LEI Company Identity & Ownership (GLEIF, 2.7M+)

Need to verify a legal entity and map who owns it — across borders, from one authoritative source? This Actor turns the official GLEIF register (Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation) into ready-to-use records: ~2.7 million legal entities worldwide with a verified LEI, legal identity, addresses and status — plus the corporate ownership graph (direct & ultimate parent, direct children) and the cross-reference join keys that link an entity across banking, securities and other datasets.

Built on the official GLEIF API, public domain (CC0) — reuse and redistribute freely. No API key, no login, no fragile HTML scraping — so it doesn't break when a website changes. Most LEI actors stop at name → LEI; this one adds the hierarchy and the join keys that make it useful for real work.

• 🌐 ~2.7M legal entities worldwide — one global identity source, not a national slice
• 🧬 Ownership graph — direct & ultimate parent + direct children, with counts and subsidiary/parent flags
• 🔗 Cross-reference join keys — BIC · MIC · OpenCorporates · S&P Global — to reconcile entities across datasets
• 🆓 Public domain (CC0) — reuse and resell, no key, no scraping

Quick start (API)

Look up two companies with their full ownership hierarchy, in one call:

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/foxlabs~lei-company-ownership/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{ "names": ["Apple Inc", "Volkswagen AG"], "includeOwnership": true, "maxResults": 25 }'

Prefer no code? Open the Input tab, enter names / LEIs / a jurisdiction, and click Start — then download the results.

What you get

One clean, flat record per legal entity:

Field	Type	Description
lei	string	20-character Legal Entity Identifier (ISO 17442)
legalName	string	Registered legal name
otherNames	array	Previous, trading & other names
legalForm	string	Entity Legal Form (ELF) code, e.g. H1UM
category / subCategory	string	GLEIF entity category (e.g. GENERAL, FUND, BRANCH)
entityStatus	string	Legal status — ACTIVE / INACTIVE
registrationStatus	string	LEI registration status — ISSUED, LAPSED, RETIRED…
jurisdiction	string	Registration jurisdiction — ISO country / subdivision (e.g. US-CA)
registeredAs	string	The entity's number in its local business registry
legalAddress / headquartersAddress	string	Full legal & headquarters addresses
creationDate / lastUpdated	string	Incorporation date & LEI record last-update (YYYY-MM-DD)
crossReferences	object	Join keys present for this entity — { bic, mic, openCorporatesId, spGlobal } (absent keys are omitted)
ownership (default on)	object	{ directParent, ultimateParent, directChildren[], directChildrenCount, isSubsidiary, isUltimateParent }; each node is { lei, name }
source / license / sourceUrl	string	Provenance — GLEIF, CC0, and the GLEIF record URL
scrapedAt	string	ISO timestamp of retrieval

Sample output

Real record for Apple Inc. (names: ["Apple Inc"], ownership on) — a top-level parent with eight reported subsidiaries:

{
  "lei": "HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394",
  "legalName": "Apple Inc.",
  "otherNames": ["Apple Computer, Inc."],
  "legalForm": "H1UM",
  "category": "GENERAL",
  "subCategory": null,
  "entityStatus": "ACTIVE",
  "registrationStatus": "ISSUED",
  "jurisdiction": "US-CA",
  "registeredAs": "806592",
  "legalAddress": "C/O C T Corporation System, 330 N. Brand Blvd, Suite 700, Glendale, US-CA, 91203, US",
  "headquartersAddress": "One Apple Park Way, Cupertino, US-CA, 95014, US",
  "creationDate": "1977-01-03",
  "lastUpdated": "2026-03-03",
  "crossReferences": {
    "bic": ["APLEUS66XXX"],
    "spGlobal": ["24937"]
  },
  "source": "GLEIF — Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation",
  "license": "CC0 1.0 (public domain) — Source: GLEIF",
  "sourceUrl": "https://search.gleif.org/#/record/HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394",
  "scrapedAt": "2026-07-05T09:00:00.000Z",
  "ownership": {
    "directParent": null,
    "ultimateParent": null,
    "directChildren": [
      { "lei": "2549008YU9EOMHFUA249", "name": "APPLE OPERATIONS INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED" },
      { "lei": "5493004QI6E3PJNCEB09", "name": "APPLE CHILE COMERCIAL LIMITADA" },
      { "lei": "549300YX4S1LLSMK2627", "name": "APPLE ENERGY LLC" },
      { "lei": "5493006LHHR4CLPX4Q79", "name": "BRAEBURN CAPITAL, INC." },
      { "lei": "549300G81RQKP7XW2N18", "name": "APPLE OPERATIONS INTERNATIONAL LIMITED" },
      { "lei": "549300UJWEUFNYXPJ620", "name": "APPLE COMPUTER BRASIL LTDA." },
      { "lei": "549300MF6CNUB2URPE58", "name": "APPLE OPERATIONS MEXICO SA DE CV" },
      { "lei": "5493004SYPRAVRVNK561", "name": "APPLE CANADA INC." }
    ],
    "directChildrenCount": 8,
    "isSubsidiary": false,
    "isUltimateParent": true
  }
}

Absent cross-reference keys (here mic, openCorporatesId) are simply omitted; unreported parents are null — never guessed.

