canonical: https://jentic.com/apis/gleif.org/gleif

# GLEIF LEI API

The GLEIF LEI API exposes the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation's reference dataset - every issued Legal Entity Identifier (LEI), the legal entity record behind it, the relationships to ultimate and direct parents, the managing Local Operating Unit (LOU), and field-level modification history. Agents can validate counterparties, enrich KYC and KYB workflows, and trace ownership relationships across the global LEI registry. The API is open, requires no authentication, and is served from api.gleif.org.

## For AI agents

Validate and enrich legal entity records by looking up Legal Entity Identifiers (LEI), parent relationships, and issuing LOUs from the GLEIF reference dataset.

## Scope

Does not handle sanctions screening, credit ratings, or financial filings - use for Legal Entity Identifier reference data and ownership relationships only.

## Capabilities

- Look up the LEI record for a legal entity by exact LEI code via `/lei-records/{lei}`
- Search for entities by name, country, or status across the global LEI registry
- Resolve the managing Local Operating Unit (LOU) for a given LEI
- Resolve the LEI issuer record for a given LEI
- Fetch field-level modification history for an LEI record
- Autocomplete entity names for KYC and counterparty-search forms
- List the LEI issuers (LOUs) accredited by GLEIF

## Use cases

### Counterparty KYB Verification

Verify a corporate counterparty during onboarding by resolving its LEI to the GLEIF reference record. GET `/lei-records/{lei}` returns the legal name, registration jurisdiction, status, and the next renewal date - enough to confirm the entity exists, is current, and matches the data the customer supplied.

Example prompt: Fetch `/lei-records/5493001KJTIIGC8Y1R12` and return legalName, jurisdiction, registrationStatus, and nextRenewalDate

### Beneficial Ownership Tracing

Trace a legal entity's parent and ultimate parent for AML or sanctions screening. The relationship endpoints under `/lei-records/{lei}` expose direct and ultimate parent LEIs, which an agent can recursively resolve through GLEIF until it reaches the top of the ownership chain.

Example prompt: Starting from LEI X, fetch the ultimate parent LEI, resolve it via `/lei-records/{lei}`, and return the parent's legalName

### Counterparty Search Autocomplete

Power an autocomplete dropdown when a user is typing a legal entity name into a counterparty form. /autocompletions returns matching candidates by name fragment with their LEIs, so the agent can return a structured list rather than a free-text guess.

Example prompt: Call /autocompletions with field=fulltext and q='Goldman' and return up to 5 (legalName, lei) pairs

### AI Agent KYC Enrichment

Use Jentic to let an AI agent enrich freshly added counterparty rows in a CRM. The agent issues an intent like 'look up an LEI by company name', Jentic resolves the GLEIF /autocompletions and `/lei-records/{lei}` calls, and the agent writes the legal name, jurisdiction, and parent LEI back to the CRM record.

Example prompt: Through Jentic, autocomplete 'Acme Corp', resolve the top LEI via `/lei-records/{lei}`, and return jurisdiction and registrationStatus

## Key endpoints

| Method | Path | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| GET | `/lei-records` | Search LEI records with filters |
| GET | `/lei-records/{lei}` | Fetch a single LEI record |
| GET | `/lei-records/{lei}/managing-lou` | Get the managing LOU for an LEI |
| GET | `/lei-records/{lei}/lei-issuer` | Get the issuer of an LEI |
| GET | `/lei-records/{lei}/field-modifications` | Field-level modification history |
| GET | `/autocompletions` | Autocomplete entity names |
| GET | `/lei-issuers` | List accredited LEI issuers |

## Key resources

- **LEI Records** — Lookup, parent relationships, and modification history for individual LEIs
- **LEI Issuers** — List and inspect accredited Local Operating Units
- **Search** — Autocomplete and full-text search across the LEI registry

## Why Jentic

- **Setup:** Wiring the GLEIF LEI API by hand means reading its record structure and relationship endpoints and building the query and pagination handling yourself, even though it needs no credential. Through Jentic you install once, import the GLEIF LEI API from the API Directory, and your agent calls it.
- **Permission scoping:** GLEIF exposes read-only public reference data with the LEI in the URL path (`/lei-records/{lei}`), so scope the agent to the operations it needs, such as looking up an LEI record or its managing LOU. You choose that operation set, so it reads reference data and ownership relationships without any write ability.
- **Credential handling:** The GLEIF LEI API needs no credential, so Jentic orchestrates the call without storing a secret; any other API secrets your agent uses are stored once, encrypted, by your own Jentic One instance and injected at execution time, never entering the agent's prompt, logs, or context.
- **Discovery method:** Agents search Jentic by intent such as 'look up an LEI' or 'find a legal entity's issuer', and Jentic returns the matching GLEIF operation with its query parameter schema so the agent calls the right endpoint without browsing the reference docs.

## Related APIs

- **OpenCorporates API** — Open company registry data covering tens of millions of incorporated entities
- **OpenFIGI API** — Financial instrument identifiers that link to the LEI of the issuing entity
- **SEC EDGAR API** — US filings registry that complements GLEIF for US-listed counterparties

## FAQ

### What authentication does the GLEIF LEI API use?

The GLEIF LEI API is open and requires no API key or token; the spec defines no security scheme. Through Jentic the API can still be called via the standard search/load/execute flow without provisioning a credential, which is useful when wiring up KYC enrichment for an agent.

### Can I look up a Legal Entity Identifier with the GLEIF API?

Yes. GET `/lei-records/{lei}` returns the canonical record for a single LEI, including legal name, registration jurisdiction, status (ISSUED, LAPSED, etc.), and the next renewal date. Use it as the source of truth for validating that an LEI on a counterparty form is real and current.

### What are the rate limits for the GLEIF LEI API?

GLEIF asks integrators to be considerate and avoid sustained bursts above a few requests per second from a single source. There is no documented numeric cap; if you receive HTTP 429 or 503 in batch enrichment, back off and process more slowly or distribute work across IPs.

### How do I autocomplete a company name through Jentic with GLEIF?

Search Jentic for 'autocomplete legal entity name', load GET /autocompletions, and execute with field=fulltext and q set to the partial name. The response returns matching LEIs and legal names that an agent can present to the user before resolving the full record via `/lei-records/{lei}.`

### Can the GLEIF API return parent and ultimate-parent relationships?

Yes. The `/lei-records/{lei}` response embeds direct-parent and ultimate-parent relationship links, and the related-records endpoints under that path return the full relationship records. An agent can recurse upward to build the ownership chain for AML or sanctions checks.

### Is the GLEIF LEI API free?

Yes. GLEIF publishes the LEI dataset as an open data product under a CC0-style licence, and the v1 API at api.gleif.org is freely accessible. There is no commercial paywall on read endpoints; the cost is in obtaining and renewing the LEIs themselves through accredited LOUs.

### Can I limit what my agent is allowed to do with the GLEIF LEI API?

Yes. Because Jentic One is self-hosted, you set the rules that decide which operations and credentials your agent may use, so you can allow only the read calls it needs, such as GET `/lei-records/{lei}` for a single LEI record or `/lei-records/{lei}/managing-lou` for the issuing LOU, while withholding search or autocomplete. The GLEIF LEI API is read-only public reference data with the LEI in the URL path, so a scoped agent reads entity records and ownership relationships without any write ability. You choose that operation set, keeping the agent to lookups you have explicitly permitted.