Notwithstanding another extension of relief by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), the deadline for legal entities, including self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs), to obtain a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is fast approaching.

A LEI is a 20-digit, alpha-numeric code that enables identification of legal entities participating in certain financial transactions.

Indeed, a range of Australian financial services entities - including funds, brokers/traders as well as trustees of SMSFs - may be unable to transact non-exchange trade instruments such as CFDs and FX from April 1, 2019 if they don’t have a LEI.