Example inputs (copy & paste)

// 1) Look up specific companies by name, with the ownership graph
{ "names": ["Apple Inc", "Volkswagen AG", "Nestlé S.A."], "includeOwnership": true }

// 2) Exact LEI lookup for KYC — identity only, faster
{ "leis": ["HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394", "549300G81RQKP7XW2N18"], "includeOwnership": false }

// 3) Browse every active legal entity registered in a jurisdiction
{ "jurisdiction": "US-CA", "status": "ACTIVE", "maxResults": 5000 }

// 4) Whole-country sweep, every status, identity only (fast at scale)
{ "jurisdiction": "DE", "status": "any", "includeOwnership": false, "maxResults": 20000 }

// 5) Fast KYC by name — identity only, no ownership graph
{ "names": ["Stripe Inc", "Revolut Ltd"], "includeOwnership": false }

// 6) Audit lapsed / retired entities in a jurisdiction
{ "jurisdiction": "GB", "status": "INACTIVE", "maxResults": 2000 }

// 7) Mixed batch — names + exact LEIs in one run, with ownership
{ "names": ["Nestlé S.A."], "leis": ["HWUPKR0MPOU8FGXBT394"], "includeOwnership": true }

Input & filters

• Company names (names) — legal entity names to look up, e.g. Apple Inc, Volkswagen AG. Returns the matching LEI records.
• LEI codes (leis) — exact 20-character LEIs for precise lookup (batched).
• Jurisdiction (jurisdiction) — browse every entity in a country (DE, US) or ISO subdivision (US-CA).
• Status (status) — filter a browse by ACTIVE, INACTIVE, or any.
• Include ownership graph (includeOwnership) — attach direct & ultimate parent and direct children. On by default — this is what sets it apart from a plain LEI lookup; turn off for a faster identity-only run.
• Max results (maxResults) — 1 to 50,000.

Provide at least one of names, leis, or jurisdiction.

Use cases

• KYC / KYB & due diligence. Onboarding a counterparty? Pass its names or leis → verified legal identity, jurisdiction, status, local registry number, and the parent/subsidiary chain your compliance file needs — from one authoritative source, in one call.
• Corporate-structure mapping. Reconstruct a group's tree: look up the head entity with ownership on to get directChildren, then walk each child's LEI to map subsidiaries across jurisdictions.
• Entity resolution & enrichment. The LEI plus bic / mic / openCorporatesId / spGlobal are clean join keys — reconcile the same company across your CRM, banking data, securities data and OpenCorporates without fuzzy name-matching.
• Counterparty & supply-chain risk. Resolve the exact legal entity behind a supplier or client and surface its ultimate parent, so exposure rolls up to the real controlling group.
• Sanctions & adverse-media scoping. Pin down the precise entity (not a name string) and its parents/children before screening, so a hit on one node can be traced through the ownership graph.
• Securities & reference-data ops. Enrich holdings and trade records with a stable global identifier plus BIC/MIC/S&P cross-references for reconciliation and reporting.

Performance & throughput

The Actor queries the live GLEIF API — no bulk download, no proxies, no keys. It paginates results (100 records/page) and enriches with 8 parallel workers. Identity-only runs (includeOwnership: false) move quickly. Turning ownership on adds up to three relationship look-ups per entity (direct-parent, ultimate-parent, direct-children), so large ownership runs take proportionally longer — leave it off when you only need identity. A jurisdiction browse pages through GLEIF until it reaches maxResults or exhausts the jurisdiction. Throughput is otherwise bounded only by your Apify plan.

Integrations

JavaScript (apify-client):

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
const client = new ApifyClient({ token: 'YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN' });
const run = await client.actor('foxlabs/lei-company-ownership').call({
  names: ['Apple Inc', 'Volkswagen AG'], includeOwnership: true, maxResults: 50,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

Python (apify-client):

from apify_client import ApifyClient
client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("foxlabs/lei-company-ownership").call(run_input={
    "names": ["Apple Inc", "Volkswagen AG"], "includeOwnership": True, "maxResults": 50,
})
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item["lei"], item["legalName"])

Also works with Make / n8n / Zapier (Apify app → run this Actor, map the input), scheduled runs, webhooks, and the Apify MCP server for AI agents.

