous"?

Several LEI records share the same legal name (often in different countries, or a branch next to its head office). You get up to maxCandidatesPerName rows; add countries to narrow it down. With preferPrimaryRecord on, a single ACTIVE, ISSUED, non-branch record is returned as found.

Is a not-found row charged?

No. You pay only for rows with entity data (found, ambiguous, possible_match). not_found, invalid_input, filtered_out and error rows are free.

Can I use it from Python or Excel?

Yes. From Python, use the Apify client:

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("clearpath-data/lei-lookup").call(run_input={"bics": ["DEUTDEFF"], "isins": ["US0378331005"]})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row["input"], row["status"], row.get("lei"))

For Excel, download the dataset as CSV or XLSX from the run page or the API.

Rate limits?

GLEIF allows 60 requests per minute. The Actor stays under that (maxRequestsPerMinute, default 50) and backs off when GLEIF asks it to. Parent and child lookups add requests, so large batches with relationships take longer; turn them off for plain validation.

Troubleshooting

A company I know has an LEI returns not_found

Check that you used the legal name, not a brand or trading name ("Alphabet Inc.", not "Google"). Try its business register number with a countries filter, or its BIC or an ISIN it issued. The not_found row lists the closest names it saw.

My BIC or ISIN returns not_found

GLEIF's BIC and ISIN mappings don't cover every code. Look the entity up by name or register number instead.

Limits

• Only entities that have an LEI are covered; many small companies don't have one.
• The data is what the LEI issuers reported to GLEIF; check the source for decisions that matter.

Further reading and example tasks

• BIC and ISIN to LEI in Python with the GLEIF API (tutorial on dev.to)
• gleif-lei-python-examples (example code on GitHub)
• Look up LEIs for a list of company names (public example task)
• BIC to LEI: find the LEI for a list of SWIFT codes (public example task)
• ISIN to LEI: find the issuer LEI for a list of ISINs (public example task)
• LEI validator: check a list of LEIs and flag lapsed ones (public example task)
• LEI parent and subsidiaries: Siemens group structure from GLEIF (public example task)
• LEI number for UK companies by Companies House number (public example task)
• Corporate hierarchy: direct and ultimate parent by LEI (public example task)
• KYB check: LEI and registration status by company name (public example task)

Combine with other Clearpath Data Actors

• UK company number → LEI. Use companies-house-new-companies to get companyNumber values, then paste them into registrationNumbers here with countries: ["GB"] to find each company's LEI. Example: LEI number for UK companies by Companies House number.
• Sponsor licence holders → LEI. Organisation names from uk-visa-sponsor-register can go straight into names for a KYB-style LEI and registration-status check.
• New US entities. us-new-business-filings lists new LLCs and corporations; most new entities have no LEI yet, so expect not_found rows for them.
• US private funding rounds. Issuer names from us-private-funding-rounds (daily Form D notices) can go into names here to check for an LEI. Many young companies have none, so expect not_found rows.

Other Clearpath Data Actors

Actor	What it does
remote-jobs-aggregator	Remote jobs from Remote OK and Himalayas
ats-jobs-by-company	Jobs from Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable, SmartRecruiters and Recruitee boards
companies-house-new-companies	New UK companies from Companies House, with officers and PSCs
uk-visa-sponsor-register	UK visa sponsor licence list from the GOV.UK register, with a changes feed
hiring-changes-monitor	Jobs each company opened or closed since your last run, on the same six ATS boards
us-new-business-filings	New LLCs and corporations from the NY, CO and CT state registries, since your last run
us-private-funding-rounds	New US private funding rounds from Form D notices, only filings new since your last run
us-federal-contract-opportunities	Daily US federal contract opportunities and award notices from SAM.gov's public extract; awardee names can go into names here