GLEIF Legal Entity Scraper

Extract standardized company data from GLEIF (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation) — the global registry for Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI codes) covering 2 million+ legal entities worldwide engaged in financial transactions.

What You Get

• Entity search — find companies by name with standardized legal name, jurisdiction, address, and registration status
• By LEI — full structured data for any company using its 20-character LEI code
• Corporate hierarchy — direct children (subsidiaries), direct parent, or ultimate parent of any entity
• Managing organizations — list all Local Operating Units (LOUs) that issue LEI codes worldwide

Data Source

All data is sourced from the official GLEIF API (api.gleif.org) — the authoritative global registry for LEI codes mandated by the G20. The API is completely free with no authentication required. Data is used by regulators, banks, and financial institutions worldwide.

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Input

Field	Type	Description
mode	Select	What to fetch: searchEntities, byLEI, relationships, managingOrganizations
query	Text	Search keyword for entity name (mode=searchEntities)
lei	Text	20-character LEI code (mode=byLEI or relationships)
country	Select	Filter by ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code (US, GB, DE, FR, JP, etc.)
status	Select	Filter by registration status: ACTIVE, INACTIVE, LAPSED, MERGED, etc.
relationshipType	Select	direct-children, direct-parent, or ultimate-parent
maxItems	Integer	Maximum records to return (1–500, default 20)

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Modes

searchEntities — Search legal entities by name

Full-text search across 2M+ registered entities worldwide.

{
  "mode": "searchEntities",
  "query": "Apple",
  "country": "US",
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "maxItems": 10
}

byLEI — Get entity by LEI code

Returns complete data for a specific legal entity using its unique 20-character identifier.

{
  "mode": "byLEI",
  "lei": "7LTWFZYICNSX8D621K86"
}

relationships — Corporate hierarchy

Retrieve parent or subsidiary entities in the corporate ownership structure.

{
  "mode": "relationships",
  "lei": "7LTWFZYICNSX8D621K86",
  "relationshipType": "direct-children",
  "maxItems": 50
}

managingOrganizations — List LEI-issuing organizations (LOUs)

Returns the organizations authorized to issue LEI codes globally.

{
  "mode": "managingOrganizations",
  "maxItems": 30
}

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Output Fields

Legal Entities

Field	Description
lei	20-character Legal Entity Identifier (unique global ID)
legalName	Official registered legal name
otherNames	Alternative or historical names (up to 5)
jurisdiction	Legal jurisdiction (e.g., US-DE for Delaware)
country	Country of legal address (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2)
city	City of legal address
postalCode	Postal/ZIP code
region	State/region code
addressLines	Street address lines
hqCountry	HQ country (if different from legal address)
hqCity	HQ city (if different from legal address)
status	Entity status (ACTIVE, INACTIVE, LAPSED, etc.)
legalForm	Legal form identifier or description
category	Entity category (GENERAL, FUND, BRANCH, etc.)
registeredAs	Registration number in the local registry
registeredAt	Registry where entity is registered
registrationDate	Initial LEI registration date (ISO 8601)
lastUpdateDate	Last data update date (ISO 8601)
nextRenewalDate	LEI renewal due date (ISO 8601)
registrationStatus	LEI registration status (ISSUED, etc.)
managingLouLei	LEI of the organization that manages this LEI
parentLei	LEI of associated parent entity (if known)
gleifUrl	Direct GLEIF entity page URL

Managing Organizations (LOUs)

Field	Description
louLei	LEI code of the managing organization
name	Organization name
status	Status (ACTIVE, etc.)
country	Country of operation
gleifUrl	GLEIF page URL

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Example Output Record

{
  "lei": "7LTWFZYICNSX8D621K86",
  "legalName": "Apple Inc.",
  "otherNames": ["Apple Computer Inc."],
  "jurisdiction": "US-DE",
  "country": "US",
  "city": "Cupertino",
  "postalCode": "95014",
  "region": "US-CA",
  "addressLines": ["One Apple Park Way"],
  "status": "ACTIVE",
  "legalForm": "8888",
  "category": "GENERAL",
  "registeredAs": "CA-0671809",
  "registeredAt": "RA000665",
  "registrationDate": "2012-06-06T15:53:00.000Z",
  "lastUpdateDate": "2024-11-25T00:00:00.000Z",
  "nextRenewalDate": "2025-11-25T00:00:00.000Z",
  "registrationStatus": "ISSUED",
  "managingLouLei": "EVK05KS7XY1DEII3R011",
  "gleifUrl": "https://www.gleif.org/lei/7LTWFZYICNSX8D621K86",
  "recordType": "legalEntity",
  "scrapedAt": "2025-05-25T10:30:00+00:00"
}

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Use Cases

• Financial compliance — Verify counterparty identities using the global standard LEI code (required under MiFID II, EMIR, Dodd-Frank)
• KYC/AML — Enrich customer entity records with standardized global identifiers
• Corporate research — Map subsidiary structures and ownership hierarchies across jurisdictions
• Data standardization — Convert local company registrations to globally unique LEI identifiers
• RegTech — Build regulatory reporting pipelines with standardized entity data
• Due diligence — Verify entity registration status, jurisdiction, and renewal dates

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About LEI Codes

A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20-character alphanumeric code that uniquely identifies a legal entity worldwide. LEI codes are:

• Mandated by regulators in the EU, US, UK, and 60+ other jurisdictions for financial transactions
• Standardized under ISO 17442, maintained by GLEIF
• Free to look up — the public registry is open to everyone
• Used in securities trading, derivatives reporting, banking, and insurance

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FAQ

Q: What is an LEI code? A Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a unique 20-character global ID for any company, fund, or entity involved in financial transactions. It's similar to a company registration number but globally standardized.

Q: How many entities are in the GLEIF registry? Over 2 million legal entities across 200+ jurisdictions are registered in the GLEIF Global LEI Index.

Q: Is authentication required? No. The GLEIF API is completely free and open with no API key, registration, or authentication required.

Q: What does the entity status mean?

• ACTIVE — LEI is current and in good standing
• LAPSED — LEI renewal is overdue (data may be outdated)
• INACTIVE — Entity no longer exists or has been deregistered
• MERGED — Entity has merged into another
• RETIRED — LEI has been retired

Q: Can I look up subsidiaries of a company? Yes — use mode=relationships with relationshipType=direct-children to get a list of direct subsidiaries. Use ultimate-parent to find the top-level parent company.

Q: How current is the data? GLEIF data is updated continuously as entities renew or modify their LEI registrations. The lastUpdateDate field shows when each record was last updated.