MANU/RMIC/0001/2021

Ministry : Reserve Bank of India

Department/Board : Department of Payment and Settlement Systems

Circular No. : DPSS.CO.OD.No.901/06.24.001/2020-2021
                   RBI/2020-2021/82

Date : 05.01.2021

The Chairman / Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer
of member banks participating in RTGS / NEFT

Madam / Dear Sir,

Introduction of Legal Entity Identifier for Large Value Transactions in Centralised Payment Systems

The Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) is a 20-digit number used to uniquely identify parties to financial transactions worldwide. It was conceived as a key measure to improve the quality and accuracy of financial data systems for better risk management post the Global Financial Crisis.

2. LEI has been introduced by the Reserve Bank in a phased manner for participants in the over the counter (OTC) derivative and non-derivative markets as also for large corporate borrowers.

3. It has now been decided to introduce the LEI system for all payment transactions of value ` 50 crore and above undertaken by entities (non-individuals) using Reserve Bank-run Centralised Payment Systems viz. Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT).

4. In preparation for the wider introduction of LEI across all payment transactions, member banks should:

i. advise entities who undertake large value transactions (` 50 crore and above) to obtain LEI in time, if they do not already have one;

ii. include remitter and beneficiary LEI information in RTGS and NEFT payment messages (details of the identified fields in the messaging structures of RTGS and NEFT for inclusion of LEI information are at Annex);