Data quality (honest)

The LEI system is standardised, so core identity is dense: lei, legalName, entityStatus, registrationStatus, jurisdiction and the legalAddress are present for essentially every record — they're mandatory to hold an LEI. legalForm, registeredAs, creationDate and headquartersAddress are usually present.

Cross-references and ownership are richer for corporates than for random small entities. Large banks and listed firms typically carry bic / mic / spGlobal and reported parent/child relationships; many private or standalone entities carry none — the crossReferences object simply omits the absent keys, and directParent / ultimateParent come back null. GLEIF's Level-2 relationships exist where entities disclosed them (accounting-consolidation parents), so some private groups have gaps. Nothing is fabricated — a missing value is null or an omitted key, never a guess.

Pricing

Pay per result — you're billed per entity returned; the ownership graph is included in that price when enabled. There's an Apify free tier to evaluate the full feature set before you scale. No proxies, no third-party API costs (GLEIF is a free public API).

FAQ

What is an LEI? A 20-character ISO 17442 code that uniquely identifies a legal entity worldwide — the global standard behind KYC, securities reporting and corporate hierarchies.

Can I use this data commercially / resell it? Yes. GLEIF data is public domain (CC0) — commercial reuse and redistribution are permitted with no attribution required. Records still carry a Source: GLEIF credit as good practice.

How fresh is the data? GLEIF publishes a daily "golden copy" and each run queries the live GLEIF API, so you get the current record at run time.

Do I need an API key or a GLEIF account? No. No key, no login, no scraping.

Can I look up specific companies? Yes — put legal names in names, or exact 20-character codes in leis for precise lookup.

What's in the ownership graph? directParent, ultimateParent, a directChildren[] list (each { lei, name }), a directChildrenCount, and isSubsidiary / isUltimateParent flags — GLEIF's Level-2 relationship data.

Why are directParent / ultimateParent null? Because the entity is a top-level parent, has filed a reporting exception, or hasn't disclosed a parent to GLEIF. It's a legitimate state, not a scrape miss.

Does it include revenue, employees or contact emails? No. This is legal-entity identity and hierarchy, not financials or contacts — those live in national company registries and filings. It excels at identity, ownership and cross-referencing.

What are the cross-reference IDs for? bic (SWIFT/BIC), mic (market identifier), openCorporatesId and spGlobal are join keys to link the entity to banking, securities and other datasets.

What export formats are available? JSON, CSV, Excel, or via the Apify API/integrations.

How many entities can I get in one run? Up to 50,000 via maxResults.

Troubleshooting

• "Provide names, leis, or a jurisdiction" → the run had no lookup input; set at least one of the three.
• Few / no results for a name → GLEIF matches on the registered legal name (exact/close, not fuzzy). Use the entity's exact registered name, or look it up by leis for a guaranteed hit.
• Ownership fields missing → confirm Include ownership graph is on (it's the default). Remember null parents and an empty directChildren are legitimate for standalone entities.
• Ownership run is slow → each entity does up to three extra relationship calls. Set includeOwnership: false for a fast identity-only pull.

Notes, limits & legal (honest)

• Ownership is what entities reported to GLEIF. Level-2 parent/child relationships exist where they were disclosed; some private groups have gaps. directParent / ultimateParent are null when none is reported (a top entity legitimately has no parent).
• Identity, not financials. No revenue, employees or contact details — the LEI record is legal identity, hierarchy and cross-references.
• Ownership adds API calls per entity; turn it off for a faster identity-only run.
• Licence & attribution. GLEIF data is CC0 (public domain); attribution isn't required, but records carry Source: GLEIF as good practice.
• Not affiliated with GLEIF; this Actor redistributes its public open data via the official API.

Support

Questions, a field you'd like added, or a custom build? Open the Issues tab on this Actor, or email info@foxlabs.com.tr. We reply fast.

If this Actor saves you time, a ⭐ review really helps.

Changelog

0.2 — 2026-07-05

• Reworked docs: API quick-start, sample output, integrations, FAQ & troubleshooting.

0.1

• Initial release. Name / LEI / jurisdiction lookup over GLEIF's ~2.7M entities with verified identity, addresses, cross-reference IDs (BIC/MIC/OpenCorporates/S&P Global) and the direct/ultimate parent + children ownership graph. Public domain, no key.

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Part of the foXLabs data platform — official public-data company, contact, ownership, jobs, charity, location & AI-search intelligence scrapers. Browse the full suite at data.foxlabs.com.tr.